Person:Mary Chaffer (1)

Early life

Mary Ann Chaffer was baptised on 30th July 1797 at Sidlesham in Sussex, daughter of Frances Chaffer, formerly Roper, and her husband William Chaffer. Mary Ann was the second of the couple's six children, although two of her younger siblings died as infants, and her older sister Sarah died at the age of 14 in 1810, leaving Mary the eldest of the three children who survived to adulthood. Mary's father William also died in 1810, just a couple of months after Sarah's death.

The following year, Mary's mother Frances married again, with her second husband being a man named John Apps, who thus became Mary's stepfather.

In 1815, aged 18, Mary gave birth at Sidlesham to a son named George. George's baptism record from Sidlesham in December 1815 does not name his father, although George would later claim to be the son of a publican called Michael Crees - and there was a publican called Michael Crees(e) who lived at Merston and Oving near Sidlesham, and who was a couple of years older than Mary, so it is entirely plausible that he was George's father.

Marriage

Mary was married at Sidlesham on 23rd November 1819, aged 22, to a man named Charles Grant. He worked at different times as a blacksmith, labourer, fisherman and fishmonger. He was 30 when they married and was a widower with two surviving children from his first marriage. Charles also became stepfather to Mary's son George, who sometimes used the surname Grant.

In 1820, Mary's stepfather John Apps died.

Mary and Charles went on to have eleven children between 1821 and 1841, all baptised at Sidlesham - and all but one of the baptisms give the family's abode as Mill, a coastal hamlet in Sidlesham parish on the shore of Pagham Harbour. The family was also living at Mill in the 1841 census.

In 1847, Mary's mother Frances Apps died, aged 78.

The 1851 census finds the family living at a place called 'Late Ransoms' in Sidlesham, although this seems to have been somewhere near Mill.

Of Mary's twelve children, they all survived to adulthood. However, several of them died as young adults whilst Mary was still alive: Joseph in 1851, Mark in 1856, William in 1862, Edmund some time in the early 1860s and Stephen in 1867.

Mary's husband Charles died in 1870, aged 80. After his death, Mary appears in the 1871 census living at Sidlesham with her youngest daughter, one of her grandsons and one of her step-grandsons Joseph Grant (son of Charles's son Charles from his first marriage) who had been born in Baghdad.

In 1876, Mary's first child, George, died aged 60. Therefore although all twelve of Mary's children lived to adulthood, Mary outlived six of them.

Mary died in 1879, aged 81. She was buried on 11th March 1879 at Sidlesham, where she had lived her whole life.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Church of Sidlesham (Sussex). Parish registers of Sidlesham, 1566-1901. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   Baptisms 1797 / Marian, Daughter of William & Fanny Chaffer July 30th

   This baptism has been linked to the Mary Ann Chaffer who married Charles Grant on the basis that the adult Mary Ann Grant consistently claimed to have been born in Sidlesham around the late 1790s, whilst in 1825 Mary Grant witnessed the marriage of William Chaffer, younger brother of the Marian Chaffer baptised in 1797.

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 1103; Book 5; Folio 7; Page 6, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Mill, Sidlesham, Sussex
   Charles Grant, male, 45 [1791-6], Fisherman, born in county
   Mary Grant, female, 45 [1791-6], born in county
   William Grant, male, 15 [1821-6], born in county
   Joseph Grant, male, 15 [1821-6], born in county
   Harriett Grant, female, 12 [1828/9], born in county
   Stephen Grant, male, 10 [1830/1], born in county
   Alfred Grant, male, 9 [1831/2], born in county
   Mark Grant, male, 7 [1833/4], born in county
   Edmund Grant, male, 5 [1835/6], born in county
   Thomas Grant, male, 2 [1838/9], born in county

3. ↑ 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 1652; Folio 87; Page 16, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Late Ransoms, Sidlesham, Sussex
   Charles Grant, head, married, male, 61 [1789/90], Fisherman, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Mary Grant, wife, married, female, 56 [1794/5], b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   George Grant, son, unmarried, male, 36 [1814/5], Journeyman Miller, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Mark Grant, son, unmarried, male, 18 [1832/3], Fisherman, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Edmund Grant, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1835/6], Fisherman, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Thomas Grant, son, unmarried, male, 13 [1837/8], Fisherman, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Fanny Grant, daughter, unmarried, female, 10 [1840/1], At Home, b. Sidlesham, Sussex

4. ↑ England. 1861 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 RG9; Piece 617; Folio 70; Page 13, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Mill Village, Sidlesham, Sussex
   Charles Grant, head, married, male, 71 [1789/90], Fisherman, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Mary Grant, wife, married, female, 63 [1797/8], Wife of Fisherman, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Fanny Grant, daughter, unmarried, female, 19 [1841/2], Dau[ghter] of Fisherman, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Emily Grant, daughter, unmarried, female, 10 [1850/1], Dau[ghter] of Fisherman, b. Sidlesham, Sussex

5. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1111; Folio 70; Page 15, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Sidlesham, Sussex
   Mary Grant, head, widow, female, 73 [1797/8], b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Fanny Grant, daughter, unmarried, female, 29 [1841/2], Dressmaker, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Joseph Grant, grandson, male, 12 [1858/9], Scholar, b. Bagdad, Turkey
   Edward Grant, grandson, male, 7 [1863/4], Scholar, b. Sidlesham, Sussex

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

   d. Mary Ann GRANT, March Quarter 1879, Westhampnett Registration District, Volume 2b, page 247, aged 81 [1797/8]

7. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Sidlesham (Sussex). Parish registers of Sidlesham, 1566-1901. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Sidlesham in the County of Sussex in the Year 1879
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   1035	Mary Ann Grant	Sidlesham	March 11th	81 years [1797/8]	William Bruton Vicar