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John Smith & Hannah Butler ©

Little is known of John and Hannah, and no baptism records have been located.  However, it appears reasonable to assume they were born around 1730, in or near Essex.

Parish records from Chappel indicate that Banns were published for the marriage of John Smith, a Single Person of Chappel, and Hannah Butler of the same Parish on the 27^th October, 3^rd & 10^th November, 1754¹.  John and Hannah, a Spinster, were then married, by Jas Brome, Curate, in the Parish Church on the 14^th  November, 1754¹.  Both John and Hannah made their mark and the witnesses were Absalom Pengram and Edward Tabler.

Sitting on the River Colne, approximately 11km west of Colchester, Chappel’s original name was Pontisbright, and is famous for its Victorian viaduct, which crosses the Colne valley.  The present name of Chappel derives from the construction of a small chapel of ease, noted in 1285 AD as standing at the northern boundary of the parish of Great Tey.   In 1433, the vicar of Great Tey agreed that the inhabitants of Chappel could find and elect their own chaplain.  During the 16^th Century, because of concerns from Chappel residents about the distance to Great Tey's own church at festival time, this area was split from the parish and become a separate entity known as Pontisbright, which literally means ‘Britric’s bridge’ that would eventually become known as Chappel, and the chapel itself, became the parish church of St Barnabas, and is now a grade I listed building.  Apart from an unconfirmed report of a mosaic pavement on Viaduct farm, possibly on the east side of the Tey road near the church, there is no evidence for prehistoric or Roman settlement in the parish.  However, there was probably a small settlement at the bridge by 1285, as well as scattered farmhouses, as taxation records from the  mid-16^th  to late-17^th  Centuries show forty-six households were assessed for hearth tax in 1671, 128 adults were reported in 1676, and there were about 40 families in the parish by 1723.

A further examination of the parish records of the surrounding areas indicated that John and Hannah had four children, all baptised in Aldham: Simon 1755-1757; Hannah 1757-1764; John 1760 and Susanna 1763, she married William Mott 1785.  Aldham is 5km south-south-west of Chappel.

A burial in Aldham has been located for Hannah on the 28^th October, 1766².  John was buried, also in Aldham, on the 19^th April, 1815².

References:

1 Parish Marriage Record

2. Parish Burial Record

Other Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk  http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/

British History Online  http://www.british-history.ac.uk

Chappel  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappel
Information from Linda Jones (Spain)
Oral Family History

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