Ancestors of Mandy Willard

William MIRIAM (c1692-1748)

and Elizabeth TRUELOVE (c1700-1730)

and Hannah HARRISON (1711-?)

William Miriam and Hannah Harrison were my 6x Great Grandparents.  (Click here to see their place in my pedigree chart.)  They married on 28 March 1733 in the Fleet Prison, London.  William was then a widower and husbandman of Rusper, Sussex.  Hannah was a spinster.  Previously as William Meriam he had married Elizabeth Truelove on 17 January 1725/6 in Headley, Surrey.  He was then of Rusper, Sussex and she of Dorking, Surrey.

William Miriam may have been baptised on 17 April 1692, the son of Matthew Miriam (?-1733) and Joan, which I think is most likely, or on 27 August 1693, the son of Henry Miriam and Mary.  Both baptisms took place in Ifield, Sussex.  William was probably buried on 18 May 1748 in Rusper, Sussex.  The other William was probably buried on 25 March 1717 in Ifield.  (William son of Matthew, had a brother named Richard, and a Richard was buried in Rusper in 1751.)

Elizabeth Truelove's date and place of birth/baptism are unknown, to me.  She was buried on 20 May 1730 in Rusper and the burial register noted that she was the wife of William Miriam.

Hannah Harrison was, I believe, baptised on 14 August 1711 in the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul at West Clandon, Surrey, the daughter of Thomas Harrison (c1675-1721) and Hannah Martin (1676-?).  Given that she became a widow at 36, might she have remarried?  If so, she did not marry in Rusper, nor was she buried there as a Miriam.  Her youngest daughter would seem to have been buried in Rusper in 1757, and her eldest daughter married in West Chiltington in 1760.  Then in 1770 her youngest son married in Pulborough.  Might she have gone to live with either of her married children?

William Miriam and Elizabeth Truelove had 1 known child:

1. William Miriam was baptised on 1 December 1727 in Rusper.

William Miriam and Hannah Harrison had 5 known children:

1. Hannah Miriam, my 5x Great Grandmother, was baptised on 16 September 1734 in Rusper.  She married Thomas Scutt in 1760.  (They have their own page.)

2. Alice Miriam was baptised on 22 October 1737 in Rusper.

3. Mary Miriam was baptised on 3 July 1739 in Rusper.

4. Martha Miriam was baptised on 8 January 1743/4 in Rusper and buried there on 15 September 1757.  The burial register noted that she was a single woman.

5. Mark Miriam was baptised on 10 May 1747 in Rusper.  He married Parnel Humphrey in 1770.  (They have their own page.)

To Do and Queries:

So far I have only checked transcripts of the Rusper registers - I need to check the original registers to confirm above dates and if possible obtain photocopies.  William lived in the parish from at least 1727 until his death in 1748.  His second wife may still have been living in the parish in 1757 when their daughter was buried, but she herself doesn't seem to have been buried there.

I have also checked a transcript of the Pulborough burial register and Hannah does not seem to have been buried there as a Miriam, or variant of the spelling.

I need to go through the West Chiltington burial register for Hannah's possible burial (her eldest daughter lived in this parish).

Might Hannah have returned to her home parish of West Clandon, Surrey?  I need to go through the original registers.

Why might William have moved from Ifield and settled in Rusper?  (The parishes adjoin one another.)  Did he have a trade or was he an agricultural labourer?

How did William come to marry his first wife in Headley, Surrey and then how did he meet his second wife who would seem to have been born in West Clandon?

Why did William marry his second wife in the Fleet Prison?  Did her family object to their marriage?

What became of William and Hannah's daughters, Alice and Mary?

Did William leave a will?  Might he have been named in anyone else's will?

Variant spellings:  Miram, Mirrum, Murram, Murrum, Myam, Myram

A Mary Harrison married Richard Lloyd in Rusper on 5 November 1747.  Might she have been related in anyway to Hannah?

British History Online:  RUSPER

MIRIAM          HARRISON