Descendants of Francis Huckin (d. 1714)
HomeFourth Generation
18. Mary Townsend Huckin (Mary Huckin , John , Francis ) was christened 7 Feb 1747/1748 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
Mary Townsend Huckin, who therefore became a substantial beneficiary of her great uncle's will when he died in 1771, was the illegitimate daughter of Mary Huckin of Kingham. She had been baptized there on 7th February 1747/8, when her father was identified as William Townsend. This legacy constituted a satisfactory dowry which enabled Mary Townsend Huckin to marry Joseph Hyatt at Kingham on 13th August 1771. Joseph Hyatt was a substantial yeoman farmer of Hook Norton whose beautiful thatched homestead has been preserved in all its splendour in East End of that village. Four children of Joseph and Mary Hyatt were baptized at Hook Norton: John (23rd July 1772), Thomas (11th September 1774), Joseph (25th January 1778) and Elizabeth (4th March 1781). Then Joseph Hyatt died, and Mary Townsend Hyatt remarried to Samuel Field of Kineton in Warwickshire.
Mary married Joseph Hyatt 13 Aug 1771.
They had the following children:
22. John Huckin 1 (John , John , Francis ) was christened 7 Apr 1771 in Chadlington, England. He was buried 27 Jan 1841 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
The Huckin family was one of the oldest and most respected yeoman families in Kingham. Francis Huckin (1724-1812) was a freeholder who held in turn all the parish offices - Overseer of the Poor, Constable, Fieldsman, Churchwarden. When it was necessary to identify the owner and occupier of each of the thousands of strips of arable land in Kingham, Francis Huckin was not only able to name them accurately, but was also accepted by all his neighbours as reliable and authoritative: it was unnecessary to ask anyone to corroborate his evidence. Of his eleven children, two (Anthony and James) died in infancy, and three (Rebecca, Leah and William) never married. His elder surviving son, Robert, moved away to London. All his children and other descendants were well provided for in his will (MS Wills Oxon 263/1/79; made 10th November 1806; proved 26th July 1813). However, at his death in 1812, the senior branch of the Huckin family effectively came to an end in Kingham.
John Huckin (1771-1841) was his second cousin from the Chadlington side of the family. The son of John and Jane (née Parker) Huckin, he was baptized at Chadlington on 7th April 1771. He first appears in Kingham on 24th February 1800 when he married Ann Lee; he was then 'of Stowe, Glos.' and the witnesses were Joseph Wilkes and Mary Falkner. Ann Huckin died, probably in childbirth, and was buried at Kingham the next year on 8th March 1801. They may have lived in Kingham, although there is no other documentary evidence that they did; the strength of the centuries-old Kingham connection would have been in any case sufficient to draw John Huckin back to Kingham Church for baptisms, marriages and burials.
We must assume that he had by this time moved back to Kingham. If so, he does not appear to have owned or occupied any land in the parish, and so may have been working as a labourer. Four years later, on 23rd November 1805, John Huckin remarried at Kingham to Elizabeth King who bore him seven children and outlived him to be buried there on 7th January 1843. The witnesses at their wedding were Samuel Williams and Jane Williams. Jane was John Huckin's younger sister, baptized at Chadlington 11th February 1776, who had married Samuel Williams at Oddington on 10th July 1798.
After this second marriage, John Huckin's name begins to appear in the Kingham records, proving that by this time he had certainly moved back into his ancestral parish. He was the third of the five children of John and Jane Huckin: their eldest child, John, born in Bledington in 1768, had died in infancy. Their second child, Thomas, baptized at Bledington in 1769, had married Sarah Padbury at Spelsbury on 2nd August 1792, but was buried on 4th May 1795 leaving apparently only one child, also Thomas Huckin, baptized at Churchill on 5th May 1793. The fourth child of John and Jane Huckin was Hannah, baptized at Chadlington on 22nd August 1773. In September 1795, Hannah Huckin was arrested, having given birth to an illegitimate son, George, who was baptized at Kingham on 11th October 1795; Hannah Huckin identified the child's father as George Brooks. In 1805, therefore, John was the eldest surviving male member of his generation of the Huckin family in Kingham. His elderly widowed father, John Huckin (1734-1814) probably also came back with him, as he attended the Kingham Vestry meeting on 12th May 1811, and was buried in Kingham, aged 81, on 15th March 1814. His bachelor uncle, Thomas Huckin (1737-1812), also lived in the village where, in 1808 at the age of 71, he was employed by the Fieldsmen as casual labour, mowing thistles in the Back Closes and on the Green, and 'stocking in Rutts' at the Culver Pitts down by Churchill Mill.
