Journals of a Time Traveller

Another genealogist gave me a hint some twenty years ago, that they'd seen one of my Attleborough Smith ancestors as listed among the inmates of Norwich Castle Gaol.  I never followed it up until today, when I bought a second hand book called "Unquiet Country".  Voices of the Rural Poor 1820 - 1880. Robert Lee 2005.

The guy behind the till in the book shop said that he had been tempted to purchase it.  I replied that I might find one of my ancestors in it.  I didn't think that I would.  Then sitting on the bus, on the way back, as I reading through the chapter "Seems we have a revolution on our hands",   I read about an incident in Attleborough, Norfolk during December 1830:  

At least their slow walk gave the two men time to weigh up what was happening.  The churchyard was crowded.  Francklin noted that many faces were muffled and masked.  In evidence, too, were a number of sinister looking sticks, clubs and cudgels, some resting on the ground, some shouldered, some being slapped rhythmically against tensed, sweating palms.

"See the flag Dover?" muttered Francklin from the side of his mouth, 'Seems we have a revolution on our hands'.  Still furled, but unmistakable and carried with defiant pride, the tri-colour flag of revolutionary France provided a splash of colour in a damp corner of the graveyard.

The background was the Swing Riots.  Since August, many agricultural labourers and paupers took direct political action in protest against their deteriorating condition, that had been escalating with a long history of enclosure - the privatisation of pastures where the poor grazed their meagre livestock.  A favoured target were the new machines of the Agricultural Revolution, such as the threshing machines, which reduced the need for much labour on the land.  Masked gangs would set fire to them.  A mythical hero called Captain Swing gave name to the riots.  Workhouses would be attacked - the places where the poor were expected to plead for food and shelter, living as inmates for the offence of being replaced by such machines.  Tithe barns would also be attacked - the farmers were falling over themselves to blame the Church for excessive taxation, that prevented them paying a living wage to their labourers.

Some of the labourers cried out "half, half," holding up sticks and a mattock was held up, the mattock was not held up till after I had agreed to reduce 10 per cent ... they became more violent...

East Anglia was the epicentre of the Swing Riots.  Continuing in Attleborough, the rioters harangued the annual tithe meeting where the parson organised tithes for the forthcoming year.  The Parson, the Rev. Francklin, was assaulted when he refused to drop the tithes to a half.  He was forcibly imprisoned by the Swing rioters.  One of the masked men lifted a mattock (a pick axe-like tool as top photo) when the parson refused to give more than a 10% reduction in tithe tax to the farmers that employed them.  Another called for a knife, to cut off his head.  The parson and his associates were beaten, the vestry pilloried with stones.  Previous to arriving at the church meeting, the mob had already destroyed three threshing machines, and attacked the workhouse, demanding that the master fed them, or they would march him around the town with a stone hanging from his neck.  This really was revolution in backwater Norfolk.

Then I read the names of the accused at the subsequent trial:

For their breach of the peace, and for having broken into and entered the vestry room of the parish church ... and for having beaten the Rev. Fairfax Francklin ... threatened him and kept him a prisoner for several hours', Robert Smith was imprisoned for two and a half years, Samuel Smith for two years....

and after that was decided he (witness) would communicate the result (to the labourers); saw Robert Smith with a mattock ; a cry was raised...

Hang on.  Is that my 3rd great grandfather Robert Smith of Attleborough?  It appears so.  That hint twenty years ago.  He was married only three years earlier, to Lydia Hewitt - by the Rev. Francklin!  No wonder they didn't have any children for a few years.  He was serving time in Norwich Castle.

Robert was born the son of Raphael and Mary Smith, in Attleborough during early 1807.  At least three generations had lived in Attleborough, perhaps many more.  Indeed, both of his parents carried the Smith surname previous to marriage.  The Samuel Smith convicted with him may have been a cousin of his.  Robert must have been around 24 years old when he raised that mattock at the parson.  He had two young children to feed and a wife.  Times were incredibly difficult for the poor.  I wonder if he was behind the voice that was reported during the Attleborough Riot by a witness:

Above the confusion of the voices one rang out, more stridant and confident than the rest 'We are the strongest party' the man cried. 'We always have been and we always will be.  This is only the beginning.  We have begun at the foot, and we will go up to the head.'.

