Outsider Presence in Lowestoft 1561-1730
(Parish Register Entries)
The register entries below are presented in as close a way as possible to the original handwritten ones
Photo opposite - The interior of St. Margaret’s Church in 1786 - historic repository of the Lowestoft parish registers - captured by Richard Powles (1763-1807). This ink-and-wash study is to be found in Isaac Gillingwater’s ‘Drawings Illustrative of the History of Lowestoft, Mutford and Lothingland’ (Suffolk Archives, Ipswich - ref. no.193/2/1).
1561 Richard Weymon [Wayman], of Dover - 17 September (B) A lad cam[e] from John Watters [Waters] of Normanston - 1 October (B) |
1562 Steven Bechym [Beacham] of Colchester and Annes [Anne] Chamber[s] - 14 January. (M) Elizabeth daughter of Richard Seman of Oulton miller - 8 March (C) Richard son of Robert Botie [Booty] of Oulton perished w[it]h a cart - 7 July (B) Nic[h]olas, a mason cam[e] from Yarmouth - 8 July (B) Matthew Morres [Morris], a westarne [western] man - 19 October (B) Robert Justice of Foulston [Folkstone] - 20 October (B) |
1563 John Wynslye [Winsley] of Grimsby - 27 April (B) John Haylegate [Holgate?] of Brighthempston [Brighton] - 23 September (B) John Elles [Ellis] of Brighthempston [Brighton] - 28 September (B) Thomas Potten, a lad of Rye - ? October (B) Thomas King of Scarborough, perished at sea - 25 October (B) Jacob Rynkes of Petten, in Holland - 12 November (B) |
1564 Robert Hayles [Hales] of great Yarmouth - 19 March (B) John, son of John Hoore [Hoar] off Shoram [Shoreham] - 1 July (B) John Coole [Coull] of Hide [probably Hythe] - 5 October (B) |
1565 Thomas Ringbell, son of a man in Norff [Norfolk] - 17 May (B) Nicolas Leassewer de new haven [Nieuwe Haven, Holland] - 2 November (B) Wyllyam Smith of London, servant with Mr. Edmond Tutway - 25 November (B) |
1566 Margaret Bacler [Buckler?], a stranger - 13 February (B) Thomas Ringer of Bunwell, laborer [labourer] - 21 April (B) John Thyrkell of Southehold [Southwold], a boat mr. [master] - 21 June (B) Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Shorten and Margaret his wife (both of Corton) - 20 July (C) Barbara, wife of John Gripe of Saxlingham nethergate - 15 August (B) Henry Pearle of Dover - 10 October (B) Wyllyam Tompson of Robinheds baye [Robin Hood’s Bay] - 20 October (B) Thomas Browne of Hasting[s] - 27 October (B) |
1567 Elen [Ellen], single woman, cam [came] from South[w]ould - 4 January (B) Henry Bowgen, of Sould [Southwold] mariner (B) - 10 September B) John Horning, of Thurlton, who wt. [with] a knife wilfully ended his lyfe [life], yet leved [lived] a short time and repented - 26 November (B) |
1568 Fraunces [Francis] Cowes of Norwich, Mason - 11 August (B) a fisherman of Ramsegate [Ramsgate]- 10 October(B) |
1570 James Alechester, a man of Lethe [Leith] - 25 August (B George Phylosene Browne of Handwarpe [Antwerp] - 11 December (B) |
1571 Ewont Cornelyson, called skout of the brele in Holland [Holland] - 7 June (B) John Delaney of Dunkirke [Dunkirk] - 10 June (B) a hollandar [Hollander] or fleming - 15 June (B) Peter Denison, cater [carter], de [sic] amstardam [Amsterdam] - 18 June (B) Martin Swart of Gelderland [Holland] - 6 July (B) Wyllyam Matthewes {Matthews], de [sic] Swoteland [sic] - 9 July (B) John, son of Ehit [sic] Claison, a stranger - 19 October (B) Simon Capp[s] of Beson [Beeston] in norff [Norfolk] - 19 October (B) John [?] a baker of London - 5 November (B) Nic[h]olas Rogers, of Canterburye - 28 November (B) Anthony, son of Fraunces [Francis] Audrians [Adrians] and Mary Anthomison duch folke [Dutch folk] - 23 December (C) |
1572 Henry, son of John Shaw, of gonton [Gunton] - 31 January (B) Alice, daughter of Vencent [Vincent] [?] a stranger - 25 February (B) Annes, daughter of John Londersen and Jane his wife, duche folke [Dutch folk] - 2 March (C) Margery, daughter of Hansse [Hans], a duchman [Dutchman] - 18 March (B) John, son of Henrike [Henrick] Corneles [Cornelius] and Jorryn [sic] his wife, both duch [Dutch] - 6 April (C) Allen [Alan] Banymour of Bungay and Margaret Graye wid[ow] - 27 April (M) Auryan [sic], wife of Zauder Lyndeson, duch [Dutch] - 27 April (B) George Jankenson [Jenkenson] and Janes [Jane] Petersse [Peters] wid[ow] duch folke [Dutch folk] - 22 May (M) John Pacheston de water of Sume [Somme]in Frannc [France] - ? June (B) Thomas, son of Crima Dyrison and Jone [Joan] his wife, both duch [Dutch] - 27 July (C) Thomas, son of Crima Dyrison, duch [Dutch] - 11 August (B) Mary Blackey [Blackie], of Leath [Leith] in Scotland - 5 October (B) Audrian [Adrian], son of Zander Lyndeson and Jone [Joan] his wife, duch [Dutch] -16 November (C) Elizabeth, wife of Daniell Arnould [Arnold] in Leethe [Leith] - 19 November (B) Edward, son of Wyllyam Grene [Green] of Grenescore [Green Score] in Gonton [Gunton] and Marion 27 November (C) Lyne Jonson [Johnson], widow, duch [Dutch] - 9 December (B) |
1573 Alice, wife of Alixander Mattison [Madison?] of Linne [King’s Lynn] - 18 February (B) Wyllyam, son of John Boxen of Normanston, and Maryon [Marion] his wife - 22 February (C) Lyen Pearse, wid[ow], duch [Dutch] - 30 April (B) Jacob Henricson and Margaret Foxe [Fox] - 2 July (M) - husband Dutch? Daniell Peterson of Handwarp [Antwerp] - 17 July (B) Jacob, a man of Flusshen [al. Flushing - Vlissingen, Holland] - 18 July (B) Vencent [Vincent] Capers of Nieuport in Flanders - 20 July (B) Maximy {Maximilian] Laurenc[e] of Camsow [sic] in Ze[e]land - 20 August (B) Cornellis [Cornelius] Genrickzen [Genrickson] of Harlam [Haarlem] in Holland - 2 October (B) A child of duche folke [Dutch folk] - 7 November (B) Wyllyam Cornelison and Margaret, daughter of Audrian Frances [Adrian Francis] duch [ Dutch] - 10 November (M) Loyne, wife of Jan Genrickson, duch [Dutch] - 11 November (B) Audrian Frannc [Adrian Francis] [Dutch] - 13 November (B) |
1574 Peter, son of John Peterson, a duchman [Dutchman] - 28 February (B) Lowne Willyamsonn [Williamson] and El[l]en Lenard [Leonard], duch folke [Dutch folk] - 26 June (M) Cornellis [Cornelius], son of Jawne [Jan] Petersonn and Margaret his wife duch [Dutch] - 29 August (C) Elizabeth, daughter of Christofow [Christopher] Stofull and Comer his wife duch [Dutch] - 9 September (C) |
1575 Alice, daughter of Vensent [Vincent] Lenardson and Jane his wife duch [Dutch] - 30 January (C) Robert Wright of Yarmouth, who cam[e] from the bathe [sic] - 14 September (B) - possibly, a badly written form of beche [beach] |
1576 Wyllyam, son of Nic[h]olas Pype [Pipe] of Norwich and Elizabeth his wife - 23 April (C) James, son of John Moore and Anne his wife of Linne [King’s Lynn] - 17 November (C) |
1577 Thomas Utting of Bixley and Elizabeth Bramson wid[ow] - 7 January (M) Barnabas, son of Cristover Coper [Christpoher Cooper] of Mutforth [Mutford] and Elizabeth his wife - 7 February (C) Alice, daughter of Lound [sic] Wyllyamsonn [Williamson] and Ellen his wife, duch[Dutch] - 10 February (C) A man of Hastings, Mr. Myghells [MIghells] oste [host] - 23 September (B) Rouland [Rowland] Wright of newhaven [Sussex] - 15 October (B) |
1578 John Pickenott, late of London - 3 April (B) Robert, son of Wyllyam Edwardes [Edwards], of Carleton [Colville] - 8 September (B) Dorothe [Dorothy], wife of John Bennet[t] of Soterlaye [Sotterley] - 7 October (B) Faith the daughter baptised on the same day Robert Stares of Blonston [Blundeston] -15 December (B) |
1579 Margaret, daughter of Loues [sic] Willyamson [Williamson] and Elonis [sic] his wife duch [Dutch] - 25 September (C) Marinis Cornelizon, stereman [steerman, pilot] of Browershaven [Brouwershaven] - 24 October (B) |
1580 John, son of John [Jan?] Loons and Margaret his wife Duch folk [Dutch folk] - 17 January (C) Richard Smyth [Smith] of Corton, thakstar [thatcher], and Anne Sewell - 15 February (M) Robert Rushe [Rush], of Normanston - 27 May (B) Richard Yarkeman, of Brightsonn [Brighton] - 11 June (B) Archelus Lester of Great Yarmouth - 5 October (B) |
1581 John Howard, late of Oulton - 27 January (B) Rachell, daughter of Richard Smith of Whayth [Waithe,in Lincolnshire?], and Elizabeth his wife - 20 February (C) Thomas Lowne, of Southtold [Southwold], and Alice Driver, wid[ow] - 9 August (M) Symon [Simon] a man of Colves [sic] yt [that] cam[e] from ye [the] wardhowse [wardhouse] - 2 September (B) |
1582 Robert Grene [Green] of Beckells [Beccles] thelder [the elder] - 4 February (B) Myles [Miles], son of John Rising, of Normanston, and Elizabeth his wife - 5 June (C) a man of Alborow [Aldeburgh], found at ye [the] seaside - 17 August (B) Wyllyam Symons [Simons] of Southold [Southwold] - 25 August (B) Peter Fows of Dunkirke [Dunkirk] - 3 October (B) Elizabeth Shanke, servant wt [with] Thomas Mason of Normanston - 23 November (B) Agnis [Agnes], wife of Richard Smith of Oulton - 27 November (B) |
1583 Samuell Puckell of London and Ann´Paine - 9 May (M) Wyllyam Welton and Margaret Rustone [Ruston] of Norwich - 4 June (M) A Frenchman - 21 September (B) |
1584 Theofolus [Theophilus] Ruthall, son of Richard Ruthall of Gonton [Gunton] Gent [Gentleman], and Margaret (C) George Nicker of great Yarmouth, widower, and Ann Tayler [Taylor] of this parrishe [parish], wid[ow] - 15 April (M) Thomas Scaffe [Scarfe] of great Yarmouth, Singleman [Single man], and Margaret Burton of this parisshe [parish], Singlewoman - 7 June (M) George Jetter [Jettor], son of George Jetter of Boston, and Anne his wife - 19 July (C) Wyllyam Charswell , alias Charnell of Packeld [Packfeld = Pakefield], singleman, and Alice Bamforth singlewoman - 27 July (M) |
