Hello there,
She could be... the Gill family were in that area. Are there any clues, like a will by James Appleby or something?
Moses mentions a sister called Hannah in his will, which he wrote in 1761.
That said.... I managed to muddle up a generation (it's awkward because there's about three Moses Gills! I'd found the baptism at the French church in Thorpe-le-Soken in 1701 for Moses, son of Moses Gilles and Marie Elizabeth Soinneau and assumed it was Moses who married Sarah Newcomb/Allen in 1754 - I think I was wrong, and Moses, born in about 1701, was Moses' dad. Hence the three Moseses!).
So some extra bits and bobs for you about the Gill family.
When Moses Gill married my 7xgt-grandaunt in 1754, he was a widower. He had a daughter, Elizabeth, in Kirby-le-Soken in 1751, by his wife Mary (
his will mentions that he had a daughter Elizabeth by Mary, his late wife). I dug up the
marriage licence allegation, and Moses married Mary Cryson (she signs 'Kyson') in 1750 in Colchester (they were both of Kirby). This marriage licence says that Moses was 26, so he was born about 1724. I haven't found his baptism yet, which is a slight problem.
But his will mentions his siblings - his brother John, and his two sisters, Mary and Hannah. I found a reference in a book at the Essex Record Office called The Inventory of Soken Wills (presumably in existence because the Sokens are a "Peculiar" - I don't think ERO's books are catalogued online yet), which has a Moses Gill nominated as guardian of his sister Hannah. This was endorsed 06 Feb 1745/46 - so I think it would make sense that Moses, who would've been about 21, would have been nominated as guardian of his younger sister, Hannah. So... is this the Hannah who had Hannah, her illegitimate child in 1747? It could well be, I suppose! She could've been under 21.
I need to check the Inventory again though - I think it was an inventory of items belonging to Moses Gill of either Thorpe or Kirby, but I can't remember which. He must've died in intestate because there's no will that I can find for him.
Anyway, Moses, born about 1701 - I think he married Mary Reed in Great Clacton in 1721 (which makes Moses III's possibly birth in 1724 more likely, even if I can't find his baptism), and I found baptisms for the following children in Kirby for Moses and Mary:
John ('Jno') 10 Mar 1734
Peter 7 Dec 1735
Jud (presumably Judith?) 24 Jul 1737
Elizabeth 4 Feb 1739
They're on FreeREG, but I've put them
in a pdf too.
Presumably Moses and Hannah were baptised elsewhere. Why wasn't Moses made guardian of the other Gill children, though? It's a bit mysterious - like I say, I need to check back at that book. But as he only mentions Mary, Hannah and John in his will, it's possible that Peter, Judith and Elizabeth had died before 1761 (or even earlier, before the guardianship issue - but where are their burials?).
Helen.