That was the voice not of a mob rioter, but of a revolutionary.  Not just the beating up of an elderly parson perhaps.  It had to be nipped at the bud, and after the military declared the Riot Act, the magistrates did just that.

While Robert languished in the gaol of Norwich Castle, his younger brother, Raphael Smith, passed away age 21.  Tough times to live.

Robert was released and fathered several more children.  In 1841 he was living at Lydia's father's farm at Hill Common, with six of their children.  But Robert was diversifying.  He was recorded on that census as a hawker - a salesman.

Three years later, in 1844, Robert's wife Lydia past away, age only 37 years.  In 1849, with children to care for, Robert married a second time, to a widow named Frances Saunders (nee Husk).  Her children by her previous marriage joined the household.

In 1851, Robert, living still in Attleborough with his family, was now working as an umbrella maker!  Then something happened.  The railways had arrived, bringing opportunities for many poor Norfolk families to move away.  The cotton mill towns were beckoning.  Robert, in his fifties, and Frances, left my 2nd great grandfather Robert Smith in Attleborough, and moved up North to Sculcoates, East Riding, Yorkshire.  In 1861, there they were, until 1870 when Robert finally passed away.  The Man with the Mattock.

Meanwhile his son Robert Smith (the junior) did quite well in Attleborough.  He was a bricklayer.  He had a trade.  He married Ann Peach (who's own father had been transported to Tasmania in 1837 for stealing cattle), and they for many years ran a beerhouse and builders yard in Attleborough, called the Grapes.  Their son Fred Smith also apprenticed into a trade.  He became a wheelwright, moved to Norwich, where he met my great grandmother Emily Barber.  They had several children in Norwich, including my grandmother Doris Brooker nee Smith.

Fred Smith with his daughter Doris in Norwich circa 1908.

EDIT: another newspaper report from the Norwich Mercury, dated 15th January 1831:

EDIT - MORE UPDATES Man with the Mattock II

I'm on a fresh family tree run.  Well, actually, this one I'm sort of restoring, after once trimming the branch out.  I found them a while ago, but then noticed that one baptism would have made the proposed mother around sixteen.  It can happen, but I don't see such young motherhood very often in my tree, so I cut a branch off.  When in doubt - cut it out.

The Moll family lived during the 18th century in Ranworth, and the neighbouring parish of South Walsham in glorious Norfolk.  Here's my Tracey on her phone earlier this year nearby at Ranworth Broad:

Isn't she lovely?  Getting back to the subject, a fresh look at the Moll Family using online genealogy, and I saw my mistake.  That early Moll baptism belonged to another mother / wife of the father, from an earlier marriage.  It all fit after all.

I descend from them through my maternal grandmother, born Ivy Tovell.  Let's start this time from the top, as far back as I can safely get on this line at the moment.

My 7th great grandfather Abraham Moll lived in the Norfolk parish of Ranworth.  Where was he born?  He couldn't have been the Abraham born at Hoveton, Norfolk in 1719.  He'd be too young.  He could have been the Abraham Moll born at Edingthorpe, Norfolk, in 1696.  Just the right age.  However, that's about 20 miles away.  Did people move that far back then?  Sure.  My Thacker family line for example, shifted around East Anglia.  But most in my experience did not.  Therefore I like more evidence before accepting an origin just like that.  When you go back much earlier than 1780, that extra quality evidence rapidly evaporates for the masses.  That is where many, many, online genealogists go wrong.  Particularly if they don't live locally, they just go for the nearest with the same name, and about the right date.  If I had done that, maybe I'd now be back to Charlemagne like they usually are.  But I wouldn't believe the pedigree.  They shouldn't either.

So the earliest record - the baptism of his, and his wife's son Abraham (junior) at Ranworth in 1728:

I then have baptisms at Ranworth for four more of their children, including my 6th great grandfather Solomon Moll.  The last record for Abraham (senior) though was his burial at Ranworth in 1745:

6th great grandfather Solomon Moll was quite interesting.  Born at Ranworth in 1731, rather than the usual agricultural labourer, he was a cordwainer (a shoe maker).  Over the years he apprenticed a number of young men in South Walsham, Norfolk, for example:

Solomon the shoe maker, married my 6th great grandmother Rebecca Johnson, in 1759 at South Walsham St Mary's:

and she was to give birth to my 5th great grandmother Elizabeth Moll at South Walsham in 1763.

