Benjamin Palmer (1756-1808) and Jane Hewitt (?1760-????).
My 5th great-grandparents.
Benjamin was baptised on 6 February 1756 at St Peter’s Church in Newdigate, Surrey. His parents were William Palmer and Dinah Piggot.
There is some debate about Benjamin’s marriage but the only wedding that clearly fits the facts is the one that took place between Benjamin Palmer and Jane Hewitt on 3 February 1783 at St John’s Church in Malden, Surrey, some 20 miles to the north of his home village. Both were “of this parish”. It may be that they met when one or other of them moved away in search of work.
Jane’s ancestry is unclear. The only Hewitt born in Surrey who matches her is a girl baptised in 1760 to James and Mary Hewitt in nearby Cheam, a few miles from Malden. However, a woman by this name married there in 1790. Jane and Benjamin’s marriage record gave no mention of whether the couple were single so it’s possible that Jane had married before and that Hewitt was her married name.
The couple’s children were baptised in Newdigate and nearby Capel but I’ve found no reference to Benjamin’s occupation. He died in May 1808 and was buried in Newdigate on the 24th. Jane is likely the widow who married widower Elisha Penfold at St Peter’s in Newdigate on 18 April 1825 but he didn’t live long, being buried in the village on 18 September 1825. His age given at burial suggested he was born in 1748. Surrey Archives records listed him as a licensed victualler in Newdigate in 1801 and 1802. What happened to Jane is uncertain, but several women by her name were buried in Horsham, Sussex, in subsequent years.
Benjamin and Jane’s known children were:
- Jonathan Palmer (1787-1860), my 4th great-grand uncle. Jonathan was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Capel, Surrey, on 11 March 1787. He married Alice Wales at St Peter’s in nearby Newdigate on 26 December 1810. She had been baptised on 27 June 1790 at Rusper in Sussex to parents Robert and Sarah Wales. They had children but Alice died young and was buried at Newdigate in August 1826 – no date was given but the couple were living at nearby Leigh in Surrey at the time. Jonathan was next recorded in Newdigate in the 1841 Census living in a cottage near Park Gate, Newdigate, with his son Robert and a woman called Ann Smith. He was listed as an agricultural labourer. Ten years later he was still living in the village, now working as a rat catcher, and still living with Ann, who was noted as his housekeeper. However, they were clearly in a relationship – and as far back as the 1830s. A Jonathan Palmer Smith was born on 13 September 1834 to Ann Smith, baptised in Newdigate on 12 October that year and buried on 29 July 1835. No father’s name was given on the records but it’s pretty obvious who it was! Jonathan was likely the man buried in Nuthurst in Sussex on 2 October 1860 – it’s possible that he had moved south to be with one of his children as he aged. Jonathan and Alice’s children were:
- Jonathan Palmer (1814-????) was baptised in Newdigate on 13 March 1814 but what happened to him is unknown.
- John Palmer (1819-????) was baptised in Newdigate on 23 May 1819. A John Palmer and his wife Fanny cropped up in various census returns from Capel over the years but this man was from Horsham, baptised there in 1821. A widower John Palmer of Newdigate, a broom maker, was recorded in the 1891 Census in Thursley, Surrey, but I’ve found no other records for him. An 1895 burial may refer to the Horsham-born Palmer.
- Sarah Palmer (1821-1821) was born in Newdigate on 13 July 1821 and buried there days later on the 22 July.
- Robert Palmer (1823-1905) was baptised in Leigh, Surrey, on 14 September 1823. At the 1841 Census he was living with his father in Newdigate and working as an agricultural labourer. He married Matilda Steer in her home village of Billingshurst, Sussex, on 24 January 1852, had a large family with her and worked as an agricultural labourer. They lived in various places in Sussex including Slaugham and Bolney. Matilda died in 1895 and was buried in Bolney on 6 April. Robert was living in Nuthurst at the time of his death but was buried back in Bolney on 21 January 1905.
- Ann Palmer (1788-1868), my 4th great-grandmother. Ann was born in Newdigate and married Daniel Tullett. Read about Ann and Daniel here.
Sources: Birth, marriage, death and burial records including civil registrations from the General Register Office, census returns and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast.co.uk and Sussex Family History Group.
Newdigate Local History Society and parish births, marriages and deaths.
Surrey History Centre records including licensed victuallers.