Mother of Thomas DREW, 1692

[garlands]

A search for offspring from the Joseph/Agatha marriage has yielded only 2 entries for the same baptism:-

08 Dec 1667 & 1668   Catharina to Josephi & Agathae HILL in Bromyard

I can find nothing more

[garlands]

This may, or may not, help; there is a baptismal record:-

13 May 1615  Josephus, son of Jahannis & Mariae HILL in Bosbury

Is this the Joseph who married Agatha FOX in 1648?

[garlands]

Accepting the evidence of the Wills (reply#3), the parents of Ann DREW, mother of Thomas, must have been Joseph & Agatha HILL.

There is only one marriage between a Joseph HILL and an Agatha XXXX anywhere in England in the 17thC :-

12 Feb 1648   Joseph HILL m Agatha FOX at Stretton Grandison

A search for any offspring has yielded only:-

08 Dec 1667 & 68   Catharina  to  Josephi & Agathae  in Bromyard

20 years with no other children, and no sign of Ann. What am I doing wrong?

[garlands]

I'm getting desperate. I have searched FindMyPast, FreeReg and familysearch, and there is no record of the baptism of Ann HILL to Joseph & Agatha. Despite what their Wills say, what if Ann was not their natural daughter, but had been adopted? Suppose she was their niece? We already know about an ideal candidate, viz:-

09 Jul 1665  Anne  dr of Richard & Anne HILL bap in Colwall

Could Richard have been Joseph's brother? Joseph & Agatha appear to have been childless for 20 years so may have been very willing to adopt Ann.

Concerning the Family Tree, 'garstonite's' scepticism is justified; I think it's 'Ann HILL' is the one from Blagdon (mother Elizabeth) and not the one I'm seeking!

Any thoughts?

[chempat]

There is only one marriage between a Joseph HILL and an Agatha XXXX anywhere in England in the 17thC

No, there is only one marriage showing on the internet.  How many have not been made available/destroyed/illegible etc?

[Watson]

garlands, you say Joseph and Agatha were "childless for 20 years", but that seems most unlikely, since later they had Catharine. They probably had several children following their 1648 marriage.  It's just that you haven't found their baptisms yet, including Ann's.  They are probably in a nearby parish.

[mazi]

garlands, you say Joseph and Agatha were "childless for 20 years", but that seems most unlikely, since later they had Catharine. They probably had several children following their 1648 marriage.  It's just that you haven't found their baptisms yet, including Ann's.  They are probably in a nearby parish.

Or that at the height of the civil war records were destroyed, never kept or vanished. Familysearch has a bit to say about records during the civil war.


Mike

[garlands]

Chempat: I'm happy with the HILL/FOX marriage - time and location are fine and I believe it is the one I want.

Mazi: I've searched out to a radius of 50 miles. There are no baptisms by Joseph & Agatha in that area.

Watson: I've started looking for suspicious gaps in the records; there are none so far

[Watson]

mazi raises a good point:

"Or that at the height of the civil war records were destroyed, never kept or vanished."

The Civil War was over by the time Joseph Hill and Agatha were having children, but it is also valid to question how diligently the registers were kept during the ensuing Interregnum period.  Don Steel comments in N.I.P.R., Volume 1, page 11:

"Generally, however, the outstanding feature of the registers during the Interregnum is the haphazard and half-hearted fashion in which they were kept, at any rate until 1653, and sometimes throughout the whole period."

For detailed information, including dates, about Herefordshire parish registers, N.I.P.R., Volume 5 should be consulted.