1585 Wyllyam Bracke [Brake?] of Yarmoth [Great Yarmouth], servant - 16 March (B) Elizabeth Evered [Everett], daughter in lawe to Ri[chard] Traners [Travers] of Normanston - 22 March (B) |
1586 John Frankling [Franklin] of Brighthompston [Brighton] - 4 November (B) John Scrasse, gentn [gentleman], soldier of Sussex, son of Lewes [Lewis] Willyams [Williams] - 6 November (B) |
1587 Wyllyam Ireland, sing. {single], and Margaret Skut of Hoxen [Hoxne] sing. - 23 July (M) Agnis [Agnes], daughter of Tho[mas] Bunn of Gorlestone [Gorleston] - 1 September (B) Gunner [Gunnar?] Jonson, wido[w]er, and Joane [Joan] Overy, widow - 4 September (M) - does bridegroom’s name suggest Scandinavian origins? Symon [Simon] Covett of Rye, singl[e] - 17 October (B) Thomas Barneby of Heringflet [Herringfleet] - 25 October (B) |
1588 Wyllyam Browne of Rayden [Reydon], single, and Anne Flethhood [Fleetwood?], single - 14 January (M) John Cooke of Gorlestone [Gorleston], wido[w]er, and Agnes Herrish, widow - 19 January (M) Nycholas [Nicholas] Harris of Allby [probably Aldeby] sing[le] & Elizabeth Carre [Carr] single w[oman] - 11 November (M) |
1589 Wyll[yam] Croft of Somerleton [Somerleyton], singl[e], and Katheren [Katherine] Humfre [Humphrey] widow - 19 January (M) Margaret Hamond [Hammond] of Borough Castel [Burgh Castle] - 19 March (B) Elizabeth, daughter of Wm [William] Penne [Penn] of Gonton [Gunton], and Emme [Emma] his wife - 6 July (C) Thomas Berye [Berry], late of Newcastell [Newcastle-upon-Tyne] singleman and Margaret Beeseeke [Beseck], singlewoman - 22 September (M) John Warde of Earsham, tanner, and Ursula Wells, both single parties - 24 September (M) Richard Wilde, singleman, and Elizabeth Clatke of Sould [Southwold] singlew[oman] - 1 December (M) Anthony Smith of Pakefield, and Margaret Bamforth, both single parties - 22 December (M) |
1590 Beniamin [Benjamin], son of Jo[hn] Yongman [Youngman] of Yarmoth [Yarmouth]- 18 April (B) John Willson [Wilson], singleman, and Elizabeth Faierbande [Fairband], late of Southold [Southwold], singlew[oman] - 20 April (M) |
1591 John Harrys [Harris] of Awbye [Alby = Aldeby?], singleman, and Margaret Yongman [Youngman] singlew[oman] - 29 July (M) Cort [Kurt] Stew [sic], a stranger of Hamborough [Hamburg], perished in ye [the] watter [water], he being a pilate [pilot = helmsman] of a shippe [ship] yt [that] was cast away here in ye [the] roade [road = inshore reach] - 21 September (B) |
1592 George Sewell of Thurst [Thirsk] in ye [the] countie [county] of Yorke[shire] - 20 February (B) John Ward of Corton - 1 December (B) |
1593 John, son of Wm. [William] Marret [Marriott] of Martlosham [Martlesham] - 6 April (B) |
1594 William Humfrie [Humphrey/Humphreys], travel[l]ing from Yarmoth [Yarmouth] toward Londond [London] died by the way - 1 March (B) Gareth Porter of Ranningham [Raveningham] in Norff [Norfolk], and Margaret Brigge [Briggs], both single - 23 May (M) Robert Rogers, a westarne [western] man - 1 July (B) John Boyce, of Yarmoth [Yarmouth], single, and Agnes Person [Pearson], single - 5 December (M) Wyllyam Browne of Sould [Southwold] and Martha Lowe, both single - 16 December (M) |
1595 Roberte Smith of Eltam [Eltham], in Kent, and Agnes Pacye [Pacy], both single - 31 January (M) Mary, daughter of Tho[mas] Manfeld [Mansfield] of Yarmouth [Great. Yarmouth] - 24 August (B) Margaret, daughter of John Nesling of Covehithe - 26 September (B) |
1597 ? Wilye [Wiley/Wylie] of Hide [Hythe] - 5 June (B) Elizabeth, daughter of Tho[mas] Rivet [Rivett] of Loddon - 23 October (B) |
1598 John Beching [Beeching], of Sussex, gent[leman] - 15 March (B) Robert Toolye [Tooley] of Holt, single, and Tabytha [Tabitha] Arnould [Arnold], sing[le] - 25 July (M) Symon Grene [Simon Green] of Hingam [Hingham], sing[le], and Jane Whiting of Shanfield [Shadingfield] 6 September (M) Thomas Rudd, wido[w]er, and Margaret Bucknham [Buckenham] of Frosenton [Frostenden] - 9 October (M) A Flemming [Fleming] - 18 October (B) |
Notes for 1561-1598
- The register entries above are presented in as close a way as possible to the original handwritten ones – except for the date of the transaction being placed at the end instead of the beginning.
- There were no entries relating to outsiders for the year 1599, with 1569 and 1596 also not being represented.
- With the registers referring to baptisms and burials, a distinction had to be made in the abbreviated forms used here. Therefore, (C) was used for the former, standing for a christening, and (B) for the latter. The use of (M) indicates marriages.
- Square brackets are used throughout to indicate more recognisable forms of both Christian names and surnames, or to show forms more commonly used at the time. They also serve to give the correct form of place-names and indicate the ones in use today, as well as giving modern versions of spelling (where required) and providing the full form of abbreviations used.
- The use of [sic] periodically – this word being Latin for “thus” – indicates something which cannot be interpreted or explained and has to stand as it is given.
- Bold font is used for place-names or, in the absence of these, for anything which indicates that the person concerned was not from Lowestoft.
- Normanston (though part of Lowestoft parish) is also shown in bold font because it was obviously regarded as a hamlet of some kind, at the time, and not as a direct part of the township itself.
- Marriage entries with one partner noted as an outsider (mainly, but not exclusively, male) and the other not so indicated – such as that of 14 January 1562 – mean that the said other was a resident of Lowestoft.
- The term “western” (first use, 19 October 1562) was applied to men from the South Coast (Kent and Sussex), who would have been present in Lowestoft during the autumn herring season. This writer has never found an explanation of how this expression (which in terms of compass directions is incorrect) came into being.
- The presence of men from other maritime locations, at the same time during the autumn, would have been for the same reason – and this would have included fishermen from Holland.
- The man referred as “skout [scout] of the brele in Holland”, in June 1571, would have been the pilot/steersman of a ship named after the Dutch port of Brielle (al. Den Briel).
- The noticeable presence of Dutch families in town, 1572-5, was the result of the persecution of Protestant families by the Spanish occupiers of the Southern Netherlands, which lasted from 1556 to 1714 – the region covering most of the modern states of Belgium and Luxembourg.
- With reference to the baptismal entry of 27 November 1572, Green Score in Gunton is what is known today as Links Road.
- The burial entry of 14 September 1575, referring to Robert Wright “who cam[e] from the bathe”, may well be an example of badly formed handwriting, with bathe possibly having what appears to be lower-case a and t instead of e and c – which would form the word beche [beach]. This would, at least, make topographical sense for Lowestoft.
- The reference of 23 September 1577 to Mr. [Richard] Mighells being host to a man from Hastings indicates the practice in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth of local merchants providing or finding accommodation in town, during the autumn herring season, for men of the same status as themselves.
- The dual register entry of 7 October 1578, regarding the Bennet[t] family of Sotterley, almost certainly indicates the death in childbirth of the wife and mother.
- The reference to a wardhouse in September 1581 probably refers to one of the three coastal gun batteries set up on the Lowestoft shoreline during 1540, with surnameless Simon being one of the operatives.
- The Jetter [Jettor] family referred to on 19 July 1584 was a branch of Lowestoft’s richest merchant dynasty of the mid-late 15th and early-mid 16th century. Former members of it had made major contributions to the building of St. Margaret’s Church c. 1450-80.
- John Harris of “Awbye” (marriage entry, 29 July 1591) was almost certainly the brother of Nicholas Harris (marriage entry, 11 November 1588) – both of whom married Lowestoft women. Exactly how these two men (probably from Aldeby, rather than the village of Alby Hill, near Cromer) came to be acquainted with their partners can only be guessed at.
- The burial entry of 21 September 1591 uses the word road in a maritime sense, meaning a sheltered inshore anchorage between beach and offshore sandbanks. This area at Lowestoft, between the Holm Sand and Newcome Sand, was known as the Lowestoft North Road(s) and South Road(s).
- The name Covehithe (burial entry, 26 September 1595) had succeeded its medieval one of North Hales – the “hithe” element indicating a landing place or harbour.
- Robert Tooley and his wife Tabitha (marriage entry, 25 July 1598) lived at what is now No. 36 High Street. He was a grocer by trade, dealing in wholesale items of different kinds, not necessarily restricted to food items only.
