Sarah Aldridge or Arledge

From the research notes of Pam Wilson <wilsonpam@mindspring.com>:

Some sources (such as the LDS Ancestral File) have given Sarah the surname of ALIRE. However, the source for this is unclear and after more than a decade I've never been able to find it. A search shows that there is no ALIRE family in the Northumberland Co records of this period. There are also ALLIN's and AIRES/AIRS.

See Graham Louer's extremely well-researched and nearly exhaustive study (below) of all the families in Northumberland County who had daughters named Sarah of the right age.

Graham Louer suggests that Sarah may have had some relation to the Callahan family, since her two children were given in guardianship to John Callahan of New Bern after her death. This is a provocative thought that needs to be explored. Graham Louer on April 12, 1999 wrote: "William Arledge/Aldridge d. 1721 N'umberland Co. VA leaving widow 2nd wife Sarah ___ and several chn. Sarah thought to be quite likely from one of these families: Shapleigh, Berry, Feilding/Fielding, Conway, Callahan, Thomas, Mash/Marsh, Hughlett, Fulks/Faulks, Norman, Tilles or Fipton. They m. prob. 1715-1721.

SARAH ARLIDGE died not long after her husband; there is notice of her estate being administered by RICHARD FULKS in an entry dated 19 April 1727. [Northumberland County Order Book, 1719/20-1729, Administrations, p.261]

(PW writes: Note also the connections between William’s daughter Jane Arledge and Richard Fulks; the possibility of Sarah’s relation to the Fulks family needs to be more fully explored.)

On 6 Jun 2000, Graham Louer wrote:

The maiden name of Sarah (died c1727, Northumberland Co., VA), 2nd wife and widow of William Aldridge (died c1724, Northumberland Co., VA) has thus far eluded researchers of the Aldridge/Arledge family.

The following is an attempt to set forth the names of several possible suspects, based on those resources available to me.

Those sources included:

Northumberland Co. will abstracts, 1706-1711

Northumberland Co. abstracts of wills and administrations, 1713-1749

St. Stephen's Parish (Northumberland Co.) Register, 1675-1704

Virginia Colonial Abstracts, series 1, Fleet

Virginia Colonial Abstracts, series 2, vol. 1, Northumberland Co., Duvall

Northumberland Co. Va Apprenticeships, 1650-1750, Haynie

Records of Northumberland Co Va, abstracts from the earliest extant records, 1647-1652, index and will abstracts from Record Book 1710-1713, and selected records from Order Book 1737-1743, Jett

Since lsaac Aldridge/Arledge, the first known child of William by Sarah, was born in December 1721, William and Sarah are presumed to have married no later than March 1721. lt is presumed that their marriage may have occurred before March 1721, but probably not much earlier, say one year at the most, unless there were other, earlier children of this union who did not survive.

Based on that premise, the following is a list of Sarahs who were, or might have been, of the age and inclination to become William's second wife.

This list is based upon a thorough search of the index of the 1713-1749 wills and administrations for each and every Sarah, thereafter eliminating those who could not have married William in the few years preceding 1721.

This particular list is in chronological order, based upon the date of the signing of the will in which a Sarah was found (or the date of the court record, for those wills which were lost and recreated by the court).

18 Nov 1713 Sarah Badger executrix (and widow?) of James Badger; comment: assuming she was the widow, would she have waited about 7 years to remarry?

12 Mar 1713/14 Sarah Fulks daughter of Sarah Tullos and wife of James Fulks; comment: the Fulks and Tullos connections make this enticing (Fulks being a name associated with the probate of Sarah's estate in 1727, and Tullos being a name associated with William's ancestry), but her James Fulks is living on this date and so must die within the next 7 years for this Sarah to be viable; James Fulks date of death has not been verified.

16 Nov 1715 Sarah Thomas daughter of Middleton Salmon and wife of Thomas Thomas; comment: the Thomas connection makes this interesting, but, again, Sarah's husband is, inconveniently, still alive. l ultimately eliminated this Sarah from the "finals".

18 Apr 1716 Sarah Mason widow of John Mason

9 Oct 1716 Sarah Shapleigh daughter of Phillip Shapleigh of St. Stephen's parish; comment: see below

20 Mar 1716/17 Sarah Hays executrix (and widow?) of Thomas Hays

20 Mar 1716/17 Sarah Howard apparent widow of William Howard, who died late 1709 or early 1710; comment: almost 10 years seems too long for her to wait to remarry, if indeed she was inclined to do so; it seems slightly possible that William Howard had a daughter named Sarah, however.

