Person:Mary Walby (2)

Mary Walby was baptised on 12th June 1785 at Aston in Hertfordshire, daughter of Alice Walby, formerly Wright, and her husband George Walby, a labourer.

Mary was married on 21st July 1810, aged 25, to an agricultural labourer called John Hanchant who was from the neighbouring parish of Shephall. They married at Shephall and settled there after their marriage. Mary's older sister Sarah had married a man called John Lever from Shephall a few years earlier, and John Lever was one of the witnesses to Mary and John Hanchant's marriage.

Mary and John went on to have seven children baptised at Shephall between 1810 and 1829. Back in Aston, Mary's mother died in 1816 and her father in died in 1821.

The 1841 census finds Mary, John and some of their children living at Shephall Green.

A Tithe Map of Shephall was prepared in 1845, in which John is listed as the owner and occupier of a small piece of land in the middle of the village green, and one of three occupiers of a row of cottages on the east side of Shephall Green. Comparison with modern maps show the building is still there, now converted to one house and called 23 Shephall Green, which is a listed building, dating back to the seventeenth century. One of the other occupiers of this row of cottages was John Lever, Mary's brother-in-law, suggesting the sisters lived with their husbands very close to each other.

Mary died in 1857, aged 72. John survived her by four years.

1. ↑ Church of England. Aston Parish registers, 1558-1980. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   1785: Mary Daugh[te]r of George & Alice Walby June 12

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 439; Book 3; Folio 8; Page 11, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Shephall Green, Shephall, Hertfordshire
   John Hanchant, male, 60 [1779-81], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Mary Hanchant, female, 55 [1781-6], born in county
   Ann Hanchant, female, 30 [1806-11], born in county
   Thomas Hanchant, male, 20 [1816-21], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   John Hanchant, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Mary Hanchant, female, 12 [1828/9], born in county
   James Hanchant, male, 7 [1833/4], 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 1709; Folio 290; Page 3, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Shephall, Hertfordshire
   John Hanchant, head, married, male, 70 [1780/1], Agr[icultural] Lab[ourer], b. Sheephall, Hertfordshire
   Mary Hanchant, wife, married, female, 66 [1784/5], Wife, b. Aston, Hertfordshire
   John Hanchant, son, unmarried, male, 24 [1826/7], Agr[icultural] Lab[ourer], b. Sheephall, Hertfordshire
   Thomas Hanchant, son, unmarried, male, 31 [1819/20], Agr[icultural] Lab[ourer], b. Sheephall, Hertfordshire

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

   d. Mary HANCHANT, December Quarter 1857, Hitchin Registration District, Volume 3a, page 146, aged 73 [1783/4]