From 1807, John Huckin appears annually in the Fieldsmen's Account Book. In 1807, 1810, 1811 and 1813 he paid the Fieldsmen for half a horse common, indicating that he was permitted to graze his horse on the common pasture for six months of the year. Every year, from 1807 until the accounts end in 1820, he paid 'rating money' for his cows to graze on the meadow, and in some years (1807, 1810, 1811, 1815 and 1820) he also paid for pasture for one or two calves. Unlike most other farmers in the village, he at no time received a refund for under-stocking. This may simply indicate that he was using all and more of his legal allowance of pasture on the common land. As a stintholder (and he certainly was one by 1810) he was legally entitled to permit a certain number of animals to graze the common field.
From the Rating Books, it is possible to deduce that John Huckin acquired Richard Franklin's yardland perhaps in 1800, but more probably in 1807 when his name first appears in the Fieldsmen's accounts. He was evidently a cattle farmer - presumably a dairy farmer - since his assessment for cow rating in 1810 is one of the highest in the village, and presumably this was in addition to the number of cows that he was entitled to graze on the common. Only Thomas Andrews was assessed at a higher rate than John Huckin (£3 4s 2▯d under each heading).
For the year 1816-7, John Huckin was himself chosen (at the Manor Court, or Court Leet) to be one of the four Fieldsmen for the year whose duty was to supervise the collective agriculture of what was still at that time (until 1850) an Open (i.e. unenclosed) village. Only the more prosperous farmers were asked to fulfil this duty, many of them being re-elected year after year. It is therefore curious, and may be significant for the Huckin family history, that John Huckin served as Fieldsman for only one year. Thomas Beman, who had been a Fieldsman for many years, was chairman and kept the accounts. The other two Fieldsmen were William Freeman and George Brooks.
Although John Huckin probably took little part in the decision-making of that year, it may throw light on the process of open field agriculture to reproduce the accounts for 1816-7, bearing in mind that these accounts represent only that part of village farming which was truly collective. Decisions as to which crops should be grown, and in which of the four great open fields, had no monetary value, and therefore would not be reflected in the accounts; in any case, the rotation of crops followed a conventional pattern agreed many decades, if not centuries, earlier.
John Huckin appeared in the Churchwardens' account book on 30th January 1818 in his familiar role, driving his waggon and horses:
pd John Huckin for Carriage of 2 Loads of Stones to Church Yard Wall £0-10- 0d.
The stones would have been carted from the parish quarry on White Quar Hill, and so needed to be transported a considerable distance along unsurfaced roads and then down the Old Way to the village to repair the wall around the churchyard. He is also listed amongst those who attended the annual Vestry Meeting on Easter Tuesday on 26th March 1824, and then at Easter 1836 and 1837.
