Beaford, Devon

Ian’s family has an interesting connection to Beaford. I would almost call it ‘strong’ but no one in his direct family has lived there since Catherine and John Heard (John Heard died there on 26 August 1859, unfortunately I can’t find a record for Catherine).  However, both Catherine (nee Folland) and John Heard had family connections going back for generations. I have transcribed all of the baptisms in Beaford parish church from 1729 to 1837, and the surnames of Folland and Heard are the two most common surnames in the register. From 1729 to 1808, of the approximate 1000 baptisms, with over 250 different surnames, 52 were for infants with the surname Folland and 56 were for infants with the surname Heard. I have established a relationship to either Catherine or John’s family for almost all of these entries. I’ve put a list below for interest of the most common names in Beaford.

The family was in Beaford prior to 1729. I possess the earlier Beaford records, from 1653 to 1729, but they are much more difficult to read, and because they had already been transcribed and put onto FamilySearch, I did not “re-transcribe,” although I often refer to them. On the first page of these records is the baptism of Alice Malles in 1653, who subsequently married George Heard in Beaford in 1679, and it is from this couple that I can trace most of the other entries for the surname Heard in Beaford.

Beaford Baptism Records from 1729 to 1807 (1000 entries)

Most common names: 24 names represent just over half (507) of the entries

Heard – 56

Folland – 52

Dyment (or variations) – 42

Bright – 39

Snell – 34

Marshall – 29

Johns – 27

Webber – 22

Handford – 19

Ashplant – 18

Ashton – 18

Pincombe – 14

Mill – 13

Moore – 13

Vodden – 13

Lock – 12

Saunders – 12

Squance – 12

Cole – 11

Dunn – 11

Baker – 10

Burd – 10

Jury – 10

Spicer – 10

I must admit that the connection has always made me interested in finding out much more about Beaford itself, and so I have collected information over the years regarding the town itself. That can be the subject of another blog!

Elizabeth Cook (1703) and George Heard (1687 - 1778)

George Heard was born in June 1687 in Beaford, Devon, England. He was the third child and first son of Alice (nee Malles) and George Heard.

Elizabeth Cook was born in December 1704 in Beaford, Devon. She was the daughter of Margaret and Francis Cook.

On 3 July 1720 when George was 33 and Elizabeth was 16, they married in Beaford Parish Church.

Their first child was baptised nine months later: a daughter Elizabeth. Their second child was born the following year: a son Thomas who was also baptised in Beaford on 5 January 1722/3. A third child, daughter Hannah, was baptised in Beaford on 23 March 1725/6. There are no further children baptised in Beaford to the couple. It is possible they moved away at some stage.

George Heard must have been in Beaford at the time of his death, as it is believed he was buried on the Church grounds on 15 January 1778 (11 days before the first fleet arrived in Australia).  

It is not known when Elizabeth died.

Margaret Marshal (born 1701) and Arthur Knott (died 1750/1)

Margaret Marshall was born in 1701 in Beaford, Devon, England.  Her parents were John and Hester who baptised six children at the Beaford Parish Church between 1694 and 1710.

The surname Marshall comes from the Old High German words ‘marah’ meaning horse plus ‘scalc’ meaning servant: the person who looked after the horses, a farrier, groom or horse doctor. Marshall is a fairly common surname in the United Kingdom, particularly in north England and Scotland.  

Nothing more is known about Margaret’s childhood. Two of her brothers married and lived in Beaford. The fate of her parents and most of her siblings is not known.

On 22 Dec 1723 Margaret married Arthur Knott in Beaford, Devon, England. Arthur does not appear to have been born in Beaford.  The couple baptised seven daughters in the Parish Church:

• Hester, on 4 November 1724;
• Judith, on 20 April 1729. It is not known if the couple just had a large ‘gap’ between children or if they moved to another village for a period;
• Margaret, on 17 July 1732. This Margaret died soon after her younger sister’s birth and was buried on 6 March 1734(35);
• Rebecca, on 30 January 1734(35);
• Margaret, on 9 October 1736;
• Mary, on 26 December 1738;
• Margaret, on 18 August 1741 (the third child to be named Margaret). This must have been an odd sort of baptism service, as on the same day, Margaret and Arthur also buried their five year old daughter Margaret.

Their first grandchild, a son named Arthur, was born in February 1749 when Margaret was 48.

Arthur Knott died in February 1750/51 and he was buried in Beaford.  It is not known when Margaret died.

Alice Malles (and her husband George Heard) (1653 to 1721)

Quite a number of Samantha, Natasha and Rachel’s descendents lived in Beaford, Devon. The Beaford Parish Records have been retained from early 1653.  On the first page of these records it is noted that William Malles baptised his daughter Alice on 3 October 1653. The entry is in Latin, but it is interesting to know that the family was in Beaford from the earliest recorded entries at the Parish Church until about 1810: at least 150 years.

We don’t know anything about Alice’s childhood.

On 9 December 1679, at the age of 26, Alice married George Heard in Beaford.  George may have been born in Beaford as well.  We can only assume that if he was he must have been slightly older than his wife, because there is no record of his baptism.  The couple baptised six children at Beaford:

• Elizabeth – September 1680
• Alice – July 1685
• George – June 1687
• Silas – June 1691
• Thomas – Dec 1693
• Lewis – September 1696.

Lewis died as an infant and was buried on 16 April 1697. Very little is known of the children, particularly their daughters. 

Alice died in Beaford, Devon, England, in late December 1721; she was 68. This must have been a difficult time for the family as her son, Thomas, was buried a week beforehand!  The records don’t indicate whether the two deaths were related, and there is no record of a catastrophic event in Devon at that time. Because information is not available about her two eldest children, it is now known if Alice got to meet any grandchildren.  

Alice was buried on 1 Jan 1721 in the grounds of All Saints Parish Church, Beaford, Devon, England.  It is not known when George died.

Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother

Hester Knott (nee Folland) (1724 to 1814)

Hester Knott was another person in the family who was born, lived and died in Beaford, Devon.  She was born in November 1724 and baptised on 4 November at the Parish Church.  She was the eldest of seven daughters born to Margaret (nee Marshall) and Arthur Knott.  She was named after her maternal grandmother.

On 3 May 1748 Hester married Henry Folland at the Beaford Parish Church.  Henry was from the nearby village of Dolton, but moved to Beaford on his marriage to Hester.  Hester and Henry had eleven children over twenty years; four sons and seven daughters;

• Arthur – born 1749
• Judith – 1750
• Margaret – 1752
• Catherine – 1753
• Rebecca – 1755
• Henry – 1757
• Robert 1759
• Martha – 1761
• Elizabeth 1762
• John – 1766
• Hester – 1769.

In 1772, at the age of 48, Hester's first known grandchild was born: a son for Rebecca, who had married George Marshall – who was actually Hester’s (much younger) cousin (Beaford wasn’t a particularly large village!).  Over the next 25 years at least 16 grandchildren were born in Beaford alone! 

In 1797, at the age of 72, Hester became a great grandmother and at least 10 more great-grandchildren were born in Beaford before Hester’s death.  

Hester died in March 1814 and was buried on 7 March at the Beaford Parish Church, Devon – a few months short of her 89^th Birthday (a ripe old age!).

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