20 May 2009

Slow day in the diary

I have to admit that I'm struggling today.  Our birthday boy is William Langford, born to William & Rebecca (nee Wright) in Stretham in 1862.  However, he had the shortest of lives - christened today, buried on 22nd.  In common with a number of ancestors on that side of the family, he's related to me twice - as my 1st cousin five times removed and as my 5th cousin six times removed.  The latter does seem rather distant and, according to the database, it means that our common ancestor is Richard Langford and he was born in 1556!!

So, let's go back a day and 244 years.  Francis Langford and Elizabeth Jackson (nee Knight) were married on 19th May 1765 at St James Church in Stretham.  This pair became my great-great-great-great-grandparents and begat five children together (plus Elizabeth had already had two daughters with her first husband Thomas Jackson).  I don't know much about them after their marriage except that Francis is described as "a poor man" in the Bishop's Transcript of the christening of their eldest son Benjamin in 1766.  Francis died in 1785 and Elizabeth in 1809, still in the village.

Short and sweet.  

More soon.



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