Freemans of Kidlington.

[coombs]

My ancestor William Freeman married Frances Witham in 1754 in Kidlington, Oxfordshire. They had wed by licence but as far as I know Oxfordshire marriage licence records are not online. There is an online index but no actual records as yet.

Shortly after they married, a settlement certificate for 27 May 1754 said they were legally settled in Cuddington, Buckinghamshire. Cuddington is just east of Aylesbury, and about 10 miles east of Kidlington.

Frances herself was born in Oxfordshire, at Charlton On Otmoor in 1720, a few miles from Kidlington. I did find a William Freeman baptised in 1720 in Kidlington son of John but not added him to my tree as I have no proof yet, also if he was born in Kidlington I doubt he'd need to be subject to a settlement cert in Kidlington later in life.

Frances' parents Thomas Witham and Ann Robinson married in 1706 in Oxford city, and Ann said she was of "Parshold" which seems to be Sparsholt, Berkshire. The Oxon Marriage Index says "Sparsholt, Berks".

[LizzieL]

Are they the couple who had four children in Kidlington, William 1755, John 1756, Ann 1759 and Thomas 1765. When did they move to Cuddington?

[coombs]

Are they the couple who had four children in Kidlington, William 1755, John 1756, Ann 1759 and Thomas 1765. When did they move to Cuddington?

Yes they are the couple who had those 4 children in Kidlington. I am not sure when they moved to Cuddington in Bucks, I just found a settlement cert on the Oxfordshire heritage search. The settlement cert was issued just after they had married, which was in Kidlington, Oxon. They married on the 4th May 1754 in Kidlington, witnesses John Nord?? and John Allen. First witness surname is difficult to read.

So the settlement cert was issued just weeks after they married. William died in 1770 I think, and Frances in 1779 and both buried in Kidlington.

[LizzieL]

Could the surname of the first witness be Wren?

[coombs]

Yes, at a closer look it does look like Wren. No known connection found between the Wren's and Freeman's yet. Sadly witnesses to marriage often turn out to be friends which is rarely useful for genealogy research. I shall have to delve more into Cuddington. Seems my ancestors were among the ones who moved around a lot for work.