Elizabeth (Peard) Dickinson (1707 - bef. 1747)

Born 1 Jan 1707 in Tiverton, Devon, England

Ancestors

Wife of James Dickinson — married 21 Apr 1742 in Tiverton, Devon, England

Descendants

Died before 26 Feb 1747 before age 40 in Tiverton, Devon, England

Biography

Birth and Background
Elizabeth Peard was born on Jan 1st 1707, and baptised at St Peter's Church, Tiverton, on the 17th of the same month. ^[1] Her parents were Oliver Peard (a merchant in the textile industry).^{[2] [3]}and Elizabeth (Blagdon) Peard. Her sister Sarah was baptised on the same day, so it is reasonably safe to assume that they were twins.^[4] On the scan of the original document one can see that the two baptisms are bracketed together, reading thus:

Sarah... &}

Elizabeth } Daughters of Mr Oliver Peard. ^[5]

Elizabeth and Sarah were the youngest of the seven (known) children born to Oliver Peard and his wife. Their siblings were Alice (baptised 1696), Mary (1698), Oliver (1700), John (1703) and another Elizabeth (baptised 1705,^[6] died 1706). ^[7]

It is interesting that on the baptism and burial records of his children, Oliver Peard is given the honorific 'Mr'. On the page recording the baptisms of Elizabeth and her sister Sarah, out of a list of 37 baptisms, only Oliver Peard and one other are given this title. This probably reflects the fact that Oliver was of quite high social standing in the town of Tiverton.

River Exe at Tiverton with St Peter's Church in background. The presence of water was very important for the wool trade

In The History of Tiverton, in the County of Devon: Book 1, an 1845 book by William Harding, several mentions are made of the Peard family in relation to wool manufacturing.^[3] In addition, The Devon Record Office Archive Catalogue lists 49 documents referring to an Oliver Peard of Tiverton, some of which probably refer to his son Oliver (who went on to become Mayor of Tiverton)^[8], but the earlier ones probably refer to Elizabeth's father. There are various mentions of the terms 'clothier' and 'merchant' in the search results.^[2] Tiverton was quite prosperous in the early C18th due to its substantial wool industry, ^[9] and it seems that the Peard family were part of this trade.

In 1708, Elizabeth's twin, Sarah, died, aged just 18 months. She was buried on 15 July in St Peter's Church.^[10]

Marriage
On April 21 1742 Elizabeth Peard married James Dickinson in St Peter's Church, Tiverton.^[11] (See Research Notes). She was 35. James had been married before, but his wife had died in 1741,^[12] leaving him with at least one child, Benjamin (b. 1737).^[13] Later sources refer to Benjamin as Elizabeth's son,^[14] and her brother Oliver's nephew,^[15] but the BMD records show that she was in fact his stepmother.

Children?
It is possible that Elizabeth and James may have had a daughter, also named Elizabeth. An Elizabeth Dickenson (sic), father James, was baptised in Tiverton on 24 July 1743, and died on April 4th 1744.^[16] The images of the original records, available at Find My Past, both show the name clearly spelt with an 'e', although the baptism transcription records the name as 'Dickerson'. ^[17][18] Both records confirm the location as St Peter's Church, Tiverton. I think a son is Benjamin Dickinson born 30 Sept 1737, baptized 14 Oct 1737 at Tiverton, son of James, buried 23 Oct 1806, three times mayor of Tiverton, opened the first bank in Tiverton. The fortune of Oliver Peard 1700 -1764 passed to his sister Mary and then their nephew Benjamin Dickenson.

Death
Elizabeth's marriage to James did not last very long. Five years later, on 26 February 1747, Elizabeth, 'Wife of Mr James Dickinson' was buried at St Peter's, Tiverton.^[19] She was 40 years old.

Research Notes

Baptism Records
I have been unable to find a baptism record for Elizabeth and/or Sarah which is not behind a paywall. This may be because the name 'Peard' is unusual and the handwriting in the original record is difficult to decipher, and other transcriptions may therefore be inaccurate.^[20] For this reason I have tried searching with wildcards but to no avail.

A record for an older sister born 1705, also named Elizabeth (or Elisabeth), ^[6] can, however, be found at FamilySearch. This Elizabeth died in 1706, and her burial ('Elizabeth Daughter of Mr Oliver Peard') ^[7] is recorded at Tiverton on 12 July of that year.^[21] The burial, however, is also not recorded at FamilySearch.

I have, in addition, searched on FamilySearch for a few random baptisms recorded on the same page of the original image, and none of these produced baptism results, so I am tempted to assume that this page (or perhaps more of this source, given that the burial has also not been found) has not been transcribed for that particular website.

