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Thomas Gapes and Elizabeth Harris © Baptized on the 22nd June, 1777 in Wendens Ambo, Thomas was the son of John Gapes and Elizabeth (nee Burlin)1. On the 16th October, 1797, Thomas married Elizabeth Harris in St Mary the Parish Church Newport, Essex2. Elizabeth was born around 1777. Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Harris & Elizabeth, was baptized on the 2nd November 1778 in Newport2. The earliest certain mention of the name Newport appears in the Domesday Book of 10863, although there is evidence of human habitation going back possibly to the Palaeolithic period. The name means a new town; ‘port’ was often a name for a market in Saxon times, and Newport did have a flourishing market. Historical references indicate the village grew and prospered until around AD1300, after which it declined, its market ceased; and it was overtaken in importance by its near neighbour, Saffron Walden. It is likely that the first church here was built in the late Saxon period, but the present church was built in the first half of the 13th Century. There are many attractive old buildings, and perhaps the two most interesting are The Crown House (mostly late 16th Century), with its 17th Century pargetting, and Monks Barn, a Wealden type house dating from the 15th Century and featuring an oriole window supported by a carved wooden bracket. Until comparatively recently Newport was mostly dependent upon agriculture, the village had six large mixed farms. The Enclosure Acts of the 18th Century had no effect here; Newport was covered by the 1856 Enclosure Act and it was not until 1861 that the last of the open fields were enclosed and medieval strip farming finally came to an end. Although a wide variety of occupations have been followed in the past, notably in the leather trade and in wool-combing and later, in malting. References1 suggest Thomas and Elizabeth had ten children: Ann 1798, she married Alexander Archer 1820; Thomas 1800; James 1803; Mary 1806; Elizabeth 1809-1823; twins Sarah & Mahala 1811; Eliza 1813; William 1818; and John 1821. A reference to a death for a Thomas Gapes in Saffron Walden in 18444 has been found, but not yet sighted. To date no burial has been located. Records indicate Elizabeth died in 1840 and a reference to her burial in Newport on the 19th October, 18402 has been found, but again documentation has not yet been sighted.
References:
1.
Brickland Family Tree
https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=inglisaf&id=I7482
Sources:
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