Rebecca Allen ³

  General Notes:

The various recorded ages for Rebecca with indicated DOB are as follows:
1841 30 (ie 30 to 34) Notts 1807-1811
1851 40 Hucknall Torkand 1810-1811
1861 50 HUT 1810-1811
1870 (March) Death 59 1810-1811

There are no Rebecca Allens baptised in Hucknall Torkand according to the NFHS Baptism CD. The only Rebecca Allens found were two to the same Bulwell family in 1802 and 1807. This seemed a possibility with Bulwell close by but the 1807 birth disagrees with the consistent 1810/1811 birth year indicated by all other recorded sources. A further discouragement is the 1828 marriage of a James Garratt and a Rebecca Allen in Selston also close by Bulwell. This is likely the Bulwell Rebecca at age 21.

IGI gives us another clue with a "submitted" record for a "Rebekha Allen" born to George Allen and Dinah Newbutt in Nottingham Jan 1811. I can find no trace of a "Dinah" but there is a George Allen / Ann Newbutt marriage in HUT in 1799 and this couple produced children in HUT from then until the 1820s. There is a gap in the NFHS baptism record for the couple between 1808 to 1816.

On the 1841 census living with George and Ann is an Eliza Allen born about 1823 who doesn't appear on the baptism records for the family. The connection is unclear but this is possibly the Eliza who was to become in 1848 the wife of Peter Kirkby's first cousin Levi Kirkby. There is evidence that this Eliza is the daughter of George and Elizabeth (nee Kirk) Allen and it seems unlikely that the two Georges are the same person (see 1851 census where Levi and Eliza's children are living with grandmother Elizabeth Allen next door to Levi's uncle Charles Kirkby and NFHS baptisms for the two Georges).

Unless something comes up to the contrary I will assume that Rebecca is the child of George and Ann Allen.

** Another Theory **

There is another possibility. We know from the 1851-1871 censuses that Rebecca was born in Hucknall Torkard about 1810. There were only four Rebeccas baptised there from 1808 to 1812 and two of these had no fathers recorded. The mothers were Hannah Walker and Mary Severn. The first may be the Hannah Walker who was baptised in HUT in 1787. In 1816 a Hannah Walker married a George Allin/Allen in HUT and they had two children William and Frederick. Frederick was the name of Peter Kirkby and Rebecca's first child and there is no other obvious source for this name. Remembering that some of the sources record Rebecca's surname as Limb, it is interesting to note that shortly before 1810 a number of Limb males appear in the parish records as fathers. This includes a Matthew Limb who is possibly the same as the Matthew Limb described in an 1835 directory as a Hosiery Agent, a position of some influence I imagine in a town of hosiery makers. Could this be Rebecca's unrecorded father?

So far so good but then I looked a bit further and it all fell in a heap. In 1832 in HUT there is a marriage between a Thomas Parkin and a Rebecca Walker and the couple appear in 1841 with Rebecca's age given as 30. All the same the story seems too good to discard straight away.

** Yet Another Theory **

So maybe Rebecca's baptism was recorded but was transcribed with the wrong name. I checked Allen/Allins baptised in HUT for the 1808-1812 period and one stood out as a possibility. On 30/9/1810 "Reuben" Allin was baptised. He was son of William and Hannah whose family seems to span 1798 to 1821. There is no further record of Reuben.

Probably silly to speculate - should just check the Papplewick and Hucknall registers!

Rebecca married Peter Kirkby, son of Samuel Kirkby and Mary Cutts, on 22 Nov 1831 in Hucknall Torkard, Nottingham.^{1 2} (Peter Kirkby was born circa 1811 in Hucknall Torkard, Notts ⁶, christened on 7 Apr 1811 in Hucknall Torkard ⁷ and died on 21 Jul 1893 in High Road, Beeston ^{8 9}.)