I wrote Part I of this series last week, saying: "Continuing my quest for finding the parents of my 3rd great-grandfather John Richman (1788-1867) in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England, I recalled that I had obtained digital images of the Hilperton and Whaddon Land Tax Assessment, 1773-1884 from Family History Library microfilm 1278837 (Items 23-24) over several years, but I have not copied all of the pages."
In Part I, I showed a map of 1773 Hilperton and a modern Google map satellite view of Hilperton showing that the road structure has not changed much, but the number of buildings and settlements have increased, as one would expect after 250 years.
I also provided images of the 1773 tax list and the 1793 tax list, along with a list of persons with the names Richman, Rich and Marshman that were listed in the land tax assessments between 1773 and 1793. The list is:
Hilperton Tax Assessment, 1773-1884 (FHL MF 1278837 Items 23-24)
|
Year
|
Owner Name
|
Occupant
|
Tax
£ - s - d
|
1773
| 17 John Richman |
|
18 - 11-1/4
|
1774
| 17 John Richman |
|
11 - 11-1/4
|
1780
| 25 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1780
| 50 Mark Pikes Houses | Jno Richman & Abm Davis |
6 – 0
|
1780
| 57 Isaac Richman late Palmers | Himself |
2 – 0
|
1781
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1781
| 50 Mark Pikes house | John Richman & Tom Davis |
6 – 0
|
1781
| 58 Isaac Richman late Palmers |
|
2 – 0
|
1782
| 19 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1782
| 49 Mark Pikes house | John Richman & Wm Davis |
6 – 0
|
1782
| 57 Isaac Rich late Palmers | Himself |
2 – 0
|
1783
| 19 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1783
| 49 Mark Pikes house | John Rich & Wm Davis |
6 – 0
|
1784
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1784
| 50 Mark Pikes house | John Rich & William Davis |
6 – 0
|
1785
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1785
| 50 Mark Pike | John Rich & Wm Davis |
6 – 0
|
1786
| 5 Edward Eyler late Humphreys | John & Wm Marshman &6 |
3 – 8
|
1786
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1786
| 50 Mark Pike | John Rich & Davis |
6 – 0
|
1787
| 5 Edw Eyler late Humphreys | John & William Marshman & James Fyt |
3 – 8
|
1787
| 21 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1787
| 51 Mark Pike | John Rich & William Davis |
6 – 0
|
1788
| 4 Edw Eyler late Humphreys | John & Wm Marshman & James Fyte |
3 – 8
|
1788
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1788
| 50 Mark Pike | John Rich & Wm Davis |
6 – 0
|
1789
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1789
| 50 Mark Pike | John Rich & Wm Davis |
6 – 0
|
1790
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1790
| 50 Mark Pike | John Rich & Wm Davis |
6 – 0
|
1791
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1791
| 49 Mark Pike | John Rich |
6 – 0
|
1792
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1792
| 49 Mark Pike | John Rich |
6 – 0
|
1793
| 20 John Richman | Himself |
1 – 5 – 3
|
1793
| 49 Mark Pike | John Rich |
6 – 0
|
The numbers in the second column are the lines from the first name on the list. For 1793, John Richman is the 20th line down the list and Mark Pike is the 49th line. These line numbers change slightly over time.
A) I want to highlight my conclusions about the lists, the persons with these names, and then develop questions I still have about them.
1) The lists are remarkably consistent year to year, with only minor changes to them as property changes hands, or the owner's name changes, or the occupier's name changes. For instance the John Richman on about line 20 is always between owners 19 Samuel Bethell and 21 John Brookes. In 1787, 21 John Gale replaces John Brookes, through 1793.
2) The John Richman on about line 20 for every year 1773 to 1793 owns the property and resides on the property. The tax is 1-5-3 from 1780 to 1793. Based on the probate records for William Richman (1690-1769) and John Richman (1724-1807), both blacksmiths, my hypothesis is that the John Richman in the tax lists is the John Richman (1724-1807) who married Mary Crabb.
3) On about line 50, for Mark Pike's houses, the following names appeared starting in 1780:
* John Richman in 1780-1782 as one family occupying a house
* John Rich in 1783-1793 as one family, occupying a house
There is at least one other John Richman in the Hilperton parish register with children baptized in the 1773-1793 time frame - John Richman (1744-1802) who married Mary Parsons.
A John Rich and wife Mary appears in the Hilperton parish register with children baptized in the 1788-1792 time frame. Is that the father of my 3rd great-grandfather John Rich (1789-1868)?
There are several examples of a Hilperton Richman using the name of Rich in records. Is that the case here? Is John Rich on the tax list 1783-1793 the same person as John Richman on the tax list 1780-1782? I think there is a possibility of that. On the other hand, this may just be a coincidence.
4) On about line 5, for Edward Eyler's house formerly Humphreys, William and John Marshman were occupiers in 1786 to 1788. Both William Marshman (1741-????) and John Marshman (1747-????) have children baptized in Hilperton in the 1773-1790 time frame. They are brothers. The Marshmans are not on the tax lists after 1788. Did they move away from Hilperton?
Unfortunately, I do not have the tax lists after 1793. The microfilm goes up to 1884, but the microfilm can be viewed only at the Family history Library in Salt Lake City.
B) There is also a tax redemption list for 1798 on Ancestry. A search for "Rich" in Hilperton found:
* The second line on this page is for Mark Pike with a tax of 0-6-0, with J. Rich as the occupier.
* Three lines further down is the listing for John Richman, with a tax of 1-5-3.
Unfortunately, this list is alphabetical by owner so any house relationship is lost to the researcher.
C) There are several other of my ancestral families that have children baptized in Hilperton in the 1773-1800 time frame. For instance:
* My 3rd great-grandmother, Rebecca Hill was baptized in 1790 in Hilperton, the daughter of John and Ann (Warren) Hill. There are no Hill or Warren families on any of these tax lists.
* William Marshman had children baptized in Hilperton between 1773 and 1795, and John Marshman had children baptized in Hilperton between 1767-1783.
* I identified several other Richman families who baptized children in Hilperton in this time frame. Joseph and Hannah (Mission) Richman baptized children between 1775 and 1797. William and Hannah (Picture) Richman had children between 1795 and 1805 baptized in Hilperton.
Where did they reside? My guess is that the tax lists do not include all of the occupiers of residences in Hilperton. Some families may have lived with relatives, or lived on a communal farm or on a manor or estate property. Some families may have moved their residence every year, either still residing in Hilperton or moving to another parish for a time period.
D) I still have my quandary about the parents of my 3rd great-grandfathers John Richman (1789-1867) and John Rich (1789-1868). They are two different people, since they married different women and had children - James Richman (1821-1912) and Hannah Rich (1824-1911), both recorded in Hilperton, who married each other in 1845.
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