John Roberts(possible) and Ann Stickland

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Parents     John Roberts (No parents found)        Richard Stickland and Grace Flag.(80%)

Richard Fudge (b 1742 Affpuddle, m Ann Stickland 1771 Winfrith Newburgh Dorset, d 1782 Dorchester)
Ann Stickland (b 1754 Winfrith Newburgh, d Affpuddle 1789)
    Richard Fudge (b 1774 Affpuddle Dorset, d 1775 Affpuddle)
    Grace Fudge (b 1780 Affpuddle, d 1782 Affpuddle)
    Edith Fudge (d 1781 Affpuddle)
              
    Edith Fudge (b 1783 Affpuddle)    
    Grace Fudge (b 1786 Affpuddle Dorset, m George Ford, d 1847 Upwey Dorset)        '             

John Roberts (m Ann Fudge 1788 Affpuddle, d 1789 Affpuddle)
Ann Fudge (nee Stickland) (b 1754 Winfrith Newburgh, d 1789 Affpuddle)
    Ann Roberts (b 1789 Affpuddle, d Affpuddle 1789)   
        Lavinia Ford (b 1828  Upwey, m  Stephen Vine 1855 Beechworth Vic, d 1904)
            Hannah Vine (b 1866 Spring Creek, m Richard Reid Roach 1890 Flemington Vic, d 1915 Kew Vic)
                Liela Muriel Roach (b 1893 North Sydney, m Ernest Harold Mitchell 1914 Kew, d 1972 Wodonga)

Grace Fudge's story seems to be as follows:
Her mother Ann Strickland marries Richard Fudge in 1771. She has three children by him all of whom die young. Richard dies in Debtors prison in 1782.
Ann has two more children including our Grace in 1786.
Ann marries John Roberts in 1788
Ann and John have a child Ann but but Ann, Ann and John akk die not long after (1788/9)
The deaths late 1788 early 1789 may be explained by the weather. This was a very severe winter.
            The Thames froze over, and it would have been colder in inland Dorset. See article
The two or three year old Grace was presumably adopted.
She marries George Ford in Upwey in 1807 and they lived there till she died in 1847.
Grace gives the Fudge surname on her marriage to George Ford.Grace gives the Fudge surname on her marriage to George Ford. They had eleven children

Richard Fudge while apparently not a direct relative is of interest. In 1765 he was submitted to a Bastardy Examination where Ann Clark names Richard Fudge as father of her unborn child   Link  
A surety of 50 pounds seems to be set. In 1782 Richard to continue in custody for Want of Surety. This looks as if Richard is in debtors prison for not paying his Bastardy Bond? Peace sworn against Richard by his wife. This reads as if Ann is saying "I don't want him back", He dies in prison the same year. 

Grace Fudge Chronology

Richard Fudge and then the family lived in Affpuddle, a small village in Dorset about sevem miles ENE of Dorchester
Affpuddle has a modern population of about 400
1742 Richard Fudge born Affpuddle     Link
1754 Probably our Anne Stickland baptised 6 Oct Winfrith Newburgh Dorset
1765  Bastardy Examination where Ann Clark names Richard Fudge as father of her unborn child   Link              (12 June) 
             Searched Ancestry and FamilySearch and found nothing about Ann
1765 Bastardy Bond Hearing for Richard, in which a surety of 50 pounds seems to be set  Link                                (15 June} 
1771 Ann Strickland marries Richard Fudge     Link    
1780 Earler sister Grace, born 1780, died 1782 (She has caused some confusion (clearly nominated as daughter Richard and Ann)
1782,January Richard to continue in custody      Link   
               for Want of Surety. This looks as if Richard is in debtors prison for not paying his Bastardy Bond?
1782 Peace sworn against Richard by his wife      Link                                                                                           (16 Jul)  
               This reads as if Ann is saying "I don't want him back"
1782 Richard Fudge dies as a prisoner in Dorchester prison      Link                                                                     (11 Nov)
1782  Coroner's Report      Link           
1786 Grace Fudge/Roberts born if we believe census and burial data
1788 Ann Fudge (nee Strickland) marries John Roberts  (Ann described as Widow)                                                    (23 Feb)
1788 Grace Roberts is baptised. daughter of Jno Roberts and Ann Fudge                                                   (23 Mar)
        It looks as if Crace is John Roberts' son but she reverted to the surname Fudge some time later
        Possibly the Fudge family looked after her when she was orphaned as a three year old 
1788 John Roberts buried                                                                                                                             ( 21 Nov)  
1789 Grace's sister Ann born                                                                                                                          (4 Jan)                                   
1789 Grace's sister Ann buried                                                                                                                     (12 Jan )        
1789 Grace's mother Ann buried                                                                                                                   (25 Jan)  
        The deaths late 1788 early 1789 may be explained by the weather. This was a very severe winter.
            The Thames froze over, and it would have been colder in inland Dorset. See article
1807 Grace marries George Ford in Upwey using the surname Fudge (Upwey is 12 miles SW of Affpuddle)
         The Ford family lived in Upwey, a small village now absorbed in Weymouth, where they had eleven children
1841 George and Grace are still together with four of their children in Upwey, with George woking as an agricultural labourer
1847 Grace died in  in Upwey aged about 61
     One of her daughters (Lavinia) came to Australia and married Stephen Vine in Beechworth in 1855. These were gold rush days
     Stephen and Lavinia Vine from at least 1874 to 1888 held the license of the  Butcher's Arms Hotel, Beechworth   
     Lavinia is my great great grandmother (Les Rowley)  

