|
|
Facts and Events
Childhood
John Marshall was baptised on 16th October 1748 at Luton in Bedfordshire, son of Elizabeth Marshall, formerly Saunders, and her husband John Marshall. His baptism records that the family lived at Chiltern Green, a hamlet at the eastern edge of the parish, some distance from the town itself. John was baptised the same day as his brother William, but William clearly died young, being buried three months later. Another three brothers followed, and the baptisms of all his brothers give the family's abode as Chiltern Green. Curiously, no burial records have been found for either of John's parents.
Adulthood
On 21st October 1771, aged 23, John married a widow named Elizabeth Mardell, formerly Arnold. Although Elizabeth was a widow, she was still only 21 years old - her first husband, John Mardell, had died after only six weeks of marriage. Elizabeth was from Newmill End, another hamlet in the parish of Luton, very close to Chiltern Green.
John and Elizabeth appear to have had six children together, all baptised at Luton. Sadly, their eldest son, George, died as a boy of five years old. Most of the children's baptisms give the family's abode as Chiltern Green.
In 1779, John appears to have taken on a servant named John Somerfield and employed him for a year. No trade for either man was specified, but it is highly likely that someone employing others at rural Chiltern Green would have been some form of farmer.
John has yet to be traced after the baptism of his youngest son (another George) in 1785. He does not appear to have been buried at Luton. His wife Elizabeth died in 1803, aged 53, following a fever. If John was still alive at that point it is quite possible he went to live with one of his children who had left the area - perhaps his eldest daughter Elizabeth, who had moved to north Middlesex. Alternatively, John's grandson William Marshall is known to have been a member in the 1830s of Coleman's Green Baptist Church in King's Walden, not far from Chiltern Green. That church has a burial ground, but does not appear to have a surviving burial register recording who is buried there.
References
- ↑ Church of England. Parish registers of St Mary, Luton, 1603-1944. (Bedford: Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service).
Baptized in 1748 / Oct[ober] the 16 John and Will[ia]m Sons of John and Eliz[abeth] from Chiltern Green
This baptism can be linked to the John Marshall who married Elizabeth Arnold in 1771 on the basis that this John's older sister Sarah was one of the witnesses to the 1771 marriage. Also, John and Elizabeth Arnold settled as adults at the small hamlet of Chiltern Green, the same hamlet at which the John baptised in 1748 grew up.
- ↑ Overseers of the Poor, Settlement Papers, in Church of England. Parish registers of St Paul's Church, Bedford, Bedfordshire. (Bedford: Bedfordshire Record Office)
P1/13/4/185, 5 Oct 1788.
Town of Bedford} The Examination of John Somerfield now Resident in the Parish of Saint Paul in the said Town of Bedford touching the place of his last legal Settlement taken On Oath before us Thomas Partridge Gent & Mayor & William
Theed[?] Esquire Two of his Majestys Justices of the Peace in and for the said Town the fifth day of October 1788
Who on his Oath saith that he was born at Westoning* in the County of Bedford
And that about six years since he lett himself as a hired servant for one whole year with John Marshall of Chilton Green in the Parish of Luton in the said County of Bedford for the yearly wages of Ten Pounds, that he entered upon such his Service, which this Examinant to the best of his remembrance was at Michaelmas 1779 and continued in his Service for one whole year and rec[eiv]ed his full wages - which gained him a Legal Settlement there and that he hath gained no other Legal Settlement Since
The Mark of X John Somerfield
Taken and Sworn at Bedford aforesaid the day and year first above written before us
Thos. Partridge Mayor
William Reed[?]
*[after the word 'Westoning' the words 'Wood End' have been crossed out]
- Colemans Green Baptist Church. Births Register, 1825-1837
Class RG4; Piece 669, 1837.
In 1837 the registers of non-conformist chapels were collected, and the ministers of those chapels had to answer a number of questions about their churches. The minister of Colemans Green Baptist Church at the time, Henry Biggs, handed over to the commissioners one book of births registered between 1825 and 1837. In the accompanying questionnaire he noted that the church was founded in about 1785 with regular preaching from 1818. The only register handed in was for births. In response to the question of whether there were any other registers of births, baptisms, deaths or burials, Henry Biggs answered "I known of none." He also noted that "The Place of Worship used by the Church and Congregation was formerly at Colemans Green but a new place has been lately erected at Breachwood Green for the use of the same people."
|
|
