THE ANCESTRY OF LUCY HUNT
William and Ann Hunt were Lucy Hunt’s parents.
No christening record had been found for Lucy in Great Bourton,
Cropredy, or Banbury. There was a William and Ann Hunt in Cropredy parish having children in
the early 1800s.
William Hunt of Bourton, a weaver, died at age 55 "from
continual fits", and was buried 9 July 1838 in Cropredy
parish.
William Hunt's death certificate
In the 1841 census for Bourton, Ann Hunt
was found living with Henry Hunt, a plush weaver, age 15 and
George Southam (Lucy’s son), age 10.
1841 census, Bourton
Ann died of pleuritis on 30 December 1846 in Bourton, Cropredy
parish, age 61.
Ann Hunt's death certificate
These are certainly Lucy’s parents – after Lucy's death, her son
George Southam lived with Ann Hunt, and after Ann’s death,
George lived with Henry Hunt (his uncle). This same Henry Hunt
had a daughter named Lucy.
The Cropredy parish register does not
show a christening for Lucy, but does have christening records
for:
Selina Hunt, daughter of William and Ann Hunt of Little Bourton, weaver, christened 26 May 1822 in Cropredy.
Charles, son of William and Ann Hunt of Little Bourton, weaver, christened 3 April 1825 in Cropredy.
SOURCE: Cropredy parish registers
IGI records show a christening record for a Lucy Hunt, daughter of William and Ann Hunt in Holy Trinity, Coventry, Warwickshire, about 20 miles from Cropredy. The Holy Trinity parish register shows:
Lucy Hunt, daughter of William and Ann Hunt, baptized 20 September 1809.
Christening record for Lucy Hunt in Holy Trinity, Coventry
Robert Hunt, son of William and Ann Hunt, baptized 6 February 1812.
Rebecca Hunt, daughter of William and Ann Hunt, weaver, Far Gosford Street, baptized 18 February 1815.
Maria, daughter of William and Ann Hunt, weaver, Far Gosford Street, baptized 11 February 1817. (Maria married Thomas Brain 23 February 1835 in Cropredy. They had the following children: Eliza Ann (1838 in Bourton) who died in Lehi, Utah; Thomas (1843 in Bourton); George Henry (1840 in Bourton); Eli (1844 in Coventry); Jayne Maria (1845 in Neithrop) buried in Lehi, Utah; Thomas Eli (1848 in Banbury); Solomon (1850 in Banbury); Emily Ann (1855 in Banbury); Mary Ann (1858 in Coventry). This Ancestral File record lists Maria's parents as William Hunt and Ann Smith. No primary documentation has been found to support this parentage.)
SOURCE: Holy Trinity parish registers, FHL# 428990 and 502210.
The other occupations listed in the Holy Trinity parish
register in this area were weavers, laborers, watchmakers, and
sawyers.
William Hunt, a weaver by trade, and Ann, his wife, married
before 1807. William and Ann lived in Coventry between
1807 and 1819, and then moved to Great Bourton in Cropredy
parish, where William continued in his trade as a weaver.
Coventry had a strong silk ribbon weaving industry.
Some Ancestral File records for Maria Hunt Brain listed Ann's
parents as William Hunt and Ann Smith, but no source was
listed. There was an Ann Smith, christened 15 March 1787 in
Holy Trinity Parish, Coventry, the daughter of William and
Elizabeth Smith. No marriage record has been found for William
Hunt and Ann Smith in Coventry. However, in the 1841 census
for Bourton, Ann is asked if she was born in the county of
Oxfordshire, and she answered yes. A marriage record exists for William
Hunt and Ann Winnet in the parish of Bloxham, Oxfordshire,
about seven miles from Great Bourton. Plush weaving was an
industry in Bloxham. William Hunt married Ann Winnet 27 August
1804 in Bloxham. This is the only marriage record for a
William and Ann Hunt in the right time period. Could this be
our William and Ann Hunt?
Marriage record for William Hunt and Anne Winnet in Bloxham
An important clue is found in the christening record of
Patience Hunt. Patience is known to be an older sister of Lucy
Hunt, but no christening record was found for her in Cropredy
or Coventry. Patience Hunt, the daughter of William Hunt and
Anne Winnet was christened 19 May 1805 in Bloxham, a year
after they married. No other children are born to William and
Ann Hunt in Bloxham, and they are not buried there. This would
make sense for our William and Ann, as their next child,
Harriott, was christened in 1807 in Coventry. William was a
weaver, and the pattern of movement from Bloxham to Coventry
to Cropredy makes sense, as the economy in England was
difficult at that time.