CREDIT:David Butcher
1600 Richard Davy, of Oulton, and Katharing [Katherine] Grange - 28 July (M) Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Vaugham [Vaughn], an Irisheman, and Margaret his w[ife] - 30 August (C) Adam Boner [Bonner] and Ann Tailer [Taylor], of Denton, single p’ties [parties] - 31 December (M) |
1602 Adam Crope of Halvergate,wido[w]er, and Jacomyn Feffyld [Fifield], widow - 9 August (M) Wyllyam [William] Browne off Packfild [Pakefield] and Sarah Barringforth, single p[ar]ties - 9 August (M) |
1603 Anthony Wickham of Packfild [Pakefield], wido[w]er, and Sibiley [Sibyl] Davy, singlewoman - 10 January 1603 (M) John Clarke of Yarmoth [Great Yarmouth], wido[w]er, and Marye [Mary] Kempe [Kemp], singlewoman - 7 February (M) Henry Wingfi[e]ld of Hastings - 10 July (B) John, son of Tho. [Thomas] Besecke [Beseck] of Packfild [Pakefield] - 14 July (B) Cristofer [Christopher]Thorpe of Southould [Southwold], and Margery Coningham [Cunningham], single p[ar]ties - 29 August (M) |
1604 Thomas Morphew of Oulton and Elizabeth Joysse [Joyce], singlewoman - 1 January (M) Robert, son of Ro. [Robert] Swanne [Swan], of Somerl[e]yton - 14 March (B) John Landefild [Landifield], wido[w]er, and Ellen Peterson of Yarmoth [Great Yamouth], widow - 23 April (M) Godfrey Swayne [Swain], late of Stokesbye [Stokesby], and Alice Caver [Calver], single parties - 17 September (M) |
1605 John [?] an Ireland man - 26 October (B) |
1606 John T[h]ompson, a stranger - 12 May (B) Margaret Mulberye [Mulberry], she cam[e] from London - no date given (B) |
1608 Bartholomewe Howarde, of Normanston - 16 June (B) |
1610 Richard March of Yarmoth [Great Yarmouth], merchant - 17 September (B) James, a Scotchman, drowned in ye [the] Roode [Road] - 3 November (B) Elizabeth, daughter of John Oddes [Hodds] of Oulton, and Elizabeth his w[ife] - 4 November (C) John Randall, late of oulton - ? December (B) |
1615 Stranger, saylor [sailor] - 26 September (B) Joyse [Joyce] Row [Rowe or Roe], w[ife] of a stranger saylor [sailor] - 31 October (B) |
1616 Westerne [Western] man was buried - 26 September (B) |
1617 John Potter, son of Henry, stranger - 28 April (B) |
1625 Jonas Adams, son of a stranger - 24 July (B) |
1626 Henry Browning, stranger - 24 April (B) |
1635 Nicholas the Dutchman - 6 August (B) John Jacobbs [Jacobs], the Dutch boye [boy] - 8 September (B) |
1637 John Browne, called London Browne - 23 April (B) |
1638 Nicholas Wattson [Watson], a stranger of Walberswick - 31 May (B) William Hason [sic], a shipwracked sayler [shipwrecked sailor] - 20 October (B) Edmond Parson [Pearson?], sailer [sailor] who came from Hasborough [Happisburgh] - 7 November (B) |
1641 Mary Berry, wife of Edward Berry gent[leman]: a stranger - 24 February (B) Thomas Gardner, formerly an inhabitant of Sherborne, Dorsetshire, who comming [coming] to his son Mr. George Gardner, Rector of Gunton, at his house died - 16 November (B) |
1642 Thomas Mallowes, a strange pedlar - 7 July (B) |
1647 one Waller, a mason, inhabitant in Gorleston, slaine [slain] in digging Tho[mas] Hawis [Hawes] his well beneath cliffe [cliff] - 12 September (B) Chapman’s wife (commonly caled [called] Mother London Browne) - 19 November (B) |
1652 the wife of Franc[is] Greene [Green] of Smyth Marsh[Smithmarsh], was buryed [buried] - 13 October (B) |
1654 William Pollard, souldier [soldier], and Ann Annison, were married by a Justice of the Peace - 10 August (M) Thomas Carman of Corton, widdower, and Susan Snelling of ye [the] same, singlewoman, married first by a Justice and then by a Minister - 19 September (M) Thomas Sheering [Shearing] of Gislome [Gisleham], singleman, and Mary Botson of Lowestoft, singlewoman, married first by a Justice and then by a Minister - 20 October (M) Thomas Smitor [Smiter] of Lowestoft, singleman, mar[r]ied to Judith Lawrence of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth], singlewoman, first by a Justice, then by a Minister - 26 December (M) William Button, of Lowestoft, single, married to Lucy Bunten [Bunton], of Yoxford, first by a Justice, then by a Minister - 26 December (M) |
1655 William Tinmouth, souldier [soldier], singleman and Margaret [Margaret] Fincham, of Lowestoft, singlewoman, married first by a justice, then by a minister - 19 September (M) |
1656 Edward Gurney, of this towne, husbandman, and Mary Hanck [Hanks], of Corton, singlewoman - 9 November (M) John Curbie [Kirby], of Corton, singleman, and Elizabeth Perrisson [Pearson?] of ye [the] same, singlewoman - 9 November (M) |
1657 Mr. Robert Harvy [Harvey], of Lowestoft, gentleman, and Miss Hana [Hannah] Sayer of Pulham Mary [Pulham St. Mary], in Norfolk, singlewoman was married by a Justice - no date given (M) John Taylore [Taylor] of Wrenthame [Wrentham], and Alice Mills, of Henstead, both single persons, marryed [married] - no date given (M) Izake [Isaac] Roomare [Rumer] of Mutforde, widoware [widower], and Katrine [Katherine] Boyce of ye [the] same towne, singlewoman, marryed - no date given (M) Robert Jacksone [Jackson], a souldaire under the command of Capt[ain] Wisse [Wise?], and Elizabeth Button, marryed by a justis [justice] - 15 June (M) Joseph Lugges, of Mundham, singleman, and Roose [Rose] Carman, of Lowestofe [Lowestoft], single woman, was marryed - 30 July (M) Mighill [Michael] Chapman, son of Mighill and Joane [Joan] his wife, who formerly lived in Littlebram [sic], in the Count[y] of Norfolk - 3 September (B) |
1658 Ould [Old] Neale, a stranger - 3 February (B) George Reivet [Rivet], of Felextoue [Felixstowe] - 30 September (B) |
1661 Catren [Catherine] Bare [Bear], the wife of Ed[ward] Bear, of Normans Town [Normanston] - 7 September (B) |
1662 Tho[mas] Woodthorpe of Mutford, and Isabell Hunting of Rushmere - 6 October (M) |
1663 Daved [David] Burwood and Margaret [Margaret] Stout, both in Sould [Southwold], were married by Mr. Youll [Youell] - 1 July (M) Frances [Francis] Gre[e]n, of Smithmach [Smithmarsh] - 13 April (B) |
1664 Will[iam] Hassell a stranger that cam[e] with Cpt: [Captain] Tho[mas] Middows [Meadows] - 15 September (B) Samuell Milles [Mills], of Southwold - 20 October (B) |
1665 Mr. James Howard, son to the Earle of Barkesher [Earl of Berkshire] - 12 June (B) Robert Barnnard [Barnard], Southwould [Southwold] - 17 June (B) Tho[mas] Tunstall and Ruth Firebanke [Firbank], of Shippmiddou [Shipmeadow] - 22 June (M) |
1666 Maijer Tho[mas] Willd [Major Thomas Wild] of Yarmoth [Great Yarmouth], was kild [killed] at Corton by a musket shot that went into wessen [weasan = wind-pipe] - 7 February (B) Narthanell [Nathaniel] Adkerson [Atkinson?], minnester [minister] of Southcote[South Cove] and Northhales [North Hales = Covehithe] - 20 May (B) The wife of Tho[mas] Brame of Gunton - 7 December (B) |
1668 Katherin[e] Hall, a Yorkshire maid which lived at Thomas Utting’s, was buried - 14 September (B) John Jex of Corton, and Mary Green of the same were married, both single - 29 November (M) Ranalls [Randal] Barret[t], an infant and son of Randalls [Randal] Barret[t] ofSouthwold was buried - 30 November (B) Robert Burritt [Borrett], of Pakefield, and Elesebeth [Elizabeth] Cooe [Coe], of Lowestoft, were both married, single - 27 December (M) |
1669 Elizabeth Button, was buried at Oulton, but deceased at Lowestoft - 29 April (B) John Juggrim [sic], son of Benjamin and Mary of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] was buried - 5 September (B) |
1670 John Youell, single, and Grace Marlton of Starston, widow - 24 May (M) Thomas Howl[e]tt and Katherine Seago [Seago], single, of Gunton - 24 July (M) Henry Baanes [Baines], widdower, and Joan Sparrow of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth], widow - 16 August (M) Thomas Carpender [Carpenter] of Normanston - 6 December (B) |
1671 Thomas Mewse, widdower, and Ann Killitt [Killet], of Gorleston, widow - 26 February (M) William Arnold and Elesebeth [Elizabeth] Winn [Wynn] of Corton, both single - 21 September (M) Richard Seaman [Seamons] of Mutford, widdower, and Sarah Fulcher of Gunton, widdow - 26 (October (M) John Page of Southold [Southwold], widower, and Ann Jenney of Lowestoft, single - 26 October (M) John Townward of Herveningham [Heveningham] and Mary MIghels [Mighells], of Lowestoft, single - 8 December (M) Richard Browne, of Kirkley, single,and Alice Daines of Lowestoft, single - 26 December (M) |
1672 Herbert [?], widdo[w]er, and Luce [Lucy] Smith, single, both of Woodbridge - 28 November (M) |
1673 John Rooks of Packim [Patcham, nr. Brighton] in Sussex - 6 October (B) |
1674 Edmund Ward of Cheasten [Chediston?], singleman, and Mary Wel[l]s of ye [the] same, single - 22 January (M) Thomas White, seaman of Winterton - 9 September (B) Thomas Mabb[s] of Hasting[s], co[ounty] Sussex, seaman - 20 September (B) Phoenix Holland of Belton, single, slain with a boat - 16 October (B) John Richies [Riches/Richards], of Seeding [Seething] in Norffolke [Norfolk] - 24 October (B) |
1675 John Balls of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth], widdower and Ann Woollhouse [Woolhouse], of Oulton, single - 10 August (M) |
1676 George Patten of Beckles [Beccles] and Mary Bayley [Bailey] of this towne, both single - 7 February (M) Thomas Harvye [Harvey] of Hadlye [Hardley] in Norfolk Nr. [Near] Lodden [Loddon] - 23 October (B) John Gibson and Bridgett Rood, both of Carlton [Carlton Colville] and both single, married - 3 November (M) |
1678 Elizabeth Brown of Gunton - 7 October (B) Henry Cooke of Girling [sic] - 18 November (B) |
1679 John Pope, a stranger - 9 March (B) Henry Tie [Tye] of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth], and Elisebeth Jaxsons [Elizabeth Jackson] - 15 June (M) Richard Panks, a stranger - 24 June (B) |
1680 Thomas Browne of Gunton, aged [old] - 10 September (B) Richard Roope [Rope], of Southold [Southwold] - 30 October (B) John Gunn, a Scott [Scot] - 7 November (B) |
1681 Thomas Peake [Peak/Peek], of Carlton [Carlton Colville] - 22 January (B) Robert Deiton [Dighton] of Gunton - 24 February (B) John Barker of Southwold - 30 September (B) - surname given as Barber in the Woollen Burials/Day Book document |
1682 Widow Ibrooke, of Southwold - 9 June (B) Jeremiah Tyrrell, a stranger - 27 December (B) |
1683 Henry Reeve, of Beckles (Beccles) - 26 May (B) |
1684 Samuel Tyrroll [Tyrrell], of Hal[e]sworth - 5 March (B) Samuel Dew, of Gunton - 1 May (B) |
1685 Henry Hale, of Southwold - 11 August (B) |
1686 Nicholas Wrongrey [sic], of Gunton - 13 October (B) William Harrison, a stranger - 20 October (B) - Woollen Burials/Day Book entry Gabriel Gunning, a stranger - 29 October (5) Matthew Purgell, a stranger - 6 December (B) |
1687 John Mason of Dunwich - 2 October (B) George Alexander, a stranger - 18 October (B) |
