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| All Saints' Church, Thorpe Malsor cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Jonathan Thacker - geograph.org.uk/p/6620224 |
Thomas Willis (bap. 19 Jan 1752 in Thorpe Malsor), son of William and Elizabeth Willis, married Mary Essex on 13 Oct 1778 at All Saints Church, Thorpe Malsor, Northamptonshire. Thomas and Mary had nine children, all of whom were baptised at Thorpe Malsor, All Saints:
- William Willis bap. 2 Jan 1780
- Elizabeth Willis bap. 7 Apr 1782
- Mary Willis bap. 18 Jul 1784
- Ann Willis bap. 26 Mar 1786
- Maria Willis bap. 24 May 1789
- Joseph Willis bap. 25 Apr 1791
- Thomas Willis bap. 11 Feb 1792
- John Willis bap. 24 May 1795
- Lucey (sic) Willis bap. 15 Jan 1797
It is clear that they named the first two children after Thomas' parents and therefore appear to follow common family convention on naming. Particularly interesting and unusual is that there are both a Mary and a Maria - that these are NOT interchangeable to the same person. Maria Willis and her husband, Solomon Thompson, do this too and re-use many of these same names, adding weight to the reasons for accepting this as the correct family.
There is a death of a Mary Willis in the area in 1799 that may relate.
Thomas Willis born 1752, was buried in Thorpe Malsor in 1814.