Tunstall Parish Records Look up Request - HUNT

[sak]

Hi, I am new to rootschat and have a message for Dave Francis
I am looking to find my 4x g grandfather, Nathaniel Hunt born 1763C. He was a churchwarden and overseer of Iken and farmed around Chillesford. I understood him to come from Orford but can find no trace of him there or in Sutton where some of his children were born. Would you be kind enough to check for a baptism in Tunstall and also a marriage to a Mary  ? around 1786

Many Thanks     Sue.

[Rick]

Welcome Sue!

I hope that you will visit often and make lots of progress with your research.  Please be sure to register your names on our SURNAME INTERESTS TABLE. You can also search the table to see if anyone shares your research interests.

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Dave is a very knowledgable and helpful rootschatter who I am sure will do his best to help once he spies your request.

Rick  

[Dave Francis]

Hi there Sue

To begin with here is the marriage...

Nathaniel Hunt married Mary Edwards (both single, of this parish)
on 6 April 1786 in Tunstall
The marriage was by licence in the presence of Susan Browne and John Sawyer
All four signed the register with their names



PS: Rick - I'll send you the fiver later 

[Dave Francis]

To continue.

This is where it gets interesting....and a bit confusing.

I searched the registers for the 1760s but couldn't see a record of Nathaniel's baptism - or any other Hunts for that matter.
But then I found this...

Nathanael son of Nathanael and Mary Hunt
baptised 16 April 1772

My immediate reaction is that this must be your Nathaniel's baptism, even though he was about nine years old at the time. I assume that the curate didn't bother to record his age (which would normally have been done in these circumstances).

A search on the Suffolk Burials Index suggests that the Hunt family may have had a family plot in the graveyard at Tunstall, because a number of Hunts from other places (such as Blaxhall and Chillesford) where buried there.

This burial in 1807 particularly caught my eye...

Hunt. Nathaniel son of Edwd and Mary Hunt (from Iken) age 46, Febry 3.

This is the confusing bit.

Does this burial record refer to your 4xgreat grandfather?

If so his father's name appears to have been Edward, not Nathaniel - i.e. the baptism record seems to contain an error.

I can see several other entries which might interest you, but will leave it there for the moment so you can digest the above.

Dave

[Dave Francis]

...having said that I can't resist providing the following info

The Ipswich Journal (Ipswich, England), Saturday, May 12, 1804; Issue 3718
Classified Ad for the "Tunstall Association for prosecuting felons &c." announcing the annual meeting to be held at the Green Man Inn, Tunstall, on Monday 28th. Among the listed members were Mr Nathaniel Hunt of Iken.

The Ipswich Journal (Ipswich, England), Saturday, May 10, 1806
Virtually identical advert regarding the annual meeting to be held on Monday 19th May

[sak]

Hi Dave,

Thanks very much indeed for looking all that up for me. I really do appreciate it.
Yes, I think Nathaniel and Mary Edwards are the right couple. I had tentatively pencilled in Edwards as her maiden name. I knew their son, my ggg grandfather, Burwell Hunt came from Sutton. His baptism is in the Sutton records along with a brother. In the burials there was one for a Mary Hunt age 4 months, 1788,  daughter of Nathaniel and Mary nee Edwards. However I also found a Sutton burial for a Jane Hunt of Iken 1 year, 1801 daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Hunt nee Turner. So I was a bit confused as I know my couple were still having children up to 1806.
My gut feeling was that 'Edwards' was the right lady as the family were in Sutton at that time but I know they were in Iken throughout 1801 as Nathaniel was appointed overseer that year and there are a lot of documents relating to him in the Iken PR according to the national archives.
In the Sutton PR are also two children baptised 1791 and 1796 of Burwell Hunt and Susanna Edwards. Burwell is very much a family name and I think he is probably Nathaniels brother. Perhaps they married sisters?
My feeling is that the baptism you found in 1772 isn't my Nathaniel but I think the burial in 1807 is. I had come across this before. The age is right ( he would have been born in 1761). His last child was born in 1806 and there seems to be no sign of him after that. He died before his wife as I have her will dated 1847. She appears never to have remarried. Also, their daughter uses the name Edward for two of her sons, neither of whom survived and she uses it as a middle name for another son who did.
If there is anything else you can dig up for me I should be very grateful.
Thanks again,
Best Wishes   Sue.

