Mary Ann Barnett (née Brennand)

Mother of Hugh William Barnett (q.v.) and Mary Ann Tolfrey (q.v.) and widow of Hugh Barnett II (q.v.).

1. Gravestone in St John the Baptist churchyard, Bishops Tawton, Devon: "To the memory of Mary Ann, widow of Hugh Barnett Esquire, formerly of Jamaica, who closed a life of exemplary piety and virtue at Newport on the 26th day of October 1846 in the 78th year of her age." This gives her year of birth as c. 1768, corresponding to the baptism of Mary Ann Brennand in Holborn, London, 23/07/1768 and suggesting she was the sister-in-law of John Stockdale Brown (q.v.).

2. Will of Mary Ann Barnet of Newport near Barnstaple proved 31/12/1846. The will identifies her as the widow of Hugh Barnett. She left personal effects to relatives, but she left the bulk of her estate including land and a house at Kingsdown Gloucester [sic] in trust (her trustees included Richard Surry Todd and Utten Thomas Todd, both of whom q.v.) for her daughter Mary Ann Allen (formerly Mary Ann Tolfrey), the wife of Thomas Allen surgeon of Bristol.

1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124642513 [accessed 15/03/2018]; Ancestry.com, England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906 [database online].

2. PROB 11/2046/111.

We are grateful to Pauline McQuade for her assistance with compiling this entry.