At the Manor Court (Court Leet) of 1823 he was appointed Constable, an appointment renewed in 1824 for a further twelve months. The Constable was usually a younger man, whereas John Huckin was now aged fifty-two, so he must have been hale and hearty to carry out the duties required from a Petty Constable. The work was unpaid, but the constable was entitled to claim an 'expense' whenever he performed an official duty; such expenses were in accordance with an agreed tariff, and his accounts were audited annually. As Constable, he was responsible for the parish gun, an ancient flintlock which required constant repairs, which was normally used for bird scaring. He also might be required to hold a minor offender overnight before bringing him before a magistrate; for this purpose the parish provided the stocks on the Green. In more serious cases, in the absence of a parish lock-up, the constable might be responsible for guarding a prisoner in his own house, and was entitled to employ guards to sit up through the night. Stray cattle - those that wandered off the common pasture into the arable fields, or into the built-up area of the village, could be imprisoned in the parish Pound, to which the constable held the key. Finally, he was responsible for conveying the County Rate ('Marshalsea Money') from the parish and handing it over quarterly to the High Constable of the Hundred; the rate was collected by the Overseers of the Poor. Since there was only one Constable, he was obliged to keep his own accounts, which enables us to assess John Huckin's level of literacy. John Huckin appears to have been above average in this respect: his spelling was competent, and he clearly kept his accounts on a daily basis, temporarily forgetting to enter up only the payment of the County Rate for 24th October 1824. His only idiosyncrasy was always to place the 'th' of the ordinal numerals of his dates before, instead of after the number.
John Huckin now (1826) emerges as the fourth largest ratepayer and occupier of land, out of the fifty-three ratepayers. He is rated at £109-10s, or 7.88% of the total valuation of the parish (£1390-2-6d), paying an annual rate of £1-7-5▯d - the churchwardens were very precise. The churchwardens, of course, do not show how that total was reached, but we have sufficient information already to make a reasonable assessment of John Huckin's tenancies. We know that in 1810 John Huckin was farming Franklin's copyhold, and that by 1825 he was also renting land from Arthur Freeman and Edward Stayt.
The next year (1827), John Huckin's valuation increased to £164-17-0d as a result of his taking over the holding of Robert Pearse (1761-1837) who retired that year from active farming, aged 66. In 1828 there was another minor increase of £2-14 to bring his total valuation to £167-11s where it remained for the next three years; it is not evident where this increase came from. Then, in 1831, a decrease of £1 brought his valuation to £166-11s until 1837. In that year, 1831, William Simms was assessed for the first time for an orchard at £1, but there is no certainty that he had taken this over from John Huckin. Finally, in 1837, the valuation was again increased to £200-5s, in a year when half the ratepayers (twenty-four out of a total of forty-eight) had their assessment increased. By now, John Huckin was the third largest ratepayer in the village, exceeded only by Thomas Beman at £271, and Henry Fowler at £207-10s. The implication of the evidence derived from the Church Rate Book is that there was no further change in John Huckin's landholding from 1827 until his death in 1841.
Obituary (from Huckin Genealogy):
Lately died, at Kingham in this county, Mr. John Huckin, farmer, age 69, much regretted by his family and friends.
-- Jackson's Oxford Journal, 6 February 1841, p. 3.According to the Marriage records of Kingham: "John Huckin of the Parish of Stowe in the County of Gloucester, and Anne Lee of this Parish, were married by Banns in this Church the twenty fourth day of February, one thousand, eight hundred." It was signed by John Huckin; Anne Lee's mark applied. Witnessed by Joseph Wilkes and Mary F____
From Lainchbury:
On April 8th, 1836, a Court Baron was held. Quoting:
"Afterwards at this Court came the said John Huckin the elder and prayed to be admitted to the said premises---
"Also at this Court the Lords of the said Deputy Steward did grant unto John Huckin aged one year or thereabouts son of John Huckin who is now first in reversion the reversion of the said one messuage and one yardland with the appurtenances now in the possession of the said John Huckin his Grand Father to have the said one messuage and one yardland with the appurtenances unto him the said John Huckin for the term of his natural life immediately when by death surrender or forfeiture of the said John Huckin his Grand Father and of the said John Huckin his Father it shall happen to come into the hands of the Lords...
