Abraham Hurst - Innkeeper

This discovery starts with his Last Will and Testament.

 

Below is my attempt at a transcription of the above Last Will and Testament of Abraham Hurst of Andover. It is split into sections to aid the transcription and so you can also read it. It also has more spacing as there is not a cost of paper here.
In the Name of God, Amen I Abraham Hurst of Andover in the County of Southampton Innholder being weak in Body but of sound Mind Memory and Understanding and being willing desirous to settle and dispose of worldly Estate  and Effects in such manner as that no Disputes or Controversies may arise touching the same after my Decease. DO Therefore make publish and Declare this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following, that is to say, FIRST I will and Order that all my just Debts and Funeral Expenses shall be fully paid and Satisfied by my Executrix herein after named within twelve months next after my Decease;  ALSO I Give and Bequeath Unto my Son Abraham Hurst the Sum of Five Pounds and no more he having already received from me in my Life time at different times more than a Child's part or portion;
ALSO I give and Bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth Hurst the Sum of Twenty Pounds to be paid to her by my said Executrix within twelve months next after my Decease, being satisfied that my said Executrix out of the Regard and Affection she hath for the said Elizabeth, Will always Assist her to the utmost of her Power; AND All the rest residue and remainder of my Goods Chattels Rights ???? Household Stuff Furniture and Implements of Household Stock in Trade Utensils Plate Ready Money Bills Bonds Notes Specialties Debts Book Debts and other Securities Estate and Effects whatsoever and wheresoever I Give Devise and Bequeath Unto my Daughter Martha Hurst
TO HOLD unto her the said Martha Hurst her Executors Administrators and Assigns for ever; AND LASTLY I Do hereby Nominate and Appoint her the said Martha Hurst full and Solo Executrix of this my Will Hereby Revoking all former and other Wills by me at any time heretofore made and Do Declare this and no other to be my last Will and Testament IN WITNESS whereof I the said  Abraham Hurst the Testator have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this fifteenth Day of May in the Year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and Seventy Seven.
SIGNED SEALED PUBLISHED AND DECLARED by the abovenamed Abraham Hurst the Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the Sight and Presence of us who have hereunto Subscribed our Names as Witnesses to the due Execution thereof in the presence of the said Testator and at his Request and in the Sight and presence of each other.
The sixteenth day of June 1777 Martha Hurst the sole Executrix within named was sworn to the truth of this Will and to the due performance thereof before me. Richd Ford. Surrogate

 

 

 

Date of Will	15 May 1777
Date of Codicil	None
Date of Proving	16 June 1777

 

From the above it appears that Abraham Hurst made provision for the following family.

People in the Will of Abraham Hurst of Andover, Southampton [Hampshire]

 

People mentioned in the Will dated 15^th May 1777, of Abraham Hurst of Andover, Hampshire.

Name	Stated relationship	Assumed relationship	Assumed previous name	Place	Notes
Abraham Hurst	Son
Elizabeth Hurst	Daughter
Martha Hurst	Daughter
Martha Hurst	Executor / Executrix
W Bant	Witness
Nicholas Marshall	Witness
Jno Todds	Witness

 

The date of when the Will was Proved suggests that Abraham Hurst died between 15^th May 1777 and 16^th June 1777.

 

Second Marriage

 Another item of discovery is the following entry in the Register of Marriages for the Parish of Andover.

 Abraham Hurst of this Parish Widower and Martha May of this Parish Spinster were Married in this Church by Licence this Eleventh Day of August in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Four by me George Darling Curate.

This Marriage was solemnized between Us Abraham Hurst     Martha X May Mark of

In the Presence of John Long Joseph Godden.

Notes from the above Entry;

The period between the marriage and him writing his Will was only 22 years, 9 months, 4 days.

Abraham Hurst was of the Parish of Andover and was a Widower, which I interpret as had been married before but his wife had died.

Abraham Hurst could sign his own name but Martha May could not.

There is nothing explicit that links the Will to Marriage Entry. His wife is not mentioned in the Will. The locations both match as being the Parish of Andover and Abraham Hurst of Andover. Martha is the name of one of the children.

Hopefully more will link them in the Data Sheet below.

 

 From the above extract filtered on Andover with the search for a groom with surname Hurst.

Married 17 Sep 1717 Abraham Hurst and Joan Nurse. 

Married 30 Oct 1744 Abraham Hurst Rebeckah Thredgold

Married 5 Apr 1748 Roger Hurst Sarah Emmett

Is the first line the parents of the second line, Abraham Hurst, who married Rebeckah Thredgold? I have also seen the last name spelt as Threadgold.

Richard Emmet married Elizabeth Hurst on 7 Sept 1751 in Broughton. Is this some sort of exchange program, or is it the link between Andover and Broughton?

 

 

 

Now I need to start filling in the data sheet below.

 

 

 

 

Records, data, and general information about Abraham Hurst and his family

 

Baptism

 

Marriage

Marriage of Abraham Hurst and First Wife

Married on ?? -- Before 1754

 Potential First Wife

 From FamilySearch

Name Abraham Hurst
Sex Male
Spouse's Name Rebeckah Thredgold
Spouse's Sex Female
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 30 Oct 1744
Event Place Andover, Hampshire, England

 

An extract from the Andover Register of Burials. 

 

 March 1^st  [1752] Rebeckah Hurst was buried. [In Andover]

 

 

Back to the registry entries. 

