This year I have decided to take part in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blogging prompts.
The theme for Week 6 (Feb. 4-10) is: Surprise.
For this week's theme of Surprise, I have decided to write about my 5 x great grandmother Ann (Pettit) Peacock, one of my direct maternal line ancestors.
Back in 2006, I was alerted by another Peacock family researcher, via GenesReunited, that the burial register of St Edmund's Church, Abbess Roding, Essex, England, contained a detailed entry of burial for my 5 x great grandmother. I was surprised to discover what this detailed burial entry described.
The entries for burials in the parish around the time of my 5 x great grandmother's death in 1801 only rarely included more than the person's name and the date of burial. For example, the entries for 1801 start off as follows:
1801
Mary Skinner, January the 10th
Nancy Madle, an infant, June the 2nd
What followed after these entries was a detailed account of the sad and unexpected circumstances of my ancestor Ann (Pettit) Peacock's death. The entry covered eighteen lines in the register, instead of the usual one, and spanned across the bottom of one page and on to the next. It gave details about the family that are usually unexpected in the burial registers of that time.
Anne Peacock, July 19th. In the Death of this Woman there was something so peculiarly aweful, & instructing instructing us all of whatsoever age to remember that in the Midst of Life we are in Death, that it deserves somewhat more than the common obituary Register. Whilst sitting in her Cottage at Fyfield by the side of a window she was struck dead by Lightning. An Infant Daughter in her Arms escap'd altogether unin-jur'd. A decrepid, paralytick Mother was the unhappy Spectator of this melancholy Event; & a poor Boy, who had taken Shelter from the Violence of the Storm. She left behind her a Husband, & nine Children to regret her Loss. In Consequence of this solemn Visita-tion of Almighty God, & the Circumstances of her young Family, the Bishop of London sent me for their Relief 20 £. To teach us to number our Days, that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom.
Just three burial entries below Ann's were the following two burials, for her parents Francis Pettit and Sarah (Bright) Pettit (my 6 x great grandparents):
Francis Pettit, Clerk of the Parish, Decr 4th The Father
Sarah Pettit, Decr 25th & the Mother of the above A.Peacock
Source: "Burial Register, Essex Record Office, Parish Records, Abbess Roding, St Edmund, 1786-1811, D/P 145/1/4.," 1801. Burial of Anne Peacock; digital images(accessed 29 Jun 2009); Essex Ancestors, Essex Archives Online from the Essex Record Office. http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/Result_Details.aspx?ID=21157
© 2019. Australian Genealogy Journeys. This post was originally published at https://ausgenjourneys.blogspot.com/2019/02/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-6.html
52 Ancestors in 52 weeks is © Amy Johnson Crow.
The theme for Week 6 (Feb. 4-10) is: Surprise.
For this week's theme of Surprise, I have decided to write about my 5 x great grandmother Ann (Pettit) Peacock, one of my direct maternal line ancestors.
Back in 2006, I was alerted by another Peacock family researcher, via GenesReunited, that the burial register of St Edmund's Church, Abbess Roding, Essex, England, contained a detailed entry of burial for my 5 x great grandmother. I was surprised to discover what this detailed burial entry described.
The entries for burials in the parish around the time of my 5 x great grandmother's death in 1801 only rarely included more than the person's name and the date of burial. For example, the entries for 1801 start off as follows:
1801
Mary Skinner, January the 10th
Nancy Madle, an infant, June the 2nd
What followed after these entries was a detailed account of the sad and unexpected circumstances of my ancestor Ann (Pettit) Peacock's death. The entry covered eighteen lines in the register, instead of the usual one, and spanned across the bottom of one page and on to the next. It gave details about the family that are usually unexpected in the burial registers of that time.
Anne Peacock, July 19th. In the Death of this Woman there was something so peculiarly aweful, & instructing instructing us all of whatsoever age to remember that in the Midst of Life we are in Death, that it deserves somewhat more than the common obituary Register. Whilst sitting in her Cottage at Fyfield by the side of a window she was struck dead by Lightning. An Infant Daughter in her Arms escap'd altogether unin-jur'd. A decrepid, paralytick Mother was the unhappy Spectator of this melancholy Event; & a poor Boy, who had taken Shelter from the Violence of the Storm. She left behind her a Husband, & nine Children to regret her Loss. In Consequence of this solemn Visita-tion of Almighty God, & the Circumstances of her young Family, the Bishop of London sent me for their Relief 20 £. To teach us to number our Days, that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom.
Just three burial entries below Ann's were the following two burials, for her parents Francis Pettit and Sarah (Bright) Pettit (my 6 x great grandparents):
Francis Pettit, Clerk of the Parish, Decr 4th The Father
Sarah Pettit, Decr 25th & the Mother of the above A.Peacock
© 2019. Australian Genealogy Journeys. This post was originally published at https://ausgenjourneys.blogspot.com/2019/02/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-6.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are appreciated. Thanks.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.