HANNAH don’t mess with me HUTCHINS

 

Name                         Hannah (Ann):  Hutchins / Hutchings / Hitchins / Benton / Benson / Samuels

Born                            Islington 1805 or (probably) 1807

Height                        5 feet

Complexion              Pale and pock pitted

Hair                             Brown

Eyes                           Light blue

 

 

At the end of her life, buried in the same plot as Henry at St Stephens Church Newtown, Hannah’s mention on the headstone(2) ends abruptly, broken and incomplete, you’re left feeling Henry is the main character. In truth, he’s a player, but Hannah is the star.

 

For us Samuels mob, Hannah’s story begins with her arrest. Nothing is known of Hannah before then, and we’re unlikely to find out until all the Islington Parish records are digitised or someone laboriously does a manual search of the archives of the Islington Parish and pre-trial Police records.

 

Parish Records were important documents used to confirm a person’s belonging to that Parish. The parish collected taxes and was responsible for the well being of their parishioners, which is why they fiercely defended “their own”, ordering pregnant women from an other parish out of the parish (sometimes forcibly) before they gave birth. It’s not surprising that all of Hannah’s kids were baptised.

 

It’s hard to imagine Hannah’s early life, and I doubt she anticipated or imagined anything of the dramatic and sudden upheaval of her teenage years. But there’s no doubt whatsoever about her spirit and ability to push on and make the best of any situation, no matter how difficult.

 

By the time she died in 1864 she had outlived two husbands, raised and educated 7 kids, buried one unnamed son(3), run a successful business, and saw all but Ellen and James Charles married, and she had at least 16 or 17 grandchildren, possibly more.

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