William Doolittle and Elizabeth Swift

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Husband William Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 8 Mar 1696 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: Apr 1761 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
         Buried: 

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         Father: Thomas Doolittle (1656-1727)
         Mother: Ann Crump (      -      )

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       Marriage: 16 Aug 1729 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

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   Other Spouse: Mary Jackson (1707-      ) - 3 Mar 1732 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

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   Other Spouse: Sarah (      -      )

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Wife Elizabeth Swift

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 F Mary Doolittle

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           Born: 1730
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1737
         Buried: 

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2 F Margaret Doolittle

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           Born: Abt 1731
     Christened: 
           Died: 27 Jan 1731
         Buried: 

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General Notes (Husband)

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Clothier, weaver. This family as reconstructed by Bruce Moorhouse. He has a question mark after Sarah the first wife.

William was the elder surviving son when his father died, but was not named an executor of his father's will, was willed only one shilling, and his father's property and dye house went to half brother Joseph. Joseph and his young stepmother were made the executors.

William signed indentures and was apprenticed for four years to Wiliam Proctor, of Yorkshire, who was working in Kidderminster. Dollittle says that at the end of his apprenticeship his father provided for him to set him up in business, but unclear if she assumes this on the basis of her assumption, stated elsewhere, that this was done, or has some documentation. Around the time of his father's death, William began to receive parish relief. He was poor and unable to support his wife and children. Dollittle speculates if maybe he had a drinking or gambling problem. She also wonders if the string of marriage to teenaged girls created tension in Thomas Sr.'s household.

The Settlement Act required people moving to a new place in England to produce a certificate from their parish of origin stating that they would be accepted back if they failed to find work or whatever. William was born in Kidderminster, but his settlement status was examined and Justices of the Peace ruled in June 1728 that because he had been apprenticed to a master who was legally settled in Lockwood, West Yorkshire, that settlement also applied to his apprentice. He and his family were ordered conveyed to Lockwood, and handed over to the Overseers of teh Poor there, and compensation was requested from that parish for money already spent on the family. It is not known if William and family ever went to Yorkshire and what happened if they did. The authorities in Yorkshire would not have quietly accepted them.

By summer of 1729 William was back in Kidderminster, where several children were christened in the next several years.

William's second wife was from Old Swinford, and William tried to move there, but ran into trouble over his certificate because his settlement status was uncertain.

Dollittle tells us that work as a weaver or clothier was not as profitable as it had been in earlier times. Demand was declining for worsted cloth, that was produced in Kidderminster, and not all weavers could be kept employed.

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