Except for Sarah (their first child), Henry’s and Sarah’s family reached maturity and married. We can find no other entry for Sarah after her christening and therefore feel she must have died young. Following is a brief synopsis of Henry’s and Sarah’s other children:

• Elizabeth (#2), better known as Eliza, married Daniel Pearce and they were the parents of nine children. Some of their children died as a result of consumption. Elizabeth died of heart disease, June 19, 1868.
• Richard (#3) married Charlotte Priscilla Wager and they were parents of eleven children—some of them also died of consumption. Richard died in 1848.
• Henry (#4) married Rachel Twinning—he saw some of his children die because of consumption before he became its victim in 1861.
• Meriam (#5) married John Dickinson, a cloth worker, by banns on July 29, 1827 at Painswick church. Robert Strong performed the ceremony. Neither Meriam nor John could read or write and so they placed the usual “X” by their names. They began their life in Sheepscombe. Their first child was a son born in 1828. He was christened George. He was followed by another son, Peter, born in 1829. A daughter, Ellen, was born in 1832. After Ellen’s birth, the family disappeared from the records.

With the closing of the mills, did they move to a more industrial area to get employment? The Richins Surname Association has searched the 1851 census of England to try to find them, to no avail. We have also searched the surrounding areas, without success. Many families emigrated at this time—did they emigrate? We are still hoping to find them....

• William (#6) was a farm laborer like his father. He married Charlotte Guy. After joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he emigrated to Utah.
• Joseph (#7) was the last born. He married Ann Davis.

With all the children married and in homes of their own, Sarah’s younger sister, Hannah Haynes, who never married, went to live with Henry and Sarah. She must have been a great help to them. One wonders how they traveled to Painswick in the cold winter with a newborn baby. Most children were christened soon after birth as possible because they were warned that if the baby died before it was baptized, it would burn eternally in hell. What anguish this teaching must have caused! Christening was their form of baptism. The baby’s head was held over the font, which held the holy water, and the minister dipped his fingers into the water, sprinkled the baby’s head and gave it it’s name at the time of baptism.

Henry and Sarah took Elizabeth in the cold winter to be christened. Some farmers had a cart that was pulled by a small horse to take products to market and used it to travel if they had to go far. Did they borrow a cart or did they walk? Most people in the working class walked. Sarah probably wore patterns in the mud and snow, which consisted of wooden soles mounted on iron rings that raised the shoes above the mud.

With each new child, Henry probably wished for a son. It was important in England to have a son to carry on the family name. So we can imagine how pleased he was when the next child was a boy. He was christened March 26, 1800 and given the name of Richard. Usually the first son was named after the father or a grandfather. Was Richard the name of his mother’s father? Or a friend? It would be someone who was close or dear to them. He also was christened by the curate.

Another son was born to Henry and Sarah during these troubled years. He was named Henry, after his father. He was christened on Christmas day, December 25, 1802, by the acting curate. Three years later a daughter was born. She was christened and received the name Meriam on November 11, 1805. Child number six was William who was born at Sheepscombe, December 27, 1806 and christened February 15, 1807 at Painswick. Their seventh and last child was Joseph. He was christened September 2, 1810 at Painswick. Henry and Sarah raised their children through trying times. The anger and feelings in the Church weakened the parish spiritually and the rough environment of Sheepscombe must have given them grave concern. There was also the depression, the industrial revolution, plagues, disease and war to cause them worry.