Chapter 3: OLIVER HANCOCKS (b.c1690), YEOMAN FARMER

Like his father before him, and probably following on at the farm, Oliver was a yeoman farmer in Elmdon.

Much is known of Oliver's family. Between 1720 and 1741 he had at least eight children by his wife, Martha Davys, whom he married in 1717. The marriage took place in Bickenhill, a neighbouring parish to Elmdon. Four of the children died in infancy, with another dying at about 21 years. The surviving siblings all married and had families of their own.

The ailing Oliver wrote his will on 21 November 1760. He died shortly afterwards, the will being proven at Litchfield on 31 January 1761. He bequeathed £10 and his clothes to his son John (chapter 4), 5 shillings each to his grandchildren John and Mary Tallis, and the balance of his estate, including his cattle, to his unmarried daughter, Mary. Oliver's Tallis grandchildren were the products of the marriage of his daughter Ann to John Tallis. Ann had evidently died before Oliver wrote his will.

Mary, as the youngest surviving daughter will have had the task of caring for her aging parent(s). She would not be expected to marry whilst fulfilling this important role in pre-welfare state society. That she married at the relatively advanced age of 31, within two years of her father’s death, tends to bear out this theory.

OLIVER HANCOCKS b.c1690 d.1760 m. MARTHA DAVYS YEOMAN FARMER

…..ANN HANCOCKS b.1720 d.<1722

…..ANN HANCOCKS bp.1722 d.1758 m. JOHN TALLIS

…..MARY TALLIS b.<1760 d.-

……….JOHN TALLIS b.<1760 d.-

…..JANE HANCOCKS bp.1725 d.1725

…..ELIZABETH HANCOCKS bp.1729 d.1750/51 unmar.

…..MARY HANCOCKS bp.1731 m. THOMAS HORTON

……….?SARAH HORTON ?bp.1763

……….JAMES HORTON bp.1763

……….THOMAS HORTON bp.1764

……….MOSES HORTON bp.1766 d.1766

……….OLIVER HORTON bp.1767 d.1820

……….JOHN HORTON b.?c1767 d.1769

……….ABRAHAM HORTON bp.1770 d.1802

……….MARY HORTON bp.1774 d.1793 unmar.

…..JOHN HANCOCKS bp.1733 m.ANN HUDSON (chapter 4)

…..SARAH HANCOCKS bp.1736 d.1738

…..OLIVER HANCOCKS b.1741 d.1741