I don't know when Rebecca died, but widower Solomon married a second time in 1805, to a widow named Elizabeth Ebbage.  He must have been about 74 years old.  Good on him.  Maybe it was love.  Companionship at least.

His daughter Elizabeth Moll married widower, Jacob Wymer at nearby Moulton St Mary in 1785.

Moulton St Mary.  One of my favourite local rural churches.  The walls, exposed by conservation work are covered with medieval murals.

My 4th great grandmother Mary Wymer was born at Moulton, Norfolk in 1789.  She married a local farm worker named William Springall at nearby Halvergate (on the edge of the marshes) in 1811.  They had at least seven children at Halvergate between then and 1834.  One of them was my 3rd great grandmother Elizabeth Springall.  She married local lad William Lawn over the marshes at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk during 1831.  They settled at Tunstall, next to the marshes close to Halvergate.  William was interesting.  Although a marshman and labourer, he served as the parish clerk at Tunstall for 33 years.

Their daughter, my great great grandmother, Eliza Lawn, was born at Tunstall in 1849.  She married George Tammas-Tovell at Tunstall in 1866.

Here she is, the old lady sitting on the right of the photo:

An interview with one of my late great aunts recalled that as an old lady, she'd sit long periods in front of a mirror, brushing her long grey hair.  In the above photo, she poses with her son, grandaughter, and great grandaughter, my mother's sister.  Probably taken at Halvergate or Reedham.

Stats Update

The boring stuff (last updated 20th Dec 2017)

My Ancestry tree currently contains the records of 2,924 family members.  Including 328 direct ancestors for myself and my siblings.

Generation 3 (grandparents) has 4 individuals. (100.00%)

Generation 4 (great grandparents) has 8 individuals. (100.00%)

Generation 5 (2nd great grandparents) has 16 individuals. (100.00%)

Generation 6 (3rd great grandparents) has 31 individuals. (96.88%)

Generation 7 (4th great grandparents) has 57 individuals. (89.06%)

Generation 8 (5th great grandparents) has 70 individuals. (54.69%)

Generation 9 (6th great grandparents) has 68 individuals. (27.34%)

Generation 10 (7th great grandparents) has 46 individuals. (9.34%)

Generation 11 (8th great grandparents) has 21 individuals. (2.15%)

Generation 12 (9th great grandparents) has 5 individuals. (0.24%)

I have 156 direct ancestors recorded for my father.

I have 170 direct ancestors recorded for my mother.

I have 490 direct ancestors recorded for my children.

This one is on my mother's side, close to my maternal line.  The ancestor below is my mother's, mother's, mother (my 2nd great grandmother), Sarah Thacker of Rackheath, born as Sarah Ann Elizabeth Daines, at Besthorpe, Norfolk, in 1849.

Her parents were Reuben Daynes and his wife, born Sarah Quantrill.  3rd great grandfather Reuben had moved to Besthorpe from the nearby parish of Brandon Parva.  The Quantrill family were a Wymondham family.

Rueben Daynes (the junior) was the son of Rueben Daynes (the senior), my 4th great grandfather, and Sarah (nee Lake) of Brandon Parva. My 4th great grandfather Rueben had also been born at Brandon Parva, back in 1781.

The church at Brandon Parva on a bike ride last summer.

Rueben Daynes (senior) was the son of Abraham and Elizabeth Daynes of Brandon Parva, Norfolk.  That far I had discovered.  Now I have extended back on Elizabeth's ancestry.

I now know that my 5th great grandmother Elizabeth, was born Elizabeth Moore, and that the couple were married at Wicklewood, Norfolk back in 1764.  Rueben was a late child:

Quite clear, it states that she married Abraham Daynes of Brandon Parva.

