(last updated: 10 February 2014)
I have used parish registers and other sources to produce a list of known Hickmott births, marriages and deaths for the adjoining parishes of Headcorn (from the mid-1500s to around 1900) and Frittenden (from the late 1600s to the late 1800s). Click here to download a copy (in pdf format) of the latest version of the list.
You will see in the case of Headcorn, whose local churchyard is pictured on the left, that the list begins with a Francis Hickmott who we now think may have been the son of John Hickmott and Anna Wragley of Horsmonden (who had a child, 'Fraunces' baptised there in 1610). The records of marriages held at Canterbury show that in 1636 a Francis Hickmott, mercer of Headcorn, stood bonds for the marriage of George Hickmott and Elizabeth Reynoldes at Goudhurst. George was born at Horsmonden in around 1599 and was probably related to Francis. We also think that Francis was married twice: first at Beneden in Kent in 1636 to Elizabeth Bridger with whom he had three children at Headcorn - John (1638-40), Mary (1641-41) and John (1641) - before Elizabeth's death there in 1641; and second, to Elizabeth Ellet at Headcorn in 1643.
It seems that Francis may have moved away from Headcorn after his second marriage for there is no record in the local registers of his or his second wife's death or burial there. The registers do show that an Edward and Francis Hickmott, sons of a John and Mary Hickmott, were baptised at Headcorn in 1667 and 1670 respectively. Although still to be confirmed, we think John was Francis' younger son and that he married out of the parish. It also seems likely that after living at Headcorn for a time, John and his family moved to Harrietsham where he and Mary had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1674 (Elizabeth died there five years later). Further evidence to support this possibility is the fact that an Edward Hickmott married Frances Gladdish at nearby Detling in 1689 but later lived at Harrietsham.
The Hickmott name doesn't re-appear in the Headcorn registers until 1735 with the baptism of Mary Hickmott, daughter of Thomas and Ann. At this stage we know little about this couple beyond the fact they were married out of the parish (possibly at Aylesford in 1733) and had four children baptised at Headcorn between 1735 and 1743. The main line of the Headcorn Hickmotts (outlined below) begins with William Hickmott and Elizabeth Kemp who we think were married at Langley in 1746 and had four children at Headcorn - Elizabeth, William, Thomas and James - before William snr's death there in 1755 (Elizabeth was buried at Headcorn in 1791). Again we are currently uncertain of William's ancestry although it is certainly conceivable that he, and the John Hickmott mentioned above, may both have been descendants of Francis Hickmott.
The Hickmott name first appears in the Frittenden parish registers in the 1740s with the baptism of children of James and Elizabeth Hickmott whose family and descendants continued to live in and around the village until at least the early 1900s (see below). Given they were married around the same time, it is conceivable that James Hickmott of Frittenden and William Hickmott of Headcorn were related (a possibility supported by the relative proximity of the two villages and the degree of commonality in the names of their children). The search to determine the parents of both continues. For the time being we have been able to put together a reasonably comprehensive family tree for their respective families and descendants from the mid-1700s to around 1900. These can be viewed on my 'Hickmotts of Frittenden and Headcorn' family tree on Rootsweb.
What follows is a brief overview of the two family lines. Readers and researchers should note that the family constructions shown on the Rootsweb site are based on calculated assumptions in some places and so should be considered not as the final word on the family lines but as a best guess based on available information. I have included them so that the basic information about the various Hickmott families is there for people to access. I would, of course, welcome any corrections, additions or contentions to these records and assumptions. I would also be especially delighted to hear from anyone who is able and willing to trawl through the very early parish records to provide further (and possibly crucial) entries for the listing of births, deaths and marriages in Frittenden and Headcorn (or, indeed, other parishes in which Hickmotts lived).
