Websters from Wymondham: The Austin Line

AustinLine

The paternal grandmother of ISRAEL (JAMES), FRANCIS, and WILLIAM WEBSTER was ELIZABETH AUSTIN, and her parents were PETER AUSTIN and SARAH JACQUES/JACKS, who were married in 1758. We found more information on the AUSTIN family than any one else in the WEBSTER pedigree, and at least some of the AUSTINS seem more prosperous than the GOWARDS, READS, and WEBSTERS.

Our AUSTIN family were well-documented farmers in the Bunwell area of central Norfolk county. PETER AUSTIN is our earliest ancestor given in Generations of Websters (p.5). From the Bunwell parish records, I was able to add to our PETER a likely brother Thomas and a likely sister Mary, then another man named Thomas AUSTIN given as Thomas (Film no.1526806). For these possible relatives I gave a father N.N. AUSTIN. Though this family group is not yet proved, they were all present in Bunwell at the same time, they were all farmers, and they used the same Christian names repeatedly, e.g. Thomas, Peter, and Elizabeth.
The most important evidence of the family group appeared in the Manorial Court records of land transactions (Film no.1657290, Manorial Court Books 1779-1810). In his will of 1803 Thomas bequeathed his farm lands to Peter (III), son of Isaac AUSTIN, brother of our ancestor ELIZABETH AUSTIN and son of our ancestor PETER (Manorial Court Books, pp.328-331). At Thomas' burial in 1808 he was called a bachelor 84 years old, so he must have had no sons of his own and thus "adopted" Peter, the young son of Isaac, Thomas' assumed nephew. Thomas was also active in the community and signed the Archdeacon's transcripts as Bunwell churchwarden in the years 1761-63 (Film no.1526806).
The same Manorial Court records show young Peter's father Isaac AUSTIN as himself a very active farmer who leased new farm lands and bought old leases or "copyholds" from bankrupt farmers (including our PARSONS relatives CLICK to be added). His widow Elizabeth HUGGINS kept certain of his lands during her life, then they were sold and the money distributed to her children (Film no.1657290). This Isaac was the brother of our ELIZABETH AUSTIN, wife of THOMAS WEBSTER. We have not followed Isaac's land transactions further, because they do not seem to affect our ELIZABETH after her marriage in 1789. In that year her brother Isaac was just beginning his life as a farmer.
We did not find similar evidence of any farm lands belonging to Isaac's father, our ancestor PETER AUSTIN, but PETER's wife and children as given in Generations of Websters (p.5) are well documented in the Bunwell parish records (Film no.1526806). Little was found, however, of the JACQUES/JACKS family of PETER'S wife SARAH JACQUES, other than her likely parents ISAAC and ELIZABETH JACQUES.

We assume that our ELIZABETH grew up as a farm girl but do not know whether she became a farm wife with her marriage to THOMAS WEBSTER, since he had been born and brought up in the large town of Attleborough, though at their marriage in 1789 he was said to belong to Bunwell parish. Their children were christened in Bunwell, and ELIZABETH was buried there as a widow. Probably study of land deeds and the AUSTIN wills may reveal where the THOMAS WEBSTER family lived.
I found almost no Austins in Norfolk county who were earlier than our own relatives. Other Austin families of similar first names to ours (Peter, Elizabeth, John) were married in Wymondham parish during the same years, 1755-6 (Film no.1911511), but we have not yet found a blood relation to them. The largest number of Austins were found in Carleton Rode, a small parish very near to Bunwell (both on Film no.1526806). One Austin was present by 1725, and several families lived there in 1765-95. A large family of nine children were born to John Austin and Sarah Holl [Hall or abbreviation for Howell?] during 1782-1802. Their first names were similar to ours: Sarah I-II, Peter I-II, Elizabeth, as well as Edward and Samuel, but again we have not studied these other families.

In the Pedigree Chart and Descent Charts, the abbreviation "A" or "a" means the christening date.

Home

AustinLine