The Crickmore story begins (or ends, depending how you look at it!) on the eastern bank of the River Waveney in Suffolk, at Mendham. We have no birth records of our earliest Crickmore ancestors but we know that Francis was living at Mendham when he married. His bride Rebecca was from Metfield, about 5 km away.
The couple settled in Hedenham on the Norfolk side of the river and some 15 km away from Metfield. It may well be that Francis originally came from that part of Norfolk, where there had been Crickmores since at least the mid-sixteenth century. Perhaps he was only temporarily in Mendham where he met his wife.
Be that as it may, our branch of the family would remain in South Norfolk until the 1870’s. In the first ten years of their marriage Francis and Rebecca had three children: Rebecca, our ancestor Francis, and Sarah. Beyond this time I have found no further birth records for the family.
I have not found any indication of how Francis made his living. Given the nature of the place he lived, he would probably have been an agricultural worker like the majority of his descendants.
His wife Rebecca survived him by nine years. She was buried at Metfield: maybe she returned to her home village when she was widowed.
Father of Francis Crickmore Jnr
No record of birth found
Married Rebecca Jordan on 8 June 1726 at Metfield, Suffolk
Buried on 20 January 1760 at Hedenham, Norfolk