Richard Wilton and Mary Robinson

St Mary, Sawston - East end
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/4970953

Richard Wilton (b. 1737), son of Henry Wilton and Martha Douse, married Mary Robinson on 30 Mar 1762 in Sawston, Cambridgeshire. Only two miles from Great Shelford and Stapleford, is Sawston, where there were many Wiltons, going back to the early 1600s - just haven't tied them all together. 

They had at least four children, all baptised at St Mary's Church, Sawston.

1. Elizabeth Wilton bap. 4 Jul 1762
2. Henry Wilton bap. 30 Oct 1768
3. Stephen Wilton bap. 25 Dec 1777
4. Hannah Wilton bap. 7 Jun 1779 (buried 17 Aug 1779)

Mary Wilton, wife of Richard, died and was buried on 10 Apr 1780.

Richard Wilton, Widower, was buried in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, in 1797.

Sawston, Cambridgeshire is notable as one of the very few industrial villages in the county that take advantage of the clean water supply, one of the principle industries being leather. There are two sites in Sawston which support or have formerly supported Tanning facilities and there may have been leather-workers in the parish in the Middle Ages. This very likely explains why Henry Wilton (1768) and his nephew, Henry Wilton (1809) became saddlers and my 3rd great-grandfather, Richard Wilton, a harness maker.

The River Cam (or Granta) near Sawston
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Sutton - geograph.org.uk/p/2860358

Henry Wilton and Mary Barton

The King's Head (closed), Great Dunmow. Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0)

This pub and hotel on North Street has been closed and boarded up for some years, with signs of abandoned or postponed building work. It is grade II listed, the oldest parts from the 15th century. Conflicting reports suggest it has since been demolished or converted into flats.

Back on the family pub crawl ... Two things listed in Pigot's Directory of Essex 1823 relate to another Henry Wilton. One is a listing as a saddler, the other, under Taverns and Public Houses, is for 'Henry Wilton, King's Head'[1]. This Henry Wilton is clearly not Henry Wilton (1809-1890), saddler, the elder brother of my 3x great-grandfather, Richard Wilton, because that Henry Wilton would have been merely 14 years old in 1823. We have to go back another generation: this is their uncle Henry, brother of Stephen Wilton. 

Henry Wilton, son of Richard Wilton and Mary Robinson, was baptised St Mary's Church, Sawston, Cambridgeshire on 30 Oct 1768. In 1783 he was apprenticed to Matthew Norris in Shelford, as a Collarmaker. Then on 20 Sep 1810, he married Mary Barton in Great Dunmow. Both were described as being "Of This Parish", so had been in the town since at least then. 

In 1841, Henry Wilton (73) Ind (Independant means?) and his wife Mary (61) were living alongside his nephew, Henry Wilton, saddler in the High Street, Great Dunmow. They were one side - of Geo. Saich, ostler (the census records don't provide any clues as to which hostelry), and his wife Charlotte (née Thorogood) - on the other was Robert Hockley, tailor and draper.

"Uncle" Henry Wilton died in 1846 J Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 49. He will have been 78.

In 1861, Mary Wilton (80) with birthplace given as Ruislip, Middlesex, was a Lodger in the High Street, Great Dunmow.

Mary Wilton died, at 81, on 8 Nov 1861 (1861 D Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 214). Probate was granted to John Barnard Grocer and Sole Executor. John Barnard (1799-1872), was a grocer (later also wine & spirit merchant) in the High Street, Great Dunmow. It's not known if there was any familial link or what the reason was for appointing him.

[1] Also listed in Pigot's Directory of Essex 1823 at the King's Head is William Cock, who was listed as the Licensee or Tavernkeeper from 1815 until at least 1829. It isn't clear what role Henry Wilton played in this business.