21 Aug 1717 Sarah Shears widow of William Shears

30 May 1718 Sarah Butcher Sarah, under 18 on this date, was a daughter of Catherine Butcher of St. Stephen's parish; comment: it is not known how much under 18 Sarah is, so she is a somewhat doubtful candidate; she did have a sister Catharine, however, who married John Norman (another surname associated with Sarah's estate proceedings in 1727).

17 Dec 1718 Sarah Ball daughter of Richard & Sarah Ball

17 Dec 1718 Sarah Ball wife of Richard Ball, mother of the above Sarah; comment: very unlikely, as Richard was still living, his will apparently wasn't probated until 1735 (though he may have died much earlier, and her children were evidently in their teens or 20s in 1718.

28 Apr 1719 Sarah Nelms minor (likely 10 or under) daughter of William Nelms

18 Mar 1719/20 Sarah Reason widow of John Reason

29 Jun 1720 Sarah Swan wife of John Swan, daughter of John Ingram; comment: very unlikely; her husband would have to die very soon.

19 Oct 1720 Sarah Ball daughter of Joseph Ball, she is under 18 on this date; comment: Sarah seems to be Joseph's daughter by his second wife and is still rather young probably (his will mentions the children's tuition); this one ultimately omitted from the finals.

16 Jan 1720 (presumably 1720/21 rather than 1719/20) Sarah Berry evidently a daughter of William Berry; she is noted as a "cousin" (possibly a niece) of John Webb of St. Stephen's parish; comment: this Sarah is unmarried at this date and not of age (i.e., she is under 18); the Berry connection, however, makes this particularly interesting, since Patience Berry was evidently the maiden name of the wife of John Callahan, to whom the orphans lsaac and Sarah, children of William and Sarah, were apprenticed.

ln considering the Sarahs on this list, and other Sarahs later put forth, one question that we might ask is whether William Aldridge, when selecting his second wife, might probably favor a woman about his own age or a bit younger, inasmuch as he had a number of children by his first wife who were of an age at which a young stepmother might not be able to command the respect and discipline that William would no doubt want. Moreover, a very young prospective bride might think twice before marrying into such a situation. These are possible considerations about which we can learn nothing however, and thus can only speculate.

There is no indication in William's will that his second wife, Sarah, brought any children to their marriage, although this is certainly not proof that Sarah was unmarried before marrying William.

Thus, in order to narrow the above list somewhat, certain of the most promising have been assigned to one of three categories:

Category: fairly recently widowed Sarahs

Sarah Mason, widowed by 18 Apr 1716

Sarah Hays, widowed (?well, executrix anyway) by 20 Mar 1716/17

Sarah Shears, widowed by 21 Aug 1717

Sarah Reason, widowed by 18 Mar 1719/20

Category: Sarahs somehow associated with surnames also associated with the estate of Sarah Aldridge, or the disposition of her children, or with the Aldridge family:

Sarah Fulks, still married to James in 1713/14

Sarah Thomas, still married to Thomas in 1715

Sarah Shapleigh, whose father's will was witnessed in 1716 by William Norman

Sarah Butcher, whose sister married John Norman by 1718

Sarah Berry, unmarried in Jan 1720, who may or may not have some connection to Patience Berry

Category: other, unmarried Sarahs who seem to be promising candidates

Sarah Ball, daughter of Richard & Sarah Ball

The above selection of Sarahs from estate related documents is only one method, and not really the best way, but those selected above are apparently good candidates.

Another, and possibly better method in its way, is selection of Sarahs from the birth records of the St. Stephen's parish register. Unfortunately, some pages of the register are missing, some are worn from use (especially in the A surnames), and St. Stephen's parish covers only part of the population, about half l am supposing, of Northumberland Co., Wico parish (for which no register is extant) covering the other part of the county.

lt is also possible that many/some people chose not to register births of their children, although, if so, this must be a small minority l suppose.

l have arbitrarily selected those Sarahs found born between 1675 and 1704, though it seems doubtful whether a Sarah born as late as 1704, and some years earlier, would be considered by William, or indeed would choose to marry into his family, given the ages of his elder children. These births are taken from records transcribed by Fleet.

16 Mar 1675/76 Sarah, daughter of Samuell Churchwell

21 May 1676 Sarah, daughter of Hen'y Dawson

13 Jul 1676 Sarah, daughter of John Bee

4 Apr 1677* Sarah, daughter of George Crosbey [*Fleet speculated that this date actually might be 1679, probably because it was not clear, and because Crosbey's wife had given birth the previous June.]