WILLIAM AND ANN HUNT
William Hunt was christened 9 October 1783 in Holy Trinity
Parish, Coventry, Warwickshire, the son of William Hunt and Mary
Russell. He worked as a weaver. William Hunt married Ann Winnet
27 August 1804 in Bloxham. William died 5 July 1838 in
Bourton at the age of 55. Ann died 30 December 1846 in Bourton,
Cropredy parish, age 61.
William and Ann had the following children:
1. Patience, christened 19 May 1805 in Bloxham; died 1842.
2. Harriott, christened 18 May 1807 at Holy Trinity,
Coventry, Warwickshire; married Thomas Jackson 14 November 1831
in Cropredy (witnesses at the wedding were Robert Hunt and Mary
Hunt). Thomas' occupation was plush weaver. Harriott and Thomas
had the following children: Lucy (born 1833 in Neithrop), Emma
(born 1835 in Neithrop), Ann (born 1837 in Bourton), and Amos
(born 1838 in Bourton). Harriott died in 1857. (1841
census, Neithrop; 1851 census, at 79 Brooks Yard, Neithrop -
Harriet's birthplace is shown as Coventry)
3. Lucy, christened 20 September 1809 at Holy Trinity,
Coventry; married Justinian Southam 15 October 1829 in Cropredy
(witnesses at the wedding were George Clay and Harriet Hunt);
buried 5 October 1831 in Great Bourton. (George Clay was a
plush weaver who is found living next door to Lucy's sister,
Maria, and brother, Robert, in the 1841 census in Bourton.)
4. Robert, christened 6 February 1812 at Holy Trinity,
Coventry; married Sarah Humphries 15 July 1833 in Cropredy
(witnesses at the wedding were Thomas Jackson and Maria Hunt);
had the following children, all born in Cropredy: William (1834
in Little Bourton), Rebecca (1835), Eliza (1837 in Little
Bourton), William (1840 in Cropredy), Mary Anne (1842), Rachel
(1845 in Little Bourton), Harriett (1850), Ezra (1851), and
James (1854 in Bourton). His occupation as listed in the 1841
and 1851 English census was plush weaver. In 1861 he was an
agricultural laborer. (1841 census, Bourton, living
next to Maria and Thomas Brain; 1851 census, Bourton - his
birthplace is shown as Coventry; 1861 census, Bourton,
at Lt. Bourton Village)
5. Sarah, died 1829.
6. Rebecca, christened 18 February 1815 at Holy Trinity, Coventry; died 1867.
7. Maria, christened 11 February 1817 at Holy Trinity,
Coventry, married Thomas Benjamin Brain in 1835 in Cropredy.
They had the following children: Eliza Ann (1838 in Bourton) who
died in Lehi, Utah; George Henry (1840 in Bourton); Thomas (1843
in Bourton); Eli (1844 in Coventry); Jayne Maria (1845 in
Neithrop) buried in Lehi, Utah; Thomas Eli (1848 in Banbury);
Solomon Benjamin (1850 in Banbury); Emily Ann (1855 in Banbury);
Mary Angenline (1858 in Coventry). The family are found in the
1851 English census in Banbury, and are neighbors of George
Southam's stepmother and family on Pepper Alley. Maria's
occupation was dressmaker, and Thomas' was plush weaver. In
1861, the family is found in Coventry. Maria died in 1887. (1841
census, Bourton, Maria shown as Meriah, with husband Thomas
Brain, plush weaver, children Eliza and George, living next
door to brother, Robert Hunt; 1851 census, 127 Pepper Alley,
Banbury - Maria's birthplace is show as Coventry; 1861 census,
Drapers Field, Coventry - Maria's birthplace is shown as
Coventry)
8. Elizon (Elizabeth), christened 16 July 1819 in Great Bourton, Cropredy parish; married James Dunn 31 October 1863; died in 1867.
