Person:Mary Goodman (12)

Mary Goodman was baptised on 26th May 1776 at Willen in Buckinghamshire, daughter of Susannah Goodman, formerly Holmes, and her husband Henry Goodman, a labourer. Mary was the couple's first child; they had married just over six months before her baptism. Mary had a brother named Daniel baptised in 1777 and a sister named Catherine baptised in 1782. Mary's mother Susannah died in 1783, when Mary was only six years old. Susannah's burial record describes her as a pauper. In 1785 Mary's sister Catherine died aged two.

In 1787 Mary's father married Elizabeth Binks, who thus became Mary's stepmother. Henry and Mary went on to have another eight children between 1790 and 1806, although at least three of them died young.

Mary was married on 7th June 1802 at Willen to an agricultural labourer named George Lewis, who was a couple of years younger than her. They had a son, Daniel, born at Willen just over nine months later.

Some time between 1803 and 1806 Mary and George left Willen and moved about seven miles south-east to the village of Husborne Crawley, just over the border into Bedfordshire. At Husborne Crawley they appear to have had another four children: Thomas, Susannah, Mary and Henry. Henry's baptism record describes George as being a carpenter.

Mary and George became grandparents on Christmas Eve 1821, when Mary was 45 years old, when her son Daniel had a son named Jesse with a woman named Susannah Emerton. Daniel and Susannah were not married at the time of Jesse's birth, and the following June Daniel was ordered to pay the parish authorities £3 5s costs and 2s a week for maintenance. Four months later Daniel and Susannah did marry.

Mary and George's youngest son, Henry, died aged fourteen in 1828. Back in Willen, Mary's father Henry died in 1833.

Mary and George's son Thomas and daughter Mary both married in Husborne Crawley in the 1830s: Thomas in 1833 to Sally Cook and Mary in 1838 to Richard Norman. Mary and George appear to have had at least 24 grandchildren, all born in their lifetimes, with the first seventeen born at Husborne Crawley. Their son Thomas and his family moved to neighbouring Aspley Guise around 1840 where Thomas became publican at The Swan public house.

The 1841 census finds Mary and George living at Church End in Husborne Crawley with their grandson Henry (Thomas's eldest son) living with them, as well as their daughter Mary and her husband and two children. George was described as an agricultural labourer. By 1851 their daughter Mary and her family had moved to their own house in Husborne Crawley, but Mary, George and their grandson Henry were still living together at Church End. In 1851 George was described as a pauper agricultural labourer.

Mary's younger brother Daniel died in 1852 at the nearby town of Newport Pagnell. He left his real estate to Mary in his will.

George died on 2nd May 1857, aged 79. He and Mary had been married for nearly 55 years. Mary survived him by almost exactly three years, dying on 1st May 1860, aged about 84. They are buried together at Husborne Crawley churchyard.

1. ↑ Church of England. Willen Parish Registers, 1665-1981. (Aylesbury: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies).

   Baptisms 1776: Mary D[aughte]r of Henry & Susannah Goodman May 26

   This baptism has been linked to the Mary Goodman who married George Lewis on the basis of the 1851 census which suggests Mary was born around the mid 1770s in Willen. No evidence has been found suggesting that the child baptised in 1776 died young or married anyone else. The Mary baptised in 1776 had a brother called Daniel, and his will of 1852 refers to his sister Mary Lewis.

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 5; Book 20; Folio 3; Page 1, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Church End, Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire
   George Lewis, male, 60 [1776-81], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born outside county
   Mary Lewis, female, 60 [1776-81], born outside county
   Henry Lewis, male, 7 [1833/4], born in county
   ~second household in same house~
   Rich[ar]d Norman, male, 25 [1811-16], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Mary Norman, female, 25 [1811-16], born in county
   George Norman, male, 2 [1838/9], born in county
   Edward Norman, male, 1 [1839/40], 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 1755; Folio 63, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Church End, Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire
   George Lewis, head, married, male, 75 [1775/6], Pauper Agric[ultural] Labr[ourer], b. Wilden [sic], Buckinghamshire
   Mary Lewis, wife, married, female, 77 [1773/4], b. Wilden [sic], Buckinghamshire
   Henry Lewis, grandson, unmarried, male, 17 [1833/4], Tailor, b. Crawley, Bedfordshire

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

   Registration District Woburn Union
   1860 Death in the Sub-district of Woburn in the County of Bedford
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   283	First May 1860 Husborne Crawley	Mary Lewis	Female	86 years [1773/4]	Widow of George Lewis, Farm Laborer	Senectus Pneumonia 5 Days Certified	X The Mark of Mary Emmerton in Attendance Husborne Crawley	Fifth May 1860	J. Dexter Registrar

   
5. ↑ Monumental inscription, Husborne Crawley churchyard.

   George Lewis husband of Mary Lewis died 1 May 1857 aged 79 / Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh / Mary Lewis wife of George Lewis died 1 May 1860 aged 84

6. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish register of Husborne Crawley, 1557-1812. (Bedford: Bedfordshire County Record Office, 1989).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Husborne Crawley in the County of Bedford in the Year 1860
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   531	Mary Lewis	Crawley	May 7th	85	V.S.C. Smith