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#1
07-05-13, 19:10
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Baptism entry - am I reading this correctly ?
This is a detail from the baptism entry for Mary (D) of Thake and Mary Prior, 5 Feb 1786 at St Andrews Buckland, Herts.
 I think I know what it says after "From Standon parish, 5 years old December 16 '85", but would firstly like a second opinion. If it says what I think it does, then I'm mightily puzzled !! Rick. 
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#2
07-05-13, 19:20
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A nurs'd ch:ld presumably short for "a nursed child" i.e. fostered.
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#3
07-05-13, 19:37
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That's what I thought too.
So given a little background on Thake and Mary, do you think it's a valid assumption that they have fostered/adopted someone else's child ? I've only seen the phrase used when poorer families fostered for money. Thake came from a wealthy family of yeoman farmers and at this time occupied one of the largest farms in Hertfordshire. The couple had a daughter Susanna, born about 1769 just after they married, who is my direct line ancestor. There's no record of a baptism for Susanna, but she and Mary are left money in Thake's will. There's no mention of record of other children.
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#4
07-05-13, 21:43
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You say thake was from Yeoman farmers and I wonder if the child Mary is actually the daughter of their daughter Susannah, "nurs'd child" being a delicate way of getting round the rude fact that she was their illegitimate gandchild!
Just a guess.... OC
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#5
07-05-13, 22:08
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Quote:
He left the farm to his nephew William (who lived with them) in trust that his widow Mary and William might both continue to live on the farm. He then left Susanna (by then married and living in London) and daughter Mary (also living with Susanna and family) just £5 each. He then "on reflection" incrased that to £100 and £50 respectively in a codicil. Hmmmmmmm
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#6
07-05-13, 22:26
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Ah yes, sorry, got the maths wrong. Susannah too young to be the mother of Mary.
Not helpful to you, but I had a farming ancestor whose Will was a bit odd, he left the farm to a younger son, not the eldest. After some sleuthing on my part, it turned out the older son was in fact his illegitimate nephew. Blood is thicker than water, definitely where farms are concerned, lol. OC
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#7
07-05-13, 22:36
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A baptism for Susanna might shed some light on things, but there isn't one I can find. I've seen cases where siblings donate a child to a childless couple, but in this case I think there's something in that wording in the codicil. Wonder if I'll ever get to the bottom of that ? Thanks OC !
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#8
08-05-13, 05:56
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Two thoughts.....
1) How do you know when Susanna was born? 2) Interesting that the nursed child came with a date of birth (assuming that's what Dec 16th refers to) at a time when lots of people would have forgotten this information by the time the child was aged 5!
__________________
"Something has been filled in that I didn't know was blank" Matthew Broderick WDYTYA? March 2010
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#10
08-05-13, 10:05
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Quote:
I agree about your second point. I was surpirsed at the detail in the baptism entry.
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