Aaron

Aaron Pearce and Damaris King

Aaron Pearce and Damaris King were Shadrach's parents and lived in the period from the start of the eighteen hundreds. This makes them my great great great grandparents.

Aaron Pearce

Aaron had been born in about 1802 (and probably in the first half of the year on the basis of how he and Damaris are mentioned in the later census records)

Aaron is also referenced in the following records

Marriage to Damaris King 22nd May 1823
1841 census: Aaron PEARCE, 38, Cordwainer, born Oxford
1851 census: Aaron PEARCE, head, married, 48, Cordwainer (master), born Thame. living at Sydenham
1861 census: Aaron PEARCE, head, mar, 58, cordwainer, born Thame, Address Horseshoes Public House, Sydenham.
1881 census: Widower, living at Aston Rowant, Oxford, England Age 78, Birthplace Thame, Oxford. Occupation: Master Bootmaker.

The term cordwainer means a shoemaker according to the British Reference Collection of Microsoft Bookshelf, as follows
Cordovan cordovan or (archaic) cordwain,
noun goatskin leather, originally from Cordova (Córdoba) in Spain.
cord'wainer or cord'iner noun (archaic) a worker in cordovan or cordwain; a shoemaker.

Damaris King

Damaris was Christened 20th November 1803 in Sydenham, Oxford, England. Her parents are recorded as Richard King and Esther Luttman. (IGI record 1985604)

Damaris was buried 28 July 1870, aged 66, in Sydenham, Oxford, England.

Damaris's head stone in St Mary's Sydenham

Damaris's head stone in St Mary's Sydenham; it reads
In Memory of
Damaris, wife of
Aaron Pearce
Who died July 25th 1870
Aged 66 years

Further mention occurs on six of the Christening records of her children plus the following census information

1841 census Damaris Pearce, 37, born Oxford
1851 census Damaris PEARCE,wife,mar,47,born Sydenham.
1861 census Damaris PEARCE,wife,mar,57,cordwainer's wife, born Sydenham.

Children of Aaron and Damaris

Aaron married Damaris on the 22nd of May 1823 in Sydenham, Oxford, England. (see IGI record 2034746) They had the following children.

Richard Pearce Christened 23 Mar 1824, Sydenham, Oxford, England
1841 census, Richard Pearce, 17 born Oxford
1851 census Richard PEARCE, son, unmarried, 26, cordwainer, born Sydenham.
1881 census Richard Pearce, widower, shoemaker, 57, Address 62 Pound St Lodging House, Thame
Priscilla Pearce christened 6th Nov 1825 buried 30th Apr 1826 Aged 6 months.
Mary Ann Pearce christened 11th Feb 1827 born, Sydenham, Oxford, England
1841 census Mary Pearce, 13 born Oxford
Shadrach Pearce b. 12th Dec 1828 c. 8th Feb 1829 m. 25 Aug 1847 d. 28 Jul 1881 in Australia
Shoemaker born, Sydenham, Oxford, England
1841 census Shadrach Pearce, 11 born Oxford
Aaron Pearce (Jnr) b. cir 1831
1841 census Aaron Pearce, 9 born Oxford
1851 census Aaron PEARCE, son, unmarried, 20, cordwainer, born Sydenham.
1881 census born, Thame, Oxford, England Tailor
Emma Pearce christened 19th Apr 1836 born, Sydenham, Oxford, England
1841 census Emma Pearce, 5 born Oxford
1851 census Emma PEARCE, daug, unmarried, 15, born Sydenham.
Eden Pearce christened 2nd Jul 1837 born, Sydenham, Oxford, England
Edea PEARCE buried 17 May 1839 aged 2 years
Ada Pearce christened 3rd Mar 1842 born, Sydenham, Oxford, England
buried 9th May 1845 aged 3 years (although she was called Edith when buried)

The following chart shows the baptism records from Buckinghamshire relative to this family.

			Buckinghamshire			* recorded in Sydenham

County	Surname	Forename	Place	Event	Son/Dau	Father	Mother	Year	Date	Occupation
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Richard	Sydenham	Baptism	Son	Aaron	Damaris	1824	23-Mar	Cordwainer
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Priscilla	Sydenham	Baptism	Daughter	Aaron	Damaris	1825	06-Nov	Cordwainer
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Mary Ann	Sydenham	Baptism	Daughter	Aaron	Damaris	1827	11-Feb	Cordwainer
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Shadrack	Sydenham	Baptism	Son	Aaron	Damaris	1829	08-Feb	Laborer
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Emma	Sydenham	Baptism	Daughter	Aaron	Damaris	1836	19-Apr	Shoemaker
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Eden	Sydenham	Baptism	Son	Aaron	Damaris	1837	02-Jul	Shoemaker
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Ada	Sydenham	Baptism	Daughter	Aaron	Damaris	1842	31-Mar	Shoemaker
Berkshire	Pearce	Edith	Windsor*	Baptism	Daughter	Shadrach	Emma	1849	06-May	Shoemaker
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Mary Ann	Sydenham	Baptism	Daughter	bastard	Emma	1856	27-Apr
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Edith Maria	Sydenham	Baptism	Daughter	Richard	Mary	1856	21-Sep	Shoemaker
Oxfordshire	Pearce	Ann Elizabeth	Sydenham	Baptism	Daughter	Richard	Maria	1859	04-Sep	Shoemaker

By 1861 census, Matilda PEARCE, granddaughter, 5, born Sydenham was living with the family
By 1881 census, Aaron PEARCE had Matilda Jane PEARCE, unmarried, 25 yrs, grand daughter born at Sydenham, Oxford and Minnie STEVENS, 13 yrs, granddaughter born at Towersey, Buckingham, both Dressmakers living with him. He was a widower at this time.

Wendy Archer from England (one of Don's contacts) has provided a brief description of Sydenham where the Aaron Pearce family lived as follows

It's still a very small village on the Eastern edge of Oxfordshire, in mainly agricultural land. It's on the old coaching road from London to Oxford, about 20 miles from Oxford.

I have visited Thame in July 2000 and it is a substantial and prosperous town of 10,000 people. If you would like more information then visit the web site at Thame.