1690 Mainheer [Mein Herr] Vanderhook of Hamblingh [given as Hamburgh = Hamburg in Woollen Burials/Day Book document] - 13 January (B) Henry England of Pakefield - 16 January (B) John Gouldson, of Dunwich 7 April (B) Thomas Lapp, a stranger - 28 October (B) |
1691 Samuel Tennant of Belton, buried at Gunton - 19 February (B) |
1692 William Dew, of Corton - 17 March (B) |
1695 John Blaque [Blake], singleman of the City of Hereford, and Doritha [Dorothy] Ben[n]ett widow, of this parish - 14 March (M) John Tripp, widower, and Eliz[abeth] Goodwyn [Goodwin], both of Kessingland- 11 May (M) John Handy, widower, and Grace Wroth, widow, of Carlton [Carlton Colville] - 5 September (M) |
1696 George Lawn, single, and Sarah Cole, widow, both of Kessingland - 7 January (M) John Stringer, widower, and Mary Minns, widow, both of Kessingland - 7 January (M) Henry Bensly [Bensley], single, and Susan Bloomfield, widow, both of Wrentham - 14 August (M) Edward Capps, widower, and Martha Barker, widow, of Kessingland - 17 September (M) John Borroughs [Burrows], single, and Hannah Strouger [Strowger], of O[u]lton- 12 November (M) |
1697 Samuel Nob[b]s, widower, and May Wilson, both of Carlton [Carlton Colville] - 22 February (M) Thomas Symonds [Simmonds], widower, and Mary Nob(b)s, single, both of Kessingland - 4 April (M) Thomas Ranningham, widower, of Philby [Filby] in Norfolk, and Elizabeth Childress, widow, of Lowestoft - 6 July (M) James Taylor, and Frances Taylor, both single, and both of Kessingland - 1 October (M) Robert Smith, of Hopton, single, and Sarah Robinson, of Carlton [Carlton Colville] - 5 October (M) |
1698 John Caesar, widower, of Ireland, and Mary Cresswell of Sunderland, singlewoman - 19 May (M) James Sharme of Readham [Reedham], killed by a mare - 8 July (B) Henry Kettle, widower, of Herringfleet, and Francis [Frances] Love of Lowestoft, single - 1 September (M) John Cotton, of Oulton, single, and Ann Woodrow, of Lowestoft, widow - 11 October (M) |
1699 John Bream [Brame] and Jane Boise [Boyce], both of Corton, and both single - 11 December (M) |
Notes for 1600-1699
- The register entries above are presented in as close a way as possible to the original handwritten ones – except for the date of the transaction being placed at the end instead of the beginning.
- There were no entries relating to outsiders for the years 1601, 1607, 1609, 1611-14, 1618-24, 1627-34, 1636, 1639, 1640, 1643-6, 1648-51, 1653, 1659, 1660, 1667, 1677, 1688, 1689, 1693 and 1694.
- With the registers referring to baptisms and burials, a distinction had to be made in the abbreviated forms used here. Therefore, (C) was used for the former, standing for a christening, and (B) for the latter. The use of (M) indicates marriages.
- Square brackets are used throughout to indicate more recognisable forms of both Christian names and surnames, or to show forms more commonly used at the time. They also serve to give the correct form of place-names and indicate the ones in use today, as well as giving modern versions of spelling (where required) and providing the full form of abbreviations used.
- The use of [sic] periodically – this word being Latin for “thus” – indicates something which cannot be interpreted or explained and has to stand as it is given.
- Bold font is used for place-names or, in the absence of these, for anything which indicates that the person concerned was not from Lowestoft.
- Normanston (though part of Lowestoft parish) is also shown in bold font because it was obviously regarded as a hamlet of some kind, at the time, and not as a direct part of the township itself. The same also applies to Smithmarsh, a farmstead located at what is now the junction of Norwich Road with Rotterdam Road.
- Marriage entries with one partner noted as an outsider (mainly, but not exclusively, male) and the other not so indicated such as those of 28 July 1600 and 9 August 1602 – mean that the said other was a resident of Lowestoft.
- The year 1603 was the one when Lowestoft’s highest-ever mortality rate was recorded, with 280 people dying of plague between May and September (234 of them during June, July and August) – which was about 19% of the population. It is remarkable how Stephen Phillipp, Master of Annot’s Free Grammar School and Parish clerk, managed to maintain the registration of burials so accurately during such a dreadful time. The parish Vicar himself, Wyllyam Bently, was buried on 25 August (his name given the honour of capital letters in the register) and it was almost certainly Phillipp himself (an ordained clergyman) who married Cristofer Thorpe and Margery Coningham on 29 August. They must have wondered at the degree of mortality around them, but neither of them is listed among the deceased.
- The comparatively low number of outsiders featuring in the registers during the first half of the 17th century reflects the period of social, economic and demographic depression which Lowestoft experienced during that time. The epidemic of 1603 was followed by another in 1635, when 148 people died during May to October. The town’s troubles were further compounded by a severe depression in the conduct of herring fishing and curing activity and by the disastrous fire of March 1645, and recovery did not really begin to manifest itself in any significant form until the last quarter of the the 17th century.
- The burial entry of 16 June 1608 shows the Nomanston area of Lowestoft still being seen as a separate entity from the township itself. The Manor Roll of 1618 (Suffolk Archives, Ipswich - ref. no. 194/A10/73) records two houses as being located there, situated in the north-western sector of the West South Field near the present-day junction of Peto Way with Normanston Drive.
- The term Road(s) used of the inshore reaches between the Corton, Holm and Newcome sandbanks and the local shoreline (burial entry of a Scottish mariner, 4 November 1610) was previously referred to in the notes for 1561-1599.
- The term “Western”, used to describe mariners and fishermen from the South Coast (Kent and Sussex), was also previously noted in the section for 1561-1599.
- Thomas Hawes (shipwright) held a messuage occupying what are now Nos. 105-108 High Street, running down to Whapload Road. The builder named Waller was obviously killed in a fall of earth while constructing a well for him during 1647. It was specialist and dangerous work.
- During the period of The Protectorate (1653-59), An Act touching Marriages and the Registering thereof was passed by Parliament on 24 August 1653, which enabled marriages to be conducted by a Justice of the Peace, rather by an ordained minister of the Church of England. This practice is recorded in the Lowestoft registers for the years 1653 (2), 1654 (12), 1655 (7), 1656 (4) and 1657 (4). The act was repealed following Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.
- The marriages shown in this article, of course, relate only to those involving men and women from outside the parish of Lowestoft and the presence of three Parliamentary soldiers has been included on the supposition that they were outsiders serving on a posting to the town. Lothingland was seen by Cromwell’s government as being vulnerable to possible coastal attack from enemies abroad, as well as from Royalist ships operating out of Holland, and a military presence was therefore maintained locally to guard against this – using Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft as bases.
- All of the civil marriages were included in the parish registers and a number of them (not all) indicate that the same couples were also married by (presumably) the Lowestoft vicar – perhaps because they felt that the civil ceremony wasn't fully legitimate or because they wished for the traditional Anglican rite as well. There is no indication of where the civil marriages were conducted, but it may possibly have been in either the Town Chamber or the adjoining Town Chapel. It is also to be observed that certain couples (a minority, at the time) – e.g. the two in 1656 – were married by a religious ceremony only.
- The Pulham St. Mary in Norfolk, referred to in 1657 was either Pulham St. Mary the Virgin or Pulham St. Mary Magdalen – the latter of these later becoming known as Pulham Market.
- The political and religious upheavals of the English Civil Wars, the Protectorate and the Restoration caused a degree of dislocation in the full and accurate keeping of the Lowestoft parish registers (c. 1640-63) – but not as bad as that seen in some other English parishes, and the process of recording marriages, baptisms and burials was largely maintained.
- It has not proved possible to identify Littlebram (September 1657) as a Norfolk place-name.
- The variant spelling of the time is visible throughout practically the whole of the 17th century entries and one of the parish clerks, named Thomas Brethett – who is identifiable as serving during the 1660s and who was a cordwainer (shoemaker) by trade – had both an idiosyncratic handwriting and singular approach to orthography. In fact, some of his register entries (including Shippmiddou, here) reveal a recognisable local East Anglian accent in the spelling of the words on page. He was obviously a staunch Anglican, because on 22 January 1654 he (as parish constable and along with others) had disrupted the Sunday worship of the town’s Nonconformists, who had obviously felt bold enough to start meeting in the Town Chapel – a place intended for use when St. Margaret’s Church was either not available or difficult to access in very bad weather. And Thomas Brethett was having none of it! The Council of State was informed of his actions and considered these on 1 February, before issuing an order on 2 March that a certain Mr. Alberry (presumably, a preacher of some kind) and “the rest of the honest people of Lowestoft” be allowed to have the freedom to use the Chapel for their services and to be shielded from molestation.
- The reference to Smithmarsh (13 April 1663) is given in Thomas Brethett’s eccentric spelling.
- The reference to Captain Thomas Meadows in the burial entry of 15 September 1664 suggests some kind of military presence in town, but it has not proved possible to identify exactly what.
- Mr James Howard, the Earl of Berkshire’s youngest son, was a Naval officer who was badly wounded during the Battle of Lowestoft (3 June 1665) – a resounding victory for the English fleet, early on, during the Second Dutch War. His burial slab, in the Chancel floor of St. Margaret’s Church, says that he died from his injuries on 7 June, aged twenty-four.
- Robert Barnard was member of a former Lowestoft family of shipwrights (mentioned as resident in the town as early as the 1524-5 Lay Subsidy) which had moved to Southwold by the early 1640s and which may have been the same family-group as that which later established major shipbuilding enterprises in Ipswich, Harwich and Deptford during the 18th century.
