A Tale of Tragedy
Category: Ancestors Corner
Matthew Hibbit was born in about 1735, the second son of my 6 x great-grandparents, and he married Frances Penruddock in St Peter & St Paul's Church, Exton, Rutland, on 13th November 1758. I decided to take a look at Frances' family and, not for the first time, I stumbled across a great deal of tragedy.
Frances was the sixth of eight children born to Richard and Dorothy Penruddock between 1722 and 1737 in Pilton in Rutland. Richard died in December 1739 when Frances was barely six years old.
Her mother remarried in January 1741. Her second husband was a farmer called John Deacon who I discovered was dead two months later. Dorothy must have been pregnant with John's child when they married as John junior was baptised on 29th April 1741. Worse still, Dorothy was buried on the same day. What a start in life for that poor baby and all of his half siblings.
Photo by Myeongseon Song on Unsplash
Much of Europe suffered severely cold weather during the winter of 1739/40. This became known as the Great Frost in Ireland which was particularly hit. The streets of London were clogged with snow and ice and the River Thames was frozen for about eight weeks. This was followed by more cold weather and severe gales affecting shipping and one of the worst dry spells of the 18th century which resulted in famine and disease.
The period 1740-1743 has been shown to be the driest period of the last 280 years, with the year 1740 the coldest recorded over the British Isles since comparable records began in 1659. One can only wonder whether the Penruddock/Deacon families living in Rutland were affected by these adverse conditions too?
[Note: All content on the Hibbitt & Barnes Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]
Frances was the sixth of eight children born to Richard and Dorothy Penruddock between 1722 and 1737 in Pilton in Rutland. Richard died in December 1739 when Frances was barely six years old.
Her mother remarried in January 1741. Her second husband was a farmer called John Deacon who I discovered was dead two months later. Dorothy must have been pregnant with John's child when they married as John junior was baptised on 29th April 1741. Worse still, Dorothy was buried on the same day. What a start in life for that poor baby and all of his half siblings.
Photo by Myeongseon Song on Unsplash
Much of Europe suffered severely cold weather during the winter of 1739/40. This became known as the Great Frost in Ireland which was particularly hit. The streets of London were clogged with snow and ice and the River Thames was frozen for about eight weeks. This was followed by more cold weather and severe gales affecting shipping and one of the worst dry spells of the 18th century which resulted in famine and disease.
The period 1740-1743 has been shown to be the driest period of the last 280 years, with the year 1740 the coldest recorded over the British Isles since comparable records began in 1659. One can only wonder whether the Penruddock/Deacon families living in Rutland were affected by these adverse conditions too?
[Note: All content on the Hibbitt & Barnes Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]