As can be seen above in the baptismal record of Edward Sanders, his parents were William Sanders and his wife Mary, maiden name unknown. It has proved difficult specifying Edward's siblings, because two different Sanders families with parents William and Mary were being born in Enfield in the period late 1700s to early 1800s, and it is near impossible to separate them.
The location of William Sanders' will several years ago helped no end to identify his children , naming as it did his three sons and five daughters:
"My three sons William, Thomas and Edward" and my five daughters "Mary Ann Marsh, Sarah Robinson, Elizabeth Sanders. Susan Sanders and Leticia Sanders" (although the latter was actually 'Alicia' Sanders)
The will was quite short, but it did specify that funds should be set aside to "place out my said son Edward as an apprentice". This was obviously done as asked, as Edward became a cordwainer/shoemaker, an occupation that would have required an apprenticeship.
Using the names given in William Sander's will, we can find the following baptisms in the registers of St. Andrew's, Enfield:
Thomas Sanders baptised February 1, 1795
Susan Sanders baptised November 6, 1796
Susannah Sanders baptised July 28, 1799
Alicia Sanders baptised December 19, 1800
Elizabeth Sanders baptised February 2, 1800
William Sanders baptised November 8, 1801
Anne Sanders baptised July 3, 1803
Mary Sanders baptised February 3, 1805
Edward Sanders baptised February 12, 1806
There are two prospective marriages for a William Sanders/Saunders in Enfield for the correct time period...on September 16, 1781, William Saunders married Mary Cracknell, and on April 24, 1794, William Saunders married Mary Acrus. On both occasions the groom was a batchelor, and both marriages took place in St. Andrews' Enfield. This is assuming, of course, that the marriage of William and his Mary was carried out in the borough of Enfield and not some other parish. I did check several other William/Mary marriages in London/Middlesex for the period 1780-1800, and none of them matched.
I had chosen Mary Acrus as the most likely bride for my William Sanders, due to the dates of births of the children listed above, with the eldest son, Thomas, being born in 1795. This would fit in with the first child of a couple who married in 1794, such as William Sanders and Mary Acrus.
When consulting the entire list of children baptised at St. Andrews, Enfield, to parents William and Mary Sanders/Saunders in the 1780s-1790s, however, we had these additional children:
September 12, 1787: William Thomas son of William and Mary Sanders
January 29, 1789: Mary Anne daughter of Wm and Mary Sanders
May 9, 1790: Job son of William and Mary Sanders
February 13 1795: Mary Anne daughter of William and Mary Sanders
February 1, 1795: Thomas son of William and Mary Ann Sanders
February 18, 1798: Frances daughter of William and Mary Sanders
There were also two children born to parents William and Mary Sanders in 1807 and 1812:-
February 11 1807: Anne daughter of William and Mary Sanders
May 3, 1812: John son of William and Mary.
I still think that it may be Mary Acrus who married my William Sanders...taking that she would have been about 20 at her marriage in 1794, her birth year would have been around 1774 or earlier. Similarly, we can roughly put the Mary Cracknell who married in 1781 as being born in c. 1761 or earlier. I think that it would be more likely the former giving birth to my Edward Sanders in 1806 at the age of about early-to-mid thirties than Mary Cracknell being his mother when in her mid to late 40s.
When we check for the burial of William Sanders who wrote his will on March 29, 1819, we find two William Sanders of Enfield who died in 1819:
William Sanders, buried November 14, 1819; buried St Andrews Enfield, aged 69 years. Late a shopkeeper of Enfieldtown. His wife was buried at the Meeting Ground, Chaseside.
William Sanders, buried St Andrews, Endfield, April 17, 1819, aged 60 years. A farmer, Chaceside(sic), Enfield.
Our William Sanders' will proves beyond doubt that the latter is our man...he wrote his will on March 29, 1819, and it was proved on May 4, 1819. This means that it couldn't have been written by the William Sanders who was buried in November 1819. Also there was a note written on November William's burial entry that stated that his wife had been buried in the Meeting Ground, Chaseside, a Quaker burial ground. We know that our William's wife Mary was still alive in March of 1819 as he mentioned her in his will.
Searching for a death or burial for our Mary Sanders, widow of William, we find:
Mary Sanders, buried April 17, 1825, St Andrews, Enfield. Widow of William Sanders, a farmer, Chaseside. Age 67 years.
This is fantastic, locating the burial of both of my five-greats grandparents, but it throws my theory about which Mary had married my William right out the window. Our Mary Sanders was 67 when she died in 1825, which puts her birth year as c. 1758. Her husband William died aged 60, putting his year of birth as about 1759.
This changes my view of things...I now favour Mary Cracknell as the Mary who married our William in 1781. The Mary who married William would have then been aged about 22, and at the time of Edward Sander's birth in c. 1806, was aged about 48...unlikely but not impossible.
Mary Acrus who married William Sanders in 1794 would have been aged 36 at the time of her marriage if she had been born in 1758. Acrus appears to be an exceedingly uncommon name- the only instance of a marriage of a Mary Acrus is to William Saunders(not Sanders). I thought it may be a misspelling of 'Acres', but the name appears as 'Acrus' both in Pallot's Marriage Index and in the Parish Register for St Andrews Enfield. Both of the parties in the marriage entry for the William Sanders and Mary Acrus wedding had to sign there name with a cross, suggesting illiteracy and therefore increasing the possibility of a misspelling of names. Our William also signed his name with a cross on his last will and testament.
A Mary Cracknell of the correct birth year was born on March 14, 1758, the daughter of John Cracknell, a waterman, and his wife Martha. She was baptised at St. Johns, Horselydown, Southwark, on April 16, 1758.
Arrgghhh...let's face it...at the moment, I just don't know which Mary was the wife of my William Sanders! I will welcome all suggestions and debate re. the Mary Acrus vrs Mary Cracknell question.
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