Hello John,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, this is my family, and yes, I do have John's will, made 1769, proved 1772. In it, he says that William is living at home with him. His brother, John, my man, is said to be in Orlingbury, and he is on the Militia list for that place in 1762. (John jnr was the son of John by his first wife, Sarah Sturman. ) This list states that he was a servant, presumably a farm servant. I was hoping there would be a similar list for Wymington which might show William's occupation, for the reason outlined below.
I am trying to ascertain the origins of the O(u)ld family. I am speculating it might be Rushden as there were 17th century Olds there, but so far I have been unable to make the link. William, as a pauper, and his wife and children were removed from Wymington to Rushden in 1777, and I am wondering if that was his legal place of settlement, perhaps because he had served an apprenticeship there, or earlier generations had come from there and not gained legal settlement in Wymington.
A few days ago, I was able to confirm through voting lists that William's father, John the grazier, had an association with Wollaston, Northants. In fact, FreeReg has an unknown male bpt to a Thomas Old in Wollaston in 1704, which could be John. It also has a son Thomas bpt to John and Sarah in Wollaston in 1735, though he was then buried in Wymington in 1736. And a Thomas Old, labourer, was buried in Wymington in 1741, so I think Thomas left Wollaston after wife Mary died to live with his son and his family in Wymington. This Thomas Old had the vote in Wollaston in 1702 and 1730, and son John had the vote in 1748, thanks to property he owned in Wollaston, although he was living in "Winnington, Beds". But Thomas was not bpt in Wollaston, nor was he married there.
I am trying to build a time line in the hopes that a clue emerges, and William's removal to Rushden might hold a clue. Why did he become pauperized after the death of his father? Was he in trade, and that failed? Was he grazing with his father until John died in 1771, and he continued the grazing with his mother, Catherine, and when she died in 1776, did the grazing come to an end? I was really hoping to find William's occupation in a militia list to see if that made a connection to Rushden. Ah, well....
Thanks again,
Carolyn