Person:Mary Harris (209)

The first confirmed sighting of Mary Harris is her marriage in 1814 to John Drake in the parish of Bere Ferrers in Devon. The couple had seven children baptised at Bere Ferrers between 1815 and 1829. Several of the children's baptisms give an abode of 'Monks Castle', which is presumably the same place as 'Monkeys Castle' that Mary's husband John appears at in some of the censuses. Monkeys Castle was a cottage on the road from Bere Ferrers to Bere Alson, near the track to Well Farm. Mary was buried at Bere Ferrers on 26th November 1832, with her burial record giving her age as 48, implying that she was born in 1783 or 1784. The burial record also records that she had lived at Monks Castle.

Mary and John were married for eighteen years. John outlived her by nearly 45 years, but never remarried.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Registers of Bere Ferrers. (Exeter: Devon Heritage Services).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Beer Ferris n[ea]r Tavistock in the County of Devon in the Year 1832
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   637	Mary Drake	Monk's Castle	November 26th	48 [1783/4]	W. Sewante