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Richard Balcomb and Hester Russell © It is estimated Richard was born around 1681, possibly in Ticehurst or Burwash, Sussex. An Ancestry Family Tree suggests he is possibly the son of Richard Balcomb and his wife Margaret Kidder. A possible baptism has been locate in Godstone, St Nicholas, Surrey for a Baptism of Richard son of Richard and his wife Margaret on the 11th August 16896. Godstone Surrey is approximately 30km north-north-west of Burwash in Sussex. A small, mainly agricultural village, Godstone was not the original name for the parish. It appears as 'Wachelestede,' in the Open Domesday Book of 1086 and is thought to represent Walkhampstead, the fulling place. Probably accounted for by the fact that fuller's earth occurs here, though it is not now worked. Recorded as Wolenestede in many early documents, the Domesday form was the usual medieval name. Burwash Parish Records show that Richard married Hester Russell in St Bartholomew, the Burwash Parish Church, on the 29th January, 17011. Estimated to have been born around 1680, a probable baptism has been located for Hester in St Mary, Ticehurst. Baptized on the 21st April, 16792, Ester was the daughter of Richard Russell and his wife Elizabeth (nee Gib). Ticehurst lies between Hawkhurst and Wadhurst, and is roughly 5km north of Burwash. The name Ticehurst comes from the Anglo Saxon ‘Tice’ meaning kids (goats), and ‘ hurst’ a thick wood. A search of the parish register of Burwash reveals Richard and Hester had at least four children: Anna 1703; Thomas 1705; Abraham 1708; and Richard 1712, he married Elizabeth Carter 1732. A later record indicate Richard may have been a Clothier3. In the 1700s, a ‘clothier’ was generally a man and his family, who together performed most of the steps of cloth making. The majority of clothiers were not large manufacturers, and most also did a little farming on the side, mainly raising vegetables and crops that did not require a lot of attention. Small clothiers, assisted by members of his family, warped the loom and did the weaving. After the cloth was woven it was taken to the fulling mill. When the cloth was dry, the clothier put his cloth on his horse or donkey, or carried the cloth on his own back to the market towns, where he sold it4. Burial records for Burwash suggest Richard died in 1720 and was buried in the Parish Churchyard on the 15th April, he was just 38years old5. These same records indicate, Hester outlived her husband for more than 30years, dying in 1752, and she was buried in Burwash on the 2nd October5.
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