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

Member’s article

payments to Phoebe continued at 9 shillings a week. On October 10th, 1812 there is an entry for 3 pounds, 3 shillings and 8 pence paid ‘for the p……ing of R COOPER and Pheby GRACE ’. From October 1812 Phoebe was being paid 2 or 4 weeks at a time. Whether this was in advance or arrears I am not sure. In 1813 payments continued at 2 or 4 weekly intervals and there are some touching entries such as ‘Loaf 2 shillings and 7 pence’ and ‘2 pair of shoes for her children’ at 3 shillings and 8 pence. On July 4th Phoebe was paid 5 weeks at the reduced amount of 7 shillings and 6 pence per week. As from 18th October the weekly amount was further reduced to 6 shillings a week, the last entry being 12 shillings paid up to 19th December 1813. It must have been around this time that Phoebe met and arranged to marry my 4x Great Grandfather, William HATCHER . How and where she met him is not known although there were families with that surname in nearby Kings Somborne. Phoebe and William married at Milford, Hampshire on 12th February 1814. On Feb 13th, 1814 against an entry for 2 pounds and 8 shillings there is a note ‘pd Phebe Grace 8 weeks at 6 shillings per week. She was married on Monday 14th January. The Overseers were obviously aware of this marriage but until the entry on April 2nd, 1815 she was still referred to as ‘Phebe Grace’. Payments were being made at anything from 2 to 10 weekly intervals, reducing to 5 shillings per week during May 1814. Most entries indicated that the payments, although made to Phoebe, were for

the two children. Eventually, from April 1815 Phoebe was named as Phebe HATCHER and payments continued to be made at irregular intervals, reducing to 4 shillings per week in 1816. Again, there are some extra entries including for loaves for the 2 children and ‘6 cloths at 8 shillings.’ The twins were sick in late 1817 or early 1818 as there is an extra payment of 5 shillings and 6 pence ‘pd the children ill’. Payments continued to be made at greater weekly intervals until the last entry (February 21st, 1819) and the book finishes in April 1819. Unfortunately, no later book has been deposited at the Record Office. I have no reason to believe that Phoebe did not take the twins to live with her and William in Milford and so assume that she had to travel to Ashley from time to time to collect the sums due for the support of the twins. Phoebe and William HATCHER had nine children who were all baptised at Milford from 1815 to 1837. I have been unable to find information, such as a marriage, for twin Sarah GRACE (or HATCHER as she may have used that surname). I believe that the twin Sarah died in 1821 as according to the HGS burial index, a Sarah HATCHER , aged 9, was buried at Lymington on 22nd April 1821. Lymington is not far from Milford, but I assume there must have been a reason for the burial not being at Milford. Twin Jane was easier to trace once I started investigating those additional burials in Phoebe’s grave. Using the HGS Marriage Index I found the marriage at Boldre in 1832 of a Jane GRACE and James VIRTEL . Their first

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