The villages of Claybrooke Magna, Claybrooke Parva, Ullesthorpe and Wibtoft form the parish of St Peter's Church, Claybrooke.
Other sites with background information about Claybrooke include About the Claybrookes, UK Genealogy Archives, Leicestershire & Rutland Churches.
The Problem While the names of the parents of Ann Hall are known from her baptism record (see Ann Hall Research Notes), little more has been learned about them.
Ann's father: Timothy Hall Timothy was residing in Claybrooke parish at the time of his 1799 marriage to Ann Palmer. The 1841 Census says he was not born in Leicestershire and that he was 60 years old, therefore was born between 1776 and 1781 (ages of adults were rounded down).
Timothy was 65 years old at the time of his 23 Aug 1842 death and 26 Aug 1842 burial, suggesting a birthdate of about 1777. A letter, dated 25 Dec 1844, from Timothy's son-in-law Henry York describes their arrival in Canada and the death of his wife Ann (Hall) York on 24 Sep 1844 at the quarantine station on Grosse Ile, Quebec (Québec (Anglican) Travelling Mission 1844). This letter mentions only Henry's "wifes mother, brothers and sisters", likely because Timothy had died before they left England.
The informant on Timothy's death record was Elizabeth Bassett. Research thus far has not shown any family tie to Timothy or Ann. The only Elizabeth Bassett in 1841 in Claybrooke was a head of household, age 60, born in Leicestershire between 1776 and 1781. In 1851, although the age doesn't quite fit, she is probably the Elizabeth Bassett, wife of Richard, age 68, born about 1783 in East Somerton, Leicestershire. Her occupation is listed as "char woman".
The only marriage found for Richard Bassett was to an Elizabeth Lawrence 12 Oct 1801 in Claybrooke (Family Search, from FHL film 588458). Although Family Search has a number of baptisms from Claybrooke (including the children of Timothy and Ann Hall), none were found for the children of Richard and Elizabeth Bassett, even though the 1851 census says their children were born in Claybrooke.
Warwickshire Northamptonshire and Warwickshire are two likely neighboring counties where Timothy might have been born. Parish records have not been sufficiently indexed for Northamptonshire to provide a thorough search.
One clue worth pursuing is the marriage of Timothy's daughter Ann in Monks Kirby, Warwickshire. However, nothing relevant has been indexed there. Although in different counties, Monks Kirby and Claybrooke were in the same registration district until 1932. They are only about 5 miles apart and both are close to Fosse Way, an old Roman Road. There are a number of Hall families in Monk's Kirby.
Other villages in Warwickshire that are close to Claybrooke include Wibtoft (about 2 miles), which is now in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, but was at one time part of the parish of Claybrooke.
Occupation Timothy was a bricklayer (1841 Census; Baptism of daughter Ann Hall; Timothy Hall death record). In the 1911 census, there were four households of Hall descendants living in Claybrooke. The men heading three of the households were all bricklayers. Timothy Hall, two of his sons, five grandsons, and two great-grandsons were bricklayers. (The Descendants of Timothy Hall and Ann Palmer).
From the information about Timothy and his sons, the bricklayer occupation appeared to pass down in a family. Might Timothy have had brothers who were also bricklayers? Again, the 1841 census was the starting point. There were three bricklayers in the Parish of Monks Kirby (which included some smaller hamlets) in 1841: James Bailey, Thomas Law and William Paybody. However, some years ago I extracted the Hall marriages from the Monks Kirby parish register. None of these three men married a Hall in Monks Kirby.
Possible Timothy Halls Search engines for English baptisms (Find My Past, Family Search, Ancestry, Free Reg) are all incomplete. All of the above were searched (as of 4 Nov 2013) from 1775 through 1781 (based on Timothy's age in 1841 census and at death, and on his 1799 marriage). Nothing was found on Find My Past or Ancestry. Others identified the following:
- Timothy Hall, son of John and Elizabeth Hall, was baptized 24 May 1778 in Addingham, Cumberland, England (Family Search: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 from FHL 90551). Possibly the Timothy Hall who died in 1844, Registration district: Brampton, County: Cumberland (Quarter of registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1844, Volume no: 25, Page no: 25)
- Timothy Hale, son of John and Jemima Hale, was baptized 21 April 1776 Bulmer, Essex, England (FreeReg and Family Search: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 from FHL 571179). Note that Timothy Hall was called Timothy Hale in the 1841 census. The surname on his death and burial records could also be read as Hale.
This Timothy Hale is probaby the Timothy Hale, age 72, born Bulmer, Essex, England (incorrectly indexed as Middleton in Find My Past), who resided in the Sudbury Workhouse in the 1851 census (Piece: 1789, Folio: 191, Page: 3, Registration District: Sudbury, Civil Parish: St Gregory, Municipal Borough: Sudbury, Address: St Gregory, Sudbury, County: Suffolk).
- Warwickshire Poor Law Settlement and Removal Index a 1991 search by Barbara Robinson found no specific reference to Timothy or Ann Hall, and found no Hall references in the Monks Kirby certificates.
- Index to death duty registers (Find My Past) for 1842-1844, 1849-50
- Family Search for Timothy Hall born in England about 1777 (as of 4 Nov 2013)
- Ancestry for Warwickshire records (as of 4 Nov 2013)
- Find My Past including Trinity House Calendars 1787 - 1854: Apprentices and Petitions (as of 4 Nov 2013)
Summary The identity and location of Timothy Hall prior to his marriage remains unsolved.
Go to Timothy Hall in the Hall Descendant Chart
