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JOSEPH'S PARENTS:

According the Beaminster Town Historian (Marie Eedle), nothing is known of Joseph's father (William Parsons) before he showed up in town about the same time a woolen mill was opened nearby. Family tradition indicates that William came from Great Torrington or Tiverton, Devon, about 63 miles to the east. However, there are no records to support this assumption. In those days, people did not generally travel long distances.

Joseph's mother (Margret Hoskins) was born in Beaminster, about 1584, her parents were Robert and Margret Hoskins. Unfortunately, there were two Robert Hoskins families living in Beaminster at the time. Both families had daughters named Margret, both men were married to a Margret, and both men had similar professions, one a Glover and the other a Tanner. Most of the Hoskins Families in Beaminster were generally well off, being owners of pubs, ranches, and other properties.

Joseph's parents (William & Margret) apparently meet sometime after William's relocation to Beaminster and were later married in St. Mary's Church on the 15th of November 1602. The Parsons family must have been well off also because they lived in town on East Street, not a poor area. Joseph's parents both died in Beaminster and are presumably buried in St. Mary's Cemetery (no records exist to support this). It was the custom of the day to have multiple burials within the same grave, one on top of another, and no grave markers (headstones).