The local parish registers show that a James Hickmott of Frittenden married Elizabeth Pennall at Maidstone in 1744. The couple lived at Frittenden after their marriage and had nine children there between 1746 and 1757: Stephen (1746), James (1748), Hannah (1749-68), Elizabeth (1751), Mary (1752-68), Sarah (1754), William (1756), John (1757) and Jemima (1760). Two of these, Hannah (19) and Mary Hickmott (16), died in 1768. We think that another, James jnr who died in 1823, did not marry. It is possible that their sister, Sarah Hickmott, also died unmarried at Frittenden in 1785 although that has not been confirmed. Elizabeth Hickmott probably married Thomas Fullagar at Biddenden on 10 October 1784. Her younger sister Jemima Hickmott married John Grant at Chart Sutton in 1789 and seems to have lived away from the parish. The parish registers show that their brother John Hickmott (1757-1828) was twice married at Frittenden: first to Ann Pillben in 1789 and, following Ann's death in 1791, to Elizabeth Rotter or Roser in 1794. John lived all his life at Frittenden and seems not to have had any children. The UK censuses and other information sources has enabled us to construct a more detailed picture of the remaining two brothers and their families and descendants as follows.
1. Stephen Hickmott (1746-1822) & Elizabeth Burges
The local parish records show that Stephen married Elizabeth Burgess or Burges at Frittenden on 21 December 1783. The record of marriage states that Stephen was a bachelor and Elizabeth a spinster and both were 'of this parish'. The wedding was witnessed by Sarah and James Hickmott (probably Stephen's father although it could have been his younger brother). The Tithe schedules (carried out during the 1830s and 1840s) for Ulcombe show that a Stephen Hickmott owned the following pieces of land there: First Field, Bantry Field, Little Garden Field and homestead, Barn Meadow and lodge, Hop Garden Field and Hay Barn Meadow. The schedule further shows that the land was occupied by a William Hickmott (probably the son of Stephen's younger brother William Hickmott - see his entry below). Local parish records and the LDS IGI indicate that Stephen and Elizabeth had ten children all baptised at Frittenden: Sarah (1784-5), James (1785), Stephen (1786-96), Thomas (1789), Elizabeth (1790), Mary (1791), Hanna (1794-1821), Jemima (1795-96), John (1795) and Ann (1797). Stephen Hickmott senior died and was buried at Frittenden in 1822. He was 76 years old. We think that his wife Elizabeth died there in 1821.
As shown, four of Stephen and Elizabeth's children died young or relatively young. We think that their eldest son James Hickmott (1785-1870) married Ann Tolhurst at Frittenden in 1820 and had one son, James, in 1821. James' younger sister, Elizabeth Hickmott (1790-1838), married Stephen Bate(s) at Frittenden in 1810 (the wedding was witnessed by Stephen Hickmott). Another sister, Ann Hickmott (1797-1868), married Edward Munk (1799-1873) at Frittenden in 1819 (the wedding was witnessed by John Hickmott). Ann's gravestone at Frittenden informs us that she and Edward had three children there: Edward, William and Sally Munk. The UK censuses and other information sources have enabled us to trace the family and descendants of Stephen and Elizabeth's remaining two sons, Thomas and John Hickmott, in more detail as follows:
1.1 Thomas Hickmott (1789-1866) & Mary Ann Wraight (1793-1872)
Thomas married a local girl, Mary Ann Bate(s) or Wraight at Frittenden in 1813 (the wedding was witnessed by Stephen Bate and John Wraight. As Stephen Bate was probably the local registrar I am assuming that Mary Ann's maiden name was Wraight although this has not been confirmed). They had ten children all born at Frittenden between 1813 and 1833: Stephen, Thomas, Stephen, James, John, William, David, Edward Ernest, Mary Ann and Harriet. The UK censuses show that Thomas and Mary Ann farmed initally at Pore Farm and later at Buckhurst Farm in the parish of Frittenden. Thomas died at Frittenden on 31 August 1866. The UK National Probate Calendar shows that his will was proved by Edward Munk, a farmer of Frittenden (and husband of Thomas' sister Ann), John Usborne the elder, a farmer of Frittenden, and Thomas' son Stephen Hickmott, a farmer of Cranbrook. After Thomas' death Mary Ann lived with her son, John, and his family at White Cottage in the village of Frittenden until her own death there in 1872. She was buried at Frittenden on 27 November, aged 79 years.