9. Selena, christened 26 May 1822 in Little Bourton,
Cropredy parish; in the 1841 census, she is a servant in a
merchant's home in Banbury; married John Clarke, had children
Sarah Ann and Selina. In 1851, Selena, husband John Clarke
(shown as "lab axletree manufactory"), daughter Sarah
Ann, age 4, and Eliza Hunt, visiter, age 14, are shown in
Hopcrafts Yard, Deddington. In 1861, Selena, husband John Clarke
(shown as "coach smith maker"), and daughters Sarah Ann
(born 1845, shown as "candidate for a teacher") and
Selena are found in Deddington. In 1871, Selina, husband John
Clarke, and daugher Selina (born 1860) are found in Deddington,
Oxfordshire. John is a laborer in an axle factory. Selena died
in 1875. (1851 census, Deddington; 1861 census, Deddington;
1871 census, Deddington)
10. Charles, christened 3 April 1825 in Little Bourton, Cropredy parish.
11. Henry, born in about 1826 in Little Bourton;
married Elizabeth in about 1846. Henry was a plush weaver in Neithrop, Oxford.
Henry and Elizabeth had eight children – Lucy (1847 in Little
Bourton), Ellen (1849 in Little Bourton), Hiram (1850 in
Neithrop), Henry (1853 in Banbury), George (1855 in Neithrop),
.Harriett (1863 in Coventry), Albert (1861 in Coventry), and
William (1868 in Birmingham) George Southam is found living with
them in the 1851 census. The census showed Henry Hunt (age 26)
plush weaver, living at 30 Hobleys Lane, Neithrop, Oxford with
wife Elizabeth (age 23), daughters Lucy (age 4), and Ellen (age
2), and son Hiram (age 3 months) with lodger, George Southam
(age 20), plush weaver. Henry was mentioned in a magazine
article about an 1850 survey for the Anglican church in
Neithrop, “No. 648 housed Henry Hunt, a Baptist plush
weaver, his wife, their three children, and a plush weaver
lodger.” (Cake and Cockhorse, Banbury Historical
Society, Winter 1966, Vol. 3, No.6) In 1853, Henry
had four of his children baptized, and they appeared in the
Neithrop parish register. Their son, George, appeared in the
Neithrop parish register in 1855. Thomas White and Anna White,
their aunt and uncle, appeared as sponsors. Henry and Elizabeth
are also sponsors for Thomas and Anna White's children in 1853,
and Thomas' occupation was weaver. The plush weaving industry
began to decline in the 1850s with the introduction of power
looms. In the 1861 census, Henry and Elizabeth and seven of
their children are found living in Coventry. Coventry had a silk
ribbon weaving industry, which began to collapse in the 1860s,
due to cheap imports. The 1871 census holds a bit of a surprise
- Henry is shown as a prisoner in Banbury in the home of a
police officer, while Elizabeth, Henry, George, Harriett, Arthur
and William are shown in a separate household in Banbury.
Elizabeth had the occupation of girth weaver listed. Henry Hunt
is found in the 1881 British census, and had remarried: Henry
Hunt, age 56, born in Little Bourton, Oxford, England,
occupation - plush weaver; Ann Hunt, wife, age 36, born
Waddeson, Buckinghamshire, England; living at 48 Calthorpe St,
Neithrop (www.familysearch.org). In the 1901 census,
Henry lives in the Banbury Union Workhouse. He is 79 years old,
and is shown as a retired plush weaver, and pauper inmate. Henry
died in 1907 in Banbury, age 86.
SOURCES: Bishop's Transcripts, Cropredy Parish, FHS# 95235; Holy Trinity parish registers, FHL# 428990 and 502210; Cake and Cockhorse, Banbury Historical Society, Winter 1966, Vol. 3, No.6; IGI; Ancestral File; death certificates for William and Ann Hunt from the General Register Office; Cropredy parish registers on CD; Neithrop parish register on CD.
1841 census, Bourton, Oxford, FHS# 474571, showing Ann Hunt, age 55, born in this county, Henry Hunt, age 15, plush weaver, and George Southam, age 10.
1851 census, Little and Great Bourton, Oxford, FHS# 193644, showing Henry Hunt, age 26, plush weaver, wife Elizabeth, age 23, daughters Lucy, age 4, Ellen, age 2, son Hiram, age 3 month, George Southam, age 20, plush weaver, lodger, at 30 Hobley Lane, Neithrop, Oxford.
1881 census,
Neithrop, Oxford, www.familysearch.org