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From: "Sue Mackay" <>
Subject: [ZA-IB] For Descendants of James HAYWARD and Tabitha PRISTOW
Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2007 17:19:13 -0000


James HAYWARD and Tabitha PRISTOW of JAMES' Party, from Westbury in
Wiltshire, were my 4 x great grandparents. I have been sharing some
information with Rod Gebhardt and a query of his re the HAYWARDs caused me
to look at a file I haven't looked at properly for ages. I discovered that
when I got a fiche of Westbury burials (I already had the baptisms) - round
about the time I moved house - I obviously looked for HOBBS and HAYWARDS but
not for PRISTOWs. I have spent a sad couple of hours sorting through it all
this afternoon, and realise that I am now very lucky to be here. I knew
infant mortality was high in the late 18th century, but this family seems to
have had more than their fair share of heartache. As there are quite a few
people descended from James and Tabitha I thought I'd share my findings with
the list and let Rod pick it up from here.

William PRISTOW and his wife Elizabeth lived in Westbury, Wiltshire from at
least 1756. I THINK their marriage might have been the one listed on the IGI
as that between William BRISTOW and Elizabeth GARDINER on 20 July 1743 in
Warminster, Wiltshire, but this has not been proved. If it is the right
marriage, then they had a daughter Betty baptised in Warminster on 20 Nov
1743 (so we know why they got married) and another daughter Sarah baptised
on 29 Oct 1746.

What is certain is that my 6 x great grandparents, William and Elizabeth
PRISTOW, whoever they were, buried an infant son William in Westbury and
that by this time they already had two children, John and Ann.

On 3 June 1759 they had three children baptised in Westbury in a triple
baptism ceremony. John was described on the baptismal register as 'aged
about 6 years', but as he died in May 1836 aged 88 he was probably actually
born in 1748/9. Ann was described as 'aged 5', and baby Thomas was
presumably an infant. Ann was buried on 25 August 1760 and baby Thomas on 25
Oct 1760, leaving John seemingly without siblings.

A second Ann was baptised on 14 June 1761 but died aged 3 and was buried on
3 Oct 1764. A second Thomas was born in 1763 but not baptised until 6 Oct
1765. He survived his youngest years but died of fever in 1773, aged 10, and
was buried on 11 Oct.

A second William was baptised on 20 July 1767. This William did survive and
married Elizabeth DOEL on 24 December 1786. Subsequent baptisms of children
described as 'of William and Elizabeth Pristow' therefore refer to this
couple. They probably moved away from Westbury after 1793, but they had
three daughters baptised in Westbury between 1787 and 1793. Having got
married on Christmas Eve, which in 1786 fell on a Sunday, it seems that
Christmas Day was the only day they had free to go to church to baptise
their children. Susannah was baptised on Christmas Day 1787, Ann on
Christmas Day 1790 and Elizabeth on Christmas Day 1793.

But back to the first William and Elizabeth. William PRISTOW died in 1774
and was buried in Westbury on 27 February. He was described in the burial
register as a 'wool tryer'. His wife Elizabeth was probably the Elizabeth
PRISTOW, widow aged 70, who was buried on 11 Oct 1786. I say probably,
because although I can find no other Elizabeth PRISTOWs in Westbury at the
time, if she was really 70 when she died it means she would have been 51
when her son William was baptised, though of course William might have been
born a couple of years earlier and having a child in her late forties would
not have been an impossibility. Certainly if I am right about the marriage
of William and Elizabeth GARDINER the age would fit, as Elizabeth GARDINER
was baptised in Warminster on 7 Oct 1718.

So what about John PRISTOW, the eldest surviving son of William and
Elizabeth and as far as I know one of only two surviving children? Despite
the early deaths of so many siblings, John PRISTOW lived to the ripe old age
of 88 - he was obviously pretty hale to survive all those epidemics that
were around when he was a child.

John PRISTOW (my 5 x great grandfather) married Grace TOWNING on 28 Nov 1768
in Westbury.
They had eight children that I know of:
Elizabeth, baptised 31 March 1771, buried aged 3 on 28 Oct 1774:
Grace, baptised 17 July 1774, married James BOFFEN 1 Dec 1793 Westbury:
Tabitha, baptised 24 Feb 1777, married James HAYWARD 14 Mar 1797 Westbury:
James, baptised 31 Oct 1779, married Meriam WOLLEY 1 Nov 1804 Westbury:
Jeffery, born 1782, buried 11 Sep 1785 (died of a cold)
John, born 1786, baptised 15 June 1788, married Jane PEPLER 10 Oct 1808
Westbury:
Elizabeth, born 1789, baptised 20 Nov 1807 aged 18, married James DOEL 10
Oct 1808 Westbury (in double ceremony with her brother John)

The following children of James HAYWARD and Tabitha PRISTOW sailed on the
Weymouth:
Samuel, baptised 14 Oct 1798 (aged 3 weeks):
John, born 29 Sep 1802, baptised 17 Oct:
Elizabeth, born 1 Mar 1805, baptised 2 June:
Selina, baptised 8 Aug 1809 (aged 6 months)
William, baptised 10 Apr 1814
Eliza, born 11 Apr 1819 Frome, Somerset

Hope this helps

Sue











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