What of their children? The parish registers show that the first Stephen died as an infant. We know nothing of their eldest daughter, Mary Ann beyond her date of baptism. The parish registers show that all their other children survived their childhood and married as follows:
1.1.1 Thomas Hickmott (1815-47) seems to have married twice: first to Elizabeth Judge (1817-38) at Frittenden in 1837 where the wedding was witnessed by Stephen Hickmott, Ann Monk and Ann Wise. Elizabeth and her baby daughter, Emily, died in 1838 and Thomas probably re-married, to Alice Bowles (1820-52) in the Cranbrook RD in 1846. The parish registers show that Thomas, aged 32 years, died the following year and was buried at Frittenden on 6 October. Alice continued to live at Frittenden until her own death there in 1852. The UK censuses indicate that she had been born at Boughton Monchelsea in around 1820 and was probably the daughter of John Bowles, a blacksmith of Frittenden. She had a daughter, Sabina Bowles, before her marriage and another, Mary Anne Hickmott, with Thomas at Frittenden in 1846.
1.1.2 Stephen Hickmott (1817-86) married Harriet Powell (1822-88), the daughter of William Powell of Cranbrook, at Cranbrook in 1856. According to the UK censuses, Stephen farmed land at Sissinghurst and later Frittenden (Pore Farm) where he died in 1886. The UK National Probate Index tells us that his will was proved by James Harris, a farmer of Frittenden, and Stephen's sons Stephen and James Hickmott, both farm servants also of Frittenden. Harriet died two years later possibly at Cranbrook. She and Stephen had three children all born at Cranbrook: 1) Mary Ann Hickmott who married a bookkeeper, Charles Pope in 1888 and lived at Frittenden after her marriage; 2) Stephen Hickmott who married Fanny Hayward in the Cranbrook RD in 1881 and had eleven children two of whom were born at Cranbrook and the remainder at Frittenden where Stephen worked as an agricultural labourer (in 1901 the family was living at Buckhurst Farm); and 3) James Hickmott who married Ellen Warsley Rofe in the Tenterden RD in 1888 and had two boys, both born at Frittenden. James died sometime before the 1901 census which showed the widowed, 38 year-old Ellen working as a servant at Ivy House in Frittenden.
We think that one of Stephen and Harriet's grandsons, Horace Hickmott, enlisted in the British Army at Maidstone on 23 November 1908, and served as a gunner in the 4th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery in India - at Rawalpindi and Campbellpore - between 4 January 1911 and 7 June 1919 when he was discharged and returned to England to live at Marden. While in India he contracted malaria and was charged and received 10 days CB for striking a native.
1.1.3 James Hickmott (1819-52) married Sarah Watts (1825-59) in the Cranbrook RD in 1847. After their marriage the couple lived next door to Jame's parents at Pore Farm and had four children - James, Rachel, Stephen and Thomas - before James' death at Frittenden in 1852. Sarah died there seven years later. In 1861 their two youngest boys, described on the census form as 'orphaned scholars, were living at Dingle Farm near Beneden (the farm was run by two brothers, George and William Pope). Stephen later married Emily Chapman at Biddenden and had eight children at Cranbrook. We don't yet know what happened to the others.
1.1.4 John Hickmott married Harriet Hayter in the Cranbrook RD in 1842. They lived at Frittenden after their marriage and had two children there we are aware of: William Thomas Hickmott, who was working at his uncle Stephen's Buckland Lane Farm in 1851, and Harriet Hickmott who married Frederick Gates in the Cranbrook Rd in 1875 and had three children at Frittenden.
1.1.5 William Hickmott and his wife Mary initially farmed land at Ulcombe before moving, in the mid-1860s, back to Frittenden where William worked as an agricultural labourer. He and Mary had six children we are aware of. These included: Thomas Hickmott, a journeyman carpenter, who married Kate Amelia Brown at Staplehurst in 1883 and had five children (the family was back at Frittenden at the time of the 1901 census); William Hickmott who married Eliza Wickens at Frittenden in 1878 and had six children (the family was living at Marden in 1901); John Hickmott who married Kate Stevens in the West Ashford RD in 1894 and had at least three children (they were also at Frittenden in 1901); and Mary Susannah Hickmott who married Edwin Fread in the Cranbrook RD 1890 and had at least three children (they were living at Brook House in Frittenden in 1901).