- Another casualty of the Second Dutch War is also buried in St. Margaret’s Church, not far from the last resting-place of James Howard – towards the east end of the Nave’s aisle and in line with the latter’s memorial stone. Major Thomas Wild (a member of the notable Lowestoft family, but who lived in Great Yarmouth) was a local militia officer killed on the Corton-Gunton denes, by a musket shot to the throat fired from a Dutch privateer inshore, on 5 February 1666. Thomas Brethett’s misspelling of weasand has led to speculation over the years as to to word’s exact meaning. The episode involving Thomas Wild can be found in LO&N’s history pages, as a separate item, entitled Death on the Denes (1666)
- As noted in the section for 16th century register entries (26 September 1595), North Hales was the Late Medieval name for Covehithe – largely superseded by the latter, but not entirely out of use, here, during the year 1666.
- Phoenix Holland (October 1674) had obviously perished in some kind of maritime-related mishap, but it is not possible to interpret exactly what “slain with a boat” means. Whatever the incident was, it is possible that it was something to do with the local autumn herring season.
- Girling (November 1678) has not been identified as an English place-name, with regard to its whereabouts.
- The reference of 30 September 1681 to the Woollen Burials/Day Book document (Norfolk Record Office - ref. no. PD 589/3) relates to a Parliamentary measure of 1678, whereby an Act of that year (succeeding an earlier one of 1666) was passed requiring that everyone be buried in a woollen shroud – this, in order to boost the country’s textile industry. Anyone continuing to be buried in a linen (and occasionally cotton) one had to pay an exemption fee of £5. The keeping of a register to record non-woollen burials was required and the wealthier inhabitants of Lowestoft continued to be buried in woollen shrouds (probably as a means of social differentiation), leaving their relatives or executors to pay the fee. By the early 1700s, the recording of such payments was no longer carried out and the book became used as an initial means of noting down services held in church, which were then entered in the parish registers themselves. John Barker (al. Barber) – buried 30 September 1681 – was obviously of sufficient means to have the £5 fee paid.
- The Ibrooke family was establishing itself as part of the Lowestoft merchant class at the time of the widowed member’s burial, with a large-scale interest in the curing of red herrings. In September 1686, Benjamin Ibrooke acquired what are now Nos. 72 & 73, 74 and 77-79 High Street, with all the land behind (including that behind Nos. 70 & 71 and 75-76A) abutting onto Rant Score and running down to Whapload Road. Lowestoft was apparently able to provide him with greater business opportunity than Southwold.
- The German term “Mein Herr” is quite a broad one, stretching from Mr. to My Lord. Given that the port of Hamburg is the place of origin for this man, he is likely to have been the master of a ship (or perhaps even a merchant), on a Baltic trading voyage of some kind. Lowestoft’s links with ports as far removed as Riga were well established by the late 17th century.
- John Blaque soon established himself as a figure of some note in the civic life of Lowestoft, following his marriage to Dorothy Bennett on 14 March 1695, becoming Parish Clerk soon afterwards. He records, in his own writing, that he was elected (chosen) by Mr. Carlton [Revd. Edward Carlton, Vicar] on 6 April 1695 and he continued in post until his death in 1724 (burial registered on 9 February). Following the marriage of John Clarke and Anne Jackson on 8 July 1695, he appended these words in the parish registers: (This was the first wedding I said Amen to. – J. Blaque.) The use of brackets shows a sound grasp of grammatical correctness and structure and his standard of literacy found areas of activity other than recording the details of marriages, baptisms and burials. He also served as recorder of the parish tithe payments due to the minister and can be identified further as the writer of seventeen surviving Lowestoft wills between 1706 and 1721 – the latter of these matters suggesting that he may have had some experience of, or connection with, legal work of some kind.
- The marriage of 19 May 1698 between the Irishman John Caesar and Mary Cresswell of Sunderland might well have had something to do with the coastal coal trade, with both of them being on board a collier vessel from the Wearside port which had stopped off at Lowestoft. Occasional female presence aboard ship was not unknown during the 17th and 18th centuries and Lowestoft had been buying in coal from the North-east of England from at least the early 16th century (the town is referred to, at that time, in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Chamberlains’ accounts) and the marriage of Thomas Berry – from that very place – to Margaret Beseck (member of a Lowestoft maritime family) ninety years earlier, on 22 September 1589, is another likely connection.
- The burial entry of James Sharme (8 July 1698), referring to him being killed by a mare, perhaps suggests either a severe kick to the head or to being run down by an animal which was out of control.
1700 John Randol [Randall], of London [Loddon], and Elizabeth Smith of Lowestoft, single - 23 January (M) Samuell Scoffin single of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] and Eliza[beth] Borrett of this parish single - 21 April (M) William Pressley [Presley] of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] single & Mary Balls a servant to John Wells single - 21 May (M) Thomas Read wid[ower] of Rayden [Reydon] & Mary Collett of ys [this] Parrish single - 22 October (M) |
1701 James Reeves of Pakefield widower & Elizabeth Wilkinson of this Parrish single - 12 January (M) A stranger from on board a strang[e] ship - 8 June (B) Edward Sallers [Sellers/Sallows?] widower off Beccles and Susannah May[e]s of this Parrish single - 5 September (M) Andrew Jackett, of Brighthampstead [Brighton] in Sussex - 29 September (B) John Wolner [Woolnough], of Brighthimston [Brighton] in Sussex - 9 October (B) Samuel Panks and and Ann Driver both of Kessingland and both single - 27 October (M) John Gibson and Rebecca Hatcher both of Corton & both single - 30 October (M) |
1702 Francis Manfrey of Rushmere single and Elizabeth Martin widow of this parish - 1 January (M) Henry Mallet widower of Herringfleet and Ann Gibson widow of Corton - 26 January (M) Richard Hagon [Hacon?] and Elizabeth Lambert both of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] and both single - 14 April (M) Elizabeth Seamons of Beccles - 17 May (B) Samuel Hugman of Holsworth [Halesworth] & Ann Wiggs of Rushmore[Rushmere] - 26 November (M) Anthony Barlow and the widow Ann Church of Pakefield - 28 November (M) |
1703 George Gleadhill [Gledhill] single of this parish and Jane Watson of Beccles single - 14 January (M) William Carver of Kirkley single and Francis [Frances] Barker single and of this parish - 15 January (M) John Bull of Beccles single and Margarett Baldry single of this parish - 5 May (M) William Bull of Beccles & Sarah Annison of ys [this] parish 5 September (M) William Man[s]field & Ann Simpson both single and both from Harwich - 30 December (M) |
1704 John Herrington widower of Southwould [Southwold] & Susan Nelson of the same widow - 6 March (M) William Padder of King’s Lynn, killed by French in the South Road - 29 March (B) John Munds Widower of Pakefield & Mary Ward single of ys [this] Parrish - 11 May (M) Peter Pilot of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] & Ann Harwood single of ys [this] Parrish - 4 June (M) George Middlemis[s] a stranger & Elizabeth Youel[l] single of this parish - 4 June (M) Robert Dearinge [Dearing] of Hadscoe {Haddiscoe] & Elizabeth Sherrington widow of this Parrish - 2 August (M) John Snowden of Southwould [Southwold] - 8 October (B) |
1705 Clem[ent] Knave of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] & Elizabeth Brook of ys [this] Parrish - 19 February (M) Thomas Delfe [Delph] and Mary Barber both O[u]lton - 28 September (M) Benjamin Walker a stranger - 6 October (B) Thomas Chambers of Blunson [Blundeston] & Sarah Manning of ys [this] Parrish both single - 5 November (M) Richard Mason of Pakefield and Ann Sherrington of ys [this] Parrish - 2 December (M) Francis Paul of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth], lost there in a storm and drove ashore against our north guns and was buried there, and after[wards] taken up again and buried in the Churchyard - 9 December (B) |
1706 Thomas Landefield [Landifield] & Margarett Rama [sic] both single and both of Pakefield or Kirkley - 12 March (M) Nicholas Aldred of Bungay single & Mary Mason wid[ow] of ys [this] Parrish - 12 September (M) Jeremiah Purde [Purdey] of Southwould [Southwold] widower & Elizabeth Whip of this Parrish widdow - 16 September (M) Matthew King of Copstead, in Norfolk, buried out of Henry Butcher’s vessel - 12 October (B) Mr. Nicholas Marriner [Mariner] of Ipswich widower & Mrs. Elizabeth Hayward of this parish single -15 December (M) |
1707 Margaret Stannard, widow, from Normanston - 8 August (B) Thomas Arnold, son of Coe and Susan from O[u]lton - 8 September (B) Abraham Durrant, a stranger - 24 October (B) John Jex of Corton & Margaret Dixon of ye [the] same - 4 December (M) |
1708 Robert Love of Calton [Carlton Colville] & Judith King of ys [this] Pa[rish] - 28 March (M) John Warphill [sic] of Norton Subcourse in the County of Norfolk & Elizabeth Miller of this Parish both single persons - 4 October (M) John Mannell of Pakefield single & Elizabeth Thurcock widow of this Parrish - 28 November (M) Leonard Goodin/Goodwyn [Goodwin], tower, of Windham [Wymondham] - 28 November (B) |
1709 John Stephens of Wivenore [Wivenhoe]mr. [master] of a hoy - 6 February (B) William Seamonds [Seamons] of Pakefield - 14 May (B) Thomas Garrett (from Ilketshall) [Ilketshall St. John] - 7 September (B) |
1710 Samuel Willet of Great Yarmouth singleman & Susan Allen of ye [the] same - 12 January (M) Roger Loan widower of Beccles & Anne Reeve wid[ow] of this parrish - 7 February (M) Robert Cooper single & Elizabeth Thomas of Gaulston [Gorleston] widow - 8 February (M) Edward Annis of Calton [Carlton Colville] widower & Mary Aldred of ys [this] single woman - 12 February (M) Robert Hunt of Ipswich widower & Honour Sussams Widow of this Parrish - 8 July (M) John Knights of Aldeby - 28 September (B) James Kemp of Great Yarmouth Widower and Sarah Curtis of this Parrish widow - 17 October (M) Thomas Jealous [sic] Widower & Ann Pain [Paine/Payne] wid[ow] both of Kessingland - 26 October (M) John Barber of Bungay - 13 November (B) Richard Bracy of Bungay single & Elizabeth Danney [Denny?] of this Parrish single - 18 November (M) Peter Argent Singleman & Margaret Nob[b]s widow both of Kessingland were married here - 17 December (M) |
