Rebecca Cresse Potter (née Evans)

Rebecca Cresse Potter, given as 'Mrs. Rebeckah C Potter', born in Jamaica but moved by 1820 with her family to Heavitree in Devon, where her second husband was buried in 1829. Daughter of Daniel Evans and Rebecca Cresse (d. 1825); sister of Rhodes Edward Evans, Ann Rachael Evans, Mary Clarke Evans and Frances Witter Evans; and sister-in-law of Christopher Luce Ramson (each of whom q.v.).

1. In 1841 Rebeckah Potter, 'Ind' was lving at Heavitree Devon with four of her children. In 1851 Rebecca C. Potter, annuitant, aged 64, born in Jamaica was living in Keyingham, Patrington, Yorkshire with her son James, curate of Keyingham, aged 24 born Heavitree Devon, and his family. In 1861 Rebecca Cress Potter widow aged 74 was living with two of her daughters (the older born in Jamaica and the younger identified erroneously as a grand-daughter) and two grand-daughters at Bowdon Cheshire. Death of Rebecca C. Potter aged 79 registered Q1 1866 Tonbridge Kent.

2. Her son, James Potter, Adm. pens. at PETERHOUSE, July 6, 1846. S. of James, of Exeter, deceased. Matric. Michs. 1846; B.A. 1850. Ord. deacon, 1850; priest, 1851. V. of Ellington, Hunts., 1852-73. V. of Tonge, Lancs., 1873-6. V. of Ringley, 1877-93. Married, 1861, at Ellington, Mary, dau. of William Ladds, of Ellington, and his wife Ann Inskip. Died May 25, 1893, at Ringley vicarage. (T. A. Walker, 489 and MS. note; Crisp, XVI. 80.)

3. One of the enslaved people 'owned' by Potter, William, described as a Creole, was executed by court martial in January 1832 [presumably for taking part in the rebellion].

1. 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses online; Ancestry.com, England & Wales, Free BMD Death Index: 1837-1915 [database online]

2. Ancestry.com, Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 [database online]

3. Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database on-line].

We are grateful to Patricia Jackson for her help with this entry.