People search
(married name will be ignored if broad check is ticked;
a broad check includes a search for nicknames, married names and other alternative names)Where were they from?
Search for places, see all people in the tree with events in that place, and (where added) see places marked on a map with photos, links and other information about the location.
Mary HACOM
Abt 1758 - 1842 (~ 84 years)
Has no ancestors but 23 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
-
Name Mary HACOM Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Abt 1758 Parham, Sussex, England 
- Assumed from baptism and date also from age in death registration
Baptised 3 Dec 1758 St. Peter’s Church, Parham, Sussex, England - From SFHG db
Mary Hacom, son of James and Mary
Gender Female Residence 1841 The Almshouses, Boxgrove, Sussex, England - Not stated to be the almshouses in the census, but a series of homes with mostly single elderly women occupying them strongly suggests this.
Mary was not alone, but had her granddaughter Caroline Hacom with her.
Died 25 Apr 1842 The Parish of Boxgrove, Sussex, England Cause: Decay of nature - Mary was still alive at the time of the 1841 census, but I have not found her in 1851 so she probably died between the two.
A 'Mary Ann Tapner' was bur in Boxgrove in 1847, age shown as 80
Was that this Mary?
The 1841 census includes a Mary Tapner living in Aldingbouirne (just about 2 miles from Boxgrove) whose age was a better match and who I can't find in the 1851 census.
Other deaths of "Mary Tapners" in Westhampnett RD were registered in 1842 and 1843.
The 1843 registration would seem to be that of a Mary Tapner buried in Westhampnett on 29th Dec 1843. Her age was given as 69 in the burial register. Since this Mary would have been about 85 by then it would not seem to be her.
I think the 1842 death was most likely to have been this Mary and this is the one for which I have bought the certificate and whose details are shown.
(GRO ref for the 1842 dth: q2 1842 TAPNER, Mary; Westhampnett RD 7 350)
The age is not a perfect match but close enough for an era when people weren't always sure of their age, especially later in life. (She was recorded as 87, should probably have been 83, possibly 84).
I thought at first the informant, Mary HOLCOMBE, who was present at the death, was her granddaughter of that name - till I realised she had died in 1822. I think it was probably her niece, daughter of her brother John. She appears not to have married and was buried in Boxgrove in 1850 aged 70.
Death certificate for Mary Tapner nee Hacom Notes - A Mary Tapner age 85 in Boxgrove St., in 1841 census guess prob this Mary - a Caroline Holkum (is this same name as Hacom?) in the same house - age 20.
nb/ these entries appear at end of a string of entries of old ladies living alone - I guess these were in Almshouses?
I did think that Caroline was likely to be a great niece or similar, but now believe that Caroline was Mary's granddaughter; see Caroline's entry for more details. - (Research):[ on Tony Holkham's PDF:
1767~ Hacom/Holkham Mary moved to Boxgrove from? [SRS32] p307*78
- this Mary or her mother? ]
Person ID I2041 All | Teresa's direct ancestors Last Modified 2 Feb 2025
Family Joseph TAPNER, b. Abt 1751, West Stoke, Sussex, England , d. 1805, Boxgrove, Sussex, England (Age ~ 54 years) Marriage License 8 Sep 1778 Archdeaconry of Chichester Married 10 Sep 1778 St. Peter’s Church, Westhampnett, Sussex, England [1] - source: SFHG Marr index
Mary HOLKHAM to Joseph TAPNER
A snag with this being the right marriage is the baptism of Rachel in 1772. That there was a Joseph Tapner who married Mary Hacom in 1778 seems clear. So were there 2 Josephs, did this one marry twice or was there a mistake in the baptism register and Rachel was not the son of Joseph? (see Rachel's entry for more on this last possibility)
Whatever the answer, it seems reasonable to suppose that the children bapt in Boxgrove 1778 - 1789 were the offspring of the Joseph and Mary who married in 1778.
The SFHG Marr Index has separate entries for the marriage licence (see below) and the marriage, 2 days later.
It shows the marriage as taking place in Westhampnett.
Tony Holkham's index, however, which also has entries for both the licence and the marriage shows the marriage as having been at Boxgrove! It has witnesses for the wedding - Richard Smith and William Rapson.
source: SFHG Marriage Index:
Place: Archdeaconry of Chichester Marriage Licence, Date: 8 Sep 1778:
Subject: Mary HACOM, spinster 19 with consent of father, James, of Boxgrove, husbandman
Spouse: Joseph TAPNER, bach 26 husbandman of Westhampnett
Extra Information: Sussex Record Society vol. 35
Children5 children Last Modified 2 Feb 2025 Family ID F1575 Family Group Page | Family Chart
-
Event Map Click to hide 
Born - Abt 1758 - Parham, Sussex, England 
Baptised - 3 Dec 1758 - St. Peter’s Church, Parham, Sussex, England 
Married - 10 Sep 1778 - St. Peter’s Church, Westhampnett, Sussex, England 
Child - George TAPNER - Abt 1789 - Boxgrove, Sussex, England 
Residence - 1841 - The Almshouses, Boxgrove, Sussex, England = Link to Google Earth (if installed; see link below to install) Pin Legend 
Sources - [S186] Sussex Marriage Index (up to 1837), Sussex Family History Group, ((2008)), Marriage of Joseph TAPNER to Mary HOLKHAM. (Reliability: 3).