Elizabeth herself was born at Wymondham, and was baptised there in 1748, the daughter of William and Abigail Moore:

My 6th great grandparents William Moore and Abigail Blasey, had been married a few years earlier, in Wymondham during 1745:

Abigail Blasey was local, and had been baptised at Wymondham, the daughter of Samuel and Bridget Blasey in 1724:

My 7th great grandparents, Samuel Blasey / Blazey and Bridget Lord, were married at Wymondham in 1722:

Samuel Blasey was baptised in Wymondham in 1700, the son of my 8th great grandfather, Charles Blasey.  The paper trail runs out.  I suspect that Charles Blasey / Blazey had also been born at Wymondham, around 1672, quite likely the son of a Robert Blazey.  But I haven't found that documentary evidence.

I will say that during the late 17th Century (1670's - 1701), there were Blasey, Quantrill, Moore, and Page families in Wymondham.  That might suggest that we have some pretty old Wymondham ancestry on mother's side of the tree.  Some of father's were not far off either, with some of his ancestors in nearby Attleborough, Coston, Great Hockham, Swanton Morley, and East Dereham.

I'm really pleased to find this breakthrough, the second in recent weeks, even after 29 years of researching family history.

It's also great to find such a strong ancestral link to a Norfolk market-town that I especially love.

Wymondham

I've recently, through DNA matching, reinvestigated my Peach ancestors of the Maxey area of Northamptonshire.  The men of this family were usually recorded as drovers or shepherds.  Below for example, are some of my Peach drovers as they stayed for the night at an inn in Hoe, Norfolk during 1851. Young James there, walking livestock from the other side of the Fens, was the 20 year old younger brother of my 3rd great grandfather, David Peach.

The family lived for a number of generations, in the area of Stamford, Maxey, and Eye, in what was then the County of Northants, close to Peterborough.  It was the perfect base for the transportation of Welsh cattle, sheep, and other livestock, from the North and West, across the Fen droves, and down to the rich meadows, pastures, and marsh grasses of East Anglia, where livestock could be fattened, before then being driven down to markets including Smithfields in London. Before the railways, this livestock had to be transported the hard way - by foot along a number of trails and droves, that took in watering points, grazing, and were secure from gangs of rustlers.

Many drovers were young men, that later settled as shepherds and labourers.  They were travellers outside of their home areas.  Visitors to far away inns, markets, fairs, and parishes.  Maybe that was an attraction for some local girls, such as my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah Ann Riches, of the South West Norfolk parish of Great Hockham.  These lads from far away, with strange accents.  Did she walk back with my 3rd great grandfather David Peach, all the way back to Northamptonshire?  They married at Holywell Lincolnshire, in 1835.  Sarah must have been heavily pregnant, because she gave birth to their daughter Ann Peach a few months later at Etton, Northants.

The livestock that these drovers were paid to walk many miles were often highly valuable, their monetary value far in excess of the personal value of a poor drover.  They had to be trusted to take care of them, and to behave with honesty.  It would be so easy to sell an animal on the journey, and to claim that it had died of natural causes.  Some drovers broke that trust.  In 1837, my 3rd great grandfather, David Peach, was convicted at Lincoln Assizes of stealing two cattle.  He was taken to a prison hulk ship moored into the Thames.  A few months later, he was transported for Life.  His convict ship stopped off at Norfolk Island, before then moving him to Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) in 1838.  He was sent to the notorious hard labour Port Arthur convict settlement.  Some years later he was pardoned, but he was not granted licence to return to Britain.

Meanwhile, his young family suffered.  His wife Sarah Ann, with their young daughter, Ann Peach, returned to her family in Norfolk.  A wife of a convict, even if transported for Life, could not remarry.  She had to find means to survive and to raise Ann on her own.  She lived many years in the Norfolk market town of Attleborough, where she scraped a livelihood as a charwoman.  She had two further children.  One, she named David Wilson Peach.  Wilson, most likely the biological father - but she gave him her husband's first name.  Did she still harbour strong feelings for her far away husband?

Other male Peach's in the family continued to drove, as the above 1851 census reveals.  David was literally in another world.  Two of Sarah's siblings, Henry Riches and Maria Hudson (nee Riches), also migrated to Tasmania, albeit during the 1850s as volunteer settlers to the north of the Island.