1.1.6 David Hickmott (1826-94) married his cousin Caroline Fletcher Hickmott (1827-98) in the Cranbrook RD in 1850. They and their daughter Caroline, born at Frittenden in 1857, were living at Upland Farm in Smarden at the time of the 1861 census and Honeywood Farm in Bethesden in 1881. David and Caroline were living on Ashford Road in Bethesden in 1891. Following David's death there three years later, Caroline went to live with her sisters at Croydon where she died in 1898.
1.1.7 Edward Ernest Hickmott (1827-95) was also a carpenter by trade. He married Elizabeth Goddard from Bilsington in Kent at Folkestone in 1855 and seems to have lived at Folkestone until his death in 1895. He and Elizabeth had nine children all born at Folkestone: Mary Ann (1856); Edward (1857-86); Edgar William (1859-1906) who married Charlotte Chamberlain at Croydon in Surrey in 1886; Elizabeth Caroline (1861) who married Thomas Charles France in the Elham RD of Kent in 1880 and had at least five children; Edna (1864-1874), Ellen Clara (1867) who probably married Edward Jarrett in 1916, Eugenie Lily (1870), Elwyn Walter (1873) and Ernest Alfred (1877). The British First World War pensions contained on Ancestry.co.uk shows that Ernest enlisted in the 18th Battalion of the King's Royal Rifles on 15 November 1915. He was then 39 years old and a furniture painter by trade. He was subsequently wounded in action on 9 August 1917 and again on 4 November 1918 (a gunshot wound to the right forearm). He was demobilised on 18 June 1919 and received no war pension. There was no indication of whether he was married.
1.1.8 Harriet Hickmott who we think married a wheelwright, William Young, at Biddenden in 1855. The UK censuses show them living on High Street in Smarden in 1861 and at Mill Cottage in Headcorn in 1871. They had at least six children we are aware of.
1.2 John Hickmott (1795-1861) and Elizabeth Thirkell
John married Elizabeth Thirkell, who was born at Biddenden in 1799, at Maidstone in 1823. The UK censuses show that John was a farmer and grocer by profession. He and Elizabeth were living at 'Little Bubhurst' in 1841 and there after at Balcombe House in Frittenden where he died in 1861. At the time of the 1871 census Elizabeth was living at Croydon in Surrey with her married daughter Eleanor Elliott West. We have not yet determined when and where she died. John and Elizabeth had eight children all of whom were born at Frittenden. Two of these - Mary Ann (1829-48) and Olive Hickmott (1835-64) died relatively young. Two others - Elizabeth Burges (1825-1902) and Hannah Hickmott (1837-1901) - did not marry. After working for a time as the cook and housekeeper for her sister Sarah and her husband Thomas Walter at Staplehurst, Elizabeth Burges Hickmott eventually moved to Croydon in Surrey where she and her younger sister Hannah ran a millinary and dressmaking business. The censuses show they employed numerous female and male workers including their nieces Elizabeth and Ellen Walter. In the latter years they had servants and provided lodgings for both their nieces and some of their employees. As we have seen, another of John and Elizabeth's daughters, Caroline Fletcher Hickmott (1827-98) married her cousin David Hickmott lived at Frittenden and later Croydon where she died in 1898. Details of their remaining children are as follows:
were at the home of their sister Eleanor West and her family who were living at Croydon in Surrey. Eleanor Elliott Hickmott had married a butcher, William West in 1862 and had at least four children: Eleanor, William, John and Kate. Her sister Caroline Fletcher Hickmott married her cousin David Hickmott, who was farming land at Smarden, at Frittenden in 1850. They had at least one daughter, Caroline Hickmott, who was born at Frittenden in 1857. Another sister, Sarah Thirkill Hickmott, also married a farmer, Thomas Walter from Staplehurst, in 1855. The censuses indicate that they lived for a time at Sissinghurst, although two of their children, Thomas John and Harry Hedman Hickmott, were born at Cranbrook. The girls' only brother, William Hickmott, married a girl from Ticehurst, Hephzibah Ann Huntley, at Ticehurst in 1864. They had one son, George Hickmott, who worked as a corn merchant and traveller, and married Haddie Beaumont Hoadley at Lewes in Kent in 1892. George and Haddie had four children we know of: George, Dorothy, Helen Charlotte and Ann Margaret all of whom were born at Frittenden.
