Edward Woollard (abt. 1715 - 1793)

Husband of Mary (Harvey) Woollard — married 29 Oct 1738 (to 16 Nov 1760) in Cowlinge, Suffolk, England

Husband of Ann (Pitt) Woollard — married 10 Aug 1763 (to 5 Dec 1793) in Sudbury, Suffolk, England

Descendants

Died 5 Dec 1793 at about age 78 in Cowlinge, Suffolk, England

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

Biography

With his two wives, eleven children and an elaborately inscribed headstone on his grave in the parish churchyard, Edward Woollard was a farmer and a significant member of the community in the village of Cowlinge in south-west Suffolk, England, in the 18th century. (See Research notes.)
According to the memorial inscription on his headstone, Edward was 78 years old when he died in 1793, and thus was born about 1715. Fellow family historians agree that his father was Allington Woollard, who married Sarah Argent on 28 October 1706 in nearby Withersfield, Suffolk. ^[1] The couple apparently had a son, Edward (baptised 1715 and the subject of this profile), and a son, Allington (baptised 1716), but sources for those baptisms are missing from the online records.

1844 Map of south-west Suffolk (part)

On the map (above), Cowlinge (pronounced Coo-linj and marked as 'Cowling') is near the centre, between the letters D and I. The village lies about 15 miles (24km) south-west of the market and cathedral town of Bury St Edmunds - on the map at the 2 o'clock position. Withersfield is at 8 o'clock, just above the town of Haverhill and close to the county boundary. This area lies in the south-west corner of the county of Suffolk, bordered to the west by Cambridgeshire and to the south by Essex. The village has existed at least since 1086, when it was called 'Culinge'; even the noted Suffolk historian, David E. Davy, referred to it as 'Cooling, otherwise known as Coolige'. ^[2] Its parish church of St Margaret of Antioch, a pretty redbrick and stone building originally constructed in the 14th century, has lovely stained glass windows and restored pre-Reformation coloured wall paintings. ^[3] On 10 April 1676 the churchwardens of St Margaret's sent a return to the local bishop stating that the parish of Cowlinge had 140 people able to receive [Holy] Communion; there were no "Popish recusants [Roman Catholics] or dissenters [Anglican non-conformists]". ^[4] In 1830 a carrier (coach) went from Bury to Cowlinge every Wednesday and Saturday. ^[5] In 1844 Cowlinge was described as "a pleasant and scattered village ... [having] in its parish 882 souls and about 3000 acres of fertile clayey land..." ^[6]

St Margaret's, Cowlinge

Edward married first Mary Harvey on 29 October 1738 at the parish church of Cowlinge (above). ^[7] The couple went on to have several children, baptised either at the same church or in the nearby town of Sudbury: John (1739), Allington (1744), William (1747), another WIlliam (1749), Sarah (1752), James (1753), and Susannah (1757, died 1757). Mary died on 16 November 1760, leaving the widower Edward with several young children to bring up. She is commemorated on the Woollard gravestone in Cowlinge parish churchyard: "Mary Woolard died 16 November 1760, 46 years, wife of Edward Woolard, and 4 infants". ^[8] Thus it seems that by 1760 only three of Edward and Mary's seven children had survived. Infant and childhood mortality was common in England at that time: one-third of children died before the age of 10. ^[9] He re-married three years later, on 10 August 1763 in Sudbury, his second wife being the spinster, Ann Pitt. ^[10] The couple went on to have several more children, all baptised in Cowlinge: Elizabeth (1766), Ann (1768), Samuel (1769) and Joseph (1771).
There is some evidence that Edward was a farmer in Cowlinge. William, his son by Mary, intended to marry in 1771, with the ceremony to take place in Kirtling, a village about three miles north-west of Cowlinge and just across the county boundary in Cambridgeshire. On 2 February 1771 William took out a marriage licence bond that committed himself to going ahead with the wedding; the bondsman, who acted as financial surety, was Samuel Bridge, a farmer of Kirtling. The bond certificate also stated: "Edward Woolward of Cowlinge, farmer, is the natural and lawful father of William Woolward." ^[11] However, we currently (2024) have no further information as to Edward's farming activities: how many acres he owned, or how many men he employed, or which crops he grew or which animals he kept, etc.
Edward Woollard died on 5 December 1793 in Cowlinge and was buried five days later in the parish churchyard. ^[12] He is commemorated on the headstone of the Woollard grave there: "Edward Woolard, died 5 December 1793, 78 years". ^[13] His widow Ann outlived him by a further 18 years without re-marrying; she too is mentioned on the Woollard gravestone: "Ann Woolard, died 11 December 1811, 81 years, wife of Edward Woolard". ^[14]

Research notes

• Edward Woollard is the maternal 5xgreat-grandfather of the first author and manager of his Wikitree profile, Mark Carroll.
• The surname Woollard is also written as Woolard and other variants in the historical records.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLMW-29X : 12 March 2020), Allington Woollard, 1706. [Accessed 25 Jan 2024].
2. ↑ The History of St Margaret's Church, Cowlinge. (Available: https://www.bansfieldbenefice.org.uk/cowlinge/history/ [accessed 25 Jan 2024].)
3. ↑ Knott, Simon, 2018. Suffolk Churches: Cowlinge. (Available: http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/cowlinge.htm [accessed 25 Jan 2024].)
4. ↑ Return of the Churchwardens for Parishes in the Deanery of Clare, for Cowlinge. (Available: Suffolk Record Office, 77 Raingate Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 2AR, U.K.; reference: FF 500/5.)
5. ↑ Pigot's Directory of Suffolk, 1839, page 17. (Available: https://cdm16445.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/ [accessed 25 Jan 2024].)
6. ↑ White, William. History, Gazeteer and Directory of Suffolk, page 728. Sheffield, Yorks, U.K.: W. White, 1844. (Available: https://books.google.co.uk/ [accessed 25 Jan 2024].)
7. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJKG-G5S : 12 March 2020), Edward Woolard, 1738. [Accessed 25 Jan 2024].
8. ↑ Suffolk Churchyard Inscriptions, volume 1, entry 176. Whitehead, L.H. Haydon (transcriber), 1986. (Available: Society of Genealogists, Wharf Road, London N1 7GS, U.K.; reference: SF/ M10 [accessed 20 Dec 2023].)
9. ↑ Herber, Mark. Ancestral Trails, 2nd edition, page 314. Stroud, Glos, U.K.: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2004.
10. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJF5-M9D : 13 March 2020), Edward Woollard, 1763. [Accessed 25 Jan 2024].
11. ↑ Marriage licence bond: marriage of William Woolward and Mary Smith, both of Kirtling (02 Feb 1771). Reference: E14/8/1/17/367. (Available: Suffolk Record Office, 77 Raingate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 2AR, U.K.)
12. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JCVV-QWL : Wed Nov 22 12:14:49 UTC 2023), Entry for Edward Woollard, 10 12 1793. [Accessed 13Dec2023].
13. ↑ Suffolk Churchyard Inscriptions, volume 1, entry 175. Whitehead, L.H. Haydon (transcriber), 1986. (Available: Society of Genealogists, Wharf Road, London N1 7GS, U.K.; reference: SF/ M10. [accessed 20 Dec 2023].)
14. ↑ Suffolk Churchyard Inscriptions, volume 1, entry 174. Whitehead, L.H. Haydon (transcriber), 1986. (Available: Society of Genealogists, Wharf Road, London N1 7GS, U.K.; reference: SF/ M10 [accessed 20 Dec 2023].)