[Dave Francis]

I think I can see where the name "Burwell" might of come from...

The Ipswich Journal (Ipswich, England), Saturday, April 24, 1847; Issue 5633
"Died"
"18th inst., at Prospect Place, Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, in her 83rd year, Mrs Mary Hunt, relict of Mr Nathaniel Hunt, of Iken, and sister of the late Burwell Edwards, Esq., of Petistree-hall, Sutton"

[sak]

Hi Dave,
Well that is really interesting. Perhaps Burwell was a name used on both sides of the family. I had found some information on a family with the surname of Burwell who came from Sutton. They appear to have owned Fenhall in Sutton. I googled this property and Burwell Edwards obviously bought it at some time as he was living there in the 1800's! I wonder if there is a family connection there.

Sue

[Dave Francis]

Hi Sue

I've extracted the following info from the Tunstall PRs and put it in chronological order to try and make sense of some of the relationships. I've also numbered each record for ease of reference.

[1]  Bap. 20 Apr 1740. Elizabeth Hunt daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Hunt.
[2]  Bur. 12 Sep 1751. Elizabeth Hunt "wife of Edward Hunt".
[3]  Mar. 22 Oct 1753. Edward Hunt (single of this parish) and Mary Sawyer (single of this parish) after banns.
[4]  Mar. 26 Feb 1754. Edward Hunt (widower of this parish) and Elizabeth Chandler (widow of this parish) by licence.
[5]  Bap. 25 Aug 1754. Mary Hunt daughter of Edward and Mary Hunt.
[6]  Bur. 25 Dec 1760. Thomas Hunt "a child from Blaxhall".
[7]  Bur. 23 Sep 1763. Jane Hunt "an infant from Blaxhall".
[8]  Bur. 31 Oct 1766. Edward Hunt "farmer from Chillesford". [No age recorded]
[9]  Bur. 08 Jun 1768. Thomas Hunt. [No age recorded]
[10] Bap. 16 Apr 1772. Nathanael son of Nathanael and Mary Hunt. [As above]
[11] Mar. 06 Apr 1786. Nathaniel Hunt and Mary Edwards by licence. [As above]
[12] Bap. 28 Dec 1786. Mary Hunt daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Hunt "late Edwards".
[13] Bap. 01 Jun 1788. Mary Hunt daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Hunt "late Edwards".
[14] Bap. 14 Jun 1789. Matilda Hunt daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Hunt "late Edwards".
[15] Bur. 14 Dec 1803. Mary Hunt "wife of <??> Hunt (age 70)".
[16] Bur. 03 Feb 1807. Nathaniel Hunt son of Edwd and Mary Hunt (from Iken) age 46.

You already have the records of Nathaniel's marriage to Mary Edwards in 1786 [11] and his death in 1807 [16].

Their first child Mary was born very shortly after [12] which probably explains why they married by licence rather than wait for the banns to be called. Sadly this child didn't live long. The Suffolk Burials Index shows she died aged 4 mths, buried on 6 May 1787 in Sutton. Mary [13] born in 1788 was evidently a replacement. And did you know about Matilda [14]?

The early records are interesting. If Nathaniel's burial record is accurate then it is likely to be the son of Edward Hunt and Mary Sawyer who were married in 1753 [3]. Edward Hunt the widower who remarried in 1754 [4] is obviously linked to the records in [1] and [2] and was probably Nathaniel's grandfather or an uncle. It's not immediately obvious which Edward died in 1766.

The burial record of Mary Hunt in 1803 [14] is perplexing. The husband's first name has been transcribed as Robert on the Suffolk Burials Index, presumably because the handwriting looks a little like "Robt". But I think it looks more like "Natl" which would tie in nicely with the parents of the Nathaniel Hunt baptised in 1775 [10].

It could be hard to sort this family out. Their baptisms, marriages and burials seem to have taken place in several parishes over the years with no discernible pattern!

Dave