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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Sussex => England => Sussex Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Stovepipe on Thursday 01 March 18 01:45 GMT (UK)
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Thomas PARSONS of Heathfield made his will in December 1788 and it was proved in May 1789. He was survived by his wife, Sarah, and three children, namely daughters Sarah GASSON & Hannah HARMER and son Henry PARSONS.
Does the SMI have a marriage for Thomas PARSONS and Sarah, around 1730?
And one for Sarah PARSONS and her husband surnamed GASSON, between say 1750 and 1788? Likewise, one for Hannah PARSONS and a HARMER male?
Back to Thomas's will - he names various grandchildren without identifying their parents (his daughters in most cases since they don't have his surname). I guess they are daughters who predeceased him. One of the daughters may have been named Grace; I've not found baptisms for any others and those I have found are doubtful because of the mother being named Elizabeth, not Sarah as in the will.
The grandchildren are Ann Thompson, Elizabeth Potten, John Thompson, Abraham Thompson, Mary Thompson, Hester Brown, Elizabeth Brown, Elizabeth Eastwood and Jane Read. Thomas doesn't give any other identifying information.
I'd like to identify the PARSONS women (and their spouses) who are the parents of these children. Can the SMI help? This may be too much to ask - it's quite possible some of the daughters may have married twice and their second marriages won't be found in the SMI under the PARSONS name.
Thanks for any help.
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Hello Stovepipe
Married at Dallington 17 Feb 1731\2
Thomas Parsons
Sarah Roberts (Heathfield )
Buxted 16 May 1758
Sarah Parsons
&
John Gaston by Lic
No marriage for a Parsons\Harmer marriage on SMI
Omega :)
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Hello Stovepipe
Hope these will help somehow
Baptised at Heathfield
Elizabeth 2 Oct 1732
Henry 25 Oct 1734
Children of Thomas And Sarah Parsons
Baptised at Heathfield
Sarah 3 April 1737
Grace 17 May 1739
Hannah 4 Sept 1741
Children of Thomas and Elizabeth Parsons
Something wrong somewhere ?
omega :)
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Many thanks, Omega, that's very helpful information.
My source (PRTS) gives Henry's baptism at Heathfield to Elizabeth, not Sarah. May I ask your source?
What I'm really trying to do here is identify Thomas's wife Sarah (née ROBERTS - thanks again, Omega!), mentioned in the will, with Elizabeth PARSONS, wife of Thomas, recorded in various baptism entries in Heathfield and possibly elsewhere. Those of Thomas's children who are listed in the will (Sarah, Hannah and Henry) all have doubtful baptism records because their mother in the Heathfield register is Elizabeth, not Sarah. Grace is another one, but she's not mentioned in the will. I'm hoping that finding the names of further children will support the identification of Sarah with Elizabeth.
I think it likely that Thomas had only one son, Henry PARSONS, because the only grandson in his will with his surname is his namesake, Thomas PARSONS, and this child's father is not named. Had Thomas other sons then I guess he would have had to have (in his will) guarded against this mention becoming ambiguous through the birth of further namesakes to other sons.
So, can anyone else help with the names of Thomas's daughters not mentioned in his will? Did a Grace PARSONS, for instance, marry anyone with a surname the same as one of Thomas's grandchildren?
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Hello Stovepipe
My source is Sussex Family History Group online database,members only
.
Found these marriages
Heathfield 18 May 1763
Grace Parson & John Thomson
Heathfield 5 July 1778
Grace Parsons (SP) B
Richard Holmes (Bach)
omega
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Thankyou, Omega, for your helpful and prompt reply. The earlier marriage for Grace PARSONS is particularly good to have, it linking her to the Thompson grandchildren in Thomas's will. And if your source for Henry's baptism is more accurate than mine (which is pretty likely) then the evidence mounts for Sarah and Elizabeth being the same person.
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Hello again
Been having a poke around :)
Burial at Heathfield
22 Aril 1812,Sarah Parsons ,aged 99,Widow
Could this be her Baptisum ?
Sarah Roberts at Heathfield
?June 1712
Mum & Dad, George and Ann.
Will see if i can find an Elizabeth
omega
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Hello
I looked for Baptisum,Marriage & Death for Elizabeth.I too think her and Sarah must be the same person.Unless anyone else knows better.
omega :)
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Heathfield marriages are indexed on FamilySearch, no doubt are now on other sites (England Marriages, 1538–1973)
include
Samuel Brown + Elizabeth Parsons, 30 July 1758
Image is on FamilySearch
Samuel was a widower of Goudurst (sic)
Elizabeth was a single woman, of the parish
He signed, she marked
By Banns
Witnessed by John Gaston, George Roberts
Baptisms following in Goudhurst, Esther Parson Brown, 30 Sep 1759 and Eliz. Brown, 10 May 1761
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Again, very helpful information. Thanks Omega and jonw65!
I never knew images of the Heathfield registers are online for free before, so now I've got many happy hours ahead of me poring over them.
First thing I did was clear up the discrepancy in the 1734 baptism of Henry Parsons. I had assumed my source, the PRTS, was likely to be wrong because I could explain it by transcriber eye-skip (the mother in both baptisms above and below Henry's is named Elizabeth), but when I looked at the image it turns out that the SFHG database is in error, the mother is Elizabeth. Sorry, Omega.
Cheers,
Stovepipe
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Hello
I am a descendant of Thomas through Henry. There are a lot of Parson women! I am also a descendant of the Thompsons and Harmers. Are you an Ancestry as I have a rough work in progress tree on there? I hadn't come across the Will though and would be keen to see it. I believe the Parsons at a mill in the Heathfield area.
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You can see the will of Thomas Parsons on FamilySearch here
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6XGS-811?i=422&cat=685691