2. William Hickmott (1756-1839)
The local parish registers show that a William Hickmott married Sarah Gower at Frittenden on 12 November 1794. Both were said to be 'of this parrish' and the wedding was witnessed by a Stephen Hickmott. The registers also show that a William Hickmott, aged 83 years, and Sarah Hickmott, aged 53, were buried at Frittenden in 1839 and 1815 respectively.
Ancestry's register of non-parochial bdms in England show that William and Sarah were members of a dissenting religion and had at least six children all of whom were born at Frittenden and baptised in The Chapel on the Hill at Cranbrook: Elizabeth (1795), William (1799), Sarah (1799), James (1802), Stephen (1802) and Silas (1806). We know nothing of the two girls beyond their dates of birth and baptism but have managed to find out more about their four sons as follows:
2.1 William Hickmott (1797-1868)
Born at Frittenden in 1797, William married a local girl, Lydia Brown (1804-42), at Frittenden in 1834 (the Kent Family History Society's database tells us the wedding was witnessed by a John and Elizabeth Hickmott). The 1841 census shows William and Lydia at Eastwood Farm near Ulcombe with their two children William (3) and Elizabeth Hickmott (1) both of whom had been born there. Lydia died the following year and was buried at Frittenden. The 1851 census has William, a 52 year-old widower and farmer of 130 acres, living at Lashenden Farm near Biddenden with his two children, William (12) and Elizabeth (10), and his younger brother, James Hickmott. All four were still there in 1861 together with two servants: Ann Watts (14, Biddenden) and Edward Drury (15, Biddenden). The local parish records show that a William Hickmott, aged 70 years, was buried at Frittenden on 24 January 1868. The UK National Probate Index tells us that he died on 19 January 1868 and his will was proved by his son William, a gentleman of Frittenden, and James Pearson the younger, a farmer of Smarden.
The UK censuses indicate that William and Lydia's son, William Hickmott (1838-94), never married and lived all his adult life as an annuitant and self-styled gentleman at 'Lashenden Villa' in the village of Biddenden. The UK National Probate Calendar shows he died at Biddenden on 26 January 1894 and probate from his will went to Richard Samson, farmer and William's brother-in-law (see below) and John Amherst Philpott, gentleman (Ancestry's database shows that John Amherst Philpott was born at Hinxhill in Kent in 1843, the son of John and Elizabeth Philpott. He was living at Waterloo Place in Cranbrook in 1874 and Oaklands, The Hill in Cranbrook in 1899).
Their daughter, Elizabeth Hickmott (1840-86) who was born at Ulcombe in around 1840, was living with her widowed father at Lashenden Farm in 1861. The mid-Kent Marriages Index shows she married Charles Day at Biddenden on 14 October 1861. The 1871 census shows Charles, a 36 year-old farmer of 200 acres, and Elizabeth Day living at Lansden House in Biddenden with their daughter Malvina Day (8, Biddenden) and four servants. Charles died in 1873 and Elizabeth re-married the following year to another Biddenden farmer, Richard Samson who had been born at Staplehurst. The 1881 census shows Richard (a 42 year-old farmer of 60 acres) and Elizabeth Samson at Standen in Biddenden. With them was Elizabeth's second daughter, fifteen year-old Elizabeth Day. Elizabeth Samson, formerly Day nee Hickmott died at Bidderden in 1886. Her second husband, Richard Samson, died there on 22 January 1914. Probate from his will went to a farmer Henry Witherden.
The censuses show that Elizabeth and Charles Day's daughter, Malvina, worked as an English teacher in London and a governess in Wiltshire before retiring to The Hill in Cranbrook where she was living with her sister, Elizabeth Day, at the time of the 1901 census (which showed the two sisters to be of independent means). Later that year the 38 year-old Malvina married at Bidenden the 50 year-old widower, John Kemp (1851-1932), pastor of the Ebenezer baptist Chapel at Bounds Cross (John is pictured on the left). The 1911 census shows John (a 60 year-old Baptist minister born at Wadhurst in Sussex) and Malvina Kemp living at the Chapel House in Biddenden with a servant, Annie Watts (19, Bethersden Kent). The census return shows they also had a visitor - Ruth Hepzibah Wilmshurst, a single 31 year-old bookeeper for a butcher's business - and that Malvina and John had been married nine years and had no children. The UK National Probate Calendar shows that Malvina Kemp of Bounds Cross Biddenden died there on 5 January 1941, and probate was granted to Douglas William Hastings Murton-Neale, solicitor, and Walter Gibb, builder. Her younger sister, Elizabeth Day, and her husband, John Kemp had both pre-deceased her, Elizabeth dying at Biddenden in 1907 and John there in 1932. Probate from both their wills was granted to Malvina.
