In the summer of 1630 a plague struck the Canterbury region and nearly wiped out the entire family of Stephen Carleton of Ashe and his wife Mary Stookes. The only survivors were their two children William Carleton (Of Ash) and his sister Ann Carlton Hatcher.

Mary was the first to die; she was buried April 16, 1630 at Ash next Sandwich. Stephen made his will June 6, 1630 "lying sick in his bed in an upper chamber of his then dwelling house in Ash." His will states that he was "sicke in body and perfect memory thankes be to God." Several persons who gave witness to the will later testified they read it to him and after he approved of it he set his mark on it. Stephen's will was probated on July 17th, indicating that he died between June 6th and July 17th, at the age of 52. His place of burial is unknown but since he died of the plague he may have been buried according to whatever ordinances were in effect concerning infected corpses.

During the 18 months between December 20, 1628 and June 12, 1630, Stephen's father William, his wife Mary, his son Stephen, his brother Richard and a servant (probably his brother's) were all buried. The Canterbury Corporation Archives Bunce Abridgement "Concerning the Infection of the Plague and the Orders made for preventing its Increase" records that beginning on June 8, 1630 through January 18, 1631(?) there was a plague rampant in the area. It is very probable that our 6 Carltons deaths should be included in the casualties from this visitation of the plague.

There seems to be no record of what type of plague was rampant in the summer of 1630. At this time both the bubonic or black plague and small pox were known as simply "plagues."

William was twenty when the plague took his father, his mother, his brother Stephen and his uncle Richard. This made William the only survivor to carry the family name. The 1½ years between 1630 and January of 1632 was the only time in the history of the direct line of the family that a single male was carrying the family name [actually only a 9 month period between the death of Stephen (I) (of Ashe) and the start of Ann's pregnancy with Steephen (II) (of Deal) in April of 1631]. There is every reason to believe that if William was living at home at the time (and he probably was) he was one of the rare persons who was actually immune to the plague. He may have been the only family member living in the house to survive (his sister was married and probably not living at home at the time).

Since the total value of his father's estate was about £25, William was not left with much to begin his life on his own. In addition, 1629 and 1630 were extremely bad years with much starvation and disease in the cities. It was a bad time to be left alone and it appears that William made a marriage for economic reasons, which was quite common at that time.

William and Ann Pollard were granted a license on September 14, 1631 to marry at St. George's Canterbury. Ann is recorded as "Agnes Pollard, widow of Lawrence Pollard late of Woodnesborough" and William is recorded as "yeoman . . . 21 years of age or thereabouts." William signed the marriage record himself in a well practiced hand. Lawrence Pollard had died only a few months previously, and it appears that Ann was following the custom of the time, which was to find a partner to "husband" the land as soon as possible. Woodnesborough is located near Ash, about 3 miles north of Tilmanstone. Most likely William was following in the footsteps of his father in marrying a widow, who probably had at least a small estate from her former husband to offer her new partner. At the time of the marriage Ann was about 5 months pregnant with their first son, Steephen. Although it is possible that the child was Pollard's, there can be no doubt that the pregnancy hastened the marriage. At this time the medieval practice of the wife being pregnant as proof of childbearing ability was still tolerated. However, a woman who bore a child out of wedlock ran serious risk to her standing in the community that could result in severe hardship. It was much wiser to marry prior to the birth, as William and Ann did.

This page was updated on 2-21-98. If you have queries or comments, email rcarlton@arkansas.net