Thomas WAGSTAFF & Mary Ann WILSON

Thomas and Mary were married in a religious ceremony on May 4th, 1802 in Meldreth.  They had four sons and three daughters, named Thomas, William, George, Joseph, Mary, Caroline and Sarah.

• Family Notes
  • Thomas & Ann Wagstaff  born abt 1785
    
    Thomas Wagstaff is described as an agricultural labourer in the 1841 census aged 55yrs. Possibly working on the Wimpole Hall Estate that dominated that area. I have no proof of this but as you will see the next few generations of Wagstaffs remained in the Arrington area, and working for large estates gave workers a much more stable lifestyle. If a farm worker did not have this kind of stability they would have to present themselves at hiring fairs, traditionally held at Michaelmas. Farmers would offer them a job and housing for the next 12months, and thus the families moved around a great deal.
    The names and baptism dates  of Thomas and Ann children, I researched from the Cambridge Family History Society web site. The baptism dates in those days were generally used as birth dates for official use.
    
    Where they were born in history.
    
    They were born in the reign of George III [1760-1820]
    
    This was towards the end of the American War of Independence, and 4 yrs before the start of the French Revolution [1789-1799].
    
    1789 saw the election of the first American President George Washington.
    
    Thomas and Ann would have been about 13yrs old when Nelson defeated Napoleon during the battle of The Nile in 1798.
    
    1825 saw the first passenger railway open in England [Stockton- Darlington].
    
    1833 Slavery was abolished in the British Colonies, but remained in the United States
    until 1863.
    
    Thomas and Ann would have been about 52yrs old when Queen Victoria came to the throne.