1711 John Leach Widower of Gunton & Alice Ling Widow of this Parish - 28 March (M) Sarah, the wife of Robert Harvey, of Pakefield - 27 June (B) John Cornish of Wainford [Wangford] & Elizabeth Manning of Peasnell [Peasenhall] both single - 17 August (M) Thomas Edwards of Hopton singleman & Susan Walters of the Parrish - 29 August (M) Thomas Bends [Benns] of Stockesby cum Herringby [Stokesby] in the County of Norfolk & Mary Larter of Belton in the County of Suffolk - 1 October (M) Robert Mileham of Ellingham in the County of Norf[olk] and Ann Bea[u]mont of the same - 3 October (M) William Crow single man & Thamar Crane wid[ow] both of Kessingland - 14 November (M) Samuel Buffam of Great Yarmouth &Martha Ramsell [Ramsdale] of this Parrish both single persons - 20 November (M) |
1712 Thomas Manning single & of ys [this] Parrish & Hannah Gillians [Gillings] single of Southwould [Southwold] - 8 January (M) Jacob Elliott belonging to Her Majesties [Majesty’s] Ship The Pearl & Alice Haggit of Gorleston were married here by Licence both single persons - 8 May (M) Andrew French from Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 30 May (B) Thomas Plantin of Corton singleman & Elizabeth Haltaway of the same parish Widow were married here by Licence 27 July (M) Elizabeth, of John & Elizabeth Cornish of Wangford - 6 November (C) John George of Bungay singleman & Margaret Holdren of this parish widow - 29 December (M) |
1713 Martha, daughter of John & Martha Bell of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 1 January (B) Philip Cole of Felixstow[e] singleman & Margaret Holdren of this parish singlewoman - 6 January (M) John Allen of Southwold singleman & Elizabeth Manning of his parish singlewoman - 2 February (M) Benjamin Be[c]kenham of Sibton singleman & Martha Bridge of Kirkley widow - 5 March (M) Robert, of Robert & Judith Love, of Kessingland - 8 March (C) John Everard of Pakefield singleman & Bridgett Gilby of this parish Widow - 16 August (M) Mary Bull, spinster, from Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 25 August (B) John Reeve & Margaret Baker, Both single persons & Both of Kessingland - 1 October (M) John, son of John Grice, of Harleston, and Hester, his wife - 26 October (C) Richard Farrell of St. Thomas Parish in Southwark & Elizabeth Sayer of this parish - 12 December (M) |
1714 Frances, wife of John Green, of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 27 April (B) James Bream [Brame], master to sea, Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 29 April (B) [Nb. possible erroneous entry]. William Jackson, from Yarmouth, c. 9 y[ears] - 8 September (B) John Brown, Sojourner in this Parish singleman & Eliz[abeth] Moore of this parish Widow - 8 November (M) |
1715 Ann Cornish, of John and Elizab[eth] of Oulton - 3 February (C) Benjamin Costerton of Great Yarmouth Widower & Alice Mason of this Parish Widow - 24 February (M) Samuel Symonds [Simmonds/Simons] Sojourner in the Parish Widower & Rachell Angell [Angel] of his parish single - 28 February (M) Mark King sojourner in this Parish singleman & Rose Bitton [Bitten] Widow of this parish - 23 August (M) Charles Jaxson [Jackson] & Elizabeth Knowles Both single persons & both of Toft Monks in Norfolk - 9 October (M) Edward Minster sojourner in this Parish singleman & Mary Sowell of this parish singlewoman - 12 December (M) William Stacy & Sarah English Both single & both of Great Yarmouth - 27 December (M) |
1716 John Todd & Rebecca Green Both of Yoxford & Single - 3 June (M) Thomas Brown of Wangford & Sarah Parsons of Raydon [Reydon] single persons - 4 June (M) Samuel Ward of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] & Mary Ridgely of ys [this] parish Both single persons - 7 June (M) Henry Williams of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] & Elizabeth Arnold of ys [this] parish Both single persons - 11 June (M) William Ridley & Elizabeth Ste[a]dman Both of Bury St Edm[un]ds & Both single - 11 August (M) Vestee [sic] Wiseman of Hal[e]sworth Widower & Mary Lindsey of this parish Widow - 16 September (M) Rob[er]t Wollidge [Worlidge] of Carlton Colvil[l]e singleman & Catherine Steers of ys [this] parish singlewoman - 16 September (M) James Lindsey of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] Widower & Sarah Clark of ye [the] same widow - 16 September (M) Samuel Spil[l]man of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] & Elizabeth Warren of Southwold Both single persons - 11 December (M) |
1717 Christopher Stocker [Stoker?] of Yarmouth singleman & Sarah Rimshear [Ramshaw?] of the same singlewoman - 9 January (M) Mary, wife of Spencer Bretton, of Pakefield - 23 January (B) James Bokenham {Buckenham] of Southelmham St Michael single man & Mary Gardiner of ye [the] same singlewoman - 5 March (M) John Foreman Sojourner in this Parish singleman & Amy Smith of this parish singlewoman -10 May (M) Philip Cooper, of Cantley in Norfolk - 5 June (B) William Freeman, of Gosport near Portsmouth (B) - 22 August (B) William Whitak[t]er, of Beccles - 5 October (B) |
1718 William Moore of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth]singleman & Alice Spicer singlewoman of ye [the] same place - 1 April (M) Edward Wymore of Henstead Singleman & [?] Shreeve of this parish singlewoman - 5 June (M) John, son of William Jackson from Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 27 June (B) Mary, wife of Mr. Baker of Benacre, 64 y[ea]rs - 30 August (B) James, son of William Jackson, from Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 6 October (B) John Palmer & Mary Cuddon [or Cudden] both single & sojourners in this parish - 9 December (M) Daniel, son of John Hilwill [Hilwell], from Oulton - 19 December (B) Henry Burgiss [Burgess] of Pakefield Widower & Ann Symonds [Simmonds/Simons]singlewoman of ys [this] parish - 25 December (M) |
1719 Robert Crisp of Wrentham Widower & Elizabeth Morris of this parish single - 7 April (M) Joseph, son of Mr. Jex, of Oulton - 4 May (B) Mary Theobald, from Oulton - 19 May (B) George Chapman of Roydon [Reydon] and Mary Sprunt of South Cove - 25 May (M) John Reynolds, of Ely - 26 May (B) Christopher Soane Singleman Sojourner in this parish & Elizabeth Sayer Wid[ow] of ys [this] parish - 10 July (M) Joseph Poolhouse Rect[o]r of Carlton [Carlton Colville], formerly schoolmaster here - 31 July (B) Thomas Page of Norwich singleman & Margaret Collier of Corton singlewoman - 14 August (M) |
1720 Joseph Dawson sojourner & Mary Fitts of this parish both single - 29 February (M) John Jub[b], of Whitborne [Whitburn], murdered by one Preston, master of a ship in the roads - 9 July (B) William Barber of Kessingland Widower & Margaret Gilby of Lowestoft Widow - 31 July (M) Levantine Chapfield, a stranger - 12 September (B) A stranger - 22 September (B) A stranger brought sick from sea - 7 October (B) Richard Kingsborough single of this parish & Mary Taylor of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] single - 17 November (M) John Hilwill [Hilwell] from Oulton, 50 years - 26 November (B) Joseph Wright Sojourner & Singleman & Anne Thurston of ys [this] parish singlewoman - 29 November (M) James Brodish Sojourner & Singleman and Margaret Jessup [Jessop] singlewoman of this parish - 27 December (M) |
1721 Sarah wife of James Smithson, from Southtown, 24 years - 9 March (B) Mary, daught[e]r of the s[ai]d James Smithson, 1 month - 9 March (B) A stranger brought dead from sea - 10 March (B) Mr. William Tanner Vic[a]r 0f Griston in Norfolk and Mrs. Matilda Pake of this parish both single persons - 10 April (M) Samuel Bateman of Wrentham singleman & Mary Legate of ys [this] Parish singlewoman - 11 June (M) Sarah, the wife of Jno [John] Burton, a stranger- 17 October (B) William Vincent of Southwold Singleman & Elizabeth Hollard [Holland?] of ys [this] singlewoman - 22 October (M) Thomas Bowd of Covehithe Singleman & Mary Long of the same widow - 16 November (M) Richard Key, of Aldeby, shoemaker - 29 December (B) |
1722 William Mutton of Loddon Widower & Anne Smith of this parish Widow - 2 May (M) Symon [Simon] Kemp s[on] of [?] Kemp - 9 June (C) William Gooda [sic] of Willingham Widower & Susanna Arnold of this parish singlewoman - 19 June (M) John Hull Sojourner & Elizabeth Colby of this parish both single persons - 15 July (M) Roger Thompson & Judith Harley both of Great Yarmouth & both single - 31 July (M) Elizabeth Roberts, a child belonging to Toft Monks, 2 years - 12 October (B) William Mason, from Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth], 20 years - 6 December (B) |
1723 Robert Stubbs of Somerleyton Widower & Margaret Morris of ys [this] Parish singlewoman - 26 March (M) George Theobald of this parish singleman & Sarah Brady of Wheatacre Borough singlewoman - 2 April (M) Samuel Starling of Coltishall & Mary Baker of ys [this] both single persons - 25 April (M) Joseph Hill of Barneby [Barnby], 70 years - 23 July (B) Deborah, wife of Edmund Plumstead of Coltishall, 42 years - 20 September (B) William Press of Lound & Sarah Peach of this parish both single - 4 October (M) |
1724 John Stannard of ys [this] Parish Widower & Rebecca Wood of Ipswich widow - 12 January (M) John Cudden of Wrentham singleman & Mary Bateman of the same Widow - 14 January (M) Allin [Alan] Cracknell Sojourner in this parish singlemnan & Elizabeth Alexander of ys [this] Parish Widow - 6 February (M) Anne, daught[e]r of George Fyson [Fison], from Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 18 February (B) Martha Downing, spinster and stranger - 18 February (B) John Fodder [Forder] Sojourner in this parish singleman & Mary Delph of this parish Widow - 19 March (M) Charles Kent Sojourner in this parish Widower & Edna Childress of this parish Widow - 26 March (M) Thomas the Base Son of Eliz[abeth] Moore of So[uth] Walsham - 6 August (C) Thomas ye [the] Base Child of Eliz[abeth] Moore a stranger 3 w[eek]s - 21 August (B) William West of Barnby & Hannah Harvey of this parish both single persons - 10 September (M) Richard Sindrey a stranger - 31 December (B) |
1725 Samuel Mewse of this Parish singleman & Anne Haltaway of Corton singlewoman - 7 February (M) William Chandler Widower & Susanna Hawth Widow Both of Kessingland - 24 March (M) Thomas Powditch of G[rea]t Yarmouth Widow[e]r & Grace Kitteridge of this parish singlewoman - 29 March (M) Francis Shanke Singleman of this parish & Hannah Taylor of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] Widow - 25 May (M) Sarah daughter of John Manning from Yarm[outh] [Great Yarmouth - 30 May (B) Thomas Bishop of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] Singleman & Susanna Landifield of this parish singlewoman - 24 August (M) John Oult of Oulton Widower and Mary Clarke of Lowestoft singlewoman - 30 December (M) |
1726 Robert Harvey of Mutford & Margaret Hawker of Lowestoft Both single - 27 January (M) John Mutton sojourner in this parish & Mary Hill of this parish Both single - 30 January (M) James Munds of Great Yarmouth Wid[owe]r & Sarah Long of this parish singlewoman - 30 April (M) William son of Jno [John] & Mary Jex of Oulton - 30 April (B) John Howes of Great Yarmouth & Sarah Mewes of ys [this] Parish both single - 5 May (M) William Gillingwater of Halesworth & Susan Thirkettle of the same both single persons - 27 June (M) Thomas Powles sojourner & Susanna Harwood of this parish Both single - 12 July (M) Robert Cunningham of Kessingland & Eleanor Keed of Wissett Both single - 8 August (M) William Durrant & Elizabeth Davies Both of Gorleston & single persons - 10 October (M) William Page of Pakefield Widower & Catherine Newton of this Parish singlewoman - 22 December (M) |
