Well, that was lucky: Frances Bishop from Wichenford

Frances was Ari’s 6x great-grandmother. She was born in 1772 in Worcestershire, and married John Amphlett in about 1793.

When I first drafted this blog post I had very little information about Frances. I knew that she appeared in the 1841 census aged 68, as an agricultural labourer living with her son John and his family at a place called Tomkins in Martley. John was the only son that I had found, and I hadn’t found a marriage.

This morning, while finishing off this post, I found another child, Frances, born in 1796 in nearby Knightwick. There seemed to be several well-known Amphlett families in the area, and I Googled “John Amphlett” AND Martley AND Frances, and found a message on a forum from Ron Amphlett, posted in 2011. It said:

“My 4xgt grandfather was John Amphlett base born son of Sally in 1766, & died & buried in Martley. He married Frances Bishop and they had six children – Betty, Frances, Ann, Mary, Susannah, and William, all baptised in Martley. William was my 3xgt grandfather and I have all the family details from him to the present day.”

I followed up on this list of children, and found their baptisms in Martley. Ronald’s tree suggested that Frances Bishop was born in Wichenford, six miles from Worcester.

I found a corresponding baptism on 28 Feb 1773, giving her parents as Thomas and Ann.

So we now have much more information about Frances, including her maiden name, her parents’ names, and the fact that she had seven children. I am very grateful to Ronald Amphlett, and very pleased that I found his message.

Frances died on 31 Aug 1850 in Martley. She was 78 and the cause of death was given as old age. The death certificate tells us that she was the widow of John Amphlett, carpenter, and her daughter-in-law Mary was present at her death.

Her burial took place on 4 Sept in St Peter’s churchyard.

Ari, this is how you are related to Frances: