Here’s more on the Fords of East Meon…
Harriet Ford, born
1816, comes from a long line of Fords whose records of births deaths and
marriages have been kept in the registers of the ancient All Saints Church at
East Meon for hundreds of years. We have documented her family back five
generations to the 1660s through marriages of Fords with the Philip, Greest,
Norman, Webb, Coll and Sylvester families.
Since this is an old
town form the days of the Doomsday Book
it seems the name Ford derives from the
Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the old English "ford" -- a
shallow place in the river where people can ride or cross with their animals.
The surname has been recorded as Ford, Foord, Foard, Forth and Forder since the
time of the Saxons.
The occupational surname Ford comes from being known as the keeper of the ford or being in charge of the river crossing.
Daniel Ford b: 1675, d: 22 Mar 1730
... + Elizabeth
Webb b: 22 Oct 1681 in East Meon, m: 02 Oct 1699 in East Meon, d: 11 Nov
1729 in East Meon
...... William Ford b: 28 Feb 1713 in East Meon, d: 18
Mar 1799 in East Meon
...... +
Mary Norman b: 22
Nov 1719 in East Meon, m: 28 Jun 1737 in East Meon, d: 24 Oct 1785 in East
Meon; pauper
......... Henry Ford b: 13 Dec 1753 in East Meon
......... + Sarah
Greest b: Abt. 1753, m: 10 Oct 1781 in Hambledon, Hampshire, England, d:
07 Nov 1795 in Hambledon, Hampshire, England
............ Henry Ford
b: 18 Apr 1784 in Hambledon, Hampshire, England, d: 1853 in East Meon; Union
house
............
+ Mary Phillips
b: 1790, m: 11 Oct 1811 in East Meon
............... Harriet Ford b: 30 Jun 1816 in East Meon
The Ford ancestors
keep popping up in various church records as paupers. Given the surrounds,
presumably they were working as agricultural labourers in the nearby farms or
around the ancient mills such as Frogmore and Draytons. So it appears they
were literally “poor as the proverbial”
church mice. It’s a time of no social security for those unable to work hence
the need for an Alms House in town and another at Petersfield.
Harriet is born and
baptised in 1816. Her father Henry and her mother Mary are paupers. When the
first census is taken in 1841, Harriet Foard aged 25 lives with her mother Mary
(50) and her four-year-old son Charles Foard at Frogmore part of the East
Meon/Petersfield registration district. Frogmore’s a local farm and Mill. A notation on the baptismal record shows
little Charles as being the illegitimate son of Charles Kill.
Harriet
Foard, her mother Mary and son Charles in the 1841 census
However, in 1850 she
had married William Wilks an East Meon man who was working as an Agricultural
labourer at Frogmore. Their marriage is recorded at Portsea on 27 May 1850.
Incidentally, William Wilk’s mother Mary was also a pauper and he is christened
in East Meon with a notation “illegitimate”. His marriage certificate does
however give his father’s name as Philip.
William
Wilkes marries Harriet Ford 27th May 1850
The 1851 census
Harriet is living with her sons Charles and William Ford as wife -Harriet
Wilkes- to William Wilkes. Her two illegitimate sons are noted as "sons in
law" by the census taker. Charles is now 14 and little William is 4.
William Ford is found recorded in the Parish records as the illegitimate son of
Henry Holmes having christened while Harriet was living in Poor Union House at
Petersfield.
It seems that the
family moves from Frogmore during the next 10 years. In September 1859 Harriet
Wilkes dies aged 43 with the Parish records recording her abode as Ripplington
(farm). The informant is her elderly neighbour from Frogmore, Lydia Bricknell
who is the wife of a pauper labourer at Frogmore. The cause of death is lung
disease which she has suffered from “long since” as shown in her death
certificate below.
Family History Tip:
Use the site
Dustydocs to pull together all the marvelous work done by the transcribers of
church records in your locality.
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