Voddens & Brinsmeads

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Vodden & Brinsmead Marriages 1717-1727

As noted in the previous page West Country Roots, three of Lawrence Vodden‘s children married into the Brinsmead family.

First, John Vodden married Christian Brinsmead in 1717, second, Grace Vodden married Robert Brinsmead in 1719 and third, Elizabeth Vodden married Henry Brinsmead in 1727.

John Vodden & Christian Brinsmead

Chasing down the marriage for this couple was full of twists and turns. Why did they go to a neighbouring parish of Bideford, a parish some 10 miles or so away from St. Giles-in-the-Wood to marry there? They didn’t give their proper names but phonetically the names given were close enough that we were able to track them down. John was listed in the Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840 as Yodden and Christian‘s last name was Barinsgate. I was never able to find any family by that name which got me to think if it was given phonetically and the nearest translation was Brinsmead. When I followed the documentation for Christian Brinsmead, I was able to make the connections.

John and Christian might have had to get married as their first child, Mary, was baptised on August 16, 1718 which meant she arrived sometime before that date. Assuming Mary was baptised at two months, it gives credence to Christian being pregnant at the time of their marriage. Their son, John, arrived early the following year and was baptised on March 15, 1719. There’s only seven months between the two baptisms which would again point to Mary arriving earlier than June 1718 since premature births of two months early did not have much chance in this century.

Their daughter, Mary, married William Jewell, son of John Jewell, on February 26, 1764 in this parish. William was baptised in Moreton Hamstead, Devon on February 24, 1721/22. There’s no records of them ever having any children.

Their son, John, married Joan Heal/Hele, daughter of Robert Heal/Hele (another well known Devon name) on August 22, 1742 also in this parish, Joan was baptised in Buckfastleigh, Devon on March 20, 1719/20. They had seven children: Lawrence, in 1742, Grace in 1744, Henry in 1747, Robert in 1748, Elizabeth in 1752, Christian in 1755 and Mary in 1760, all baptised in St. Giles-in-the-Wood. From here this line of the Vodden family starts to spread out.

Grace Vodden & Robert Brinsmead

Grace Vodden and Robert Brinsmead were married on October 14, 1719. They had all their children baptised at St. Giles-in-the-Wood. Both of them passed away there, Grace in 1791 and Robert preceded her in 1774. They are buried in the St.-Giles-in-the-Wood churchyard.

The children from this marriage were Mary in 1720, Henry in 1721, Grace in 1723, Robert in 1727, Margaret #1 in 1730 and died as an infant, and Margaret #2 in 1731.

Elizabeth Vodden & Henry Brinsmead

Elizabeth Vodden and Henry Brinsmead were married on October 3, 1727. It is not know when Elizabeth died but she and Henry did not have any children and on December 5, 1733, he married Frances Clark. Possibly she died in childbirth but no records of a birth at all for them to support this theory. Also, there is no record of an Elizabeth Brinsmead in the St. Giles-in-the-Wood Churchyard. Is it possible that Henry divorced Elizabeth because she wasn’t able to have children and she eventually married someone else too and possibly in another parish? I have not been able to find any leads to this mystery.