Amy (King) Jolly (abt. 1710)

Born about 1710 in Essex, England [uncertain]

Wife of James Jolley — married 6 Feb 1737 (to about 1769) in Hadstock, Essex, England

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Carroll [send private message]

Biography

1844 Map of south-west Suffolk (part)

Amy (King) Jolly spent some of her adult life in and around the village of Hundon in south-west Suffolk, England (see Research notes, first two entries). On the 1844 map (above) Hundon is towards the 6 o'clock position, a few miles north-west of the small town of Clare and six miles (10km) north-east of the town of Haverhill (at bottom left corner of map). In 1676 the churchwardens of All Saints Church in Hundon submitted a return to the local bishop that stated that the parish had 356 adults who received [Anglican] Holy Communion (or Eucharist) there and no 'Popish recusants' (adherents of the Catholic Church), and several families of 'dissenters' [non-conformist Anglicans]. ^[1] By 1733 the Lord of the Manor of Hundon was the Honorable James Vernon, who owned much of the surrounding land. He made financial provision for a workhouse there "for the encouragement and support of the industrious poor", and in 1737 for a school for the poor children of the village that was established near the church. ^[2]
We cannot say much that is specific about the childhood and upbringing of Amy, for we do not currently (2024) know her parentage. Like many girls in East Anglia at that time, she probably attended church, she might have obtained a rudimentary education at the local school or Sunday school, she no doubt helped her mother with domestic chores in the home, and she might have supplemented the family income by plaiting straw for making hats, paid work that she could carry out in any spare time. ^[3]

St Botolph's Church, Hadstock, Essex

Amy King married James Jolly on 6 February 1736/37 at St Botolph's Church, Hadstock, Essex; ^[4] he was a widower resident in Hundon, she was a single woman of Hadstock, a village in north-west Essex just across the River Stour, which formed the county boundary between Suffolk to the north and Essex to the south. The village lay near the county border with Cambridgeshire, 9 miles (14km) west of Haverhill and 11 miles (17km) south of the city of Cambridge. (See Research notes, third entry.) The church of St Botolph there was already an ancient structure in Amy's day, for some of the building is Anglo-Saxon (pre-1066) in origin. Its entrance door, through which Amy and James would have passed on their wedding day, has been dated scientifically to about 1340. ^[5] So in early 1737 Hadstock was Amy's 'home' parish, but there is no other definitive evidence in the online records for her King family living in or around the village (see Research notes, fourth entry).
The couple went back to Hundon, where three months later their first son was baptised, followed by another: James (1737) and William (1742). ^[6] We have no definitive information about the married life of James and Amy and how they earned a living. In an agricultural area like Hundon, it is likely that he worked on the land, or perhaps owned land as a farmer or was a husbandman (a tenant with a smallholding). Or perhaps none of these? He might also have been a tradesman with a skill, such as a wheelwright or a blacksmith - who knows? What we do know is that James probably died in 1769 and was buried on 5 January that year after a ceremony at Hundon All Saints (but see Research notes, third entry). ^[7] We do not know currently (2024) if Amy re-married or when and where she died.

Research notes

• Amy (King) Jolly is the biological 6xgreat-grandmother of the first author and manager of her Wikitree profile, Mark Carroll.
• The surname Jolly is also written in the historical records as Jolley. It was a common surname in that part of East Anglia at that time. In the 1851 census of England and Wales, of nearly 2000 entries for the surname Jolly, almost 500 of them were present in Suffolk and Norfolk combined. ^[8]
• There are some apparent inconsistencies in the family history records of this Jolly family. The mother of James junior is recorded in the transcribed records as being Ann (not Amy) in his baptism entry in 1737 - a mistake by the priest or the transcriber, or did she change her forename from Amy to Ann? Furthermore, James senior is recorded in the marriage register for Hadstock St Botolph in 1737 as being a "widower of Hundon". Presumably therefore he had been married previously, but no such event has been found in the online records to date (2024). Also, it is not clear if the 1769 burial of a James Jolly at Hundon relates to the James in this profile or to his son, also called James.
• There is no online record for a baptism of an Amy King in Hadstock, Essex, in the time-frame 1690-1737. There was a John King and his wife Anne having children there from 1738 to 1749 - was this man Amy's brother? There are several mentions in the parish registers 1690-1722 of a Thomas King and a Mary King, and a 1723 marriage of a Dinah King - Amy's older sister? ^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Return by churchwardens of parishes in the Deanery of Clare, for Hundon, 13 Apr 1676. Original document at Suffolk Record Office, 77 Raingate Street, Bury St Edmunds IP 33 2AR, Suffolk, UK; reference: FF500/13. (Available: https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/collections/getrecord/GB174_FF500_13 [accessed 28 Feb 2024].)
2. ↑ 'Hulse - Hungerford', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis (London, 1848), pp. 580-583. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp580-583 [accessed 22 January 2024].
3. ↑ Waller, Ian H. My Ancestor was an Agricultural Labourer, page 20. London: Society of Genealogists Enterprises Ltd, 2017.
4. ↑ FreeREG. Transcripts of parish registers of Hadstock St Botolph, Essex, England: entry for marriage of Jolly, James, widower of Hundon, and Amy King, sw, otp, 06 Feb 1736/37. (Available: www.freereg.org.uk/ [accessed 23 Jan 2024].)
5. ↑ National Churches Trust website: St Botolph's, Hadstock. (Available: https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/hadstock-st-botolph [accessed 01 Mar 2024].)
6. ↑ Haverhill Family History Group. Bishop's Transcripts of parish registers of Hundon All Saints, 1674-1837: baptisms. (Available: http://www.haverhill-uk.com/genealogy/baptisms/hundon_baptisms1.shtml [accessed 29 Feb 2024]).
7. ↑ Haverhill Family History Group. Bishop's Transcripts of parish registers of Hundon All Saints, 1674-1836: burial entry for Jolly, James, 05 Jan 1769. (Available: http://www.haverhill-uk.com/genealogy/burials/hav-uk_burials/hundon_church_burials1.htm [accessed 29 Feb 2024]).
8. ↑ Your Family History website. (Available: https://your-family-history.com/surname/j/jolly/?year=1851#map [accessed 29 Feb 2024].)
9. ↑ FreeREG website. Transcripts of parish registers of Hadstock St Botolph. (Available: www.freereg.org.uk/ [accessed 01 Mar 2024].)