Research re Marriage
On April 21 1742 an Elizabeth Peard marries a James Dickinson in St Peter's Church, Tiverton. It is quite likely, given the location, that this is our Elizabeth. However, she would have been 35 by this date, which is quite late for a first marriage, and a search on the FamilySearch website results in at least 2 other Elizabeth Peards in Devon who are possible candidates for this marriage. A scan of the original document, available online at Find My Past does not give any additional information which could confirm or refute the theory, since the record simply reads:

'Marriages April 1742'...James Dickinson and Elizabeth Peard...^[11]

However, further research provides quite a lot of circumstantial evidence that this is the correct marriage, including:

• A reference in the Wikipedia Entry about Bradfield House, Devon, to Benjamin Dickinson, James Dickinson's son: 'Benjamin's mother was of the Peard family, the sister of Oliver Peard (1700-1764)'.^[14]
• A reference on the Tiverton Museum Website, referring to Benjamin Dickinson as Oliver Peard's nephew.^[15]

Having assessed the evidence currently available to me, I feel that the marriage to James Dickinson is most likely the correct one.

Other Notes:

• Unfortunately the Devon Online Parish Clerks do not at present (as at 7 June 2019) cover the Tiverton area.
• Unfortunately FamilySearch records appear to be patchy with regards to Elizabeth Peard and her family, since many records that are discoverable via Find My Past cannot be found on the former.

Points Forward
The South West Heritage Trust Devon Archive holds a large number of records related to the Peard family of Tiverton. If these were ever to be digitised and available online, or if a Wikitree researcher were able to visit either of the locations where the records are kept (Devon Heritage Centre, Exeter & North Devon Record Office, Barnstaple) there might be a wealth of additional information about Elizabeth, her life, and her family.

Sources

1. ↑ South West Heritage Trust, Devon Baptisms, Archive reference: 2960A/PR/1/3: Elizabeth Peard Record available online at Find My Past
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} SOUTH WEST HERITAGE TRUST: Devon Archive Catalogue, Records for Oliver Peard.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Harding, William, The History of Tiverton, in the County of Devon: book. I. General history and remarkable occurrences. F. Boyce, 1845 Original from Princeton University, Digitized 12 Jan 2010, Accessed via Google Books, 7 June 2019. pp 96, 102, 122, 123.
4. ↑ South West Heritage Trust, Devon Baptisms, Archive reference: 2960A/PR/1/3: Sarah Peard Record available online at Find My Past
5. ↑ South West Heritage Trust, Devon Baptisms, Archive reference: 2960A/PR/1/3: Image Image available online at Find My Past
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMR5-CNP : 11 February 2018, Elisabeth Peard, 19 Jun 1705); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 917,540.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} South West Heritage Trust, Devon Burials, Archive reference: 2960A/PR/1/3: Elizabeth Peard, IMAGE Image available online at Find My Past
8. ↑ Sedgwick, R., ed, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1715-1754. 1970, entry for Tiverton, available online here, accessed 8 June 2019.
9. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Tiverton, Devon," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tiverton,_Devon&oldid=889409692 (accessed June 8, 2019).
10. ↑ Devon Burials, Tiverton St Peter, South West Heritage Trust, Archive Reference 2960A/PR/1/3, Record for Sarah Peard, available online at Find My Past
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Devon Marriages Image, South West Heritage Trust, Tiverton St Peter, Archive Ref: 2960A/PR/1/5 available online at Find My Past.
12. ↑ Devon Burials, Tiverton St Peter, South West Heritage Trust, Archive Reference 2960A/PR/1/5, Record for Sarah Dickinson, available online at Find My Past
13. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7SD-JB7 : 11 February 2018, Benjamin Dickinson, 13 Oct 1737); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 917,540.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Wikipedia contributors, "Bradfield House," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bradfield_House&oldid=864775096 (accessed June 8, 2019).
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life. News, Seals Appeal, 5 November 2015 at Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life
16. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7SD-LXH : 11 February 2018, Elizabeth Dickenson, 04 Apr 1744); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 917,541.
17. ↑ South West Heritage Trust, Devon Baptisms, Archive reference 2960A/PR/1/5, Record for Elizabeth DIckerson Transcript and Image available at Find My Past
18. ↑ South West Heritage Trust, Devon Burials, Archive reference 2960A/PR/1/5, Record for Eliz. DIckenson Transcript and Image available at Find My Past
19. ↑ South West Heritage Trust, Devon Burials, Archive reference 2960A/PR/1/5, Elizabeth Dickinson. Transcript and image available online at Find My Past.
20. ↑ As in the case of her brother Oliver, whose baptism record has been transcribed to give him the name 'Oliver Reed'. South West Heritage Trust, Devon Baptisms Transcription Archive Ref 2960A/PR/1/3, Transcription and Image available at Find My Past.
21. ↑ South West Heritage Trust, Devon Burials, Archive reference: 2960A/PR/1/3: Elizabeth Peard Record available online at Find My Past

Acknowledgements

• This profile has been improved by a member of the England Project's Orphan Trail