21 Jan 1681/82 Sarah, daughter of Hen'y Ryder

16 Feb 1683/84 Sarah, daughter of Wm. Blandle

22 Feb 1686/87 Sarah, daughter of John Dunaway

17 Apr 1687 Sarah, daughter of Walter Harald

2 May 1688 Sarah, daughter of Wm. Warreck

26 Nov 1688 Sarah, daughter of Wm. Taylor

8 Feb 1689/90 Sarah, daughter of Nicholas Kingwell

22 Mar 1690/91 Sarah, daughter of Thos. Bridgeman

1 Jan 1692/93 Sarah, daughter of Rich'd Clark

18 Mar 1694/95 Sarah, daughter of Solloman Middleton (this being the Sarah married by

1715 to Thomas Thomas)

12 May 1695 Sarah, daughter of Edw'd Fielding

13 Oct 1698 Sarah, daughter of Thomas Hobson (this Sarah can be omitted, because she

is known to be living in 1743, per the will of her mother Clark)

23 May 1699 Sarah, daughter of Jo'n Thornton

5 May 1701 (date of christening) Sarah, daughter of Ja's Davis

9 Sep 1702 Sarah, daughter of Ja's Sebree

23 Feb 170-/0- Sarah, daughter of John Butcher; this is no doubt the same Sarah Butcher seen on the previous list.

7 Jul 1704 Sarah, daughter of Jo'n Tulles; this most certainly is not the Sarah, seen on the previous list, who married James Fulks by 1713/14, or earlier.

The obvious defect of this list of births is that we cannot know, without further investigation, and perhaps not even then, whether these Sarahs indeed lived until 1720. Thus, this list, and all others herein for that matter, are meant to be a basis for future research.

The earliest date, 1675, was selected as the cutoff (and likely should be later) because earlier Sarahs would almost surely, l think, be past their childbearing years in 1720, and, moreover, William himself was born in about 1675 evidently. ldeally, for various reasons, this list probably could well be narrowed to those between 1686/87 and 1695, inclusive, and such will be the scope of consideration hereafter.

Note that one or two of the Sarahs shown in the first list (from wills) were also listed by Fleet but have not been duplicated on this second (parish register) list. Note also that any of the widows/executrices on the first list might well be on the list above but would not be known as their maiden names are not known.

Miscellaneous notes on some of the Sarahs heretofore listed:

Thomas Thomas died by Sep 1738, but fathered a son born in Mar 1732/33, so Sarah wife of Thomas can be eliminated from further consideration.

The St. Stephen's parish register shows a partially obliterated entry thusly: "--rah Ball, daughter of Joseph, born March 1714/15", which seems to effectively eliminate Sarah, daughter of Joseph Ball.

Sarah Nelms' birth is not in the St. Stephen's register, but her older siblings were born 1699 - 1715, thus eliminating Sarah Nelms.

"A" James Fulks was charged with not attending church in St. Stephen's parish (15 May 1717); if this is the same James Fulks married to a Sarah noted above, then he must die within, say, the next 3 years for his wife Sarah to remain a contestant. lt may, however, be a different James Fulks.

Sarah, widow of John Mason, married James Moon by 19 Jul 1718; this eliminates this Sarah unless she disposed of James very quickly.

William Howard died in 1709 or 1710. His widow, if indeed she did remarry, would likely have done so without waiting about ten years.

Note that it seems very likely that William married his Sarah not much earlier than, say, 1719. William Howard's widow Sarah might, of course, have been once again widowed by 1719, but to consider all of the possible "what-ifs" is beyond the scope intended here. At any rate, Sarah Howard is for the time being eliminated from consideration.

Sarah Butcher, daughter of Catherine in the wills list is no doubt the Sarah shown in the register as being born in Feb 170-/0- (the year was not clear to Fleet), and so would probably be too young for consideration by William.

