Person:Rebecca Bracey (2)

Rebecca Bracey was baptised on 10th December 1727 at Letchworth in Hertfordshire, daughter of Isaac Bracey and his wife Jane. She was the fifth of six children (five girls and one boy), although her only younger sibling, Sarah, died aged 4 in 1735, when Rebecca was 8.

On 11th October 1750, aged 22, Rebecca married a Thomas Hobbs in the neighbouring town of Hitchin. On the same day, her sister Mary was married at Letchworth to a Michael - did they time the marriages so the family could walk the three miles in between and attend both services?

Rebecca and Thomas initially lived in Hitchin, having their first five children there between 1751 and 1759. Thomas worked as a brickmaker. Some time between 1759 and 1761 they left Hitchin, moving a few miles south to the town of Ware on the River Lea. They later moved to the parishes Cheshunt and Broxbourne, which are both a short distance downstream from Ware on the River Lea. They had two children baptised in each of Ware, Cheshunt and Broxbourne. Overall, Rebecca and Thomas had eleven children, and Rebecca was 44 when her youngest child was born.

Rebecca has yet to be traced after the baptism of her youngest child, Benjamin Little Hobbs, in 1772 at Broxbourne. There are two Rebecca Hobbs who were buried in Broxbourne in a plausible time frame, one in 1772 and one in 1794, either of whom could be her; the burial records do not give enough information to be sure.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Church of Letchworth. Parish registers, 1696-1937. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   Parish Register
   1727
   Rebecca the Daughter of Isaac Brac* & Jane his wife, was Baptiz[e]d, on Dec[embe]r the 1[... rest lost in margin]
   Bishop's Transcript
   1727 / Births / Rebecca, Daughter of Isaac Bracey & Jane his Wife was Baptiz[e]d on Dec[embe]r the 10th

2.   Church of England. Broxbourne Parish Registers, 1688-1907. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   1772 Buried
   Oct[obe]r 28 Rebecca Hobbs of this Parish Aff[idavi]t brought
   
   or
   
   1794
   Feb[ruar]y 11 Rebecca Hobbs of this Parish affadavit bro[ugh]t