I've been trying to look at the Harris family from Claydon, Oxfordshire, but without a lot of success. Claydon parish register in the 1700s isn't on the IGI or BVRI nor on Freereg.
But there are a number of PCC wills which can be accessed on Ancestry. The Normans in Ealing were reasonably affluent as were the Harris family in Claydon. But did Mary Norman's sister Ann Harris marry into to this affluent family. I can't tell for sure, although I think she probably did.
The Claydon family starts with Anthony Harris who died in 1758. His will names four daughters, Hannah, Joanna, Sarah and Susannah to whom he leaves £800 each, worth £60,000 today, with his property and the residue to his son William (but doesn't mention a son John, not even leaving him the proverbial shilling). A codicil to his will mentions that his daughter Hannah married Martin Buswell in 1758, which helps to pull together other wills:
William died in 1780, making no mention of a wife or children so I assume he was unmarried. His will dated 15 Feb 1779 names;
his nephew William, son of his brother John “of Wroxton, Oxfordshire” of whom there's no mention in their father's will.
his sister Susannah
his niece Margaret Harris (daughter of John perhaps, as I can find no mention of any other brothers?)
his sister Hannah Buswell and his brother in law Martin Buswell
the executors were his brother John and John's son John, so John the younger was presumably of full age, thus born before 1758
one of the witnesses was John Watts. Coincidence or might he have been Lord Sefton's coachman?
Susannah died in1786 and left a will dated 7 Dec 1784 naming
her niece Margaret Astill (possibly the Margaret Harris named in William's 1779 will above?*)
her brother John
her nephew John, son of John
her nephew William
her sister Hannah Buswell
her deceased brothers George and William
her deceased sisters Sarah and Joanna
Joanna's 1769 will names
brothers John and William
sisters Susannah, Sarah Savage, & Hannah Buswell
So putting this all together:
Anthony Harris died 1758, had children
John, who had children John, William and Margaret**
William who died sp in 1780
Joanna who died unmarried sp in 1769
Sarah marr Mr Savage bet 1758 and 1769 and died before 1784
George died before 1784 and probably bef 1758
Hannah marr Martin Buswell in 1758
Susannah who died unmarried sp in 1786
William Norman's will dated 27 Mar 1785 only mentions his wife's niece Susannah Harris, but Mary Norman's will of 1796 leaves bequests to her late sister Ann's children Elizabeth, Mary, John, William and Sarah. So with Susannah, Ann must have had at least six children, with Susannah possibly dying between 1785 and 1796.
IF Ann married into this affluent Harris family in Claydon, the only one of Anthony's sons that she could have married seems to be John, who had children John and William, and possibly Margaret. If Ann married this John, the Susannah who died in 1786 would have been her sister in law, not her niece.. But this doesn't tie up with the information you were given earlier in this thread where John, blacksmith, was buried on 11 Nov 1782 and Ann, widow, pauper on 12 Jul 1790, along with baptisms for William, Elizabeth, John, Susannah and Sarah. BUT, having just noticed on rereading William Harris' 1779 will that John was of Wroxton, and he was alive in his sister Susannah's 1786 will, I do wonder if John the blacksmith is the same person. If he's not, John of Wroxton and John the blacksmith had children with the same names! Wroxton is six miles from Claydon. Without seeing Claydon or Wroxton parish register transcripts I can't tell if there were other Harris families in the parishes at the relevant time. It concerns me a bit that Ann was described as a pauper on burial, which doesn't fit with the rest of the family who were relatively affluent,
We know that William Norman's sister Mary married in 1745. If William and his wife were of a similar age to Mary, then John and Ann Harris' marriage c1738 wouldn't be inconsistent.
But it doesn't help in finding Mary and Ann's maiden name! I would check Claydon and Wroxton parish registers to see what else they show. This lot are beginning to bug me!
David
A few minutes after posting: Just found the will of John Harris of Wroxton dated 13 May 1814 in which he doesn't mention a wife, but names son John, daughter Elizabeth Charlton, and four daughters all aged under 25, Susannah, Katherine, Sarah and Jane. Not sure what this adds to the equation, or if it's a red herring! He might be the son, or even the grandson, of the original John - the parish register should give his age on burial.
*
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63801 refers to John Astell marrying a Miss Harris of Wroxton in 1782, who had a fortune of £6000
** I've found another PCC will of John Harris of Oxfordshire, probate 1801, which looks to be the son of Anthony. The copy is pretty illegible but I can make out mention of Wroxton, his daughter Margaret Astell and son William, but no other children appear to be mentioned. Inevitably there's no mention of a wife!
I am increasingly of the view that John Harris the blacksmith and Ann Harris, widow and pauper, buried in Claydon are the ones linked to the Normans of Ealing, and the wealthy Harris family is a red herring. But with a bit of luck they might have married in Claydon.
