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Thomas MEACHER & Ann ONION(HUDSON) in Keysoe, Bedfordshire c.1817

Thomas MEACHER & Ann ONION(HUDSON) in Keysoe, Bedfordshire c.1817

Posted: 13 Aug 2012 1:53PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Meacher, Onion, Stokes, Hudson, Gillett, Nash, Inyon
I'm researching the ancestry of John Onion b.1817 Bolnhurst, on behalf of a friend.

Looking to identify a Thomas Meacher who was said to have been John's natural father and living in Keysoe in 1816/17.

In an examination to the PLU Relief Board in 1842 on behalf of her son John Onion, Ann Stokes (previously Ann Onion, nee Hudson b. 1783 Old Warden) stated that she had been long widowed when John was born in 1817 and that John's natural father was Thomas Meacher of Keysoe.

John was born in Bolnhurst in the house of Timothy Gillett, and a few days later was removed from Keysoe to Bolnhurst. Presumably she had been living in Keysoe where she had a relationship with Thomas Meacher, and now claiming relief had no right of settlement in Keysoe. Ann and her first husband William Onion had been removed in 1810 from Northill and settled in Bolnhurst.

Ann says no filial order was made against Meacher, which begs the question why not. Ann would have been aged 34 when John was born. The most likely Thomas Meachers I can find baptisms for would have been much younger, which might explain why she hadn't owned up to the name of the natural father when she went on relief in 1817, or why the relief board at the time didn't press the matter. There is no Meacher in the Bedford gaol records for bastardy.

I can find no Meacher presence in the Keysoe or local parish registers, so there doesn't appear to have been a family in the region at that time, unless they were non-conformist.

The nearest Meachers were in Newport Pagnell where Thomas Holland Meacher was born in 1797. His father was Thomas Meacher, brewer, son of the long-established Ivinghoe brewers. Thomas Holland Meacher appears to have married in Holborn, Middx where he raised a family and where he died in 1842. Did he spend time in Keysoe which is 17 miles from Newport Pagnell?

Thomas Meacher, the Ivinghoe brewer, was related through marriage to Peregrine Nash the Bedford brewer. Meacher had acted as Nash' agent in the purchase of brewing operations in Bedford in 1780. Did one of the elder Meacher's grandsons work at Nash' brewery and live in Keysoe?

Another Ivinghoe Thomas Meacher was born there in 1795, son of brewer George. This George also spent some time as a brewer in Newport Pagnell, no doubt something to do with his brother's operation set up established in 1780. This Thomas emigrated to Cuyahoga, Ohio, where he married in 1859. I think he emigrated around 1830. Could he have gone via Keysoe?

Other candidates are 1) Thomas Meacher b.1773 Ludgate 2) Thomas Meacher b 1778 Holborn 3) Thomas Meacher b. 1776 Fareham, Hants

The descendents of John Onion had a name change to Inyon when living in Thurleigh in the 1850's.

Any info or thoughts much appreciated.

Richard Bryce
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