Looking at this thread, I see that Matthew Depear bp.2/3/1825 Holbeach was the son of Matthew Depear and Jane Harwood married 5/1/1824 Holbeach.
On 1841 census Matthew and Jane are both shown as 40 - bearing in mind that ages were rounded down in 1841 he should in fact be shown as 50. I note that he was a Town Crier. He died in 1842 and was buried 22/4/1842 Holbeach aged 54 (bc.1788). However, he was a couple of years older as he was bp.19/9/1786 Holbeach, son of Matthew Depear and Frances Burton who'd married 22/9/1782 Whaplode.
This Matthew Depear died 1825 and was buried 26/5/1825 Holbeach aged 77. He was in fact bp.9/2/1749 Holbeach, son of Mark and Susan.
Annette
Right. This is really complicated, and has had me stumped a while. My Matthew Depear was definitely the child of Matthew Depear born approx 1791 - 1801 and Jane Harwood, born around the same time. There were at least 2, maybe 3 Matthew Depear's born in this area from 1786 - ~1801. Nor am I a descendant of the even older Matthew Depear & Frances Burton (a very young widow when they married, maiden name March), whom I have confirmed was not my ancestor. The one who died 1842 was married to someone other than Jane Harwood; I forget whom. And he was a farmer, never a the town crier.
Now, the Matthew Depear husband of Jane Harwod (and father of Matthew Depear born 1825 husband of Mary Ann Brown) was indeed the town crier, and before that a grocer and draper (i.e. shopkeeper). I have one or two newspaper mentions of him, and he's on the electoral register in 1826. The newspaper mentions his marriage to a "Miss Jane Harlewood", both of Holbeach town, in 1824. Matthew and Jane actually emigrated to the US (first New Jersey and then Brooklyn, NY) in the mid-late 1840s, a few years after the birth of their youngest child. Most of their children accompanied them, except for the ones who were already married, which include my ancestors Matthew Depear and Mary Ann Brown. Matthew died some time after 1850 (in a US census in New Providence, NJ) and 1865 (Jane listed as widow in NY census if I remember right). There's a death record for Jane in the 1870s as I recall.
Now, there is a Matthew Depear born 1790 in Moulton (near Holbeach), who later moved to Holbeach with his parents (as a child), which is the one I consider to be the most likely candidate for my ancestor... not 100% sure though. Not found any record of Jane Harwood's baptism. I entertained the possibility she may be non-conformist, but that would be odd given they married by banns in Holbeach. Possible though. I wonder if she had two names and the names on her baptismal record was different, since a few Harwood's were born around the 1790s to early 1800s in nearby Cowbit and Gosberton.
If anyone has any ideas or thoughts, would be glad to hear.