Samuel Thacker 1773-1840

Stocking framework knitter.

  Family tree (3 generations)    Facts    Gallery    Archive

Facts

Date   Event   Source
(16 Aug 1759   His presumed parents, Samuel Thacker and Ann Taylor, were married at Uttoxter, Staffordshire, and started their family in Gratwich, a tiny hamlet 4½ miles away. They appear to have moved from Gratwich some time after 1763, and by 1767 were living 37 miles away in the village of Sapcote, Leicestershire.)   IGI
c 1773   Samuel Thacker was probably born in Sapcote, Leicestershire.   Assumed from next
12 Sep 1773   He was christened at All Saints Church, Sapcote, 'son of Samuel and Ann Thacker'.
Earlier children of the same couple (if it is the same couple) are recorded at Gratwich - Anne (1761) and William (1763) - and at Sapcote - Dorothy (1767), John (1769), and John (1771) - with Ann, William and the later John surviving. 		  Parish registers
c 1774   When he was 1-year-old, it seems that the family returned to Gratwich.   Assumed from next
c 1775   A Thomas Thacker, later of Sapcote and Samuel's next brother, was born in Staffordshire at about this time and later gave his place of birth as 'Gretton, Staffs', a location that does not appear to exist. It is currently assumed that he meant Gratwich, Staffs.   1851 census
23 Jul 1775   Thomas Thacker was christened at Gratwich.   Parish register - St Mary's, Gratwich
20 Nov 1777   When Samuel was 4, his presumed next sister, Elizabeth, was christened at Gratwich.   Parish register - St Mary's, Gratwich
1 Apr 1781   His next brother, Edward, was christened at Gratwich.   Parish register - St Mary's, Gratwich
1781   When Samuel was 8, the family moved back to Sapcote.   Assumed from next
1781, 1782 and 1788   'Samuel Thaker & son' were recorded in Sapcote. This is presumed to refer to Samuel's father and elder brother.   Surveyor of the Highways Accounts
1779   'The number of houses in Sapcote was exactly 100, and the total inhabitants 450. Framework knitting was a popular occupation, with 85 frames constantly employed, bringing to the artizan about 7 shillings a week on average, all the year round.'   John Nichols - History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester
12 Sep 1784   James Thacker, Samuel's brother, was christened. The parish record has 'P' next to the entry.
'For a few years from 1783, register entries of baptisms and burials may have 'pd 3d' or 'P' against them. 'P' meant pauper. The clergy had been ordered to collect a tax on entries and forward it to the government, unless the person was a pauper. They resented the work, so to frustrate the taxman, overnight, everyone not paying land tax would be offered the 'P' designation - and most took it happily.'		   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote

