I was drawn to Elizabeth Johnson purely because of the coincidence of surnames, but she does appear to be the only Elizabeth to fit the bill as our ancestor in this line of the family. She was born in a small village outside Gainsborough. Her mother came from Lincoln, about 20 km away and of course a town of much greater size and importance.
Her parents’ marriage was tragically short: Elizabeth was two years old when her father died. What happened to her, her mother and brother Richard now we cannot say. The next record we have for Elizabeth is her marriage in 1686 at the age of seventeen.
Her husband Francis Barker was from another small village in the area and they were married at Sturton le Steeple, an important place in our family history. They settled in Walkeringham about 10 km away and remained there for the rest of their lives. Elizabeth had three children: Barzillai, Amey and Elizabeth junior.
Elizabeth died in 1726 after forty years of marriage, just a few months after the birth of her grand-daughter Zilla, our ancestor. Her life would have been comfortable financially – her husband Francis was a “yeoman” and left property to the value of £40 in his will, about £79,000 in 2020 wage terms.
Mother of Barzilai Barker and daughter of Robert and Susannah Johnson
Baptised in August 1668 at Upton, Lincolnshire
Married Francis Barker on 6 July 1686
Buried 28 March 1726