Jane Stevenson (1615 - 1664)

Born 1615 in Northamptonshire, England

Wife of Robert Ashby — married 1636 in Of Bugbrook, Northamptonshire, England

Descendants

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Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.^[1] It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Name

Name: Jane /Stevenson/

Given Name: Jane

Surname: Stevenson^[2]

Birth

Birth:

Date: 1615

Place: Northamptonshire^[3]

Death

Death:

Date: 14 APR 1664^[4]

Burial

Burial:

Date: APR 1664

Place: Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire^[5]

Note: Quaker Ground

Ancestral File Number

Ancestral File Number: 1G11-GCW

Data Changed

Data Changed:

Date: 7 AUG 2007

Time: 22:42:43

Prior to import, this record was last changed 22:42:43 7 AUG 2007.

Marriage

Marriage:

Date: 1636

Place: Of Bugbrook, Northamptonshire, England^[6]

Husband: Robert Ashby

Wife: Jane Stevenson

Child: John Ashby

Note: Robert Ashby (1607-1689, a great-grandson of John Ashby, and head of the junior branch) and his wife Jane (nee Stevenson) had a family of seven children, born during the turbulent years 1636-1654. The year 1649 marked the execution of King Charles I and the establishment of the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. At about this time the rites and ceremonies of the established Church of England were being questioned.

Among the dissenters were the Puritans, Baptists and Quakers. The Society of Friends (Quakers) was established by George Fox, who began preaching in 1647. Many people throughout England joined the Society despite persecution by the authorities. The Quakers adhered to a strict code of conduct. Members were required to obtain permission from the Society before they could marry, and an investigation was made as to moral suitability. Marriages were celebrated by Quaker rites - usually in a Quaker Meeting House in the presence of a great many relatives and friends. The couple was presented with a large certificate bearing the signatures of all those present, a copy being retained by the Society. A Quaker who was married by Anglican rites was usually disowned. Quakers did not believe in the practice of baptism. Among the early Quakers of Bugbrooke (about 10 km north of Greens Norton) were two of our ancestors - Joseph Gamage (1665-1664) and Robert Ashby (1607-1689, great-great-grandson of William and Alise Ashby). Joseph Gamage joined the Society in 1649, the births of his four daughters being recorded in the Bugbrooke Quaker register - Elizabeth (1649), Sarah (1651), Mary (1653) and Elizabeth (1658). Joseph was imprisoned because of his beliefs and died in prison in 1664. His four young orphan daughters were each placed in the care of a guardian until they reached adulthood, when they each married a Quaker. One guardian was Robert Savage, a yeoman of Gayton, but we have no evidence to suggest that he was related to our Samuell.

Robert Ashby joined the Society at some time after the birth of his youngest child in 1654. The head of a household used to be required by law to pay tithes to the local parish church. For refusing to pay tithes, Robert and John Ashby each served a term of imprisonment of about five years (from 1677 to 1682). Quaker meetings used to be held under an elm tree in the garden of the Ashby home, and later in the house itself. Burials were carried out in the orchard or garden. An article, written about 1900 AD by an unknown author states:

"The village of Bugbrooke is about 6 miles from Northampton ... the houses stand on the north side between the church and the road [to Kislingbury]. This side is covered with tombstone moss lichen. There is no doubt that the first William Ashby and his immediate descendants lie here. The Friends Meeting House is converted into cottages - the graveyard is overgrown and full of apple trees etc. - no stones or mounds to mark the place where the graves are. On the opposite side of the village street at the south end is the entrance to the farmyard of the Ashby's homestead. The house has been considerably altered since first built. Originally it was of a plain oblong shape, without any part projecting behind as at present, and consisted of a ground floor with one storey above and a steep thatched roof. The west end of the house (the lowest end and nearest the fields) is still in its original condition, but the east end (nearest the road) was altered by R. Ashby of Quinton as appears by a stone in the east gable and replacing the thatched roof over that part of the house with one of slate, the ridge remaining about the same height as before. The house is built of Duston stone of a reddish colour and rather soft. The window frames are of stone grilled with diamond shaped lattice. The chimneys are very massive and the timbers in the roof are tremendous beams almost as sound now as on the day they were put up. The barn nearest the road, like the house, is built of Duston stone by R. Ashby of Quinton and has a stone date 1715. Adjoining the north end of this barn are the three cottages built by John Ashby and he died 1829 and still belong to the elder branch of the family. At the other end of the farmyard and next to the home close is the building used as a stable and barn which has a stone with date 1631 and was doubtless built by John [sic, Robert] Ashby in 1648. The elm tree under which the early Friends held their meetings, or rather the remains of it, for it has been dead 5 or 6 years, is in the home close near this stable."^[7]

Data Changed:

Date: 24 NOV 2013

Time: 13:58:26

Sources

1. ↑ Stevenson-1861 was created by Peter Richardson through the import of PJR-2500.GED on Feb 2, 2014. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included.
2. ↑ Source: #S29 Page: AFN: 1G11-GCW
3. ↑ Source: #S29 Page: AFN: 1G11-GCW
4. ↑ Source: #S29 Page: AFN: 1G11-GCW
5. ↑ Source: #S29 Page: AFN: 1G11-GCW
6. ↑ Source: #S29 Page: AFN: 1G11-H3F
7. ↑ Source: #S34 Page: E-Mail 2007-02-05

• Source: S29 Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Title: Ancestral File (R) Publication: Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998 Repository: #R1 Data Changed: Date: 27 NOV 2013 Time: 13:26:40
• Repository: R1 Name: Family History Library Address: 35 N West Temple Street CONT Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA Data Changed: Date: 2 AUG 2009 Time: 10:52:39