My 4th Great Grandparents were John BARKER(1), an agricultural labourer, and his wife Mary ALLEN, a lacemaker. There are two unrelated Barker lines in my tree.
John BARKER was born in 1791 in Elstow, Bedfordshire, England. His parents are a work in progress, but possibly William BARKER and his wife Elizabeth, who both died in Elstow.
Mary ALLEN was born on 13th January 1794 in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England, and she was baptised on 16th February at All Saints Church. Mary was the first of three children born to James ALLEN, an agricultural labourer, and his wife, Alice REDMAN. Mary’s parents were both born in Kempston.
John, age 22, and Mary, age 19, were married on 14th March 1813 at All Saints, Kempston, and they had nine children born between 1814 and 1833, by which time Mary was 39 years old.
- Joel Barker (1814-1883) m.1835 to Elizabeth Watson ~ Coachman & Gardener
- Zilpah Barker (1816-1816) died aged 7 weeks
- William Barker (1817) not found after baptism
- Sarah Barker (1820-1872) m.1843 to William Cave ~ Lacemaker & Agricultural Labourer’s wife
- Amy Barker (1822-1860) m.1843 to George Caves ~ Lacemaker & Agricultural Labourer’s wife
- James Barker (1824-1893) m.1844 to Ann Yarrow ~ Agricultural Labourer
- Alice Barker (1827-1829) died aged 23 months
- Louisa Barker (1830-1891) m.1849 to John Mayhew ~ Lacemaker & Agricultural Labourer’s wife
- Amos Barker (1833-1912) m.1855 to Mary Ann Barratt~ Agricultural Labourer, Hawker & Greengrocer
When the 1841 census was taken, the family were living in the Wood End hamlet of Kempston, and by 1851 were recorded in the Box Side (aka Box End) hamlet of Kempston. By this time, all but their youngest child had married.
Mary’s parents both died in 1855: her mother on 6th April aged 84 (of “old age”), followed by her father on 1st December aged 87 (of hydrothorax). John died just under four years later on 23rd November 1859 from anasarca, a severe form of oedema. He was 68 years old. At the time, John and Mary were living in Wood End next door to the Royal Oak beer house, in a cottage with garden owned by William BROWN.
Mary died on 7th December 1869 at age 75 after suffering from skin cancer on her thigh for seven years.