Molly Richards suggests in a letter that the Fudges were Whalers

Research Notes

    The OPC site for Affpudle has online transcriptions - yeilds the same two children as the LDS
    There is an Ann Stickland christening: 24 May 1745 Puddletown, Dorset, only three miles west of Affpuddle, parents Robert or Robin and Mary Stickland.
    However the standout is Anne Stickland christening: 06 Oct 1754 Winfrith Newburgh. While she would be marrying at age 17, her parents are Richard and Grace - the names of the two children in LDS
    I reckon the Richard and Grace Ann(e)  is an 80% chance.
    For what it is worth, there is an Ann Stickland marrying 26 Oct 1767 in  Tincleton.  Tincleton is two miles from Puddletown and six miles from Winfrith Newburgh

Some Richard Fudge events that don't quite fit, ie peobably not our Richard

1767, Marriage Richard Fudge Corscombe to Mary Fudge     Link                                                                             (30 Nov) 
               John Clark is a witness to the Banns (note Ann Clark above)
1768, 4 Apr Poor law removal order Richard Fudge Corscombe    Link     (Corscombe is about 20 miles W of Affpuddle)
                Hard to read but looks like it includes Mary
1774 Lydlinch Removal order Richard Fudge    Link       includes wife  Mary and Savannah and Elizabeth his children
                    Yes it is Mary on the order. Two wives or two Richards?? Lydlinch is 12 miles NNW of Affpuddle

John Roberts Research (LR)

No joy in finding where he came from Possible births in Sturminster-Newton (12 m NW of Affpuddle) and Shaftesbury (20 m N of Affpuddle). Another in Sydling-St Nicholas (10 m W of Affpuddle) looks like he died somewhere else?

Anne Stickland and Richard Fudge Research (Ann and Bob Preece, LR)

1754 Anne Stickland baptised 6 Oct Winfrith Newburgh Dorset
1770 27 Oct Marriage Anne Stickland to Richard Fudge Winfrith Newburgh - 10 miles east of Upwey and 6 miles south of Affpuddle
1774 18 Nov Son Richard baptised (OPC database)
1775 Burial Affpuddlle son Richard Fudge 17 December (OPC database)
1780 12 Jun Daughter Grace  baptised (OPC database)
1781 Burial Affpuddlle Edith Fudge 27 September (OPC database)
1782 17 Feb Grace Fudge buried Affpuddle
1782 16 July Richard Fudge in Court, ordered to stay in custody "The peace having been sworn against the defendant by his wife"
1782 11 Nov Death Richard Fudge Dorchester Prison
1783 Birth Affpuddlle Edith Fudge 11 May (Ancestry) - Parents Ann and Richard
1786 Daughter Grace born this year if we believe 1841 census
1788 23 Feb Marriage in Affpuddle as Ann Fudge (widow) to John Roberts (index record only)
1788 Baptism 23 Mar Affpuddle Grace, daughter of Ann Fudge and John Roberts
1788 Burial Affpuddle 21 Nov John Roberts (OPC Database)
1789 Baptism Ann Roberts Affpuddle 4 Jan, mother Ann father illegible (OPC Database)
1789 Burial Ann Roberts Affpuddle 12 Jan - daughter
1789 Burial Ann Roberts Affpuddle 25 Jan - mother

Documents

1754 Baptism Anne Stickland Winfrith Newburg Ancestry
1770 Marriage Ann Stickland and Richard FudgeWinfrith Newburgh
1780 Grace Fudge Baptism Affpuddle Ancestry
1782 16 July Richard Fudge in Court, as prisoner
1782 11 Nov Death Richard Fudge Dorchester Prison
1788 Baptism 23 Mar Affpuddle Grace Fudge-Roberts

Acknowledgements

An email from Ann and Bob Preece kicked me back into action on this page. He supplied lots of good stuff. I have verified it, and put it up on the page. There is still more good stuff to process
Thanks to Jenny Grainger for the wedding certificate that kickstarted the Fudges and Chris Jeffery for the excellent Winfrith Newburgh OPC site.
The Affpuddle site is also very good, though the OPC post is currently vacant
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