Ari’s 8x great-grandfather, Jasper Allen, was born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, in 1716, which gives me an opportunity to use this photo again!
His baptism record just tells us that his father was Henry, but doesn’t give us his mother’s name. In 1736 he married Ann Bartlett in Corfe Mullen.
In the 1760s, Jasper was selected to serve in the Dorset Militia. These units were chosen by lot, to report for duty in times of war, and build coastal defences. Some people who were selected chose to pay for a substitute so that they wouldn’t have to disrupt their life. Jasper was a labourer with at least seven children to feed, so perhaps that’s why he found a man called Abraham Hencock who consented to serve as a substitute:
Dorset, England, Militia Lists, 1757-1860
Jasper died in Feb 1795 and was buried at the churchyard in Corfe Mullen.
Ari, this is how you are related to Jasper:
