Hi Lynn
Your question was did I think there's a connection between the Bolnhurst Sabeys, where Francis was baptised aged about 30 and married on the same day in 1790, and the Roxton family. You mentioned that Francis' first daughter was Dinah in 1791.
I'd always assumed that Francis was the unbaptised son of one of the two Sabey families in Bolnhurst c1760, who were both non-conformist:
- Joseph Sabey who married three Elizabeths, the first one being Elizabeth Hall whom he married in 1751, she dying in 1769. They only baptised one child, William in 1752.
- John Sabey who may have been the John Sabey who married Elizabeth Hull in Wilden in 1741 and who had children in Bolnhurst from 1742 onwards. Some births of children of John Saby are recorded at the back of the parish register as being children of dissenters. In 1750 he is recorded as having eight people in the family, but this could have included servants. John left a will dated 1777 wherein he names children William, Sarah and James. No mention of a Francis, so I don't think they were the parents of Francis.
I had therefore thought that Francis was probably the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hall) Sabey of Bolnhurst.
The Roxton branch seems to have started with the arrival of Peter c1725. There's no marriage of Peter Sabey/Dinah in Hunts, unless it's under a Sabey variation that I haven't thought of. The Roxton Sabeys appear to have been of the established church, unlike the dissenter Bolnhurst branch. As Dinah died in 1736 she can't have been Francis' mother
The earliest burials in Hunts that show on the NBI were in 1727 in Gt Staughton, 3 miles from Bolnhurst and 6 from Roxton. I think it's likely that the Hunts families are connected to the Bolnhurst/Colmworth family, the connection probably occurring in the early 1700s
A while ago I looked at another Francis Sabey baptised at Eaton Socon, Beds, just a couple of miles along the A421, as it was known then, from Roxton. He was the son of Edward & Mary. I've drawn a blank with Edward too, who I assume to have been born c1756, but I can't find a burial for him.
But I really haven't seen anything that jumps out at me and makes me think that Francis was from Hunts. But worth looking at nonetheless, particularly as IGI/BVRI entries for Hunts are pretty sparse
David
OK, you win, you've got me interested in the Sabeys again! I'll see what else I can find about the Hunts branch
