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According to several census returns, my great great grandfather JOSEPH FIELD (b 1803) claimed he was from Old Basing. He is listed as 78 in the 1881 census for Fulham.
I have good documented links from Joseph to my own family and several Field and related family branches, which I am happy to share with anyone interested.
Unfortunately, I have no birth or baptismal records to confirm Joseph was born in or near Old Basing, which is something I would like to better prove.
There was a Field family in Old Basing at the time of Joseph’s birth that is listed in the IGI records and has been researched by a Field descendent named Claire Brewer. The parents were John Field and Elizabeth Spearing (b.1777 Mapledurwell– m. 1803 Mapledurwell – d. 1863 Basing) They have 5 children listed in the IGI records – Sarah Ann(1806-1891), George (1809-), William (1811-), Ann (1814-) and Charles (1822-) – all born in Old Basing. But no Joseph.
Since Old Basing was small at that time, probably no more than 700 people, and no other Fields show up on a search, it seems highly probable that Joseph was of this family.
Maybe he was born out of wedlock, maybe his mother brought him from a previous marriage or maybe he was ‘adopted’. In any case, exploring these possibilities has proved difficult. If anyone has access to local records that could help me , I would appreciate it.
So what happened to Joseph Field? Thirty years later in 1833 he got married to a Sarah Nokes from Barnes Surrey, at All Saints Church in Fulham, Middlesex. They had eight known children – Elizabeth (after his mother?) ( b 1834 in Barnes Surrey), George (b 1836); Sarah (b. 1838), John (b 1840), William (b 1844 in Fulham, Mx), Henry (b 1848), Mary (b 1850) and my great grandfather James (b 1852). Noteworthy is that George, Sarah and William were also names of possible siblings from the Old Basing family. (His wife Sarah’s parent’s names were John and Mary.)
I am now retired and reside in Naples Florida but spend much time in Connecticut to be near our three children and three grandchildren.
If anyone can shed further light on the Field family in and around Old Basing, or would like additional information from me, my email is msfield@optonline.net
Michael Field