The following list of Sarahs was found by searching other sources noted above (other than the parish register and the wills & administration abstracts for the period noted)

From 1706-1711 wills:

19 May 1708 Sarah Byram (sic), wife of Thomas Byram; also see Bryam (from Duvall); eliminated

9 Aug 1708 Sarah Dameron, one of several, evidently fairly young, children of Bartholomew Dameron

From the Jett book:

5 May 1712 Sarah Barns, one of 4 daughters of Thomas Barns

about Jan 1711/12 Sarah, wife of John Embry; eliminated

30 Sep 1711 Sarah Groves, one of 4 children of George Groves; Sarah is under 17 on this date

about Feb 1710/11 Sarah Hull, daughter of Rich'd Hull; a 5-year-old slave given to her by grandfather Thos. Gaskine; also on Duvall list, which see

about Dec 1710 Sarah O'Doughity registered livestock mark "for a beast given by an uncle"

about Oct 1710 Sarah Shears, wife of Thomas Shears; eliminated

about Feb 1712/13 Sarah Tignor, age 35 per deposition; marital status unknown; eliminated

about Mar 1712/13 Sarah Webb, daughter of John Webb deceased; of St. Stephen's parish; a mulatto child was bound to her, possibly indicating she was not a young adult

From the apprenticeships book:

4 Jun 1687 Sarah Oldis, daughter of Elizabeth Oldis, deceased; bound to John James & wife at age 1 year

21 Nov 1694 Sarah Pendrill, "ten years old ye first day of March last", orphan of John Pendrill; bound to Christopher Garlington

17 Mar 1696/97 Sarah Sanders, now 4 years old, orphan of John Sanders; bound to John Boaze and wife Elizabeth

__ Jun 1682 Sarah Towers, daughter of Dorothy Maclanichon, by her consent; bound to Wm. Yarrett

From Duvall book:

16 Oct 1700 Sarah Bashaw proved will of Hugh Stathen; eliminated

20 May 1697 Sarah Bee, daughter of Anne Bee deceased; now Sarah Hawkins; eliminated

18 Jul 1705 Sarah Brewer, orphan of Thomas Brewer, whose widow married Thos. Burne, charged with abuse

19 May 1708 Sarah Bryam (sic; see Byram on a previous list); wife of Thomas Bryam; eliminated

18 Jun 1701 Sarah Burrutt (sic) proved will of Geo. Berratt (sic); eliminated

17 Feb 1702/03 Sarah Churchill; Joseph, Sarah and Elizabeth Churchill are executors of the will of Sam'l Churchill

21 Jul 1708 Sarah Clerke proved will of Jervase Ellistone; eliminated

19 May 1708 Sarah Conoly, wife of Laughly Conoly; eliminated

17 Jan 1705/06 Sarah Dawson, widow of John Dawson, was defendant in suit by Wm. Wiltshire & wife Katherine, widow of Henry Dawson, concerning dower of Sarah; eliminated

19 Oct 1699 Sarah Dennis; Bartho. Dameron, administrator of estate of Geo. Dameron, to pay Philip Tignor and wife Sarah, daughter of John Dennis deceased; her estate, in possession of Geo. Dameron, who married Sarah's mother, widow of John Dennis; eliminated

date not recorded, but in this period Sarah Hart, wife of John Hart, daughter of Peter Hamond deceased; eliminated

20 May 1697 Sarah Hawkins; see Sarah Bee, above

18 Mar 1702/03 Sarah Howson, executrix of Capt. Wm. Howson, and wife of Capt. Rich'd Ball; late Sarah Howson; eliminated

20 Apr 1699 Sarah Jones, widow of Thos. Salisbury, now wife of Robert Jones; eliminated

19 Apr 1700 Sarah Mottrom, widow of Capt. Spencer Mottrom, now wife of Wm. Howson, which see (above); eliminated

21 Nov 1694 Sarah Pendrill, orphan of John Pendrill (see apprenticeships list, above)

20 Apr 1699 Sarah Salisbury; see Sarah Jones, above; eliminated

17 Mar 1696/97 Sarah Sanders; see Sarah Sanders on apprenticeships list, above

1699 - 1702, various dates Sarah Spens, wife of David Spens, late Sarah Span, widow; inheritance dispute; eliminated

19 Oct 1699 Sarah Tignor; see Sarah Dennis, above; eliminated

21 Jun 1699 Sarah Towers, daughter of Thos. Towers, now, and 22 Sep 1704, wife of John Williams; eliminated

21 May 1701 Sarah Travers, wife of Rawl. Travers, gent.; eliminated

19 Apr 1700 Sarah Tullos, executrix of will of Cloud Tullos; eliminated

21 May 1713 Sarah Way/Whay, wife of Wm. Way; eliminated

20 Sep 1699 Sarah Eaton, orphan of Rich'd Eaton, chose Wm. Sanders as guardian (which proves she was a minor, 14 or over)

22 May 1707 Sarah Hull, wife of Henry Brereton and daughter of Richard Hull, deceased (who wrote will Oct 1693); Sarah was a minor in 1693; eliminated

17 Jun 1713 Sarah Hull (not same as above), granddaughter of Thos. Gaskins, who this date acknowledged a deed of gift to her; eliminated

18 May 1704 Sarah Hutton; Jane, Allice & Sarah Hutton vs. Phill. Rogers & wife lsabella to show why they have not paid legacies due Jane, Allice & Sarah from the estate of Mrs. Jane Linton, deceased; lsabella was widow & executrix of John Linton; said legacies were left in the hands of John Linton by Henry Rose, executor of will of Mrs. Jane Linton, which said John Linton being since deceased and said legac has come into hands of Phillip Rogers by marrying lsabella widow & exeutrix of said John

Linton; eliminated

Notes:

Most of the Sarahs in the above lists have been (temporarily at least) eliminated from consideration, usually due to age or marital status; the reader is invited to pursue any of these thought worthy of further consideration. There are so many Sarahs, even after the many eliminations, that it is my opinion that those who are seemingly potentially more fruitful ought to be considered first, thus some eliminations may appear to be capriciously done. Those not eliminated above, plus the surnames associated with the estates of William and Sarah Aldridge (Fallon, Thomas, Norman, Fulks, Callahan, Berry, Hughlett, etc. --- some of these indeed being found on the lists above) would seem to be the best for focus of subsequent research, either because of surname, age or marital status at a particular time.

lf and when l am able to continue this particular search, the suspect Sarahs should next be more closely examined in order to try to find those who were widowed at an age at which they might no longer be expected to bear children, or, for those found to be unmarried, to discover whether each did in fact marry someone else, and whether the birth year, if found, makes each unsuitable, and whether each can be found still unmarried after 1721, etc. Earlier widows are eliminated, or set aside at least, because widows seem to remarry, if at all, within 2 or 3 years (sometimes, it seems, within 2 or 3 weeks).

Questions that need answers:

Did John Callahan really marry Patience Berry? lf so, was that her maiden name, or was she a widow?

Was either John Callahan or Patience Berry kin to Sarah, second wife of William Aldridge? Was she the Sarah Berry mentioned in John Webb's 1720/21 will?

Who was William Berry's wife? Which William Berry was he? He had a son John who was living in 1720, but whether William himself was living or not is unclear, though evidently he was. Was the Sarah Berry mentioned in Webb's will a daughter of William Berry?

The following are profiles of two Sarahs who might have married William Aldridge, presented here not necessarily because they are better candidates, though they may be, but because they are two about whom information was discovered relatively easily.

Sarah Feilding/Fielding

Sarah Feilding (the spelling found in most records located) was born 12 May 1695, the third known child, and first known daughter, among the four known children of Edward Feiding and (probably Winifred Conway) his wife.

Winifred was a daughter of Dennis Conway. She presented her husband's will to Northumberland court for probate, as the executrix, on 16 Jun 1714, when her daughter Sarah had just become 19, if indeed Sarah was still living.

Although we know Sarah's birthday as the daughter of an Edward Feilding, it is possible that the other Edward Feilding (who died evidently about 1697 and left a widow Hannah) was actually Sarah's father, inasmuch as the parish register, which shows only the birthdates of children and the father's given name, does not show the name of the mother in those earlier years.

ln any case, Sarah in 1721 would be 26. She seems an excellent prospect as William's second wife, if she had not already married by that time.

The possible/probable Conway connection makes this Sarah an even more interesting possibility.

One Edward Feilding died by Apr. 1694, when an inventory of his estate was recorded. This Edward cannot be the father of the subject Sarah (born May 1695), nor of Rachel (born Sep 1697), both of whom are shown in the register as daughters of an Edward Feilding.

The Edward who died by Apr 1694 may be the Edward for whom the widow Hannah is seen in 1697, and the Edward who died by 1714 is very likely the father of Sarah and Rachel, and is the husband of Winifred Conway.

Sarah Shapleigh

Sarah Shapleigh, daughter of Phillip and Hannah ( ) Shapleigh, was born 14 July 1695 in St. Stephen's parish of Northumberland Co., Virginia, the 4th child and 3rd daughter of Phillip & Hannah. ln his will dated 9 Oct 1716, Phillip Shapleigh makes it very clear that Sarah is not yet married.

Phillip's 1716 will mentions wife Hannah, son John (born Jan 1687/88), daughter Hannah Shapleigh (born 2 Oct 1690), daughter Judith Neale (born 13 Sep 1692), daughter Sarah Shapleigh, and granddaughter Elizabeth Shapleigh, as well as (no relationship stated) Thos. Hobson Jr., to whom was bequeathed the price of a gold ring. (Note that another source shows that Elizabeth Hobson, daughter of Thomas, was called a goddaughter of Phillip Shapleigh's wife Hannah; perhaps Thos. Jr. was a godson.)

Since Phillip Shapleigh evidently had only one son (per his will, and parish records), his granddaughter Elizabeth is presumed to be by his son John.

In Feb 1727/28, Phillip Shapleigh's widow Hannah made her will. ln it, she made bequests to son John, to daughter Hannah Shapleigh, to granddaughter Elizabeth Elliston (presumably the granddaughter Elizabeth Shapleigh of 1716), and "to each of my daughter Judith's children". Executors were to be son John, and daughter Hannah Shapleigh.

Phillip's son John Shapleigh, gent., wrote his will in Nov 1740. His bequests were to sister Hannah Shapleigh ("all my remaining estate not already given"; she was also to be executrix), my "cousin" (emphasis mine, as cousin was a loosely used word) Elizabeth Alliston, and "cousins" (they are obviously nephew and niece) Shapleigh and Susanna Neale. Elizabeth Alliston is no doubt John's niece as well, as shown by her John's parents' wills, and not, as would seem apparent from the 1716 and 1727/28 wills, John's daughter, as speculated above.

The only solutions that come to mind as to Elizabeth (Shapleigh) Alliston/Elliston's father, are [1] a son of Phillip who was not shown in the parish register or the 1716 will (probably he had died), or [2] one of Phillip's daughters married a Shapleigh and had a child by 1716. For Judith, this would mean that she had already remarried by 1716 and had (at least) two children by Neale by 1727/28. Phillip's will, however, clearly indicates that daughters Sarah & Hannah are single.

On 10 Jul 1740, Jarvise Ellistone's will mentions wife Elizabeth and daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth Elleston made her will on 24 Jul 1742, and it is clear, from her children's names, that she is Jarvises's widow. One of the witnesses to that will was Hannah Shapleigh. The executor named by Elizabeth was "brother Richard Haynie". Unless she meant "brother" as a fellow church member, extremely doubtful l think, this presents a problem. Hannah Shapleigh's presence as a witness leads one to think that this

MUST be the same Elizabeth (Shapleigh) Elliston/Alliston mentioned in the 1716 and 1727/28 wills as a granddaughter, but if so how did Richard Haynie then become her brother?

lt seems possible that Haynie was her step-brother, which would mean that her father, ____ Shapleigh, married a widow Haynie before, or after, he married Elizabeth's mother. Another possibility is that Elizabeth was an illegitimate daughter of one of Phillip's children, even of a daughter.

Whatever, our interest is with Phillip's daughter Sarah, unmarried and age 21 in 1716.

The fact that she is not mentioned in the wll of her mother Hannah, written in Feb 1727/28 is NOT because Sarah is not her daughter. Sarah, being the 4th known child of Phillip Shapleigh, must be Hannah's daughter, because Hannah in her will named John, Hannah and Judith, all of whom were older than Sarah, as her chidren. lt might be that Sarah was not named because of a disagreement with her mother, or that Sarah had died, perhaps so recently that her mother Hannah's imminent death was a result.

Hannah's will was signed 28 Feb 1727/28. Richard Fulks was appointed administrator of the estate of Sarah Arledge on 19 Apr 1727, less than a year before Hannah signed her will, and possibly explaining why Sarah was not in Hannah's will.

This is only circumstantial evidence however. lt seems possible that William Aldridge/Arledge might have married Sarah Shapleigh (she being about 10 years older than William's children by Alice (almost surely Fallon), his first wife).

Note that recently orphaned daughters seem to have, presuming they are of appropriate age, an inordinately high rate of marriage --- perhaps because the strict father who would not have consented is gone, and/or to relieve financial pressure on her mother, and/or the mother remarries to someone the daughter dislikes.

But this may very well only be coincidence, and besides there is a problem --- isn't there always? --- why didn't Hannah, in her 1727/28 will, mention Sarah's children lsaac and Sarah if indeed she was their grandmother?

Those two profiles are only two of many, and the interested reader is invited to profile some of the other Sarahs.