John Britnell and Sarah Whitford

John Britnell junior was born on 5 August 1760 in Aston Rowant, Oxfordshire, England.

St Peter and St Paul, Aston Rowant

John was baptised at St Peter and St Paul, Aston Rowant on 22 August 1760, the son of John Britnell senior (1732-1807) and Mary Croxford (1737-1808).

Ast the age of 28, John was married on 5 February 1789 in Aston Rowant, to 23 year old Sarah Whitford.

Sarah was born in Alcester, Warwickshire in 1765, some 60 miles away from Aston Rowant.

St Nicholas, Alcester, Warwickshire

Her later census record in 1841 confirms she wasn’t born in the county of Oxfordshire.

Sarah was baptised at Alcester, Warwickshire on 28 February 1765 to parents William Whitford (1739-1764) and Ann Dyson (1745-1823).

John and Sarah lived in Kingston Blount and had thirteen children –

  1. Jane b 1791 Kingston d 1857 Reading, Berkshire, marr William Keene, 8 children
  2. Mary b 1792 Kingston, d 1864 Amersham, married Francis Croxford, 5 children
  3. William b 1793 Kingston d 1863 Hampton, Middlesex, marr Elizabeth Chandler,  Mary Right and Mary Emerton. 9 children.
  4. Sarah b 1795 Kingston d 1807 Kingston
  5. Ann b 1796 Kingston d 1885 Pleasant Grove, Utah, USA, marr John Thompson, 3 kids
  6. James b 1797 Kingston, marr Mary Turvey, one child
  7. Elizabeth b 1798 & d 1851 Kingston, marr Daniel Loader, 11 children
  8. Jonah b 1799 & d 1808 Kingston
  9. Maria b 1800 Kingston d 1874 Camberwell, London, marr Eden White, 9 children.
  10. Amy b 1802 Kingston d 1885 Pleasant Grove, Utah, USA, marr James Loader, 13 kids
  11. Philomen b 1804 Kingston d 1882 Chinnor, marr Mary Ann Flitt, 7 children
  12. Francis b 1806 d 1887 Aston Rowant, marr Lydia Austen, no children
  13. Rachel b 1807 & d 1807 Kingston

John was an agricultural labourer in Kingston Blount. Three children (Sarah, Jonah and Rachel) died as young children all in 1806 and 1807 so they may have had a sickness go through the family?

Kingston Blount, Oxfordshire

John at the ripe old age of 80 years appeared in the 1841 census in the township of  Kingston Blount, living with his wife Sarah now aged 75 years.

John and Sarah died within a couple of weeks of each other at Kingston Blount. John died on November 16th aged 88 years, and his wife Sarah died on 7th December aged 82. They are next to each other on the burial register for Aston Rowant.

Aston Rowant burial register 1848

At last count I have 61 Ancestry DNA matches stemming from John Britnell, my 5th great grandfather, from six of his children,  all over the world.