Grace (Worden) Aire (abt. 1734 - 1813)

Born about 1734 in St Kew, Cornwall, England

Wife of William Aire — married 15 Feb 1753 in St Kew, Cornwall, England

Descendants

Died 21 Nov 1813 at about age 79 in St Germans, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bill Hunter [send private message]

Biography

Grace Worden was baptized on 16 March 1734 in St Kew,^[1] Cornwall. She was the fifth child and fourth daughter of Samuel Worden and Mary Jewell, who were married in St Kew on 29 September 1725.

Grace (Worden) Aire was born in Cornwall, England.

By the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750,^[2][3] which became law on 27 May 1751, Great Britain adopted a calendar identical to the Gregorian calendar. In the 18th century (after 28 February 1700) the old style British calendar and the Gregorian calendar differed by 11 days; the changeover was effected by omitting the days from 3 September to 13 September (inclusive), so that the day after 2 September 1752 (old style) was 14 September 1752 (new style). Furthermore, the new style act made 1 January the first day of the year, rather than 25 March as previously.

By the old style calendar, Grace was baptized on 5 March 1733^[4] and her parents were married on 18 September 1725.^[5] Several images of the relevant two pages of the St Kew parish register are available on the FamilySearch website.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]}

Grace Worden married William Air at St Kew on 15 February 1753. The St Kew register records the marriage as follows:^[12]
     William Air of Egloshail & Grace Worden were married Feb: þ^e 15^th w^th Banns

Samuel Worden died in 1771, and his will confirms that the Grace Worden who married William Air was his daughter. The will, which is freely available on the FamilySearch website, includes the following clause: "I Give and Bequeath unto each and every of my four Daughters Ann the wife of Henry Pollard of St Kew aforesaid Blacksmith, Mary the wife of John Pinch mason, Martha Pope widow and Grace Aire widow the sum of ten pounds apeice to be paid them by my Executors hereinafter named within twelve months next after my decease".^[13]

Thus we discover that Grace's husband died before Samuel Worden made his will.

Since William Aire was from Egloshayle,^[14] it is unsurprising that William and Grace's first child, Grace, was baptized in Egloshayle.

FamilySearch provide an image of the page of the Egloshayle register on which Grace's baptism is recorded.^[15] In fact the image shows two consecutive pages of the register; Grace's baptism is on the first of these two, the fourth line from the top. The family surname was recorded as "Ayres".

The same image also shows the baptisms William and Grace's next two children: a son named Samuel, who was baptized on 22 June 1755, and daughter named Anne, who was baptized on 31 July 1757. Again the family surname was recorded as "Ayres".

Evidently William and Grace moved from Egloshayle to St Issey^[16] not long after Anne's baptism, since their next two children, Mary and William, were baptized in St Issey, on 27 May 1759 and 23 March 1761 resspectively.

Again FamilySearch provide an image showing the two consecutive pages on which the baptisms of mary and William were recorded.^[17] The family surname was recorded as "Airs" when Mary was baptized, and as "Aire" when William was baptized.

St Issey and Egloshayle are quite close to each other, separated by the parish of St Breock,^[18] which is about 5 kilometres across.

William Aire (the father) was buried in St Issey on 29 November 1761, and his daughter Mary was buried in St Issey on 21 December 1761.^[19]

A Grace Aire, presumably William's widow, had an illegitimate son named Thomas, baptized in St Issey on 15 December 1765.^[20]

Since the two surviving daughters, Grace and Anne, were both married in St Kew, it seems plausible that some time after their father's death both girls were sent back to St Kew to live with relatives, possibly as domestic servants.

Samuel Worden's will also has the following clause: "I Give and Bequeath unto each of my twenty seven Grandchildren that are now alive the sum of twenty shillings apeice to be paid them at the End of six months next after my decease".

The twenty seven grandchildren have (probably) been identified, and include Grace's five children (Ann having died before Samuel made his will). See Samuel Worden's biography for the details.

John Worden, the younger of Grace's two brothers, died childless in 1779, and his will mentions all his nephews and nieces.^[21] In particular it says "I give unto Grace Aires five children Samuel William and Thomas Grace and An five Shillings Each to to be paid in Six months after my Decease".

John also left money to his sisters: "I give unto my four Sisters An the wife of Henry Pollard Mary the wife of John Pinch Martha Pope and Grace Aire widdows one Guinea Each to be paid in Six months after my Decease".

So we know that Grace and all her children but Ann were alive in 1779, when John Worden made his will.

No further record of Grace's son Thomas has been identified.

