John Durrant

John Durrant b 1815 in Turweston, Buckinghamshire to William Durrant and Ann Foxley.  He died in Macclesfield in 1874.

 

John Durrant has been pivotal to all my family history research, but he hasn’t been an easy man to pin down!

 

There have been generations of the Durrant/Durham/Derrant/Derram family in Turweston and the surrounding area since the 1600’s.  My branch seems to have lived in either Turweston itself or Whitfield nearby.  The first problem being that Turweston is in Buckinghamshire and Whitfield in Northamptonshire.

 

Ann Foxley, John’s mother, had brothers working as brickmakers in the area so it seems likely that this is where John learned his trade.  Initially it is probable that he worked with his uncle and cousins. 

 

In 1840 John married Sarah Broome and over the next 5 or 6 years they had 3 children.  It was during this time that the family moved to nearby Brackley and it was here that Sarah stayed for most of the rest of her life.

 

It is possible that there was a shortage of work in Turweston – it’s difficult to find out but something made them move.   As we shall see John always followed the work and moved many times during his lifetime. 

 

Whatever economic factors were at play in the Durrant family at that time John appears to have moved much further away, leaving his family behind.  I can find no trace of him on 1851 census or in the death records – so he didn’t die.  Sarah, his wife, is down as living in Brackley – head of the household, and as a ‘wife’ not a widow.  The same in 1861.

 

John must have travelled further south, either to Wales or Cornwall because sometime between 1851 and 1855 he meets Maria Rowe.  I have hunted high and low for a marriage entry for this pair but I can’t find one.  It should be there – registration of births, marriages and deaths were well established by then.  I’ve check every variation of name spelling but nothing.  In the end I have to come to the conclusion that the pair did not marry at all.  Whether he fooled Maria into thinking they were I can’t say.

 

In 1856 they have their first child – Caroline Elizabeth.  A series of births follow over the ensuing years but not all of them survive.  Seven of their children survived into adulthood – seven daughters.

Caroline Elizabeth

Mary Ann (Polly)
Eliza Jane
Matilda
Leah Nora
Kate
Amelia  
 

Sarah Alice died when she was 10

Emily died as an infant

John Alfred William died as an infant