Ancestors of Mandy Willard

James WILLARD (c1777-1832)

and Mary ELLIOTT (c1775-?)

James Willard and Mary Elliott married by banns on 12 February 1806 in Upper Beeding.  He was a bachelor and she a spinster.  The witnesses to their marriage were Martha Elliott and Thomas Lintott.  (They were not my direct ancestors.)

James Willard may have been born about 1777.  He died aged 55 years and was buried on 9 August 1832 in Ifield, Sussex.  Might James have been baptised in Ifield, Sussex?  I have a partial transcript of the Ifield registers at home, baptisms from 1568-1652, 1687-1759 and 1800-1812.

Mary Elliott's date and place of birth/baptism are unknown, to me.  Might her death have been registered as Mary Willard in the first quarter of 1851 in the Brighton registration district?  Her son or daughter was living in Brighton in 1851.

When the 1841 census was recorded 65 year old Mary Willard was a farmer at Lower Bush Farm in Lower Beeding.  She was not born in Sussex.  With her census night were her daughters Ann and Catherine.

James Willard and Mary Elliott had at least 2 known children:

1. James Willard may have been part of this family.  He died aged 21 years and was buried on 16 October 1828 in Ifield, Sussex, therefore, he was born about 1807.

2. Ann Willard was born on 22 March 1809 and baptised on 11 May 1809 in Ifield.  The 1841 census recorded that she was 30 years old and living with her mother.

3. Charles Willard may have been part of this family or that of Charles Willard and Mary Andrew.  He married Sarah Berwich in 1839.  (They have their own page.)

4. Joseph Willard may have been part of this family.  He was born about 1815 in Beeding.  Joseph Willard married Mary Willard in 1836.  (They have their own page.)  Mary may have been the daughter of Charles Willard and Mary Andrew, or Joseph may have been their son, and Mary the daughter of James and Mary.

5. Katherine Willard was baptised on 3 November 1817 in Horsham.  The baptism register noted that her father was a farmer from Beeding.  In 1841 she was 20 years old and living with her mother.  The census then recorded her name as Catherine Willard.  At the time of the 1851 census she may have been 29 year old unmarried Cate Willard who was a schoolmistress, living with her brother or sister Joseph or Mary, at 36 Devonshire Street, Brighton.  Her place of birth was then given as Beeding.  This would mean she was born about 1822.  In 1861 she was an unmarried 43 year old housekeeper to 63 year old William Edmonds, a house agent, and they were living in Jubilee Street, Stepney, London.

Might James have had the following siblings:

Charles Willard (c1780-1854) and Mary Andrew (1778-1843) married by banns on 20 October 1806 in Upper Beeding, Sussex.

Sarah Willard (c1785-1819) married John Jones by banns on 1 December 1805 in Upper Beeding.  He was a bachelor and she a spinster.  The witnesses to their marriage were Charles Willard and Mary Camdrene(?).  John and Sarah's children were:  Catherine 1806, Charles 1808, Ann 1809, Maria 1810, John 1811, Emma 1815, Henry 1817 and Mary 1818.

It would seem unlikely they were the children of Hersey Willard (c1745-1797) and Mary Boorer (?-1792), who had children baptised in nearby Ockley, Surrey.

Might they in some way be related to William Willard (1757-1831) and Leah Jay (1761-1817)?  They did have a son James Willard born in 1785 in Warnham, but it would seem he married Jane Woolvin in 1808 and they were both buried in Warnham in 1856 and 1866, respectively.  They also had a daughter Sarah Willard baptised in 1799.  Could William have been the uncle of Sarah, Charles and James?  William did have a brother John.

ELLIOTT          WILLARD