My great x4 grandmother Martha Hayho(e) was baptized at St John de Sepulchre, Norwich on 25 October 1795. The register entry reads:
Martha daughter of Stephen Hayhoe and Sarah his wife late Sarah Sexton spinster.
I found this entry yesterday, when a brief opportunity to visit the Millennium Library in Norwich enabled me to take a look through the microfiches ... but it'll be a long time until I can get to Norwich again.
In the meantime, if anyone is looking at Norfolk records and has completed their own lookups for the day with a bit of time on their hands, I'd be very grateful if they could have a look and see if they could find anything at all on these parents - a marriage (no later than 1795, obviously), any more children's baptisms, their own baptisms ... at present I have nothing definite on either of them, other than this one baptism (which can also be found on FreeReg, where the transcriber appears to have omitted to notice the words "Sarah his wife late", and so has given the erroneous impression that it was an illegitimate birth ... ). I have found nothing else on FreeReg.
I am not necessarily expecting to find their burials in Norfolk. Martha was married in a village just outside Newmarket, so I suspect the whole family may have moved south. There was a 72 year old Sarah Hayho buried in Newmarket St Mary on 16 December 1824 (NBI) - implied year of birth if the age is correct is 1752, so this looks like a plausible candidate.
There was also an 88 year old Stephen Hayho buried in Thorndon, Suffolk on 19 November 1841 (NBI), registered Suffolk, Hartismere 1841 Q4 vol. 13 p. 291 - implied year of birth if the age is correct 1753. This is a possible candidate. I am not entirely happy about the thought of an old man moving from Newmarket to Thorndon after he had been widowed, but I am certainly not ruling it out, especially if there was another child of his living in the area; and it just so happens that the 1841 census DOES show Hayhoe household in Thorndon, headed by a man who IS the right age to be a son of Stephen and Saran, and an older brother for Martha:
HO107 Piece 1024 Book 9 Folio 21 Page 15
John Hayhoe, 50; Ester Hayhoe, 20; Wm Hayhoe, 17; Mary Hayhoe, 14; Thos Hayhoe, 9; Saml Hayhoe, 6; Margrett Smith, 70.
All are said to have been born in Suffolk; but this is what would also be recorded in Suffolk for those who did not know where they were born.
John is still there in 1851, at Standwell Lodge, Thorndon All Saints, Hartismere:
HO107 Piece 1795 Folio 453 page 7
John Hayhoe, widower, 64, Ag Lab, place of birth unknown; Hannah Kent, House Keeper, 28, born Stoke Ash, Suffolk.
So if this is an older brother of Martha, we may hope to find a baptism of a John Hayhoe, son of Stephen and Sarah, at St John de Sepulchre, Norwich, in about 1787 (assuming the age is correct in the 1851 census, which is of course far from certain). If such a baptism can be found, then the death of Stephen Hayho in Hartismere in 1841 is looking pretty likely to be my great x5 grandfather.
Are there other baptisms to be found as well? Quite possibly. If Stephen was born in 1753 and Sarah in 1752, then they would be 34 and 35 respectively in 1878, John's presumed year of birth. This is quite old to be starting a family. It may be that they married late (Sarah, at least, was not widowed when they married - we know that from the register entry for Martha's baptism); but I think it more likely either that their ages at death were overstated and/or that they had a number of children before John.
Sooo ... sorry for the long and rambling account, but it is always useful to review the evidence as you go along.
What am I hoping to find?
(1) Marriage for Stephen Hayho(e) and Sarah Sexton, probably in Norwich and quite possibly at St John de Sepulchre, some time between say 1773 and 1787
(2) Baptism of John Hayho(e), son of Stephen and Sarah, probably in Norwich and likely at St John de Sepulchre, in or about 1787
These two are the key ones to find. Also useful, however, would be:
(3) Baptisms of any other Hayhoe children of Stephen and Sarah, between their marriage and Martha's baptism in 1795 (and, for that matter, any subsequent baptisms, as Martha may not have been the youngest ... )
(4) Baptism of Stephen Hayho(e) in about 1753 and/or Sarah Sexton in or about 1752, both probably in Norwich, in order to be able to push back a further generation. FreeReg offers three possibilities for Sarah outside Norwich: Sarah Sexton, daughter of James & Sarah, baptized East Wretham 7 October 1750; Sarah Sexton, daughter of Edward & Ann, baptized Aylsham 17 December 1754; and Sarah Saxton, daughter of Daniel and Hannah, baptized Wymondham 8 September 1759. I have not yet ruled any of these out - my current search is for additional candidates who can be ruled in, before I start trying to discriminate between them ...
