Jane Leach was born around 1806 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, to Roger Leach (about 25), an agricultural labourer, and Elizabeth 'Betty' Leach (nee Way) (about 22), a serge handloom weaver.
Jane was baptised on the 8th April 1806 in Morchard Bishop.
Jane was the eldest of eleven children (six daughters and five sons):
- Jane 1806 -
- Roger 1808 -
- Elizabeth 1810 -
- John 1812 -
- William 1815 -
- Susanna 1817 - 1817 (1 week old)
- Anne 1817 - 1817 (2 weeks old)
- Maria 1819 -
- Ann 1821 -
- George 1824 -
- Robert 1827 - 1827 (4 days old)
The records of baptism of Jane's younger siblings William, Maria, Ann and George list the family's residence as Watcombe (spelling varies), in Morchard Bishop, from the 1810's into the 1820's. Watcombe would remain the Leach family house for many decades. They will still be found there some twenty years later in the 1841 Census.
Sadly three of Jane's younger siblings passed away incredibly young...
In 1817, when Jane was about eleven, her younger twin sisters Anne and Susanna passed away as very young babies. Both baby girls were baptised on 26th May 1817. Susanna passed away first, at about one week old, and was buried on 31st May 1817 in Morchard Bishop. Anne lived only a week longer, living to about two weeks in all, and was buried on 8th June 1817, also in Morchard Bishop.
In June 1827, when Jane was about twenty-one, her youngest brother Robert passed away, also as a very young baby. He lived but four days. Robert was baptised on 14th June 1827 and buried on 18th June 1827, in Morchard Bishop.
On 31st January 1835, Jane (about 29), a serge weaver like her mother before her, married Robert James (about 27), an agricultural labourer, in their native Morchard Bishop.
Jane and Robert would have five children (two daughters and three sons):
- Elizabeth Frances 1835 -
- Henry 1837 -
- Robert 1840 -
- William 1844 -
- Ann 1845 - 1847 (one year old)
It seems likely Jane and Robert named their eldest daughter Elizabeth after their mothers, Elizabeth 'Betty' Leach and Elizabeth James.
All five children were born and grew up in Morchard Bishop. Elizabeth Frances' and Henry's baptism records list the family's residence in the mid 1830s as Watcombe, implying the young couple spent the first few years of their married life living at Jane's family home.
By 1841, Jane and Robert and their eldest two sons had moved from Watcombe to Gollands, also in Morchard Bishop, but their eldest child Elizabeth Frances stayed at Watcombe with Jane's parents. I wonder why.
1841 Census:
In the first quarter of 1847, Jane and Robert's youngest child Ann passed away, aged only one-year-old, in Morchard Bishop.
Jane and Robert's sons left home at very young ages to work as servants and labourers on local farms. It is likely they left school at the age of eight, as was often the case for poor rural children of that era, then were deemed old enough to go out and start work.
The 1851 Census shows Henry, thirteen, working as an indoor farm servant for William Leach, farmer of 160 arcres, at Higher Week in Morchard Bishop; and shows Robert, ten, working as an indoor farm servant for John Leach, farmer of 130 acres, at Higher Cote South in Morchard Bishop. Jane's maiden name was Leach, so farmers William and John Leach are likely better off relations of her. It seems they were likely first cousins of Jane's father Roger.
By 1851, only the couple's youngest son William, seven, was still at home and attending school.
1851 Census:
Unfortunately, I cannot find Jane and her family on the 1861 Census, meaning I know little of her life in her late forties and early fifties. But she does pop up again in the 1871 Census, still with Robert, still in Morchard Bishop. In that time, they had moved from Wood Gate to Paradise, also in Morchard Bishop.
1871 Census:
By the time of the 1881 Census, ten years later, Jane and Robert had moved again - this time from paradise to Church Yard Gate, next to the School House. Also elderly Robert was no longer working.
1881 Census:
In Oct/Nov/Dec 1885, Jane passed away, aged about seventy-nine, in the district of Crediton.
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