Martha Garwood born abt 1785 possibly Suffolk

[LizzieL]

Taken from Metfield parish register

Martha d/o Jonathan and Mary Garwood late Aldridge widow baptised 12th March 1787
Also:
William 11th December 1785
John 27th Jan 1788
Rachel 3rd May 1789
James 25th Dec 1794

OH has a DNA match of 22 cM across 2 segments with a descendent of William 1785, so the connection between Martha and this family is looking good.
Now to find out a bit more about Jonathan Garwood. I have found a possible first marriage in Ilketshall St Andrew to a Martha Grimstone on 23 Feb 1778. There is a death for a Martha Garwood in 1783 in Halesworth but no mention of age.

[gobbitt]

Martha, the wife of Jonathan Garwood, was 30 when she died on 14 Oct. 1783, according to the Revd Francis Haslewood's churchyard inscriptions of Halesworth in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology (1896, Volume IX, Part 2, page 245).

David

[LizzieL]

Martha, the wife of Jonathan Garwood, was 30 when she died on 14 Oct. 1783, according to the Revd Francis Haslewood's churchyard inscriptions of Halesworth in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology (1896, Volume IX, Part 2, page 245).

David

Thank you very much, my theory about Jonathan's first marriage looks right. I haven't found baptisms of any children for them, but there were two Garwood infant burials in Halesworth - Robert 16 Nov 1778 and Martha 25 July 1782, I wondered if they were Jonathan and Martha's children

[gobbitt]

Baptisms at Halesworth have been transcribed by the Suffolk FHS. The 1754-1812 Dunwich Deanery index includes Jonathan, son of Jonathan & Martha Garwood, in 1780. There are also two girls named Martha, daughters of John & Martha Garwood, in April 1782 and December 1783, but the most likely Robert is the son of John (a labourer) & Mary Garwood on 13 November 1778. His parents may have been John GARROD of Henham and Mary Manning (m. Halesworth 1775) whose son Joseph Nicholas was recorded as a Garwood when baptized in 1784.

David

[LizzieL]

Thank you for the baptism information, it gives me two more children

Jonathan married Martha Grimstone on 23 feb 1778
 Children: Jonathan 1780
               Martha #1 bapt Apr 1782 buried 25 July 1782
               Martha # 2 bapt Dec 1783
As Martha (her mother) died on 14 Oct 1783, it is possible she died shortly after giving birth and Martha #2 wasn't baptised until 2 months later

Jonathan married Mary Aldridge widow (nee Mouser) on 16 Mar 1785
Children: William 1785
               Martha #3 1787
               John
               Rachel
               James. 1794

the puzzle now is what happened to Jonathan jnr and when and where did Martha #2 die?

I don't know what happened to John, Rachel and James from the second set of children either.

Jonathan snr's birth and death are eluding me as well. He seems to have been a breeches maker when in Halesworth, but became a farmer later in Metfield. He seems to have gone bankrupt in 1796 according to newspaper reports. John Aldridge is described as a yeoman, so may be his farm passed to his widow then to Jonathan.

[gobbitt]

Martha #2, baptized at Halesworth on 16 Dec. 1783, may have been buried there on 24 Dec. 1783, although her age and parents were not recorded.

The Suffolk FHS burial index gives further details of entries such as these:

1795 James son of Jonathan Garwood & Mary late Aldrich at Metfield infant

1807 Rachel dtr of Jonathan & Mary Garwood at Ilketshall St Lawrence aged 18

1820 Jonathan Garwood at Brockley aged 40

Jonathan was apparently not baptized in the vicinity of Brockley (Thingoe Deanery, in western Suffolk) but several members of the Garwood family were living there before his birth.

David

[LizzieL]

Thank you again!
That sorts out the three Martha nicely. I had seen the Rachel burial, but the transcription I saw didn't mention her parents, so that confirms she died before reaching adulthood. And also little James.
Jonathan jnr is interesting. I had seen the Brockley Garwoods but hadn't followed them through. That might give a clue as to where Jonathan snr was from if Jonathan jnr moved to where he had relatives.

Even though he would be our Martha's half brother, there might still be a small DNA link through Jonathan snr, if he had descendants and they have tested. I'll look into Garrods too. It seems that some Garwoods have been recorded with that spelling.