Chapter 8: John Eagleton (b. c1762 d.1829)
Kempsford is a small village not far from Broad Blunsdon, on the Gloucestershire bank of a tributary of the Thames. It was in the parish church here that John Eagleton (sic), a farm labourer, married Hannah Knight on 11 October 1787. They had three children; James, John and Hannah. John's wife died three years after the birth of their daughter, a period of time which indicates that she probably died whilst giving birth to a fourth child.

Five years later, on 23 May 1802, John remarried. His new wife, Hannah Collet(t) (Chapter 9), was from a long established Kempsford family. She was one of ten children born to John and Mary Collet(t). In the following 17 years Hannah bore six more of John’s children; Mary, William, Elizabeth (Betty), Sarah, Rachel and Daniel. In the early 19th Century the level of literacy was very low, with few people able to spell their own names. As a result the spelling of the family name was left to the parish clerk or vicar, who would spell it as he saw fit on the day. During ‘our’ families time in Kempsford the family named varied from Eagleton, through Egleton to the more familiar Eggleton as we know it today.

...............
Kempsford Parish Church

These were hard-times when life expectancy was generally relatively short. In 1819 two of the children of John’s second marriage died five months apart, these were Sarah aged 6 and Mary aged 16. John's second wife died in 1820 when she was only 44 years old. Her youngest child, Daniel, was only 16 months old at the time. John died nine years later at the age of 67.

John’s first son, James married but had only one child before his untimely death in 1812, at 23 years old. James’ son, James, became a tailor in the nearby village of Poulton. He married Sarah Newman and had at least six children, but this was a particularly hapless family for, probably due to some genetic problem, none of the children lived for more than a few days. The last daughter was baptised privately, probably at the moment of birth, indicating that she not expected to survive for long enough to allow a church baptism. Only one of her siblings appears to have been baptised.

.........

Poulton Parish Church

Little is known of the lives of other of John’s children apart from Daniel (Chapter 10) who became a shoemaker and moved to Cheltenham.


. . John EGGLETON\EAGLETON b.1762 d.1829 m.#1 Hannah KNIGHT #2 Hannah COLLETT (Chapter 9)
. . . #1 James EAGLETON b.1788 d.1811 m.Elizabeth -
. . . . .James EGGLETON b.1811 d.1873 m.Sarah NEWMAN
. . . . . . John EGGLETON b.1837 d.1837
. . . . . . John EGGLETON b.1838 d.1838
. . . . . . John EGGLETON b.1840 d.1840
. . . . . . Anne EGGLETON b.1841 d.1841
. . . . . . John EGGLETON b.1844 d.1844
. . . . . . Anne EGGLETON b.1845 d.1845
. . . #1 John EGGLETON b.1791 d.-
. . . #1 Hannah EGGLETON b.1794 d.- m.Richard HEWES
. . . . .Mary Ann HEWES b.1819 d.- m.
. . . #2 Mary EGGLETON b.1803 d.1819
. . . #2 William EGGLETON b.1806 d.1868 m.#1 Esther #2 Ann ?LEGG
. . . #2 Elizabeth (Betty) EGGLETON b.1807 d/?1867 m.John COMPTON
. . . . .Mary EGGLETON\COMPTON b.1821 d.-
. . . #2 Sarah EGGLETON b.1810 d.1819
. . . #2 James EGGLETON b.1812 d.-
. . . #2 Rachel EGGLETON b.1814 d.-
. . . #2 Daniel EGGLETON b. 1819 d. >1881 (Chapter 10)

 

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Eggleton History Home Page

Family History Home Page

Site Home Page