Person:Joseph Marshall (27)

Joseph (or Josias) Marshall's origins are unclear. His first confirmed sighting is on 21st February 1717, when he and his wife Sarah had a son named Josias baptised at Kimpton in Hertfordshire. So far, no marriage for Joseph and Sarah has been found, nor has any named link been found connecting the adult Joseph to his parents. In terms of timing, there are a couple of possibilities which may be him:

1. Joseph Marshall son of Philip and Elizabeth Marshall, baptised at Harpenden on 6th October 1687. This Joseph was referred to in his aunt Mary Marshall's will of 1697, showing he was still alive then. This family can also be shown to have lived at Thrales End, on the borders of Harpenden and Luton parishes, very close to East Hyde, where the adult Joseph and Sarah later lived.

2. Josiah Marshall son of Nicholas and Elizabeth Hobbs, baptised at St Ippolyts on 29th May 1681. Although St Ippolyts is about 8 miles from the Kimpton / Luton area, this Josiah is known to have been living in Luton in 1716 and 1734 from a court case involving his father Nicholas, who in 1716 was living at Copt Hall in Luton, very close to the border with Kimpton parish, and also very close to East Hyde.

Alternatively, he may be neither of these. The Joseph Marshall baptised at Luton in 1686 can be ruled out; he died in St Albans in 1705.

By 1719 they had moved to East Hyde in the parish of Luton, when they had a son named John baptised. They appear to have remained in Luton, having several more children baptised at Luton in the 1720s and early 1730s, although some of these appear to have died young.

Joseph died in 1745 and was buried at Luton on 30th October 1745, when he was described as a labourer and a poor man.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish registers of St Mary, Luton, 1603-1944. (Bedford: Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service).

   Buried in the year 1745 / Oct the 30 Josias Marshall poor man

2. ↑ Bedfordshire Family History Society. Luton Parish Register Transcript. (Bedford).

   bur. 30 Oct 1745: Josias Marshall labr. p.m.