Elusive Bonnett

[Nicolina]

finally got my version 3 NBI installed yesterday, so had a quick search. Interestingly there are more BONNETT burials in Partney than Halton.

Halton Holegate
Fanny aged 32 buried 27th Dec 1877
Hannah aged 28 buried 1st Apr 1869
Henry aged 10 buried 23rd Jun 1878
Mary aged 80 buried 19th Mar 1898
William aged 51 buried 25th May 1875

[Nicolina]

Mary buried 1898 is probably yours, the age is about right.

[Lizzy9]

The names Bonnet and Johnson appear more than once in Spilsby records.

William Bonnet(t)'s marriage Jun qrt 1861, Spilsby 7a/1001, William Warminster Bonnet two possible bride's indexed Hannah Johnson and Hannah Selvester [sic]

William's birth: William Walmsley Bonnet, Jun qrt 1840, Spilsby, 14/520.

And a baptism for Thomas son of William (1871 census) Thomas Bonnet 29/5/1864, Wrangle, parents William and Anna.

[Lizzy9]

I cannot find William Bonnet (born 1841) on census returns after 1871. There is this death record indexed: William Bonnett Jun qrt 1876, Spilsby, age 36, 7a/356.

[Nicolina]

there are some BONNETT marriages in Spilsby RD:
15th May 1843 Robert son of Sherriff to Elizabeth JACKSON daughter of Joseph @ Toynton All Saints
5th May 1839 William son of Francis to Elizabeth SIMPSON daughter of William @ Stickney
17th May 1841 Eliza daughter of Robert to John ANDREWS son of William @ Huttoft

there are also loads on FreeReg that might fit in somewhere

[John Gage]

Hi Lizzy,
Sorry about the delay, been very busy elsewhere. Actually Bonnett is not as rare in this area as you might think and I have two distinctly different Bonnett families on my tree originating from this very same area. They may well be related, but I have yet to find the connection. Halton Fenside is interesting in that in the mid to late 19th. century it was a thriving area by all accounts with the railway running through, now alas long gone. It had at least two pubs, also gone, and my relations were at sometime landlords there. The hamlet, as that is what it is today, was situated to the south of Halton Holegate propper, down the hill, the better off would have seemed to have lived on the hill, like my Johnsons (farmers) whom my Bonnetts are descended from. Whilst the lesser well off lived at Fenside. Incidentally another Bonnett family who are descended from Johnson of HH (not my Johnsons), are descended from Nicolina's Mary Bonnett, grandson William. They are also in my tree through a different connection. All these Bonnetts lived in the surrounding area, often cheek by jowel with each other, at HH, Little Steeping, Eastville, Ashby by Partney and Partney. Today you could drive through HH Fenside without noticing it.
Regards,
John

[John Gage]

Hi Nicolina,
Yes I have researched the Partney Bonnetts and at one stage thought they were mine, but this turned out to be incorrect. Most of the Partney Bonnetts would seem to be descended originally fom Alford Bonnett's, These Bonnetts include your Mary Bonnett of Halton Holegate fame grandmother of Thomes and William. She was married as his 2nd husband to Richard Bonnett, son of Thomas, Richard's 1st wife was a Sarah and she was mother of a Thomas, father of the said Thomas, grandson (actually step grandson) of Mary, Mary's son was William Walmsley Bonnett, father of Mary's grandson William Bonnett, Was this William Walmsley Bonnett also Richards son you would think so wouldn't you? But it appears that Richard may have died in 1838 and William wasn't born until Apl-Jun qtr. 1840. Confusing isn't it? Interestingly was Mary herself a Bonnett (perhaps a distant cousin) or was she of some other family? Now we come back to the crucial issue, which I am still not reconciled with, is she one and the same Mary Bonnett who was mother of my Lewis Myers Bonnett, by John Myers? Oh for the 1861 HH Census. For my take on Halton Holegate Fenside Bonnetts, please see my post to Lizzy.
Regards,
John

[John Gage]

Hi everyone,
Sorry it has taken me so long to reply, but I lost my contact with B-G forums, along with my PC and I have only recently decided to reply. Quickly to answer some of your queries and suggestions. (1). Yes I now know that nearly all of these Bonnetts are related and are my family. (2). All the Maria's are one and the same person, who had 3 illegitimate children all by differe3nt fathers (mine being John Myers). (3) Mary Holmes (nee Bonnett) was almost certainly the aunt of my Mary. (4). Mary may have been an illegiutimate daughter of Martha the sister of Mary Holmes. (5). Thomas Bonnetts father was Richard Bonnett, brother of Mary and Martha. The only points not now resolved are (I). Mary's parents, was her mother Martha or not? Mary is to be found at Alford in 1841, living with her putative grandmother Judith widow of Thomas Bonnett and parents of the above mentioned Mary (Holmes), Martha and Richard. Mary's 1 year old son William is also living there. My flimsy reasons for thinking she may have been Martha's daughter are (i). her birth date ca, 1818-1821, (ii). no other person fits the bill at this time and (iii) Martha also had an illegitimate son Richard, born ca. 1819. (II). Is the 1851 Mary, living at Halton, also my Mary? as her birth location is given as Wadingworth (near Horncastle), when all other references make her birth location to be Alford.
Thanks everybody for your help, much appreciated.
Best regards,
John