Sometime before 1832 she married, or cohabitated with, William Jackman. William was born in about 1799 in Lifton, Devon, and during their time together worked as a farmer, innkeeper, and schoolmaster. A record of marriage has not been located, but given they were both born in different villages and then lived in a third location, that is understandable.
William’s birth town of Lifton is situated 12 kilometres west of Brentnor, near the confluence of the rivers Wolf and Lyd, and very close to the border between Devon and Cornwall. The village was one of the first in the west of Devon to be founded by the Saxons, and was of strategic importance because of its location on a major route close to the border with Cornwall. Agriculture and mining supported the economy, possibly explaining William’s initial occupation.
At the 1841 Census the family consisted of Elizabeth, William and their four daughters: Priscilla (born in 1832 when Elizabeth was 25 years old), Elizabeth (1835), Mary (1837) and Grace (1839), and they lived at Lamerton, Devon. Lamerton is situated between Brentnor and Lifton. The couple had a further four daughters: Sibella (born 1842), Ann (1844), Jane (born 1846, died 1848) and Jane (born in 1848 when Elizabeth was 41). Between 1944 and 1846 the family moved from Lamerton to Calstock, Cornwall. Calstock is ten kilometres south of Lamerton and sits on the border of Cornwall and Devon. The village is gorgeous. It is on the River Tamar and many of the old white houses appear to cling to the banks of the river. At the time they moved Calstock was an important port for the industrial and mining activity.
In March 1852 William died in Calstock, at the age of 53, and his daughters ranged in age from 20 to 4 years. He was buried on 31 Mar 1852 in the Churchyard at Calstock. At this stage the family were living at 4 Fore Street, in the centre of Calstock. The following year the first of Elizabeths daughters married: Elizabeth (junior) married a Calstock native, and three months later, in August, William Jackman Williams was born in Calstock - the first of Elizabeth's grandchildren. In 1855 Priscilla was the second daughter to marry, and she was the only child to marry a man who was not born in Devon.
Elizabeth died in Calstock, in Apr 1867, at the age of 60, and was buried on 22 Apr 1867. At this time, six of her seven daughters were married and she had twelve grandchildren.
There are a number of old family documents that have survived about the family. Elizabeth’s seven surviving daughters were very close and shared letters and photographs with each other throughout their lives.
One wonders what Elizabeth and William thought about having only daughters, especially at that time, but the women themselves appear to have loved saying they were “one of seven/eight girls.” Only one branch of the family stayed in Calstock. The other children moved to various parts of England, with Jane, the youngest, moving to Australia. In 1882 two of Elizabeth’s grandchildren married each other in London: Alfred (son of Priscilla) and Maria (daughter of Sibella). Various members of the Joyce family (Jane’s descendants) have visited Calstock to take photos next to the family home in Fore Street.
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| 4 Fore St, Calstock at various times... |
