Person:Mary Fernihough (1)

Mary Fernihough was born around 1731, probably at Flintham in Nottinghamshire, daughter of Elizabeth Fernihough, formerly Smith, and her husband John Fernihough, who was the vicar of Flintham.

Mary's father died in 1743 and her mother died in 1754.

By 1756 Mary was living at Bottesford in Leicestershire, about seven miles south-east of Flintham. On 19th February 1756 she married a cooper called Thomas Bennett in the nearby village of Long Bennington in Lincolnshire. They went on to have one son, also called Thomas, baptised at Long Bennington in 1757.

The family later returned to Bottesford. Mary was buried there on 22nd April 1788, when she was said to be 56 years old. Thomas survived her by six years.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Church of England. Parish Church of Bottesford (Leicestershire). Parish registers, 1563-1876. (Leciester: Leicestershire Record Office).

   Burials in Bottesford 1788 / B[ottesford?] Mary, wife of Thomas Bennet, Cooper April 22 - 56 [1731/2]

2. ↑ The Nottinghamshire Baptisms Database has no entries for Flintham for 1731. Whether this indicates that such records are lost, illegible or merely omitted from that database is not clear - needs to be confirmed at Nottinghamshire Archives. Mary's burial record indicates that she was born around this time, whilst two of Mary's brother John's children (Elizabeth and Thomas Fernihough) refer to Mary's son Thomas Bennett in their wills, with Thomas Fernihough explicitly describing Thomas Bennett as his cousin.