John Finch (1653-1709) and Sarah Richardson (1656-1725).
My 8th great-grandparents.
It becomes increasingly difficult to link the generations when you get this far back in history but it’s likely that this John Finch is my direct ancestor, especially as there are few if any other likely candidates.
John Jnr was born on 5 October 1653 – during the English republic when Cromwell ruled the land – and was baptised in the parish church of St Mary Magdelene in Rusper, Sussex, on 16 October. His parents were John Finch Snr and Mary Bishop. The baptism record noted that John Snr was from Horsham in Sussex, about five miles to the south, but did that mean he was a permanent resident of Horsham and only staying temporarily in Rusper?
John Jnr married Sarah Richardson on 5 June 1681 at Wisborough Green, a village about 14 miles from Rusper. However, their children were born and baptised in Slinfold, which is roughly mid-way between the two. John worked there as a carpenter, a trade followed by others in his family and in subsequent generations.
It’s likely that John died in 1709 and was buried at St Peter’s in Slinfold on 2 October, although another John Finch was recorded as being buried in the parish on 10 January 1737 (this may have been his son). The 1709 burial record noted that John was a carpenter. There would’ve been a plentiful supply of wood in the area at the time and Slinfold itself was expanding in the the 16th and 17th centuries as individual manor plots began to be subdivided and infilled, initially with timber framed buildings using local materials.
It’s highly likely that Sarah was born to a Thomas and Sarah Richardson on 22 February 1655 and baptised in Lyminster, a village between Arundel and Littlehampton in Sussex, five days later. This is some distance from where she married and raised her children but there are few other candidates, she did name two of her children Thomas and Sarah and Lyminster is on a road that leads to Slinfold. She may, of course, have been born outside the county – Sarah Richardsons were baptised in Nutfield and Reigate, Surrey, around the right time – or the records may have been lost. I believe Sarah died in 1725, buried on 20 June in Slinfold and recorded as a widow.
John and Sarah had at least five children:
- Sarah Finch (1682-????), my 7th great-grand aunt. Sarah was baptised on 27 January at St Peter’s Church in Slinfold. She may have married Thomas Penfold in the village on 26 April 1716 but she would have been relatively old for a first marriage.
- John Finch (1683-1685), my 7th great-grand uncle. Baptised on 23 March at St Peter’s Church in Slinfold, John was buried as a toddler there on 29 November 1685.
- William Finch (1685-1765), my 7th great-grandfather and another who carried on the Finch trade of carpentry.
- Thomas Finch (1686-1755), my 7th great-grand uncle. He married in to a prosperous Sussex family but also knew tragedy.
- John Finch (1689-????), my 7th great-grand uncle. Baptised on 28 July at St Peter’s in Slinfold, I think he may have been one of twins born to John and Sarah. This is because on 14 July an unnamed Finch, child of John, was buried and the notation referred to ‘a chrisom’. This was a term used by some to describe a baby who lived less than a month. I’ve not been able to trace John after his baptism.
Sources: BMD and other records held at Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk, West Sussex Records Office and Sussex Family History Group records. Horsham District Council Slinfold Conservation Area documents dated September 2020 note the history of development in the area.