Walking in footsteps

I had one of those time-traveller moments today.  It occurred to me, as I found a DNA match supporting my descent from these drovers, when I visited a website about them, how I on a personal level, have always been a long distance walker.  From sponsored long distance walks as a kid, until walking the Marriot's Way, and Boudicca Way in Norfolk only this year.  I absolutely love walking through the countryside.  Testing my endurance.  With a dog or two even better.  I've walked the Peddars Way twice, the Fen Rivers Way, the North Norfolk Coast Path, and the Weavers Way.  In 2016, I walked a part of the Pennine Way.  But all of those walks, some of them would have even crossed where my drover ancestors crossed.  With their dogs.  It's almost as though we have that hereditary link.  I'm the descendant of drovers and I walk.  Without knowing it, I have walked in their footsteps.

Here are some of my photos from my 2017 walks.  Perhaps some of these landscapes may not have been too dissimilar to the green lanes and landscapes that they knew (albeit without the huge open fields).

So maybe, just maybe, there is a link there.  The guy that just loves to walk through the East Anglian countryside all day, and those drovers of the Nineteenth Century.  The desire to walk and to explore.

5 x great grandparents (Generation 8)! Now that is difficult. My percentages really start to fall away at this generation - only 51% named (compared to 89% of Gen. 7). What a challenge.

Right, what I do have:

1. Edward Brucker. b.1757 Long Wittenham, Berkshire, England.
   
2. Elizabeth Brucker (nee Gregory). b.1761 Long Wittenham, Berkshire, England.
   
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5. John Edney. b.1743 Whitchurch, Oxfordshire, England
   
6. Mary Edney (nee Crutchfield). b.1740 Whitchurch, Oxfordshire, England.
   
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11. David Durran. b.1782 Steeple Ashton, Oxfordshire, England.
    
12. Ann Durran (nee Lardner). b.1782. Lived Deddington, Oxfordshire, England.
    
13. William Waine. b.1770. Lived Tadmarton, Oxfordshire, England.
    
14. Elizabeth Waine (nee ?). Lived Tadmarton, Oxfordshire, England.
    
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19. Henry Baxter. b.1763 Dereham, Norfolk, England.
    
20. Mary Baxter (nee Bennett) b.1763 Norfolk, England.
    
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24. Jane Barker. Norfolk, England
    
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28. Sarah Barber. b.1782 East Tuddenham, Norfolk, England.
    
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30. Elizabeth Harris. b.1768 Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England.
    
31. John Smith. b.1731 Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
    
32. Judith Smith (nee Dennis). b.1745 Coston, Norfolk, England.
    
33. Richard Smith. b.1775 Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
    
34. Mary Smith (nee ?). Lived Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
    
35. William Hewitt. Lived Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
    
36. Elizabeth Hewitt (nee ?). Lived Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
    
37. John Freeman. Lived Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
    
38. Anne Freeman (nee ?). Lived at Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
    
39. Peter Peach. b.1730. Maxey, Northants, England.
    
40. Mary Peach (nee Rippon). b.1734 Maxey, Northants, England.
    
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43. Peter Riches. b.1755 Old Buckenham, Norfolk, England.
    
44. Mary Riches (nee Harrison). b.1756 Old Buckenham, Norfolk, England.
    
45. William Snelling. Lived Carlton Rode, Norfolk, England.
    
46. Mary Snelling (nee Lewell). b.1753 Kenninghall, Norfolk, England.
    
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61. John Goodram. Lived Morningthorpe, Norfolk, England.
    
62. Lydia Goodram (nee Hammond). b.1749 Morningthorpe, Norfolk, England.
    
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65. John Curtis. Lived Hassingham, Norfolk, England.
    
66. Ann Curtis (nee Annison). Lived Hassingham, Norfolk, England.
    
67. John Rose. b.1775 Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
    
68. Martha Rose (nee Rowland). b.1779 Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
    
69. Benjamin Larke. b.1751 Cantley, Norfolk, England.
    
70. Mary Larke (nee Marsh). b.1769 Norfolk, England.
    
71. Thomas Dingle. b.1757 Moulton St Mary, Norfolk, England.
    
72. Mary Dingle (nee Ginby). Lived Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
    
73. Henry Rose. b.1779 Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
    
74. Margaret Rose (nee Ling). b.1781 Acle, Norfolk, England.
    
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79. Benjamin Merrison. b.1759 Repps-with-Bastwick, Norfolk, England.
    
80. Lydia Merrison (nee Norton). b.1774 Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
    
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83. John Briggs. b.1753 North Burlingham, Norfolk, England.
    
