Person:Mary Smith (1391)

Mary Smith's origins have yet to be established. Her first confirmed sighting is on 22nd October 1694 when she married a farmer named Jeremiah Puddephatt at Great Gaddesden in Hertfordshire. Between 1696 and 1716 Mary and Jeremiah had ten children baptised in the neighbouring parish of Hemel Hempstead. When their eldest son was baptised in 1696 the register notes that four children of a Francis Smith were baptised on the same day and in the same house, suggesting they were probably relatives of Mary's.

Mary was baptised on 3rd February 1699 at Hemel Hempstead, described simply as "Mary, wife of Jeremiah Puddefoot Baptized", with no indication as to who her parents were. The fact that she was baptised as an adult suggests that she had not been baptised as an infant.

At least three of Mary and Jeremiah's ten children died young. From at least 1708 onwards the family was described as living at Wood Farm to the north of the town, close to the border with Great Gaddesden (the boundary was changed in the 1930s to put Wood Farm into Great Gaddesden parish).

At least two of Mary's sons were sent away to be apprentices: Joseph in 1720 to train as a carpenter in Caddington and Samuel in 1732 to train as an apothecary in St Albans.

Mary died in 1737, being buried Hemel Hempstead on 28th June 1737. Jeremiah outlived her by nearly twelve years.

1.   Church of England. Hemel Hempstead Parish Registers, 1558-1949. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   1698 / Feb[ruar]y 3 / Mary, wife of Jeremiah Puddefoot Baptized [i.e. 3 Feb 1698/9]

2. ↑ Church of England. Hemel Hempstead Parish Registers, 1558-1949. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   Burials 1737
   June 28 - Mary wife of Jeremy Puddephatt