2.2 James Hickmott (1801-89)
The register of non-parochial bdms shows that James, son of William and Sarah Hickmott of Frittenden was born on 14 October 1801 and baptised in the Chapel on the Hill at Cranbrook on 16 December 1801. The 1861 census shows James Hickmott, 59 and unmarried, living at Lashenden Farm in Frittenden together his widowed brother William and his two children and two servants, Ann Watts (14, Biddenden) and Edward Drury (15, Biddenden). At the time of the 1881 census, James (then 78) was still still unmarried and still at Lashenden Farm (still living there with him was his housekeeper Ann Watts (36) together with another servant Henry Watts (16, Biddenden).
Not just a successful farmer, James was also a long-standing member and sometime deacon of the Strict Baptist Church at Smarden. In spite of his continuing allegiance to the Smarden Baptists, he helped establish an independent chapel for the faith's followers in and around Biddenden. As described in an article on 'Baptists in the Weald' published in The Baptist Quarterly, the building at Pound Hill near Frittenden, which had been vacated by the General-redemptionists when they walked out on the Church in the early 1700s, 'was first rented, then bought by James Hickmott and put in trust for the [remaining] Particular Baptists. At [his farm at] Lashenden, where the bounds of four parishes converge, and a turnpike crosses the old pilgrim way, Hickmott marked off a site in 1870, thus evolving Bound's Cross. Ten years later he opened 'Ebenezer' there, to seat 200.' The inaugural Pastor of the Bound's Cross Chapel was none other than John Kemp who married Jame's niece, Malvina Hickmott in 1901. In his memoir, John Kemp of Biddenden, 1850-1932, Kemp provides more details on what motived James Hickmott to build a chapel on his property:
...having some property [James Hickmott] had long (for fifty years) intended building a chapel upon a portion of his farm lying just in the borders of Biddenden parish, near his own dwelling place. This he desired to do for the glory of God, and not through any division at Smarden or elsewhere, nor for his own benefit, for his intention was stll to attend Smarden which he did mostly when able. Biddenden had no chapel, but there was a room in the village where they had occasional preaching on Sunday evenings, the ministers coming from Tenterden after supplying there during the day. Mr Hickmott therefore built the chapel (having built in connection therewith a minister's house the previous year), a stable and coach-house, and gave it entire, with about an acre of land attached for the chapel for burying purposes and about a quarter of an acre attached to the house for a garden, investing the whole in Trust as a Particular Baptist cause upon strict communion principles. He intended it not for constant services but only once a month, or oftener as required, and for no one minister in particular. (Vol 2.8, p. 151).
The Ebenezer Baptist Chapel at Bounds Cross near Biddenden (shown with Lashenden Farm in the background in the photo below) remains in operation today. Its website tells us the chapel's first pastor, John Kemp, conducted his first services there on 5 May 1880, oversaw the construction of a Sunday school in 1886 and an adjoining school room in 1907, and continued preaching to his flock until his death in 1932. Kemp far outlived the creator of his chapel, James Hickmott, who died at Biddenden in 1889.
2.3 Stephen Hickmott (1803-82)
Baptised at The Chapel on the Hill in Cranbrook on 23 November 1803, Stephen never married. He was living at Lashenden in 1841 and farming 10 acres of land at Buckhurst Hill near Frittenden in 1861 (living with him at the time was his 39 year-old housekeeper, Hannah Watts who was born at Biddenden). They were still there at the time of the 1871 and 1881 censuses. The UK National Probate Index shows that Stephen died at Buckhurst Hill Farm at Frittenden on 7 December 1882. His will was proved by James Hope, farmer, of Old Barn Frittenden and Richard Samson of Standen Farm Biddenden. He was memorialised in the Smarden church as follows: 'In memory of Stephen Hickmott bachelor of Buckhurst Hill, Frittenden who died 7 December 1882 aged 80 years'.
