Graham Story

Page 2. And so the search took me to Lincoln, via various birth, death and marriage details of which you will hear more later and back to the year 1792 and to my gt gt gt grandfather, another John Graham and his wife Mary. According to the burial records, John was born around 1764 and Mary in 1759. A John and Mary Graham are shown in the 1841 Census, aged 80 and 75 respectively. The ages for that Census were rounded down to the nearest five years but as John would have been about 77 and Mary 82, it seems the ages are reversed. If these are our John and Mary, they are shown as not having been born in the County of Lincoln but in "Scotland, Ireland or Foreign Parts". As "Graham" is a common name in the border areas of Scotland and many people around that time were forced through economic circumstances to travel south from Scotland in search of work, it is possible they arrived in the Lincoln area from Scotland. More research will need to be done on this and the Census records double checked.

Doddington Hall
Doddington Hall

John and Mary Graham settled in Doddington, a small town four miles from Lincoln. The village exists today almost as it would have then, on a bend in a narrow country road. Doddington Hall, the local manor house still stands and original cottages still stand, including the old schoolhouse. The whole village consists of not more than ten houses. Farms stretch out on all sides and the Lincoln cathedral can be seen on the hill in the distance, just as it would have been seen by John and Mary all those years ago.

Lincoln Cathedral from Doddington
Lincoln Cathedral from Doddington village

My gt gt grandfather, Matthias Graham, was born to them in 1792, christened on 8 July. He probably had an older brother John, born in 1790, who died in Doddington on 2 May 1815, aged 25. Other probable siblings were Hannah christened 27 July 1794 and Sarah christened 4 December 1796. Hannah died on 4 December 1809 aged 15. There are two children born in Doddington to John and Mary "Grime", a common misspelling of "Graham". These are Mary christened 30 December 1798 and William christened 8 August 1802. There follows Elizabeth in 1805 to John and Mary Graham. All of these children were christened in the Doddington parish church of St Peters. John Graham died on 20 November 1842 aged around 78 and Mary on 16 January 1847 aged 88 and were buried at St Peters church, Doddington, by Charles Jarvis, Rector.

St Peter’s Church, Doddington
St Peter’s Church, Doddington near Lincoln, England

If John and Mary Graham came to Lincoln to improve their economic circumstances, it seems they didn’t succeed. It appears they were unable to send Matthias to school as he was illiterate, unable even to sign his own name. This was very common in the early 1800s, as was child labour. He was no doubt required to work as a farm labourer to assist his parents. This is shown as his employment at the time of his marriage in 1814 at the age of 21 to Anne Wells of Saxilby. Matthias was living at Skellingthorpe and working for a farmer, William Baily of Saxilby, about two miles from his birthplace of Doddington.

It was a legal requirement to advertise an impending marriage by the publishing of banns. This was done in the parish church of both partners three weeks prior to the wedding. Divorce and civil marriages were not easily available until the mid 1800s. A person already married was not allowed to marry again, unless widowed. A girl under 12 or a boy under 14 were not able to marry and close relatives could not marry each other. In those days of limited records, the best way of finding out who was prohibited from marrying was to announce the marriage publicly. However, in cases where the couple wished to marry quickly, a marriage by licence could be arranged. A marriage bond was completed, guaranteeing a sum of money to be paid if it were later discovered that the couple should not have married. Matthias was in a hurry. Anne Wells, his wife-to-be, was some months pregnant. The original Marriage Bond can be seen in the Lincoln Archives (No 1814 520.521), dated 27 September 1814. His employer, William Baily, guaranteed the bond in the sum of 100 pounds. It reads:

Anne and Matthias were married the following day, Wednesday 28 September 1814 in the parish church of Saxilby in the presence of John Dickins and William Metcalf (microfiche 022400901A). Both illiterate, they signed with a cross, their "mark".

Banner of St Botolph’s church, Saxilby
Banner of St Botolph’s church, Saxilby

View of Lincoln cathedral from Skellingthorpe
View of Lincoln cathedral from Skellingthorpe