Arthur Folland - 1749 to 1830

It’s hard to imagine spending your entire life in one small village in the middle of Devon.  But it was also very common – at least it was in the 17^th and 18 Centuries.  Arthur Folland is one such person.  He was born in early 1749 and was baptised on 15 February 1749 at Beaford Parish Church, Devon.  His parents were Hester (nee Knott) and Henry Folland; Arthur was their first child, born nine months after his parents wedding, which also took place in Beaford.  Ten more children were born to the couple over the next twenty years.  

On 9 April 1777 Arthur married Elizabeth Fry in Merton, Devon.  I suspect that Elizabeth was from Merton.  When Sarah, the couple’s first child was born in late 1778, the family was living in Beaford.  Sarah was baptised on 6 December 1778 at Beaford Parish Church.  (Sarah later married John Ashplant, and their youngest child, Maria, married John Milton, who was widowed and then married Jane Heard who was Maria's cousin, but that's all in Jane's story and just included here to show how close knit these families from small villages could be).   Arthur and Elizabeth had six known children, all baptised in Beaford.  One, a son also named Arthur died when he was five years old.

Arthur lived until June 1830 and was buried at the Beaford Parish Church on 3 June 1830.  He was 81 – relatively old for the time!

[Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather]