Foster Family Chart no. 60

	Richard FOSTER		Rachel HOPKINS?
	born circa 1776 [not in Oxfordshire]		born circa 1779 [not in Oxfordshire]
			m. 26 Dec 1803 at Sonning, BRK
			bur. 10 Jan 1844 at Checkendon, OXF, aged 65
	Ag. Labourer

Their Children

William	Maria	Esther	Edward	James	Mary
bp. 22 Jul 1804 at Checkendon, OXF	bp. 1 Nov 1807 at Checkendon, OXF	bp. 24 Mar 1810 at Checkendon, OXF	bp. 3 May 1812 at Checkendon, OXF	bp. 22 Oct 1815 at Checkendon, OXF	bp. 1 Jul 1821 at Checkendon, OXF
m. Mary TAPPERN 16 Aug 1829 at Checkendon, OXF			m. Frances TAPPERN 11 Feb 1833 at Checkendon, OXF	m. Charlotte KING 25 Oct 1840 at Checkendon, OXF	m. William WRIGHT 22 Oct 1853 at Checkendon, OXF
bur. 24 Aug 1861 at Checkendon, OXF, aged 60 [?]			bur. 27 Jul 1877 at Checkendon, OXF, aged 65

Where They Lived

I am indebted to David Foster, another Foster researcher, who pointed me at the marriage of Richard and Rachel in Sonning Berkshire, across the River Thames from their subsequent place of settlement. But why was Checkendon their eventual destination? The couple both stated, at the time of the 1841 census, that they were not born in Oxfordshire; they married in Sonning both stating that they were "of this parish", and banns were duly published. But, neither appears to have been born in Sonning, and three months after they married, in Feb 1804, and just a couple of months before their first son William was born, they were the subject of a Removal Order under the Poor Law which sent them to Checkendon, Oxfordshire. Why did the Poor Law Guardians in Sonning think that they were inhabitants of Checkendon and should therefore be sent back there? Neither was born in Checkendon either, so why was it a more suitable place that Sonning, where they had been living for at least four months before they were sent away? I am still hunting their birthplaces, but since both appear to have died before the 1851 Census, this may not be possible.

At the time of the 1841 Census, Richard and Rachel were living in close proximity to Edward and James, and their families. William was living a few houses away.