Jane was baptised on 30 Apr, 1809 at St Leonard-at-the-Hythe Church in Colchester St. Leonard, Essex, England^a1, the daughter of William Hinksman (?–1820)★ and Jane Fisher★. She is Ian's 4x great grandmother.

At the age of twenty-four, Jane had a son, Richard Hinksman★, who was probably born in 1833 in the parish of Beccles in Suffolk, England:–

• Richard★, merchant seaman, married Mary Ann Spencer★ on 15 Feb, 1855 at Christ Church in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England^b1. He died on 15 Dec, 1911 at Tynemouth Union Workhouse Infirmary in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England^b2 at the age of seventy-eight.

Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Hinksman, on 12 Jul, 1835 at The Union Workhouse in Shipmeadow, Suffolk, England^c1:–

• Mary died age thirteen. Was born on 12 Jul, 1835 at The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow^c1 and died there on 16 Jun, 1849^b3.

She married William Rouse (1811–?), a labourer, on 8 Jul, 1839 at All Saints Church in Earsham, Norfolk, England^b4,d1.

Jane died at the age of thirty-one on 12 Jul, 1840 in the parish of Geldeston in Norfolk, England^b5. Her death was attributed to "dropsy" (a swelling caused by accumulation of abnormally large amounts of fluid often caused by kidney disease or congestive heart failure)^b5.

She was buried four days later in Geldeston^e1

Timeline

1809

30 Apr

Baptised at St Leonard-at-the-Hythe Church, Colchester St. Leonard, Essex, England.^a1

1820

30 Mar

Father, William Hinksman (?–1820)★, died in Tobago, British West Indies.^f1,f2

1824

20 Mar

Entered House of Correction, Beccles, Suffolk.^{g1,g2,g3,g4,g5}

16 Apr

Left House of Correction, Beccles.^g5,g4

1826

11 Oct

Entered The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow, Suffolk.^c2

22 Nov

Left The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow.^c3

1833

Son, Richard Hinksman (1833–1911)★, probably born around this time in Beccles, Suffolk, England.

1834

9 Jul

Left The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow.^c4

19 Nov

Entered The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow.^c5
Recorded as living in Beccles.^c5

1835

30 Apr

Entered The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow.^c6

12 Jul

Daughter, Mary Hinksman (1835–1849), born at The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow.^c1

5 Aug

Left The Union Workhouse, Shipmeadow.^c7

1839

20 Jun

Marriage banns read to marry William Rouse at All Saints Church, Earsham, Norfolk.^d2

23 Jun

Marriage banns read to marry William Rouse at All Saints Church, Earsham.^d2

7 Jul

Marriage banns read to marry William Rouse at All Saints Church, Earsham.^d2

8 Jul

Married William Rouse at All Saints Church, Earsham.^b4,d1
Recorded as living in Earsham, Norfolk.^b4,d1

1840

12 Jul

Died at the age of thirty-one in Geldeston, Norfolk, England.^b5

13 Jul

Occupation recorded as labourers wife.^b5

16 Jul

Buried in Geldeston.^e1

Facts

Research Notes

How did Jane end up in Suffolk? #

The first mention of Jane was her baptism on 30 April 1809 in Colchester, Essex, where her father William was stationed at the time. The next mention was Sep 1826 when she was admitted to Shipmeadow workhouse near Beccles in Suffolk aged 17.

Her father was mainly stationed in the south-east of England between 1813 and 1816, split between Colchester and Deal. In 1816, after the battle of Waterloo, he was sent to France where he stayed for two years. He returned to Winchester in 1818 and was almost immediately sent to the West Indies in 1819, where he died the following year. There is no mention of soldiers familes being transported to either France or the West Indies and it seems highly unlikely that that they would have followed him there.

Jane was almost certainly with her mother Jane Fisher★, if she was still alive. We have almost no information about Jane Fisher apart from her marriage to William in Kent in 1809. A Jane Hinksman died in Portsmouth in 1812, but we don’t know if this is Jane Fisher or not. We don’t know where Jane Fisher was from originally nor where she would live while her husband were abroad.

However, the younger Jane ended up in Beccles by 1826 and remained there until her death in 1840. She had two children, Richard★ and Mary, but seemed to be in poverty being admitted to the workhouse several times.

The mystery is how she came to be in Beccles. There are some clues:

• Jane married William Rouse in 1839 in Earsham, Norfolk where she was living at the time. Earsham is about 10 miles to the west of Beccles, just across the Suffolk, Norfolk border. William was living in Geldeston, very close to Beccles. They lived there afterwards and this is where Jane died the following year.
• the witnesses to Janes wedding to William Rouse were William and Margaret Fisher. Her mother’s maiden name was also Fisher, so perhaps these were relatives.
• a William and Margaret Fisher aged 57 and 52, were living in Cratfield, Suffolk in 1841. These would be a similar age to Jane Fisher. Cratfield is about ten miles from Earsham where Jane Hinksman married William Rouse.
• in 1806 Edward Hinksman, who we suspect is William’s brother and was in the same regiment, married Susan Liffen in Woodbridge, Suffolk, which is the south of the county. The witnesses were William and Jane Hinksman. The 4th regiment were stationed at Woodbridge in 1806
• after Edward’s death in 1808, Susan Liffen married William Beck in Weston, Suffolk. Weston is a neighbouring parish to Beccles. The couple went on to have several children in both Weston and Beccles. Unfortunately we don’t know the witnesses to the wedding. It would be interesting to see if Jane Fisher were there.
• in the 1851 census Susan, now Beck, states her place of birth as Barsham, another neighbouring parish to Beccles and also a neighbour to Geldeston.
• a Susan Beck, who may be Edward’s widow, is in the 1861 census in Beccles, now a widow aged 70. She is living next door to a Harriet Rouse, born Beccles.
• there is a baptism of a Harriet Rouse in Beccles on 20 Sep 1815, the daughter of William and Sarah Rouse. Four years earlier is the baptism of a brother, William Rouse on 5 Jul 1811. We think this William is the same person that Jane Hinksman married in 1839.

There seems to be circumstantial evidence of a linkage between the Hinksmans, the Fishers, the Liffens, and the Rouses in Suffolk.

We have a few theories:

1. It’s possible that Jane Fisher was born in Suffolk and that she and her daughter Jane both returned there when William was sent abroad.
2. Jane Fisher may have chosen to live close to Susan Liffin who from Beccles and was now married to William Beck.
3. Jane Fisher died, was born in Suffolk or Norfolk, and her daughter Jane was sent to live with her remaining relatives (in Earsham, Norfolk?).
4. Jane Fisher died and her daughter Jane was sent to live with Susan Liffin as her supposed closest relative.