THE BARRATT FAMILY
of Bedfordshire

Mary's mother Ellen Tapp died in 1697, In her Will she left her daughter £3. Mary's father had died some time previously.

Thomas and Mary had another son baptised as William on the 2nd of February, 1698/9.

At Christmas 1699 the vicar of Stevington wrote a list of the Parishioners of Stevington who lived in the village of Pavenham, the list includes Thomas Barratt, labourer.

On the 6th march 1701/2, Thomas's widowed mother Joan was buried at Cranfield.

There are not many other parish records for Pavenham apart from the Registers. The Accounts of the Overseers of the Poor survive for the period when Thomas and Mary were living there.
This set of Accounts does not include the payments of the rates, but only details payments made to the poor. Thomas & Mary do not appear as needing help from the parish. The accounts do mention that Thomas Barratt was chosen as one of the Constables for the Parish of Pavenham for the year 1704-5.
Generally the position of constable was not welcomed by the parishioner whose turn it was to be appointed. The constables duties included - ensuring the upkeep of local means of punish-ment, such as stocks and cage, inspecting alehouses, apprenticing
pauper children, supervising the settlement or removal of itinerant strangers and beggars, seeing to the welfare of the poor, assisting the churchwardens in presenting those parishioners who did not attend church regularly, caring for the parish bull.
On 4th May, 1709 there was a fire at Pavenham. No information is known about it, but it must have been quite extensive as a brief was issued to raise money to compensate for the loss computed to amount to over £700 (equivalent to £55,000 today). Briefs
were Royal mandates for collections towards some deserving object.
The brief, addressed to the minister and churchwardens of every parish, was read from the pulpit. At the close of the service a "collection upon the brief" was made at the church door and
occasionally on a house-to-house basis round the parish.

After a very large interval of 14 years, Thomas and Mary Barratt had their last child, baptised on 8th March, 1712/3 at Pavenham.
The child was named Isaac. This name may be of some significance as this was not a family name in either the Barratt or Tapp families.
Isaac was the child born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. (Bible)
Thomas was 52 and Mary 47 at this time. It is possible however that Mary had a number of miscarriages in the intervening period
or his first wife Mary had died and Thomas had had another wife called Mary. A Thomas Barratt married a Mary Curtis at Cranfield
in 1705, but there is no indication that this Thomas was a widower nor is there any record found of Thomas' wife Mary being buried.
Of Thomas & Mary's children, four survived infancy and married and had children. The first to marry was Robert, who was a shoemaker and lived at Kempston, where he was married on 13th June 1717 to Elizabeth Brittain. John became a butcher, he was married to Mary Cooch on 10th December, 1720. After her death he married again, his second wife's name was also Mary and from this marriage is descended an Australian Kay Hill, who is researching her family history. William married Susan Barrot in 1736 and Isaac married Mary Harrison in 1742.

Kempston, All Saints

Thomas Barratt, labourer was buried at Pavenham on the 14 th May 1730.He was then aged 69. his widow Mary lived for another 6 years and died at the age of 68, she was buried on the 24th of august 1736

Thomas had lived through the reigns of Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Anne, George I and George II