1727 Rich[ar]d Spendlove & Anne Nichols Both of Great Yarmouth & Both single persons - 7 January (M) Jno [John] son of John & Elizabeth Manning from Yarm[outh] [Great Yarmouth] - 22 February (B) Jno [John] son of George & Anne Tyson [Fyson/Fison?] from Yarm[outh] [Great Yarmouth] - 26 February (B) Daniel Manning of ys [this] parish Widower & Elizabeth Beddingfield [Bedingfield] of Bramfield single - 16 March (M) James Hill & Mary Miller Both single persons & Both of Great Yarmouth - 1 May (M) Rob[er]t Bayly [Bailey] of Pakefield singleman & Elizabeth Mace of this parish singlewoman - 11 May (M) Nicholas Fox sojourner & Anne Westoby of this parish widow - 27 July (M) Christopher Hudson of Scarborough Master to Sea - 10 October (B) Sarah daughter of Jno [John] & Elizabeth Manning of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 5 November (C) Anne wife of William Mewse of London 64 y[ea]rs - 22 November (B) Thomas Mason of Pakefield & Esther Bishop of this parish Both single - 21 December (M) |
1728 Mary Dew Widow from Ellough - 11 March (B) Jno [John] Abel [Able] Widower, & Mary Thorp[e] Widow both sojourners in this parish - 7 May (M) Robert Deal Widower and Elizabeth Louist [sic - Lewis?] singlewoman Both of Great Yarmouth - 18 June (M) Simon son of Tho[mas] & Susan Bishop of Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 20 June (C) Thomas Hunt and Dorothy Howse [Howes] both of Oulton single persons - 12 August (M) Susanna wife of Sam[ue]l Kent from Flixton - 3 September (B) |
1729 John Brighten [Brighton] a Stranger - 14 January (B) John Fudge Widower & Margaret Price Widow Both of Great Yarmouth - 20 January (M) Thomas Toppeny Sojourner & Judith Mewse of this parish Both single persons - 30 January (M) Edward Durrant & Elizabeth Fountain Both of Kessingland & Both single - 13 August (M) Richard Buckner a Stranger - 7 October (B) Edward King a Stranger - 14 October (B) Robert Petit [Pettit] of Wymondham, Tower - 7 December (B) Jno [John] Petit [Pettit] of Wymondham, Tower - 13 December (B) James Bensely [Bensley] of Wangford & Susanna Payne of this parish Both single - 16 December (M) Thomas Shimmon from Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] - 19 December (B) |
1730 John Payne Sojourner here & Sarah Archer of Broomswell [Bromeswell] Both single - 31 January (M) Elizabeth daughter of [?] Thompson of Yarmo[uth] [Great Yarmouth] - 3 February (B) Richard Bexfield & Ruth Sherrington Both single and of Great Yarmouth - 8 February (M) Charles Thacker Sojourner & Elizabeth Harwood of this parish Both single - 9 February (M) William Stone of Kessingland Wid[owe]r & Anne Wade of Oulton Widow - 30 March (M) Thomas Taylor and Elizabeth Harbord Both single and of Great Yarmouth - 7 April (M) Francis Coe Mariner from Gorleston - 15 June (B) Arthur Wells Sojourner Wid[owe]r & Elizabeth Tinke Widow of this parish - 8 September (M) William Cheeseman a Stranger Brought Sick from sea - 18 September (B) |
Notes for 1700-1730
- Normanston (though part of Lowestoft parish) is also shown in bold font because it was obviously regarded as a hamlet of some kind, at the time, and not as a direct part of the township itself.
- Marriage entries with one partner noted as an outsider (mainly, but not exclusively, male) and the other not indicated, such as that of 23 January 1700, mean that the said other was a resident of Lowestoft.
- The increasing number of marriages which took place between men from Great Yarmouth and women from Lowestoft (and also between couples from the former town) during the first three decades of the 18th century shows an increasing affinity between the two places following Lowestoft becoming a port in its own right in May 1679. The rivalry between the two communities didn’t disappear entirely, but it was far less hostile and combative than had once been the case.
- This burial is that of an unnamed crew member from a passing ship, one anchored up in the inshore haven for whatever reason applied, or one engaged in some kind of coastal trade with the town. It is not really possible to say exactly which, but the expense of the inhumation would have fallen upon the parish – unless the master of the vessel in question footed the bill.
- The marriage of couples from nearby or adjoining parishes may have been the result of personal reasons of some kind (an already pregnant bride would have been quite a common one) or of the home church possibly going through an interregnum with no incumbent in post. There may also have been a family connection with Lowestoft, at some stage, for either one of the of the partners to choose St. Margaret’s Church as the venue for the nuptials to take place.
- Anthony Barlow was the landlord of the King’s Head inn, on the southern side of Swan Lane (now Mariners Street), not far along from the Town Chamber on what is now part of the overall Town Hall site. He is recorded in the parish Tithe Accounts of 1699 and 1700 as making payments on a hop-yard – but there is no indication as to the location of this. The woman he married was member of a family of the merchant class.
- John and William Bull, of Beccles, were probably brothers, whose occupation seems to have been that of carters – which would have given both of them regular contact with Lowestoft and some of its inhabitants. William settled in the town and his burial entry of 21 January 1739 in the parish registers, at the age of seventy, describes him as both innkeeper and Carter.
- William Mansfield and Ann Simpson could well have been on board a ship, anchored up off Lowestoft, for whatever reason applied, and took the opportunity to get married there.
- A localised minor incident of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), in which England and France were involved on opposite sides – with the former’s greatest military triumph coming on 13 August in the defeat of Louis XIV’s forces at the Battle of Blenheim. What seems to have happened here is a passing attack made by a French privateer on a King’s Lynn trading vessel in the inshore anchorage between the Newcome Sand and the shoreline – with one resulting fatality.
- This mariner, from Great Yarmouth, seems to have lost his life from going overboard offshore there, during a storm – with his body being washed ashore to the south, near Lowestoft’s northern gun battery. The Denes were much wider, then, than they are today, but the guns would have been located somewhere roughly in line with the bottom of Cart Score and the Ravine (known, then, as Gunton Score). After temporary burial near the battery, his body was then re-interred in St. Margaret’s Churchyard.
- It has not proved possible to establish the presence or location of this place in Norfolk. In 1706, Henry Butcher was the master of a three-masted fishing vessel (known as a great boat), belonging to Samuel Church of Pakefield. Matthew King had obviously died during the local autumn herring voyage.
- Nicholas Marriner married into the influential Hayward family, his bride being the daughter of John Hayward (merchant). It may seem contradictory that she is referred to as “Mrs. Elizabeth Hayward of this parish single”, but the title is an abbreviation of “Mistress”, which was used at this time to indicate superior social standing, not marital status.
- Even at this point, during the early 18th century, Normanston was still considered as something of a separate entity from the township of Lowestoft itself.
- A tower (or tawer) was someone who made white leather, by treating the material with alum and salt. The product was used for making gloves and fine articles of clothing, as well as in upholstery and book-binding. This man is also found referred to as “Mr. Smithson’s tower”, meaning that he worked for either Joseph Smithson or Samuel Smithson – both of whom were merchants.
- A hoy was a small, gaff-rigged, coastal trading vessel. The term derived from the Middle Dutch word hoei – and a public house named the Dutch Hoy, once stood (as No. 47 Whapload Road) on the former Lowestoft Beach Village.
- Ilketshall St. John was one of four villages near Bungay (the other three being St. Margaret, St, Andrew and St. Lawrence), with the name Ilketshall itself deriving from the Anglo-Saxon Ulfketel’s hall. This particularUlfketel might possibly have been Ulfketel/Ulfcytel Snillingr, an Anglo-Saxon warrior of Danish origins who was Earl of East Anglia during the early 11th century and who might have had his seat of authority in this part of Suffolk – which constituted about one-quarter of Wangford Hundred’s total area.
- It is possible that this marriage was of two Nonconformist people, since the Manning family of the Peasenhall area of North-east Suffolk were well-known as Independents (or Congregationalists) in their religious practice. A branch of them had been connected with Lowestoft (which also had a long-established Nonconformist element in its midst) since the 1680s, owning a tannery and fish-houses located on land to the north of Lighthouse Score, in the south-east corner of what is now the Sparrows Nest Gardens area.
- HMS Pearl was a Naval frigate of the fifth rate (42 guns) on station in the North Sea for patrollng duties there. It is entirely possibly that this couple had met by the vessel anchoring up offshore to take on fresh water (and perhaps other supplies) at either Gorleston or Great Yarmouth. And marriage by licence would have been a means bypassing the required reading of banns in the couples’ home parishes.
- Marriage by licence was a quicker way of getting married than the traditional three-week reading of banns in the partners’ home parish(es), going back to the 14th century. There were a number of reasons why this means was used, with pre-nuptial pregnancy on the part of the bride being a common one.
- The Brame family were Lowestoft mariners and fishermen. This particular member had obviously moved to Great Yarmouth and made his home there.
- This is the first case where the term “sojourner” is used in the parish registers to describe someone from out of town who had arrived there, perhaps seeking new opportunities in life and the chance to improve his financial status.
- Spencer Bretton was a Lowestoft customs officer, appointed to serve as a “waiter and searcher” in the town. His own burial entry of 11 Octoner 1719 describes him as a “superannuated waiter, 72 yrs”.
- Six of the seven South Elmham parishes (All Saints, St. James, St. Margaret, St. Michael, St. Nicholas and St. Peter), along with the four Ilketshalls – referred to above – were probably satellite churches of the Anglo-Saxon minister located in South Elmham St. Cross itself – the ruins of which survive.
- A John Cuddon and family, from Barsham, had been admitted into the town on a settlement order during 1715. It is possible that the woman named here was a relative.
