Thomas Britnell and Ann Harding

Thomas Britnell was born in 1664 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England to parents Francis Britnell (1632-1719) and Susannah Connish (1639-1720).

Thomas was baptised on 23 January 1664 at St Andrews, Chinnor, Oxfordshire.

He was one of six children born to the couple.

Thomas was a carpenter in the tiny village of Chinnor.

Chinnor, is a village and a parish in Oxfordshire. The village stands on the verge of the county, under the Chiltern Hills, near Icknield Street, five miles south east of Thame. The population in 1894 was 1247.

There is a burial of an Ann Britnell on 27 Jun 1698 in Crowell, wife of Thomasand given the date of his second marriage, this may be a first wife of Thomas, but no marriage register entry has been found.

At the age of 34, Thomas Britnell, a carpenter of Chinnor, married Ann Harding, aged 21, a maid servant, by license, on 22 December 1698 at Crowell, Oxfordshire.

I haven’t yet been able to discover Ann’s baptism and who her parents are.

Thomas and Ann had four children –

1. Thomas b 1700 Chinnor d 1763 Crowell, marr Sarah Rance, 13 children.
2. William b 1702 & d 1703 Chinnor
3. Susannah b 1704 & d 1731 Chinnor, marr John Bowdry, 2 children.
4. Francis b 1707 & d 1708 Chinnor

It seems only two of the four children survived childhood, but the firstborn son Thomas certainly made up for the lack of grandchildren, having thirteen children of his own.

Thomas Britnell’s will written on 27 July 1737 is available here. He is described as Thomas Britnell the elder of Crowell, husbandman (farmer). In it he leaves the following bequests –

• house and garden in Crowell where I dwell to wife Ann, then to son Thomas
• to son Thomas all my other land in Crowell subject to the payment of a £5 annuity to my wife Anne for life and £10 to my granddaughter Anne Bowdery
• I give to my son-in-law John Bowdery and my grandson John Bowdery 12d apiece
• to wife Anne my furnace, clock and dressers of drawers, then to son Thomas
• the residue of personal, goods, chattels and cattle, I give to my wife Anne, and I appoint her sole Executrix.The witnesses Sarah Herne, Anne Golly and Edward Stevens all made their mark.

Thomas died three years after writing his will in July 1740 in Crowell at the age of 76 years. He was buried at Crowell on 15 July 1740.

His wife Ann lived for another five years, and passed away in November 1745, and was also buried at Crowell on 25 November 1745.