The other two sons, Samuel and William, were both married in St Germans,^[22] Samuel on 29 November 1779^[23] and William on 13 April 1788.^[24]

The key circumstantial evidence indicating that Samuel and William Aire of St Germans were Grace's sons is provided by the names of witnesses to their marriages: Willliam Aire's marriage was witnessed by a Samuel Aire, presumably his brother, and Samuel Aire's marriage was witnessed by a Samuel Worden, who, we suggest, was one of Grace's nephews, and witnessed the marriages of both of Grace's daughters. Although Samuel Worden witnessed several marriages in St Kew, Samuel Aire's marriage is, as far as is known, the only St Germans marriage witnessed by, or involving, anyone named Worden.

Note also that Grace's granddaughter, Elizabeth Huntington, daughter of Grace's daughter Grace, clearly had some connections with St Germans, since two of her daughters were baptized there.

The fact that her sons were living in St Germans adds plausibility to our claim that Grace was the Grace Aire who was buried in St Germans on 21 November 1813.^[25] Her age at death was recorded as 80, which is probably a slight overstatement, depending on how old she was at her baptism on 16 March 1834. But perhaps 80 was intended in the sense "in her 80th year".

It is unclear whether Grace took her sons to St Germans when they were boys, or they brought her to St Germans later in life.

Grace's brother Samuel made his will on 8 November 1810, and in it we find this: "Also I give and bequeath unto my Sister Grace Eyre, and to my Servant Jane Hicks, the Sum of One Guinea each". So this confirms that Grace was still alive in November 1810.

Sources

1. ↑ St Kew: Wikipedia article.
2. ↑ Calendar (New Style) Act 1750: Wikipedia article.
3. ↑ Text of the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, from legislation.gov.uk.
4. ↑ Grace Worden, 5 March 1733: "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975" database (FamilySearch,11 February 2018); index based on data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 254,471.
5. ↑ William Air and Grace Worden, 15 February 1753: "England Marriages, 1538–1973" database (FamilySearch, 12 February 2018); St Kew, Cornwall, England, reference item 10 p 63, index based on data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,595,843.
6. ↑ Grace Worden's baptism, 5 March 1733 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1680-1794 > image 23 of 101; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
7. ↑ Grace Worden's baptism, 5 March 1733 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 42 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
8. ↑ Grace Worden's baptism, 5 March 1733 (old style): FamilySearch Film # 004269738, image 234 of 399.
9. ↑ Marriage of Samuel Worden and Mary Jewel, 18 September 1725 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1680-1794 > image 64 of 101; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
10. ↑ Marriage of Samuel Worden and Mary Jewel, 18 September 1725 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 118 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
11. ↑ Marriage of Samuel Worden and Mary Jewel, 18 September 1725 (old style): FamilySearch Film # 004269738, image 321 of 399.
12. ↑ Marriage of William Air and Grace Worden, 15 February 1753: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 126 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
13. ↑ Will of Samuel Worden of St Kew (died 1771), FamilySearch film # 004476856, image 679 of 1742, transcribed in Samuel Worden's WikiTree Profile.
14. ↑ Egloshayle: Wikipedia article.
15. ↑ Egloshayle baptisms from January 1854 to May 1858: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 2 February 2018), Cornwall > Egloshayle > Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1731-1812 > image 12 of 64; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
16. ↑ St Issey: Wikipedia article.
17. ↑ St Issey baptisms from January 1759 to April 1761: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 2 February 2018), Cornwall > St Issey > Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1728-1774 > image 16 of 140; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
18. ↑ St Breock: Wikipedia article.
19. ↑ St Issey burials, March 1757 to December 1762: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Issey > Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1728-1774 > image 131 of 140; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
20. ↑ St Issey baptisms January 1765 to November 1766: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images, (FamilySearch, 2 February 2018), Cornwall > St Issey > Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1728-1774 > image 19 of 140; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
21. ↑ Will of John Worden of St Kew (died 1779), FamilySearch film # 004476856, images 1135, 1136 and 1134 of 1742, transcribed in John Worden's Wikitree Profile.
22. ↑ St Germans: Wikipedia article.
23. ↑ Marriage of Samuel Aire and Agnes Anstis: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Germans > Marriage banns, marriages, 1590-1812 > image 76 of 107; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
24. ↑ Marriage of William Aire and Mary Hocken: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Germans > Marriage banns, marriages, 1590-1812 > image 90 of 107; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
25. ↑ Burial of Grace Air, 21 November 1813. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks database: Fred Hancock's transcriptions of St Germans burials.

See also:

Grace Worden's profile in FamilyTree on FamilySearch.