Eve McLaughlin, 'When is a pauper not a pauper?' from Further Steps in Family History
14 Mar 1786   Ann Thacker of Gratwich, presumably his grandmother, was buried.   Parish register - St Mary's, Gratwich
10 Apr 1787   When he was 13 his mother died. Sapcote burials include the death of 'Ann Thacker, the wife of Edward Thacker', but this is corrected in the Bishop's Transcript to 'wife of Samuel Thacker'.   Parish register + Bishop's Transcript - All Saints, Sapcote
(1794   Methodists first began preaching in the streets of Sapcote.)   Nichols, op cit
9 Nov 1801   When he was 28, he married Ann Weston (19) at Great Claybrook, a neighbouring village 3 miles away.   Parish register - Claybrook
1 Mar 1802   His first child, Mary, was christened 4 months after the wedding.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
1802-3   Now 29, he joined the Sharnford class of the Hinckley circuit of Wesleyan Methodists. (Sharnford is just over a mile south of Sapcote.)   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
    ('Movements from one type of congregation to another over a wide area of religious belief are frequently met with, particularly in the early nineteenth century'.)   AJ Camp, My ancestors moved in England and Wales
25 Jun 1804   He appeared again on a list of members of Sharnford Methodists.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
17 Sep 1804   His second child, William, was christened at All Saints Church, Sapcote (Anglican).   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
2 Jun 1805   The Sapcote class of Hinckley Methodists was founded with 11 members. Samuel was listed fourth, below Thomas Hincks the class leader.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
    'A chapel was built at Sapcote in 1805 by the sect called Methodists'.   Nichols, op cit
1805-6   His son, William, died.   Assumed from next
5 Jul 1806   Another son was christened William.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
Jul 1806   Samuel was listed fourth out of 13 members of the Sapcote class.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
Late 1806   'On the south-east side of Sapcote, at a small distance from the town, were eight small cottages built upon the waste, known by the name of Little London, chiefly occupied by poor men, who were occasionally put in them by the parish officers... In 1806 one pauper, a Methodist, bargained for the house occupied by the pauper Joseph Abbot for the sum of £10 and had a title made and properly executed, though the purchase money was never paid. The parish officers became aware of this transfer of what they considered was their property, and, after some consultation, it was agreed to demand the possession of the house in the name of the overseers of the poor, and, if that was not complied with, to pull it down without further ceremony.
Accordingly, on the third day of December 1806, the principle inhabitors of the parish went to the house, and demanded the two paupers who were within to come out, or they would pull the house down about their ears. The man who had bought it answered from within that the house was his, and they might touch it if they dared. Immediately, all hands went to work, and in the course of an hour the whole was levelled with the ground, without doing any personal injury whatever to the people within. The purchaser being a Methodist, his bretheren of the same persuasion immediately began to cry out 'they were persecuted on account of the Religion' when, in fact, Religion was never thought of: all that was intended was to prevent a clandestine transfer of property which belonged neither to buyer nor seller.'		   Nichols, op cit p 898
Jun 1807   Samuel was not on the list of Methodists - however, for the first time, Ann Thacker and Thomas and Elizabeth Thacker were members. By now there were two classes with a total of 32 members.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
7 Aug 1807   The christening took place of 'James son of Samuel Thacker, Framework knitter &d Anne his wife'. The right hand column of the register, under surname, says Thacker m. This mark is not explained.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
2 Jul 1808   Ann, Thomas and Elizabeth were listed as Methodist class members, but not Samuel.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
4 Jun 1809   'James, son of Samuel Thacker, Framework knitter and Anne his wife June 4th'. And in the right column: Thacker p. Nearby it says 'NB The children whose names are marked with a p had not been received into the Church. January 1st 1809.'   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
2 Jul 1809   'James, the infant son of Samuel Thacker, bur.' This may refer to the James born in 1807. [Samuel's other son James died in 1821 - see below.]   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
12 Jul 1809   No Thackers appeared on Methodist lists.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
2 Sep 1810   He was now 37. Richard, his sixth known child was christened by the Methodists.   Register of baptisms - HWM
Jul 1811   Samuel Thacker was listed as a member of the Sapcote Methodist class.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
Jun 1812   Samuel Thacker was not listed as a member of the Sapcote Methodist class.   HWM Circuit Book - 1792-1814.
27 Oct 1812   John Thacker, his seventh known child, was born and christened the same day - by the Anglicans of Sapcote.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
30 Oct 1813   When he was 40, Samuel Thacker of Sapcote (his father) was buried aged '80 years'.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
15 Feb 1814   Caroline, his eighth child, was christened.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
8 May 1814   Caroline was buried 'aged about 12 weeks'.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
17 Jun 1815   Benjamin, his ninth child, was christened.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
21 Nov 1816   At 43, he was occuping a house in Sapcote valued at £1.   Sapcote property valuation
7 Feb 1820   When he was 47, Ann, his tenth and last known child, was christened by the Methodists...   Register of baptisms - HWM
20 Feb 1820   ... and was then christened again, this time by the Anglicans. Samuel was still being described as a framework knitter.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
c 1820   The family may have moved to Sharnford   See next few entries
23 May 1820   His eldest child, Mary, married William Hearns, at St Helen's Church, Sharnford.   Parish register - St Helen's, Sharnford
26 Feb 1821   His youngest child, Ann, was buried at All Saints Sapcote 'aged 1 year'. (She is described as 'of Sharnford'.)   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
4 Apr 1821   James Thacker was buried 'aged 14 years'. (Also 'of Sharnford'.) He is probably the James who was christened in 1809.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
3 Oct 1821   His wife, 'Ann Thacker of Sharnford' was buried at Sapcote.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
1825   Received a bequest from the will of his father-in-law, Thomas Weston - one sixth of land rents etc, after deduction of costs, paid annually.   Will - Thomas Weston
16 Oct 1828   When he was 55, William, his third child, married Ann Bray at All Saints Church, Sapcote.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
4 Oct 1831   Richard, his sixth child, married Alice Brown at St Helen's Church, Sharnford.   Parish register - St Helen's, Sharnford
25 Dec 1832   John, his seventh child, married Hannah Ellis at St Helen's, Sharnford.   Parish register - St Helen's, Sharnford
22 Jun 1833   When he was 60, his first known grandchild, William, eldest son of Richard and Alice, was christened. Richard was at this time a framework knitter.   Parish register - St Helen's, Sharnford
12 Sep 1833   His second known grandchild, Thomas, eldest son of John and Hannah, was christened. John was also a framework knitter.   Parish register - St Helen's, Sharnford
3 Nov 1833   Both grandchildren - having already been christened by Anglicans - were christened again, by Methodists.   Register of baptisms - HWM
26 Dec 1838   Among the centenary subscriptions for Methodism, his son, Richard, and his brother, Thomas, gave a shilling each.   Subscription list
22 Jan 1840   He died in Sharnford aged 67 of 'decay of nature, aged 65'.   Death certificate
26 Jan 1840   He was buried at All Saints Church, Sapcote, 'aged 65'.   Parish register - All Saints, Sapcote
    'The church bell tolled in Sapcote when anyone died, once for a woman, twice for a man... The open coffin was kept in the sitting room on trestles and the lid put on just before leaving for the cemetery. Blinds in the street would all be down.'

   Leicestershire and Rutland within living memory