The altercations between England and France feature in a variety of ways in the history of the Ogbournes. As early as 1697 William Ogbourne, of Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, a direct ancestor of the editor of this homepage, was hit hard (as detailed below) from a new tax introduced by King William III in 1695.
The preamble to the Act read
” An Act for granting to His Majesty certain Rates and Duties upon Marriages, Births and Burials, and upon Bachelors and Widowers, for the Term of Five Years, for carrying on a War against France with vigour.
Most Gracious Sovereign We Your Majesty’s most dutiful Subjects, the Commons in Parliament assembled, from a deep sense of the many great Occasions which engage Your Majesty in many extra-ordinary Expenses for the necessary Defence of Your Realms, and the Prosecution of a War against France with Vigour, have cheerfully and unanimously given and granted unto Your Majesty, as an additional Supply and Aid, the Rates, Duties, Impositions and sums of money herein-after mentioned; and we most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted, etc. etc. ”
Records in the Wiltshire County Record Office show that our unfortunate William had the misfortune to be taxed
one shilling as a bachelor in 1697,
two shillings and sixpence in 1701 when he married, and finally
two shillings in 1702 when his son John was born.
One wonders therefore whether William would have concurred with the “cheerfull and unanimous” sentiments expressed in the Act.
My several time over great grandfather was named William Ogbourne from Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England. He was born in 1603. He married Mary Tugge in 1635.
They must be related.
Hi Lynne, I read your comments about William Ogbourne being taxed to death…. getting to be that way again, isn’t it? LOL
Do you know his date of death? He is in my family tree when his daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Curtis.
Thanks,
Dorothie Miller
dorothiemiller@att.net
Hi Lynne, I read your comments about William Ogbourne being taxed to death…. getting to be that way again, isn’t it? LOL
Do you know his date of death? He is in my family tree when his daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Curtis.
Thanks,
Hi Dorothie, The William Ogbourne mentioned on the page died in 1744 in Wootton Bassett, in England, but I don’t think this is the same William – he had no daughter Elizabeth.
There have been a number of William Ogbornes in the USA, and Thomas Curtis is mentioned in information on the ogbourne.com website.