2.4 Silas Hickmott (1806-1870)
The non-parochial register of bdms shows that Silas, son of William and Sarah Hickmott was born at Frittenden on 14 September 1806 and baptised at the Chapel on the Hill at Cranbrook on 14 January 1807. The Catherine House Index shows he married Jane Bridger (1809-57) in the Cranbrook registration district in the July quarter of 1839. The 1841 census has Silas (a 35 year-old farmer) at Friend House in Frittenden with his wife Jane (20) and son James (1) and a 12 year-old servant, Esther Watts. The 1851 census has Silas, described as a 45 year-old farmer of 17 acres, living next door to Lashenden Farm with his wife Jane (34, Halden) and five children, all born at Frittenden: James (11), Jane (9), Mary (7), Elizabeth (3) and William (6m).
Jane died in 1857 after giving birth to a twin boy and girl, Silas and Ann or Nancy as she was called by the family. The Smarden Monumental Inscriptions include the entry: '239 Sacred to the memory of Jane wife of Silas Hickmott of Frittenden died 16 July 1857 aged 48 leaving 8 children' (her son Benjamin had pre-deceased her). The 1861 census has the widowed Silas (54 year-old farmer) living at Weaverden House in Frittenden with his seven children all born at Frittenden: Jane (19), Mary (17), Elizabeth (13), William (10), Ellen (7), Silas (4) and Anne (4). The UK National Probate Index tells us that Silas Hickmott died at Weaversden Farm at Frittenden on 13 February 1870. His will was proved by Thomas Chapman, county malster of Staplehurst, and James Pearson, farmer, of Admans Green Farm in Smarden. The MIs for Smarden include at entry number 252: 'Silas Hickmott died 13 February 1870 aged 63 years. Also Benjamin son of the above who died 14 June 1847 aged one year and six months, and William who died 12 March 1869, aged 18 years'.
Like his brother James, Silas was a member and deacon of the Baptist Church, in his case of the Staplehurst Chapel which had been formed by and, at the time of Silas' death, was operating under the pastoral care of a Mr Burch. An obituary published in the 1870 Gospel Standard, and sent to us by Mathew Burgess, provides an interesting if, from a 21st century lay perspective, somewhat pious and even confected account of Silas' life and eventual death caused by 'inflamation of the lungs' (most likely pneumonia). But beneath the overarching religious rhetoric is a sense of the kind of person Silas, and by extension those in his family, were. He was, the author of the obituary one John Forster of Hastings informs us, deeply religious but 'had not that rancorous and sensorious spirit which is manifested by many professing godliness'. He was, Forster continues, 'a man of peace; yet free to speak his mind' particularly when the word of God 'was not enjoyed by him in its unctuous power'. This of course would often lead to self-doubt and much personal angst. But it also opened his house 'to the poor saints' and 'his heart, purse and hand to assist the cause of truth'. Forster ends his obituary with a relatively straightforward and piognant account, given to him one assumes by Silas' daughter, of his final moments:
On Lord's day morning, the 13th, he could not lie in bed, his difficulty of breathing being much worse; but after taking a little refreshment, he dressed and went downstairs. There was a great change in his appearance. He said 'I thought once in the night I should not be here now; I am very ill'. He asked, can you tell me of whom it is said 'Now love tides on him roll?'... A short time afterwards he said, 'It is grievous, but glorious. I will go to bed', and he arose to do so. He thought he could walk, his daughter assisting him across the room. When they reached the passage, he leaned so heavily upon upon his daughter that she called her sister. Leaning on both, he walked to the stairs, and began to ascend; but his strength failed. He fell into their arms, and his happy spirit took its flight.
Silas and Jane Hickmott nee Bridger had nine children we are aware of, all born at Frittenden: James (1840), Jane (1842-1917), Mary (1844), Benjamin (1846-7), Elizabeth (1848-94), William (1851-69), Ellen (1854-1902), Silas (1857-1927) and Ann or Nancy Hickmott (1857-1930). Six of them are pictured in the photo below which was sent to us by Marge Walker. More photos and information about Silas and Jane's family can be viewed by clicking here.