84. Elizabeth Briggs (nee Jacobs). Lived Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
    
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89. Alexander Goffen. b.1705. Lived Rollesby, Norfolk, England.
    
90. Anna Goffen (nee ?). Lived Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
    
91. James Shepherd. Lived Reedham, Norfolk, England.
    
92. Judith Shepherd (nee Maye). b.1749. Lived Reedham, Norfolk, England.
    
93. William Nichols. Lived Halvergate, Norfolk, England.
    
94. Elizabeth Nichols (nee Thurkettle). lived Halvergate, Norfolk, England.
    
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97. Thomas Tovel. Lived Wrentham, Suffolk, England.
    
98. Hannah Tovel (nee Brown). Lived Wrentham, Suffolk, England.
    
99. George Smith. Lived Toft Monks, Norfolk, England.
    
100. Elizabeth Smith (nee Wittham). Lived Toft Monks, Norfolk, England.
     
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107. James Porter. b.1727. Lived at Blofield and Limpenhoe, Norfolk, England.
     
108. Elizabeth Porter (nee Mollett). Lived at Blofield and Limpenhoe, Norfolk, England.
     
109. William Springall. Lived at Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
     
110. Susanna Springall (nee Mingay). Lived at Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.
     
111. Jacob Wymer. b.1756 Moulton St Mary, Norfolk, England.
     
112. Elisabeth Wymer (nee Moll). Lived at Moulton St Mary, Norfolk, England.
     
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117. John Thacker. b.1764 Woodbastwick, Norfolk, England.
     
118. Ann Thacker (nee Hewitt). b.1774 Salhouse, Norfolk, England.
     
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121. Abraham Daynes. Lived at Wicklewood, Norfolk, England.
     
122. Elizabeth Daynes (nee Moore). b. 1748 Wymondham, Norfolk, England.
     
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127. Robert Page. b.1752 Wymondham, Norfolk, England.
     
128. Elizabeth Page (nee Hardment). b.1751 Bunwell, Norfolk, England.

Above.  One of my daughters posing in workhouse pauper attire, in the very workhouse that some of her own ancestors lived.  Gressenhall Rural-Life Museum, Norfolk.

Here I will attempt to list as many of my 4 x great grandmothers, who they were, where they lived, and something about them.

1. Elizabeth Brooker (nee Seymore).  b.1797 Drayton, Oxon. England.  Mother to seven children.  Wife of an agricultural labourer.
2. Hannah Edney (nee Hedges)  b. 1784 Enstone, Oxon, England.  Wife of a thatcher.
3. Brickwall.  Switzerland.  Wife of a copper smith.
   
4. Susannah Durran (nee Waine) b. 1809 Tadmarton, Oxon, England.  Wife of a tailor, mother of seven.
5. Anne Bennett (nee Neale).  b. 1786 Norfolk, England.  Farmer's wife.
6. Frances Baxter (nee Shilling). b. 1778 Gressenhall, Norfolk, England.  Bricklayer's wife and mother of four.
7. Mary Barker (nee Bligh). b. 1797 Scarning, Norfolk, England.  A shoe maker's wife.
8. Jemima Barber (nee Harris).  b. 1800 Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England, an agricultural labourer's wife, and mother of eight.
9. Mary Smith (nee Smith).  b. 1775 Attleborough, Norfolk, England.  An agricultural labourer's wife, and mother of seven.
10. Elizabeth Hewitt (nee Freeman).  b. 1779 Attleborough, Norfolk, England.  An agricultural labourer's wife, and mother of five children.
11. Ann Peach (nee ?)  b. 1779. Northants, England.  Wife of a Shepherd, mother of four.
12. Elizabeth Riches (nee Snelling) b.1781 Banham, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of nine children.
13. Elizabeth Barber (nee ?) Lived at Halesworth, Suffolk, England.
14. Brickwall
    