End Quote
"Here we get a glimpse of a family holding their yardland, etc., from the Lords of the Manor, from father to son and so to grandson, for John Huckin had booked his at the age of one year."John married 1 (1) Elizabeth King "Isabel?" 23 Nov 1805 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. Elizabeth was born Abt 1780 in Oxfordshire. She died 1 Jan 1843 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. She was buried 7 Jan 1843 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
Obituary (from Huckin Genealogy):
Died, January 1, after a long and painful illness, which she bore with christian fortitude, Elizabeth, relict of the late Mr. John Huckin, of Kingham, in this county, in the 61st year of her age.
-- Jackson's Oxford Journal, January 14, 1843, p.3.They had the following children:
60 F i Jane Huckin was christened 15 Jun 1806 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. Jane married 1 James Griffin 12 Apr 1828 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. James was born 1803 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. + 61 F ii Elizabeth Huckin + 62 M iii John Huckin + 63 F iv Priscilla Huckin + 64 F v Anne Huckin + 65 M vi Thomas Huckin + 66 F vii Sarah Huckin John married 2 (2) Ann Lee 1 24 Feb 1800 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. Ann was born 1775. She was buried 8 Mar 1801 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
23. Hannah Huckin 1 (John , John , Francis ) was christened 22 Aug 1773 in Chadlington, Oxfordshire. She died 1799. She was buried 24 Oct 1799 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
Hannah married 1 John Bennett 24 Oct 1799 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. John was christened 14 Dec 1774 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. He was buried 23 Aug 1849 in Daylesford, England.
from Daylesford
They had the following children:
+ 67 M i John Bennett 68 F ii Ann Bennett was christened 19 Mar 1809 in Daylesford, England. She was buried 2 Aug 1837 in Daylesford, England. 24. Jane Huckin 1 (John , John , Francis ) was christened 11 Feb 1776 in Chadlington, Oxfordshire.
Jane married 2 Samuel Williams 1 son of Samuel Williams and Elizabeth Walker 10 Jul 1798 in Oddington. Samuel was christened 6 Feb 1780 in Oddington.
They had the following children:
+ 69 M i Thomas Williams 70 M ii Samuel Williams was christened 13 Jun 1802 in Oddington. Samuel married Mary Castle 7 Nov 1824. + 71 M iii Richard Williams + 72 M iv James Williams + 73 M v Joseph Williams 25. Elizabeth Huckin (John , Eleanor , Francis ) was christened 29 Mar 1732 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. She was buried 18 Dec 1798.
Elizabeth married John Pidgin 25 Sep 1753. John was born 1733. He died 27 Jan 1811.
They had the following children:
+ 74 M i John Pidgin 27. William Huckin (John , Eleanor , Francis ) was christened 26 Jun 1737 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. He was buried 21 Mar 1820.
Will made 28 Sep 1818
Will proved 13 July 1820William married (1) Ann Newman 24 Jan 1765 in Chadlington, England. Ann was buried 21 Oct 1775 in Chadlington, England.
They had the following children:
+ 75 M i John Huckin + 76 M ii William Huckin + 77 M iii Thomas Huckin 78 F iv Ann Huckin was christened 16 Jul 1769 in Chadlington, England. She was buried 13 Jun 1792 in Chadlington, England. 79 F v Hannah Huckin was christened 14 Aug 1774 in Chadlington, England. Hannah married Thomas Burden 25 Jun 1795 in Chadlington, England. William married (2) Mary Gardner 3 Jun 1784 in Chadlington, England. Mary was born Abt 1756. She was buried 9 Jul 1834 in Chadlington, England.
witness to marriage: James Huckin and William Burden senior
William and Mary had the following children:
+ 80 M vi George Gardner Huckin 81 F vii Mary Huckin was christened 26 Sep 1784 in Chadlington, England. Mary married John Collett 5 Nov 1803 in Chadlington, England. + 82 M viii Thomas Huckin + 83 M ix Charles Huckin + 84 M x Edward Huckin 85 F xi Fanny Huckin was christened 28 Mar 1790 in Chadlington, England. Fanny married George Hill 4 Jul 1813 in Chadlington, England. 86 M xii Jonah Huckin was christened 18 Oct 1795 in Chadlington, England.