- In the year 1705, the Revd. Joseph Poolhouse was both master of Annot’s Free Grammar School and Curate at St. Margaret’s Church. He later became the incumbent at Carlton Colville, in 1717. His wife Elizabeth died of smallpox, at Lowestoft, on 23 August 1710, at the age of twenty-three. A daughter (named after her mother) born to the couple had been baptised on 24 January 1709. The year 1710 saw Lowestoft’s first recorded smallpox epidemic (lasting into 1711), with the Revd. John Tanner having the the resulting deaths indicated in the parish registers. Altogether, there were fifty-three fatalities and Elizabeth Poolhouse was the first of them.
- Whitburn was a coastal station on the coast of County Durham, between Sunderland and South Shields, and a vessel operating from there was probably involved in the carriage of coal. The parish register statement of it being “in the roads” might well mean that it was discharging part of its cargo at Lowestoft. The killing of a crew member by the master of the craft was of sufficient note to be recorded in the victim’s burial entry. Nothing is known of the legal outcome, of course.
- James Smithson was member of a Lowestoft merchant family who had obviously moved to the former northern sector of Gorleston – long known as Southtown (in reference to its position relative to that of Great Yarmouth, on the Norfolk side of the River Yare) and as Little Yarmouth before that. The burial recorded here, of both mother and child on the same day, indicates a death-in-childbirth incident.
- The marriage was that of the Revd. John Tanner’s younger brother to a cousin of his older sibling’s wife – both of whom were from the upper levels of Lowestoft society, which is indicated here by Matilda Pake being accorded the courtesy title of “Mrs.” (Mistress). John Tanner himself had been married to Mrs. Mary Knight, on 20 January 1713, by his older brother Thomas, who was Rector of Thorpe (near Norwich) and also Chancellor of Norwich Diocese. He was a leading antiquarian of his time and, later in his clerical career, he became Bishop of St. Asaph (1732-35). His huge collection of manuscripts and historical documents was bequeathed to the Bodleian Library and remains an important part of its historical collection.
- Use of the word Borough, in connection with Wheatacre, means that the Norfolk parish referred to here was Burgh St. Peter – Wheatacre Burgh being an older name for this particular Norfolk community.
- This particular marriage (and its complications) features elsewhere in these pages, in the article “Human Migration into Lowestoft -1796-1735”.
- The Fyson/Fison family had connections with Lowestoft, having once had members living there. This family connection is probably the reason for the burial of a child in Lowestoft. Although the surname is given as Tyson in another burial entry of 26 February 1726 (this time, of a son), this is probably an error for Fyson.
- John Manning (mariner-fisherman) was of Lowestoft origins. More about him and his family can be seen below, four and seven notes further on. The child, Sarah, referred in the burial entry here of 30 May 1725, was baptised at Lowestoft on 18 November 1723.
- James Munds was member of a long-established family of Lowestoft mariners, fishermen and shoemakers which had been present in the town since the late 16th century. He had probably moved to Great Yarmouth to continue a career at sea.
- William Gillingwater, named here, may have been a relative of the Lowestoft family which was eventually to produce the Lowestoft antiquarians Isaac and Edmund Gillingwater.
- Thomas Powles, a labourer, and his wife seem to have have returned to Loddon (his home parish) after the wedding because their entry into Lowestoft, under a settlement order – with a son named Thomas – is recorded in the town’s settlement records for that year, though with no date given. Susanna Harwood must have been in an advanced state of pregnancy when the marriage took place. The couple were the grandparents of the Lowestoft artist Richard Powles (1763-1807).
- John Manning’s son John had been baptised at Lowestoft on 15 July 1713.
- The burial entry of 26 February 1727 for John, son of George and Anne Tyson of Great Yarmouth is probably a transcriptional error of some kind for the surname Fyson – with the parents being one and the same of the girl buried on 18 February 1724 (referred to six notes above).
- Christopher Hudson would either have been in charge of a fishing vessel engaged in the local herring season or in command of a trading craft from Scarborough.
- Members of this Manning family-group (mariners and fishermen) had lived in Lowestoft for some time. This particular couple had married on 13 January 1710 and, over the next twelve to thirteen years, had six children together (three boys and three girls). The last of the children to be born in Lowestoft was Sarah, who was baptised on 18 November 1723 – the same child as was brought from Great Yarmouth to Lowestoft for burial on 30 May 1725. The family must have moved some time during 1724, after her birth. The infant Sarah, baptised here in St. Margaret’s on 22 February 1727, was what may be termed a “replacement child” for the one who had died.
- There had been a branch of the long-established Mewse family of Lowestoft (butchers and seafarers) living in Bermondsey since the mid-17th century. This particular member had probably died during a visit to kinsfolk, rather than being brought from far away for burial.
- The burial of two men from Wymondham, within a week of each other and having the same surname, would seem to suggest either two brothers or a father and son - perhaps living in the same house and dying from an infection of some kind. The occupation of tower (a maker of white leather) was previously recorded on 28 November 1708 when the burial of the man in question, Leonard Goodin/Goodwyn, took place. He also came from Wymondham. A coincidence of some kind, perhaps. Or was Wymondham the centre of a specialised luxury trade?
Summative Comments
1561-1599: 166 register entries
35 marriages
25 baptisms (christenings)
106 burials
1600-1699: 146 register entries
64 marriages
3 baptisms (christenings)
79 burials
1700-1730: 228 register entries
148 marriages
8 baptisms (christenings)
72 burials
- It will be noted that the last four decades of the 16th century produced more entries in the parish registers, relating to the presence of outsiders, than the whole of the 17th century – as did the first three decades of the 18th, also.
- The first half of the 17th century had only thirty-nine entries of outsiders, with the remaining 107 of the total being found in the second half. This reflects Lowestoft’s half-century period of social and economic decline caused mainly by the plague outbreaks of 1603 and 1635, by the collapse of activity in the North Sea herring fishing, and by the serious fire of 1645. However, even though this was the case, ten of the twenty-six burials can still be seen as having a maritime connection of some kind with the town.
- Eight of baptisms, during 1571-4 (ten in all), were those of Dutch children, whose parents were Protestants fleeing from religious persecution in the Spanish-occupied Netherlands. Three of the five marriages were Dutch couples and eighteen of the thirty burials were also Dutch people of one kind or another (not necessarily all members of family groups). It is possible to identify at least ten of these latter – one of which settled in town, with the others moving on to somewhere else. Possibly Norwich, which had quite a large resident Dutch community, or Great Yarmouth, which had a smaller one.
- Generally speaking, baptisms would (in the nature of things) be the lowest category of register transactions since they would either have been the result of short-stay couples or people passing through the town wanting to have a child christened – it either having perhaps been born there or somewhere else not long before arrival. Or they would have been from nearby parishes, where there were particular reasons prevailing for Lowestoft to be chosen (family connections being one). In either case, the imperative to have an infant admitted into the body of the Church was the possibility of death following on relatively soon after birth. And it is sobering to note that Lowestoft’s infant mortality rate for the period covered in this article was about one in five (20%) before the age of one year. And for children born out of wedlock it was even worse, with 44% of them failing to reach the age of one.
- With regard to the burial of outsiders, one of the main considerations at the time would have been the cost involved. A proper Christian committal of a person’s mortal remains was of great social and religious importance – but, it came at a price. In some cases, the deceased person might have had sufficient money to cover the cost of inhumation, but in others possibly not. In which case, the funeral charge(s) would have been met out of parish funds, meaning that the ceremony and committal would have been basic rather than elaborate. The register references to drowned seafarers being washed ashore are particularly poignant, especially if far from home, and it has often been said that the reason why mariners and fishermen wore ear-rings was that the gold they were made from would have been sufficient to ensure that they had a proper burial if lost at sea and carried to land by the tide.
- Very little historical study has been applied to the matter of the burial of “strangers”, as they were termed, but what of that of people who lived in adjacent or nearby parishes to Lowestoft? Why were they laid to rest in St. Margaret’s Churchyard and not in that of their home-church? Family connections of some kind may well have been one factor and simple convenience another, with the latter meaning that the deceased person’s remains did not have to be conveyed to where he or she had resided.
- Burials constituted the majority of register entries for 1561-1599 and 1600-1699, but not for 1700-1730 – when marriages took over, with more than twice the number of burials recorded. However, this trend is observable during the last decade of the 17th century, when eighteen marriages took place in Lowestoft between 1695 and 1699, as opposed to only one burial.
- The question then arises as to why this might have been the case. Part of it was certainly the result of the town’s gradual recovery from the period of depression experienced during the first half of the 17th century – particularly in the matter of the revival of fortunes in both fishing and maritime trade, which then served to create greater contact with other places both far and near. And this, in turn, led to what was undoubtedly the greatest boost of all: the granting of official port status, in its own right, in May 1679. A privilege that freed Lowestoft from the control of Great Yarmouth, to which it had been opposed for the best part of 300 years or more and had, during that time, regularly flouted the authority of its larger neighbour which functioned as head-port for a large sector of the East Anglian coast.
- Initially, there was a certain degree of scrutiny exercised by Yarmouth as to the conduct of trade in and out of Lowestoft, but this diminished quite quickly as the appointment of customs officers (based in the town) took effect and maritime activity flourished. And so did fishing – all of which meant that there was a greater degree of comings and goings than had been the case during times of trouble.
- Out of the 148 marriages recorded for 1700-1730, twenty-eight involved people from Yarmouth (19%), with fifteen of those unions being Lowestoft citizens (thirteen women and two men) marrying people from Yarmouth. The other thirteen couples were both residents of Yarmouth, and the matter of how and why they came to be married in St. Margaret’s Church can only be guessed at (family connections with Lowestoft on either side don’t appear to have been a factor). There were only three of the thirty-five marriages which took place 1561-1599 which involved Yarmouth people (all men) and a mere five (out of sixty-four) for the whole of the 17th century: three Lowestoft men marrying Yarmouth women and two Lowestoft women marrying Yarmouth men.
- What the 18th century marriage figures clearly show is that there was far greater social and economic inter-change between both towns than had been the case previously. Rivalry between the two communities remained – but, it became largely a matter of verbal exchanges and banter with each place denigrating the other. There was one half-hearted attempt by the Yarmouth authorities in the year 1729 to assert its own ancient privileges by threatening to arrest vessels from Lowestoft involved in buying herrings out at sea from “northern and west-country fishers” (i.e. from Yorkshire and Kent/Sussex – the old “west/western” term still being in use), but it came to nothing. Lowestoft raised a “fighting fund” against possible legal action and threatened a retaliatory response of its own. And Yarmouth backed off.
- As a final comment, it may be said that the parish register entries for the whole time-span under consideration here, 1561-1730, create some knowledge and understanding of Lowestoft’s contact with places (near and far) beyond its boundaries. The thirty-six baptisms give only a very limited sense of this, the 247 marriages a much broader one, and the 257 burials the most extensive of all in terms of geographical spread.
CREDIT: David Butcher
United Kingdom
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