15. Elizabeth Beckett (nee ?)  b.1770.  Lived at Tasburgh, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of seven.
16. Frances Gooderham (nee ?) b.1790 Saham Toney, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of eight.
17. Mary Ann Curtis (nee Rose) b.1806 Buckenham Ferry, Norfolk, England.  Wife of a marshman and agricultural labourer, mother of nine.
18. Elizabeth Larke (nee Dingle)  b.1795 Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer. Only two children found.
19. Elizabeth Rose (nee Brooks) b.1806 Postwick, Norfolk, England.  Wife of agricultural labourer, mother of nine.
20. Hopeful Barker (nee Morrison) b.1804 Lingwood, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of eight. 
21. Susanna Key (nee Briggs) b.1781 Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of four.
22. Elizabeth Waters (nee Ransby) b.1772 Freethorpe, Norfolk, England.  Wife of a mole catcher, mother of four.
23. Judith Goffen (nee Shepherd) b.1772 Reedham, Norfolk, England.  Wife of a carpenter, mother of six.
24. Emily Nichols (nee Beck) b. 1795 Halvergate, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of only two known.
25. Elizabeth Tovell (nee Smith) b.1795 Toft Monks, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of six.
26. Ann Tammas (nee Dove) b.1786 Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of five.
27. Ann Lawn (nee Porter) b.1763 Limpenhoe, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of four.
28. Mary Springall (nee Wymer) b.1789 Mouton St Mary, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of seven.
29. Brickwall
30. Catharine Thacker (nee Hagon) b.1797 Shipdham, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of three (died 1832, husband remarried).
31. Sarah Daynes (nee ?) b.1783 Witchingham, Norfolk, England.  Wife of an agricultural labourer, mother of ten.
32. Mary Quantrill (nee Page) b.1791 Wymondham, Norfolk, England.  Wife of a weaver, mother of four

What I will also say, is that these ancestors could have had more children, that I have not found baptism records for.  Also, that in addition to looking after the household, and rearing so many children, they would have to contribute to income whenever they could, be it by laundering for others, tailoring, and seasonal casual work on the fields.

Just who were my Generation 7 direct male ancestors - my 4 x great grandfathers?  What were their occupations?  Where were they, and how did they support themselves and their families?

1. John Brooker. b.1788, Long Wittenham, Berkshire, England. Agricultural labourer.
2. Thomas Edney. b.1785 Whitchurch, Oxfordshire, England. Thatcher.
3. John Shawers (Shuarze?). b. circa 1800 Switzerland. Copper smith.
4. Benjamin Durran. b.1810 North Aston, Oxfordshire, England. Tailor.
5. John Bennett. Lived Norfolk, England. b.1788. Farmer.
6. Samuel Baxter. b.1787 Dereham, Norfolk, England. Brick layer.
7. Charles Barker. b.1795 Dereham, Norfolk, England. Shoe maker.
8. James Alderton Barber. b.1803 Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
9. Raphael Smith. b.1775 Attleborough, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
10. Robert Hewitt. b.1782 Attleborough, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
11. John Peach. b.1770 Maxey, Northants, England. Shepherd.
12. Benjamin Riches. b.1779 Old Buckenham, Norfolk. Agricultural labourer.
13. Benjamin Barber. b. circa 1772. Lived Halesworth, Suffolk, England. No trade found in records.
14. Brick wall
15. John Ellis. b. 1773 Lived in Tasburgh, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
16. James Gooderham. b.1786 Hempnall, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
17. William Curtis. b.1808 Hassingham, Norfolk, England. Marshman, agricultural labourer, and steam engine driver.
18. Samuel Larke. b.1795 Cantley, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
19. William Rose. b.1804 Brundall, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
20. Thomas Barker. b.1801 Moulton St Mary, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
21. William Key. b.1778 Postwick, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
22. Robert Waters. b.1771 Freethorpe, Norfolk, England. Mole catcher.
23. Richard Goffen. b.1731 Strumpshaw, Norfolk, England. Carpenter.
24. John Nichols. b.1786 Halvergate, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
25. Thomas Tovell. b.1785 Wrentham, Suffolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
26. Edward Tammas. b.1774 Langley, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
27. William Lawn. b.1761 Norfolk. Lived at Halvergate, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
28. William Springall. b.1788 Halvergate, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
29. Brick wall
30. William Thacker. b.1796 Salhouse, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
31. Reuben Daynes. b.1781 Brandon Parva, Norfolk, England. Agricultural labourer.
32. Robert Quantrill. b.1797 Norfolk, Lived Wymondham, Norfolk, England. Weaver.