The Fun in Being Wrong

 

Burial Richard Philpot 1628 Wye Kent England

I did it again. Last year I found that my ancestor Richard Philpot aka Fylpot was the father of my ancestress Agnes Philpot who was baptized in Wye Kent England 21 April 1560. I knew Agnes’ mother was Eleanor and when I found the marriage of Richard to Eleanor Dane in Wye in 1556 I happily entered entered Eleanor in my Genealogy program.

Then I spent considerable time searching for Eleanor’s parents.  Today when digging deeper into the Wye Parish records, I found several siblings for my Agnes, and the burial of her father Richard in 1628.

But hold on! I found a second marriage for my Richard, to an Eleanor Potten, in Wye in July 1559.  Since my Agnes was baptized in 1560 Eleanor Potten must be her mother.  I’d made a newbie mistake and didn’t keep looking for more details for Richard.  It was an easy mistake to make   E cause who would thin ke had two wives named Eleanor. But it was an assumption, not an exhaustive search to verify I had the right wife.

I’ve forgiven myself for jumping to conclusions and actually had some fun tracking down the family group for Robert and his three wives.  Yes - three. I discovered a third wife named Alice but not given the courtesy of a surname in the church register.

It seems tha my Richard Philpot first married Eleanor Dane in 1556 and had two sons with her - Stewyn [sic] in 1556 and Thomas in 1558. Eleanor died that same year.

Richard then married Eleanor Potten (also found as Potyn and Pottry) in July 1559 and had two children by her- Agnes in 1560 and Mary in 1561. This wife was buried in Wye in July 1562.

Richard wasted no time marrying again but the poor man had three youngsters (little Thomas died at 4 days old) and needed a wife to care for them. In November 1662 Richard married Alice and had two more children - Anfra in 1567 and a second son named Thomas in 1569. Alice lived u til 1608 and Richard  died 20 years later in 1628. His burial records him as “an ancient householder”

So, while I made a silly mistake and had to redo my earlier research, I’m having fun finding out more about my Philpot family in Wye. 

52 Ancestors: Hannah Philpot Golding and George Norris - Friends With Benefits?

Pluckley, Kent England

I'm writing about my 3rd great grandmother Hannah Philpot Golding as part of Amy Crow's Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and also as part of Women's History Month Challenge
 
Hannah was born in 1805 in the little hamlet of Pluckley in Kent England to John & Susanna Philpot. 

Pluckley is said to be the most haunted village in England. At age 18, Hannah left Pluckley for Lenham, a nearby small town. There she married Edward Golding and over the next 14 years the couple had 6 children. When their youngest was 9 months old Edward died and Hannah was left a widow at the age of 28. 

Church in Lenham

Hannah had no family in Lenham but luckily she was able to take in laundry to support her young family. My mother went to Lenham to research my 2nd great grandmother Georgiana Golding who was born there in 1840. To our surprise Georgiana's mother Hannah was noted in the church record as "the widow Hannah Golding". My next find was the fact that Hannah's husband died some 3 years earlier in 1837. So obviously my 2nd great grandmother was an illegitimate birth. 

It took a few years to find out who had fathered Georgiana but eventually I had the proof that it was Hannah's next door neighbour, George  Norris. Hannah went on to have another child after Georgiana, and Georgiana named George as her father at her marriage to Charles Simpson, so obviously this was not a secret in the village. 

Hannah never remarried after Edward's death and George Norris remained single his entire life. I've always wondered what their relationship was. They never lived together so were they an early example of  "friends with benefits"? Was it a casual but consensual relationship? Or was it a long-lasting love that carried on over the years. I suspect I will never know. 

Kent County Insane Asylum

The last record of Hannah is the 1881 census where she is found as an 85 year old widow, an inmate of Kent County Asylum. Often paupers were sent to the Lunatic Asylum but it may also be that Hannah suffered from senility or some other disorder that labelled her as insane. It's very sad that none of her children could support her or take her into their own home. I have never found Hannah's death although she may be the Hannah Golding who died in June 1881 in Maidstone (which is where the Asylum was located).

As for George Norris he disappears after the 1861 census where he is found as a 50 year old single man living with his mother in Lenham.