Person:Ann Deacon (1)

Ann Deacon's origins have yet to be confirmed. She may have been the Ann Deacon baptised at Ketton in Rutland on 30th May 1748, although this has yet to be proven.

Ann's first confirmed sighting is on 14th October 1769, when she married a mason called William Gamble at Ketton. At the time of their marriage William was not living in Ketton but at Barnack in Northamptonshire, about seven miles east of Ketton.

Ann and William settled in Barnack after their marriage, having five children baptised there between 1771 and 1785, although their only son died as a baby.

The family appears to have had a business based in Barnack's quarries, as after Ann and William's deaths their daughters were described as taking on the business "at the pits, of pendat[?] and slabs".

In 1795 Ann's eldest daughter married in the London area, and Ann's first known grandchild was born on 14th April 1796. This would be the only grandchild born in either William or Ann's lifetimes; William died later that month, being buried at Barnack on 27th April 1796. The grandson was not baptised until after William's death, and was given the name William Gamble Mason. Sadly, the baby died later that year.

Ann survived William by just over a year, being buried at Barnack on 22nd July 1797.

1.   Ketton, Rutland, England. Parish Registers (Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office, Wigston).

   Baptisms 1748 / Ann the daughter of Will & Mary Deacon Bap[tised] May 30

   This baptism would appear most likely, being in the parish in which Ann married, and at a time which would make her 21 years old when she married. However, one of the witnesses to her marriage was a William Deacon. Whilst that was the name of the father of the Ann baptised in 1748, that William appears to have died in 1749. It is not clear if or how the Ann baptised in 1748 may have been related to any other William Deacons.

2. ↑ Church of England. Parish Church of Barnack (Northamptonshire). Parish registers, 1695–1974. (Northampton, England: Northamptonshire Record Office).

   Burials / 1797 / Ann Gamble - July 22d