Benjamin Budgen (1719-1794) and Mary Lee (1719-1794).
My 6th great-grandparents.
Benjamin Budgen was the son of one of the first Budgens to live in the Sussex village of West Hoathly. He was baptised in the village on 25 October 1719 at St Margaret’s Church. His parents were Thomas Budgen and Sarah Comber, and he married Mary Lee at the same church on 12 January 1740.
John Howes, who’s researched the Budgens and written about them in the Sussex Family Historian magazine, believes that Benjamin was the brother of a William Budgen who lived at a house called Winhams in West Hoathly. I’ve not found a reference to this property anywhere but, in his will proved in 1782, William was described as a yeoman – a farmer who owned his own land – so he was better off than many. John Howes has identified that some family members in the West Hoathly area, including yeoman William, manufactured hoops used in the making of barrels. Indeed, one member of the family was still working in the hoop-making business in the village in the 1950s according to a Crawley Observer feature of 13 February 1953. John suggests that the Budgens took up the trade in the 18th century, at around the time the first known Budgen settled in West Hoathly. And that was Thomas – William and Benjamin’s father.
William was the oldest son, Benjamin one of the youngest and therefore would’ve been lower down the inheritance pecking order in the family. So it’s more likely he ended up as a farm labourer rather than an owner.
Benjamin died in December 1794 and was buried in West Hoathly on Boxing Day.
Mary died in West Hoathly in 1804 and was buried in the village on 25 September. She was said to be aged 82, which suggests she was born around 1722. No Lees were baptised in West Hoathly around this time, but there are candidates baptised on the following dates: 25 April 1725 Lyminster, 15 Dec 1717 Littlehampton, 30 May 1714 Warbleton, 11 April 1721 Amberley, 28 May 1722 Patcham, 14 July 1719 Burpham, 16 Feb 1720 Newhaven, 24 April 1718 Boxgrove, 12 April 1719 Aldingbourne and 4 July 1725 Clayton. More work is needed to eliminate some of these from the list.
Benjamin and Mary had a number of children. Tracing what happened to them is difficult as the various Budgen offspring at this time all called their children similar names. More detective work is needed to discover what happened to them, particularly through the use of surviving wills.
- Benjamin Budgen (1741-1803). My 5th great-grand uncle. Benjamin was baptised on 5 April 1741 at St Margaret’s Church in West Hoathly, Sussex. Benjamin is likely to be the man – called Bridgen – who married Ann Snell at Holy Trinity Church in Cuckfield, Sussex, on 26 March 1761 because the banns were also read at West Hoathly church. An Ann Budgen aged 51 was buried at West Hoathly on 30 August 1791 aged 51, putting her birth at 1740 and thus making her a good candidate for being Benjamin’s wife. Benjamin was buried on 10 August 1803 at West Hoathly. The couple had a number of children, all of whom were baptised in West Hoathly:
- Elizabeth Budgen (1761-1795) most likely married John Langridge of Worth in his home village in 1781. She was of West Hoathly.
- Jenny Budgen (1763-????). I’ve found further mentions of a Jenny so perhaps this was an error by the clerk and her name was Jane?
- Susannah Budgen (1765-????).
- Ann Budgen (1767-????).
- Benjamin Budgen (1768-????).
- Elizabeth Budgen (1743-????). My 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised on 4 September 1743 at St Margaret’s Church in West Hoathly, Sussex. It’s possible that she was the Budgen who married William Stiles in the village on 27 May 1773, although this would’ve made her rather old for a bride of the time. This couple were still having children when Elizabeth would’ve been 53 so it’s unlikely that this is the right woman. Another potential husband was Edward Read of Steyning in Sussex, who married a Budgen in 1775.
- William Budgen (1745-????). My 5th great-grand uncle. Baptised on 3 July 1745 at St Margaret’s Church in West Hoathly, Sussex, young William must’ve died young as a subsequent child was christened William in 1759. But I’ve yet to find a burial record for him.
- Mary Budgen (1746-????). My 5th great-grand aunt Baptised on 10 July 1746 at St Margaret’s Church in West Hoathly, Sussex, I’ve not been able to find further confirmed records of her.
- James Budgen (1749-????). My 5th great-grand uncle. James was baptised on 14 May 1749 at St Margaret’s Church in West Hoathly, Sussex. He has been difficult to trace.
- Richard Budgen (1751-????). My 5th great-grand uncle. Baptised on 26 May 1751 at St Margaret’s Church in West Hoathly, Sussex, he was one of two Richard Budgens born in the same year in the village. The other was in December to John and Elizabeth Budgen. This makes it difficult to track him as an adult. One of them could’ve married a Mary Taylor in Worth, Sussex, on 16 February 1775. A Richard Budgen aged 44 was buried in West Hoathly on 10 May 1796 but which of the two is unknown.
- Thomas Budgen (1754-????). My 5th great-grand uncle. Thomas was baptised on 19 May 1754 at St Margaret’s in West Hoathly, Sussex. Was he the Thomas Budgen who married Mary Peckham in West Hoathly on 18 April 1776? Or was that the Thomas who was born in the village in 1751 to William and Elizabeth Budgen? Again, there are too many candidates.
- William Budgen (1757-1845). My 5th great-grandfather. He lived and worked in West Hoathly, dying in his 80s.
- John Budgen (1759-1828). My 5th great-grand uncle. John was baptised on 21 January 1759 at St Margaret’s in West Hoathly, Sussex, the same day as William (above). However, the record noted that William was aged two at the time of his christening. There was a John Budgen recorded in the Land Tax Redemptions for 1798, as proprietor and occupier of a house and Winham Croft in West Hoathly to the value of 8s. I suspect, however, that he was from a wealthier branch of the family (see the note above about a William Budgen, resident of Winhams) and there were several John Budgens living in the village at the same time. A John Budgen was buried in West Hoathly on 7 April 1828 and given his age on the record, this is more likely our man. I’ve not found a relevant marriage record.
- Martha Budgen (1764-1840). My 5th great-grand aunt. Baptised on 10 July 1764 at St Margaret’s Church in West Hoathly, Sussex, Martha married John Gander in the village on 25 April 1787. He was probably the infant baptised on 11 March 1765 in Horsted Keynes, a few miles from West Hoathly, as no-one by that name was baptised there around that time. They had a large family. Martha was buried in West Hoathly on 2 December 1840 but the record mentions Worth, which suggests this was her residence at the time of death. John Gander died aged 73 in 1838 and was buried on 16 February in West Hoathly. He was described as a farmer on his daughter Martha’s marriage record. John’s children included:
- John Gander (1787-1869) was baptised in West Hoathly and married Eleanor Goodsell in Iden, Sussex, in 1815. In later years he was living with his daughter Elizabeth’s family in West Hoathly. He worked as an agricultural labourer.
- William Gander (1789-????).
- Mary Gander (1792-????).
- Elizabeth Gander (1794-????).
- Thomas Gander (1797-1874) was baptised in West Hoathly and married local girl Elizabeth Landridge in 1828. They had a family, lived in various Sussex villages but later settled in Brighton. They raised a family while Thomas worked as a labourer. Elizabeth died in 1884.
- Sarah Gander (1799-????).
- Benjamin Gander (1802-????).
- George Gander (1804-????) .
- Martha Gander (1807-????) was baptised in West Hoathly and married whitesmith William Wilson in Brighton in 1840.
Sources: Sussex Family History Group online records. John Howes’ Budgen family research featured in September 2008 and December 2012 editions of Sussex Family Historian. St Margaret’s, West Hoathly parish church website. Ancestry.com. Findmypast.com.