Sunday, 13 April 2025

Charles Awton and Mary Maurice

St Michael, Awliscombe, Devon - East end
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/1726261

Charles Awton (bap. 1735 in Broadhembury, Devon) married Mary Maurice (b. 1737) at the church of St Michael and All Angels, Awliscombe, East Devon on 13 Apr 1762. The family name was probably, and it certainly became, Horton, but I'll reproduce what was written undoubtedly as a result of the Devonshire accent and the precedent set by the spelling of the village name.

Charles and Mary had at least ten children, all baptised in Awliscombe:
  1. Betty Awton bap. 6 Jun 1762
  2. John Awton bap. 7 Apr 1765 (John, son of Charles and Mary, was buried on 10 Feb 1782. He will have been 16.)
  3. William Awton bap. 22 May 1768
  4. Charles Awton bap. 9 Sep 1770
  5. Mary Awton bap. 18 Apr 1773
  6. Nancy Awton bap. 2 Jul 1775
  7. Jenny Awton bap. 19 Apr 1778 (Later calling herself Jane)
  8. Henry Awton bap. 14 Jan 1781 (Presume died as an infant)
  9. John Awton bap. 11 Feb 1782
  10. Henry Awton bap. 9 Jan 1785
Charles Awton reputedly died in 1810, however, I've found no evidence.

There is a burial of a Mary Auten (sic), on 21 Jun 1837 - the day after Queen Victoria ascended to the throne - in Awliscombe, who had lived to 100. 

Reenactors in the uniform of the 33rd Regiment of Foot (Wellington's Redcoats), who fought in the Napoleonic Wars between 1812 and 1816. (Slightly later than William Horton's time.)
“The 33rd Regiment was unquestionably the best trained regiment in the British Army at this time (1765 -1795).” [SourceWyrdLight.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Most of the Awtons/Hortons I've been unable to trace forward, however, William Horton, living with his sister, Jane Gollop, in Widworthy, in 1841 and 1851, described as a Chelsea Pensioner, who had served with Marquess Cornwallis' 33rd Regiment of Foot (the real one, not the reenactors, but this does help to visualise him in his red coat, looking like an extra in a Jane Austen drama). He was discharged on 21 Apr 1796: William Horton, Private of the Aforesaid Regiment, born in the parish of Orliscomb (sic), in or near the Market Town of Honiton, in the county of Devon, aged twenty-six years (ish) and by Trade a Labourer, hath served honestly and faithfully in the said Regiment, five years and eight months, but being lame of the right arm from a Wound received at Bois-de-duk (sic) on the 15th October 1794, which renders him unfit for service ... The regiment took part in the disastrous Flanders Campaign during the French Revolutionary Wars (War of the First Coalition). In 1794, Bois-le-Duc (French) ('s-Hertogenbosch a.k.a. Den Bosch, Netherlands) was taken by French troops of the newly created young republic. The Siège de Bois-le-Duc (1794) took place from 23 Sep to 5 Oct 1794, so it's clear that William Horton was there around that time.

Despite this, William Horton lived until the age of 84 and was buried, on 27 Mar 1853, in the churchyard of St Cuthbert's church in Widworthy.

Friday, 11 April 2025

Hugh Flew and Mary Wood

Rackenford : Village Road
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/4637008

Hugh Flew (bap. 28 Feb 1779), son of Richard Flew and Elizabeth Thomas, married Mary Wood (bap. 26 Dec 1780), daughter of George Wood and Elizabeth Tucker, at All Saints Church, Rackenford on 11 Apr 1805.

Hugh and Mary had ten children, all baptised in Rackenford:
  1. William Flew bap. 29 Sep 1805
  2. Elizabeth Flew bap. 28 Feb 1808
  3. John Flew bap. 28 Jan 1810. (Buried on 26 Sep 1835.)
  4. Mary Flew bap. 26 May 1812
  5. Ann Flew bap. 5 Jun 1814
  6. Sarah Flew bap. 1 Sep 1816
  7. Jane Flew bap. 1 Jan 1820
  8. George Flew bap. 1 Jan 1822
  9. Thomas Flew bap. 11 Jan 1824
  10. Susanna Flew bap. 21 May 1826. (Buried 26 Oct 1828.)
In 1841, living in the Village, Rackenford, South Molton, Devon, were Hugh Flew (60), Mary Flew (60), William Flew (30), Ann Flew (27), Sarah Flew (25) and Thomas Flew (15). Also in the household were Mary Wood (35), Mary Ann Wood (10) and Elizabeth Wood (2), as well as John Baker (25). Elizabeth Flew (32) was a Female Servant in the household of Thomas Tanner, Farmer, at Creacombe Barton and in the same household was John Flew (3), who was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Flew, Spinster, baptised in Rackenford on 4 Feb 1838; Jane Flew was a Female Servant at Little Hensley, Tiverton; there was a George Flew (15) Apprentice at Lower Thorne, Rackenford.

Hugh Flew died at 74 in 1850 J Quarter in SOUTH MOLTON Volume 10 Page 163 and was buried in Rackenford on 2 May 1850.

In 1851, with address merely listed as Cottage, Rackenford, were Mary Flew (70) Widow and George Flew (29) Agricultural Labourer. Elizabeth Flue (sic) was still Servant to Thomas Tanner, Retired Farmer, in Witheridge with her son John Flue (sic) (13) still living with her.

In 1861, Mary Flew (80) Widow, Lodger and Pauper, was living with her son-in-law James Chamberlain (50) at Cottages on Village, Rackenford.

Mary Flew died, age estimated at 83, in 1862 S Quarter in SOUTH MOLTON Volume 05B Page 268 and was buried on 4 Oct 1862, in Rackenford.

  • John Flew married Susanna Wood in Rackenford on 31 Mar 1834
  • James Chamberlain m. Mary Flew in Rackenford on 27 Oct 1839
  • John Baker m. Sarah Flew at St Peter's, Tiverton on 28 Jun 1841
  • William Chamberlain married Ann Flew in 1843
  • William Flew married Sarah Fewings in Q1 1845
  • John Baker married Jane Flew on 11 Nov 1847 in Creacombe
  • Thomas Flew married Maria Yendell on 7 Nov 1850 in Creacombe

It's clear James Chamberlain and William Chamberlain are brothers, so we have yet another pair of brothers, marrying two sisters in the family.

The John Baker who married Sarah Flew in 1841 was a Carpenter, bachelor, listed as son of Wm Baker. The John Baker who married Jane Flew in 1847, was also a Carpenter, listed as a bachelor, son of Robert Baker. It was allegedly this latter John Baker who was lodging with the family in 1841. Further research is needed, but were these perhaps the same person?