Provided by Marge Walker, this studio photo was taken in England in around 1868,
just before Marge's great grandmother, Elizabeth Joy nee Hickmott emigrated to the United States.
It shows the children of Silas and Jane Hickmott nee Bridger, from the rear and left to right:
Mary, Jane, Elizabeth (nursing her son Harold), Silas, Nancy and Ellen Hickmott
(the couple's eldest son, James, was not present).
William & Elizabeth Hickmott
of Headcorn
The Monumental Inscriptions for Headcorn contain the entry: '72. William Hickmott of this parish, 20 November 1755, aged 41. Elizabeth his wife 17 December 1791 aged 69. Left three sons and one daughter, William, Thomas, James and Elizabeth.' The second half of the inscription coincides with Headcorn's parish records which show that the four children were baptised at Headcorn between 1747 and 1754. We think that their mother was probably Elizabeth Kemp who, the LDS IGI shows, married a William Hickmott at Langley in Kent in 1746. As indicated by the Monumental Inscription all four of William and Elizabeth's children outlived their parents.
1. Elizabeth Hickmott (1747- )
The local parish records and LDS IGI show that three Elizabeth Hickmotts were married in the area between 1774 and 1781: one, 'a spinster of Ulcombe' to John Pearson at Headcorn in 1774 (the wedding was witnessed by a William Hickmott); another to Richard Potter at Headcorn on 27 August 1780, and a third to Thomas Fullagar at Biddenden on 10 October 1781. I'm assuming at this stage that our Elizabeth was the second of these although this has still to be confirmed.
2. William Hickmott (1749-1833)
The LDS IGI shows that a William Hickmott, a farmer of Headcorn, married Sarah Bates of the same parish at Headcorn on 12 December 1775 (date confirmed by the Mid-Kent Marriages Index, 1754-1911). Parish and other records show that William and Sarah had three children all born at Headcorn: Mary (1879, Headcorn), Sarah (1781, Smarden) and James (1787, Headcorn). They may also have had two other children who appear in the censuses: William Hickmott, born at Leeds in Kent in around 1778, and John Hickmott, born at Headcorn in around 1793. The local parish registers show that a William Hickmott, aged 85 years, died at Smarden and was buried at Headcorn on 29 November 1833. We think that his wife, Sarah Hickmott nee Bates, pre-deceased him by two years and was buried at Frittenden.
What of their known children? According to the Headcorn Monumental Inscriptions and the LDS IGI, their eldest daughter Mary Hickmott (1779-1845) married William Pearson (1786-1835) at Smarden in 1812 and had three children: William, Edward and Jane Pearson. William snr was buried at Headcorn in 1835, his wife Mary was buried at Smarden ten years later. We think that Mary's younger sister, Sarah Hickmott, married Benjamin Offen at Smarden in 1803. The Headcorn MIs indicates that the girls' younger brother, James Hickmott (1787-1853) married a Boughton-Monchelsea girl, Martha Ann, and that they had five children all born at Headcorn: Stephen (c1821), Thomas (1824-72), John (1826), Charles (1827) and Barbara Frances Hickmott (born around 1833 but baptised in 1850).
And grandchildren? We think that Thomas, who the censuses show worked as a tea dealer and hawker, married Elizabeth Ann Judges at nearby Leeds in 1863. He and Elizabeth had at least six children - Charles, Julia, Eliza Mary, Ada, Arthur Thomas and Mabel Hickmott - before Thomas' death at Headcorn in 1872. The family then moved to Maidstone and then London after Elizabeth married George Hume from Lambeth in London in around 1891. Most of Thomas and Elizabeth's children subsequently married and settled around London.
Last updated: 25 March 2012
Image Sources:
Churchyard at Headcorn from Pictures of England.com.
Frittenden from St Mary's Church Tower c1910, from Frittenden Historical Society website.
St Mary's Church, Frittenden from The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex website and Historic Canterbury.
Jane Hickmott, Ellen Hickmott and Elizabeth Hickmott and siblings, courtesy of Marge Walker.
Frittenden Hickmotts Rootsweb site Frittenden Hickmottsbdms (pdf file) Hickmott bdms for theCranbrook Registration District (pdf file) Hickmott UK marriages(pdf file)