Farmer
in 1841 census33. George Huckin (John , Eleanor , Francis ) was christened 8 May 1748 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. He was buried 3 Jan 1826.
George married Sarah Stow 26 May 1778 in Chadlington, England. Sarah was buried 23 Oct 1810 in Chadlington, England.
They had the following children:
87 F i Hannah Huckin was christened 9 Aug 1778 in Chadlington, England. She was buried 22 Feb 1780 in Chadlington, England. 88 F ii Hannah Huckin was christened 30 Sep 1781 in Chadlington, England. She was buried 23 Oct 1781 in Chadlington, England. 89 F iii Mary Huckin was christened 1 Jun 1783 in Chadlington, England. She was buried 30 Apr 1830 in Chadlington, England. + 90 M iv William Huckin 91 F v Ann Huckin was christened 16 May 1790 in Chadlington, England. 92 F vi Jane Huckin was buried 27 Aug 1793 in Chadlington, England. 93 M vii John Huckin was christened 12 May 1796 in Chadlington, England.
Servant
in 1841 census42. Mary Grimmett (Sarah Huckin , Elisha , Francis ) was christened 16 Jan 1764 in Churchill, Oxfordshire, England. She was buried 14 Jan 1851 in Chipping Norton Baptist, Oxfordshire.
Nurse
Baptised as an adult in Chipping Norton (Baptist) 13 Sep 1800
She had the following children:
+ 94 F i Elizabeth Grimmett 44. Ann Huckin (Francis , Elisha , Francis ) was christened 4 Aug 1754 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
Ann married Richard Summersale.
They had the following children:
95 F i Elizabeth Summersale was born 1779. She was buried 16 Jun 1782 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. 46. Robert Huckin (Francis , Elisha , Francis ) was christened 24 Apr 1757 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
of Foley Street, Marylebone
Robert married Hannah Ellis 23 Jun 1791 in West Drayton.
They had the following children:
+ 96 M i William Huckin + 97 F ii Charlotte Huckin 47. Elizabeth Huckin (Francis , Elisha , Francis ) was christened 11 Mar 1759 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. She was buried 8 Dec 1832.
Elizabeth married Arthur Freeman 19 Jan 1786. Arthur was christened 25 May 1761 in Sarsden. He was buried 6 Jul 1839.
They had the following children:
98 F i Elizabeth Freeman was christened 29 Oct 1786 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. She died 14 Nov 1860 in Sarsden.
unmarried99 M ii John Freeman was christened 9 Mar 1788 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. He died 8 Jul 1877 in Sarsden.
unmarried100 M iii William Freeman was christened 16 Aug 1789 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England.
in 1840 census?101 M iv Robert Freeman was christened 9 Jan 1791 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. He was buried 18 Nov 1813.
unmarried102 F v Ann Freeman was christened 19 Aug 1792 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. She died 5 Jul 1856 in Sarsden.
unmarried103 F vi Mary Freeman was christened 31 Mar 1794 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. She was buried 11 Feb 1860. Mary married Robert Harvey Pratt 28 Aug 1817. Robert was born 1782. He died 1847.
brother of William Crake Pratt104 F vii Sarah Freeman was christened 28 Mar 1796 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. 105 F viii Helena Freeman was christened 24 Dec 1797 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. + 106 M ix Edward Freeman 48. Mary Huckin (Francis , Elisha , Francis ) was christened 19 Apr 1761 in Kingham, Oxfordshire, England. She was buried 28 Oct 1803.
Mary married Rev'd John Hewitt 30 Mar 1794. John was christened 31 Jan 1768 in Salford.
2nd babtism 1 Sep 1799 Chipping Norton Baptist
Pastor of Kingham Baptist ChapelJohn and Mary had the following children:
107 F i Clarissa Hewitt was born 1795. 108 M ii John Hewitt was born 1796. 109 F iii Mary Hewitt was born 1798. 110 iv infant Hewitt was born 1799. 111 F v Elizabeth Hewitt was born 1802.