 

 

Second Marriage

Marriage of Abraham Hurst and Martha May

 

 

 Entry in the Register of Marriages for the Parish of Andover.

 Abraham Hurst of this Parish Widower and Martha May of this Parish Spinster were Married in this Church by Licence this Eleventh Day of August in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Four by me George Darling Curate.

This Marriage was solemnized between Us Abraham Hurst     Martha X May Mark of

In the Presence of John Long Joseph Godden.

 

 

 

Census and Voting Registers

 UK Census dates from 1911Census.org;

1841 Census Sunday 6th June 1841
1851 Census Sunday 30th March 1851
1861 Census Sunday 7th April 1861
1871 Census Sunday 2nd April 1871
1881 Census Sunday 3rd April 1881
1891 Census Sunday 5th April 1891
1901 Census Sunday 31st March 1901
1911 Census Sunday 2nd April 1911

 

 

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Children

 

 Parish Church of Andover Register of Baptisms commencing 1746

The title page of the Parish Church of Andover Register of Baptisms, 

A Register of Baptisms at the Parish Church of Andover in the County of Southampton [Hampshire] from March the Eleventh, in the year of our Lord 1746.

 

From here I did a page turn of the Register images looking for any entries with the surname Hurst. This is part of the process of trying to establish Abraham Hurst's family. By seeing families in the Baptism Register can help eliminate alternative options for residents in Andover, Hampshire, of the Church of England. Obliviously this method excludes families without children, but we know Abraham Hurst had children because of his will. It also does not take into account other variables such as change of location.

Sept^r 7^th [1748] Abraham Son of Abraham & Rebeckah Hurst was Baptised.

Could this be a child with his first wife?

 Dec 11^th [1749] Sarah Daughter of Roger & Sarah Hurst.

I believe this is another Hurst family living in the Andover area concurrently with Abraham Hurst, and his family.

 

Jan^y 23^rd [1750] Elizabeth Daughter of Roger and Sarah Hurst.

 

 April 24 [1753] Roger Son of Roger and Sarah Hurst.

 

 30^th June [1755] Martha and Mary Daughters of Roger & Sarah Hurst

 

 April 24 [1757] Roger Son of Roger and Sarah Hurst.

Presumably, The Roger baptised on the same day in 1753 had died before 1757.

 

 May 18 [1761] Mary Daughter of Mary Waters -- The Reputed father Richard Hurst.

Earlier in the Register, an entry such as this would have been annotated, "a Bastard" or less frequently "Base Born".

Richard Hurst is a new name to this article. Richard is probably from the Parish as some entries have the addition of "Stranger".

 

 Jan^y 7 [1765] Rich^d Son of Jo^s & Mary Hurst., which I interpret as Richard Son of Joseph & Mary Hurst. Another new family.

 

I have turned all the pages of this Andover Parish Register up to 1770, and the above, together with the ones allocated to children below, are the only entries with a surname Hurst. This has only been one pass so I might have missed a Hurst entry. However, the person named Elizabeth Hurst in the will, is still elusive, so instead of re-scanning this register, I will move to an earlier one.

 Parish Church of Andover Register of Baptisms commencing 1714

The title page of the Parish Church of Andover Register of Baptisms, 

 

 Register of Christening at the parish church of Andover from June the Twenty fourth Anno Dom 1714

I consider 1714 to be outside the probable range for finding the Baptism of Elizabeth Hurst, os in this case it was not a page turn but I used FamilySearch to find a possible date, and then navigated to that year.

Continuing with the hypothesis that Abraham Hurst married Rebeckah Thredgold, that was in 1744, so the probable date of birth for Elizabeth starts from 1745, and ends in 1754 when Abraham married Martha May, as a Widower.

 

 Nov^r 18 [1745] Elizabeth Daughter of Abraham & Rebdiah Hurst.

I think this completes the list of people mentioned in the Will. Two children with Rebeckah Hurst nee Thredgold and one with Martha Hurst nee May. Also, no other Abraham Hurst active in the Register on Baptisms for the Parish of Andover at the relevant time.

 

 

xxxxx Hurst nee xxxxx and Abraham Hurst children's Baptism Records.

Scroll left or right along the tabs. There is a tab for each year of child bearing age following their marriage, which helps to indicate years when no children of William and Mary were born, or survived long enough to be baptised, or alternatively, where no record has yet been found.

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Martha Hurst nee May and Abraham Hurst children's Baptism Records.

Scroll left or right along the tabs. There is a tab for each year of child bearing age following their marriage, which helps to indicate years when no children of William and Mary were born, or survived long enough to be baptised, or alternatively, where no record has yet been found.

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Work and locations

 

 

Death

 

Burial

From FamilySearch

Name Abraham Hurst
Event Type Burial
Event Date 14 Jun 1777
Event Place Andover, Hampshire, England
Event Place (Original) Andover, Hampshire, England

 

Parish of Andover Burials Register.

14 June [1777] Abraham Hurst Sen.^r

The date of 14 June 1777 is consistent with the date of writing his Will an with the proving of it.

 

 

Conclusion

Key data about Abraham Hurst and his family.

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Tree

Family Tree for xx

			his father	his mother		her farther	her mother
				him		her
child 1	child 2	child 3	child 4	child 5		child 6	child 7	child 8	child 9	child 10
				next ancestor		or next ancestor
child 1	child 2	child 3	child 4	child 5		child 6	child 7	child 8	child 9	child 10