The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.48 No.4 | March 2022

Member’s article

‘expenses and journey going to Romsey Justices Meeting examining COOPER and Phebey GRACE case’. On August 15th 2 shillings was ‘pd for sumens for Pheby Grace’

and 5 shillings ‘pd the expences to Winchester

Justices Meeting’, although it isn’t clear that this was for the Cooper and Grace case,

although being paid the same day it does seem likely. I was advised by the archivist that, unfortunately, no Petty Sessions records for Romsey for this period have been deposited and they may not even survive. Richard COOPER could possibly be the one who, according to the HGS Marriage index, had married Elizabeth HOPKINS at Ashley on 5th June 1808. Again, using the HGS Baptism index it records that they had 6 children baptised at nearby Kings Somborne between 1809 and 1822. Elizabeth appears to have been baptised at Ashley in 1780 as Betty HOPKINS and was buried at Kings Somborne in 1850 aged 71. On the 1851 census return for Kings Somborne, Richard COOPER gives his age as 72, born in Amport. He was buried at Kings Somborne in 1863 aged 84. These details put his birth year at around 1779 so he would have been 32 years old and a married man when the twins were born in 1811 whereas Phoebe was only just 17. Rental payments to PADDACK for Pheby GRACE were only recorded as being paid up to August 22nd, 1812. Weekly Ashley Church

The Norman font at Ashley Church

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