Ann Dimes

  General Notes:

Ann is first recorded as coming to Crondall in May 1792 bringing with her a certificate from the parish of Greywell stating that it was her parish of settlement. If John's daughter Ann had been working at Greywell for over a year her settlement parish could have changed. This Ann seems to have had a colourful life. She was the mother of two illegitimate boys, John Godfrey born in July 1792 and Thomas born in 1798 but they may not have lived long after their baptisms as nothing more is known about them. She also had banns of marriage called in 1795 with William Pierce named as the groom, but no marriage followed. She finally married Thomas Taplin of Dogmersfield, an adjoining parish, in February 1803, at the same time as he enrolled in the North Hampshire militia. In March he was questioned by the Overseers about his parish of settlement, as the family of a man sent for militia duty from his parish could expect maintenance from that parish, this being the time of the Napoleonic wars. Thomas was about to be posted elsewhere. Ann continued to live in Crondall and in April she received her first maintenance payment. From May 1804 to September 1806 she received 6s. a month. In August 1806 she gave birth to their only child, a daughter Jane. In that year it is clear that her money came from Dogmersfield. In April 1807 when she was ill she had extra payments of 2s. 6d. and 3s. In September 1807 Thomas transferred from the militia to the 77th Regiment of Foot. He was substitute for a man from Bentley, another neighbouring parish. That parish paid Ann £4 13s. each year for the next two years. At the same time she was getting 3s. a week from Dogmersfield although still living in Crondall and getting her rent paid. The Dogmersfield Overseers recorded, 'Paid Mr Snuggs of Crondall for forty weeks rent for Sarah (sic) Taplin from 11th July last. Paid at 9d. per week. £1 10s.' The Dogmersfield Overseers usually referred to her at this time as 'Taplin's wife of Crondall.' In 1809 Ann was not managing on her allowance and on August 19th they recorded 'Paid Taplin's wife two weeks pay at 2s. 6d. per week per order of Mr Salmon to pay off Bartholomew's bill. 5s. 6d. per week was deducted until the beginning of November, when Ann was removed to Dogmersfield from Crondall under a settlement order. In the winter of 1809/10 Dogmersfield allowed her 3s. 6d. per week and in February she received 'a quarter hundred of bavins', sticks for the fire. With the arrival of spring, her allowance returned to 3s. a week. Between 1810 and 1814 she occasionally got an extra 1s. when ill. In 1816 there is the first mention in the Dogmersfield records of daughter Jane, '21st July, Ann Taplin and child. 2s. 6d.' Ann was widowed at some time between 1810 and 1820. The first mention of widow Taplin is in July 1810 but it is not clear whether this refers to Ann or to her mother-in-law, Elizabeth Taplin. In 1820 they are referred to as widow Taplin and old widow Taplin and in 1822 as 'Widow Taplin and girl 4s. per week' and 'Widow E. Taplin 3s. per week'. In the following year Ann's regular allowance was stopped and she was given 1s. 6d. a week if there was no work available, a state of affairs which lasted from October to March, but she was given 2s. 6d. for a pair of shoes in the February. This new state of affairs was probably due partly to daughter Jane being old enough to support herself and partly to the financial pressure that faced the Overseers at that time. In June 1824, Jane, then 18, married William Freeman at Dogmersfield.

Ann had a relationship with Unidentified.

Ann next married Thomas Taplin, son of Taplin and Elizabeth, on 19 Feb 1803 in Crondall, Hampshire, England. (Thomas Taplin was born in Dogmersfield, Hampshire, England and died about 1810.)