Person:Frances Humphrey (3)

Frances Humphrey's origins have yet to be established. She claimed to have been born at Houghton (probably meaning Houghton Regis) in Bedfordshire around 1806. Her first confirmed sighting is in 1828, when she married a straw plait dealer called Samuel Bent. He was a widower from Luton, the neighbouring town to Houghton Regis. However, they did not marry in Luton but at Islington in the northern suburbs of London.

Frances and Samuel appear to have had five children together baptised in Luton between 1829 and 1845. Frances also acted as stepmother to Samuel's five children from his first marriage. The 1841 census finds the family living at Gibb Square on Back Street in Luton, with Frances' name given as Fanny, which is presumably how she was known.

In 1844 Samuel was convicted of stealing some straw plait from his employer, and he spent six months in jail in Bedford.

On the night of the 1851 census, Fanny was staying with her son Samuel and his wife and child at Windmill Hill in Luton. Samuel and two of their other children were living nearby on Duke Street.

Fanny died in 1856. Samuel outlived her by nearly seven years.

1.   Baptism searching.

   No obvious baptism has been found for Frances. In the 1851 census she gave her place of birth as "Houghton, Bedfordshire", which is presumed to mean Houghton Regis as that is close to where she lived as an adult. However, there is no baptism at either Houghton Regis or Houghton Conquest which corresponds with the approximate age she claimed to be. The closest possible baptisms are in 1796 at Houghton Regis and 1797 at Dunstable Baptist Church (but said to be from Houghton Regis), although both these would put her nearing 50 when her youngest child was born.
   England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970 (Ancestry):
   Dunstable Baptist Church
   Date of Birth: August 13 1797
   Person's Names: Frances Humphry Daughter of James & Eliz[abeth] Humpery
   What Place: Houghton Regis Beds
   Houghton Regis Parish Register Transcript (Bedfordshire Family History Society):
   Baptisms 1796 / Aug 7 Fra d Thos & Mary Humphry

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 4; Book 19; Folio 16; Page 27, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Back Street or Gib Square, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Samuel Bent, male, 50 [1786-91], Plait Dealer, b. in county
   Frederick Bent, male, 20 [1816-21], Ag Lab, b. in county
   David Bent, male, 18 [1822/3], b. in county
   William Bent, male, 11 [1829/30], b. in county
   Samuel Bent, male, 9 [1831/2], b. in county
   Fanny Bent, female, 34 [1806/7], Sewer, b. in county
   Ann Bent, female, 7 [1833/4], b. in county
   Eliza Bent, female, 1 [1839/40], b. in county

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1757; Folio 666; Page 25, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Windmill Hill, Luton, Bedfordshire
   William Snoxall, head, married, male, 27 [1823/4], Farm Lab[ourer], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Mary Snoxall, wife, married, female, 23 [1827/8], Straw Bon[net] Sewer, b. Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire
   Samuel Bent, lodger, married, male, 20 [1830/1], Straw Bon[net] Sewer, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Hannah Bent, lodger, married, female, 20 [1830/1], Straw Bon[net] Sewer, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Fanny Bent, lodger, married, female, 44 [1806/7], Straw Bon[net] Sewer, b. Houghton, Bedfordshire
   George Bent, lodger, male, 18 months [1849], b. Luton, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Frances BENT, December Quarter 1856, Luton Registration District, Volume 3b, page 262, aged 51 [1804/5]