Ari’s 6x great-grandfather John Sims was born in Heage, Derbyshire, in 1775 and baptised on 17 July at St Alkmund’s Church, Duffield. His parents were Samuel Sims and Mary Smith.
Sheep grazing in the snow, below Heage Windmill
On 19 May 1807 John married Sarah Badder at Bradley, near Ashbourne. They had a daughter, Sarah in 1810, and then John’s wife Sarah died in January 1815 just after giving birth to a son, John.
Derbyshire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813–1991, on Ancestry.co.uk
Sarah was buried at St Peter’s Church in Belper, and the residence is given as Morley Park.
John married his second wife, Ann Slater, at the church in Duffield two years later.
Derbyshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754–1932, on Ancestry.co.uk
They went on to have at least six more children: Samuel, George, William, Mary Ann, Elizabeth-Jane, and Betty. We know from the baptism record of William in 1826 that John was a farmer at Morley Park.
Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813–1916, on Ancestry.co.uk
John is listed in an 1829 County Directory as a farmer and freeholder. The 1841 census shows John at Yeldersley:
1841 census, Ancestry.co.uk
Also in the household were Ann, sons George and William, and three servants.
The 1851 census tells us that John was at Yeldersley Farm, farming 250 acres.
Derbyshire Courier, on Findmypast.co.uk
John died on 3 July 1858 in Yeldersley and was buried at All Saints Church in Bradley.
John left a two-page will.
One of John’s grandchildren was Joseph Sims (son of John born in 1815). After his death, Joseph’s wife Julia Hannah Alldread paid for this beautiful stained-glass window in St Peter’s Church, Belper which we recently discovered thanks to Julia’s will: “to provide a stained glass window in Saint Peter’s Church Belper on the North side thereof at a cost not exceeding the sum of Two hundred pounds”.
Ari, this is how you are related to John:
