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Grace SHELLEY
Abt 1723 - 1800 (~ 77 years)
Has 2 ancestors and 241 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
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Name Grace SHELLEY Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Abt 1723 Thakeham, Sussex, England 
- From age at 1773 marriage given as 48 born abt 1725.
Date and place shown assumed from baptism entry.
Baptised 13 Nov 1723 St. Mary’s Church, Thakeham, Sussex, England [1, 2] - Assuming it was this Grace who married Thomas Grayley, I had wondered from the age there if she was the Grace, dau. of Nicholas Shelley, bapt Thakeham in 1723. The will of William Harwood more-or-less confirms this, since he was the son-in-law of that Nicholas Shelley, and left bequests to Grace's children.
Gender Female Residence 1742 Old Brewhouse, Tarrant Street, Arundel, Sussex, England - I am guessing that during her very brief marriage to Philip Newman, Grace would have lived in the messuage attached to the Old Brewhouse, and that this was where Philip was a brewer.
Grace was aged about 19 when she married Philip, and may have thought she was doing well for herself in marrying someone with a business and property; if so she may have been disappointed.
Nearly nine years before Grace married Philip, he and his then wife had mortgaged the whole of the "Old Brewhouse", consisting of messuage, malthouse, storehouse.
(from West Sussex Record Office catalogue entry)
Died 1800 Chichester, Sussex, England - Assumed from burial entry.
Buried 8 Aug 1800 St. Pancras’ Church, Chichester, Sussex, England [3] - Was the burial this Grace Grayley? Fits nicely with a Thomas remarrying
Siblings2 sisters Patriarch & Matriarch 
Notes - Thakeham is about 12 miles south of Warnham where Percy Bysshe SHELLEY was born - am I related to to the latter?
- (Research):
Grace's husbands?
Tapner does not appear to have been a common name in the small parish of West Stoke. The SFHG database has burials from West Stoke for 1551 to 1900 - but only the one burial for a Tapner, for Henry in 1757.
It has baptisms for 1551 to 1900, but only 5 baptisms of Tapners: the one child of Henry's brother Benjamin, born a few months before Benjamin was hung (leaving a widow Hannah), 3 children of Henry and Grace* and a child of the widowed Grace, baptised 4 years after Henry was buried in West Stoke.
In addition there were not many Tapner entries in neighbouring parishes - some in Funtington but of the same families (i.e. Henry and his brother Benjamin). Most Tapner 'cmb's were a few miles further East.
However, there were a number of Tapner marriages in West Stoke:
Mary TAPNER (of Aldingbourne) to John Wiltshire (otsp) - 1749;
Grace (1) TAPNER to John PONTEN - 1764 [ there must be more info in the PR than in the index]
Grace (2) TAPNER (wid aged 48, otp) to Thomas GRAYLEY (bach aged 21, of East Lavant) - 1773
Grace (3) TAPNER to John BOULLAR (bach, both otp) - 1774
The paucity of events in the area means it is probable that the marriages were of close relations:
I guess that Mary was a sister of Henry (s-in-law of Grace) whose baptism I haven't discovered; there was a cousin Mary bapt 1727 but she appears to have died infancy.
* - it actually shows 2 children of Henry and Grace, and a son Henry of Thomas and Grace. I think this is a mistake and should be Thomas son of Henry and Grace (as recorded on the FamilySearch website). It can't be Henry's brother Thomas as he had died some years earlier.
Henry and Grace's dau Grace was only 9 in 1764 so that marriage can't have been hers; it seems unlikely to have been a Grace from the Boxgrove area, so I think it probably this Grace. I have therefore attached it to her, with more notes with the marriage event entry.
The marriage licence info that Grace was aged 48 and a widow points to this Grace for the 1773 marriage.
I expect that the 1774 marriage was the daughter of Henry and Grace.
Person ID I2059 All | Teresa's direct ancestors Last Modified 25 Mar 2023
Father Nicholas SHELLEY, d. Between 17 May 1755 and 7 Jul 1756
Other Partners: Catherine HAYLER m. 17 Jul 1743Mother Mary WITHER, d. Bef 1743 Married 1713 Marriage License 1 Oct 1713 [4] Archdeaconry of Lewes Family ID F5967 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 1 John PESCOD, b. Abt 1695, bur. 3 Apr 1777, St. Mary’s Church, Funtington, Sussex, England (Age ~ 82 years) Married? Not married or evidence to suggest they didn't marry Notes - Since there is no burial of a John on the SFHG database in West Stoke or Funtington or otherwise nearby until 1777, after Grace appears to have remarried once if not twice, it looks as though the relationship was not a permanent one.
It's possible Grace was working for John; I will try to find out more about him.
Children 1. Sarah TAPNER, bap. 19 Feb 1761, St. Andrew’s Church, West Stoke, Sussex, England , d. Yes, date unknownLast Modified 25 Mar 2023 Family ID F5961 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 2 Philip NEWMAN, b. Est 1684, d. Abt 1743 (Age ~ 59 years)
Other Partners: Sarah STANDLY m. 23 Jun 1712Marriage License 2 Oct 1742 [5] Archdeaconry of Chichester Married 3 Oct 1742 All Saints’ Church, Chichester, Sussex, England [6] Last Modified 28 Aug 2015 Family ID F5963 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 3 Henry TAPNER, b. Abt 1717, Aldingbourne, Sussex, England , d. 1757, West Stoke, Sussex, England (Age ~ 40 years) Married 22 Jan 1743/44 St. Mary’s Church, Pulborough, Sussex, England [7] Children8 children Last Modified 19 Mar 2021 Family ID F1583 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 4 John PONTEN, d. Yes, date unknown Married 13 Oct 1764 St. Andrew’s Church, West Stoke, Sussex, England - Was the marriage of this Grace? I think it probably was though (1) I haven't found the death of a John PONTEN to fit (only checked SFHG database); (2) Grace should have been recorded as Grace Ponten when she married in 1773, unless this marriage had been shown to be void for some reason (in which case there would be no need for the death of a John Ponten).
I don't believe she could have got away with a bigamous marriage in 1773 with it being, like this one, in the tiny parish of West Stoke.
Last Modified 20 Mar 2021 Family ID F5962 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 5 Thomas GRAYLEY, b. Abt 1752, bur. 11 Jan 1821, St. Andrew’s Church, West Stoke, Sussex, England (Age ~ 69 years) Married 5 Dec 1773 St. Andrew’s Church, West Stoke, Sussex, England [8] Marriage License 5 Dec 1773 [9] Archdeaconry of Chichester Last Modified 19 Mar 2021 Family ID F5964 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- From age at 1773 marriage given as 48 born abt 1725.
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Sources - [S115] Family Search - England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://new.familysearch.org )), accessed 30 Sep 2013), entry for Grace Shelly, person ID JWN2-V4N. (Reliability: 3).
(entry on FamilySearch website) - [S104] Sussex Family History Group Data Archive, Sussex Family History Group, ((http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php )), accessed 30 Sep 2013), Will of William Harwood of Pulborough (Peope Index entry id 129974). (Reliability: 3).
Transcribed abstract of will includes
"Catherine Shelley Widow of my said Wife Mary's father Nicholas Shelley late of Thakeham Sussex Gentleman deceased
the Children of Henry Tapner late of Funington (Funington?) Sussex Bricklayer deceased"
(SFHG index entry - only viewable by members of the SFHG) - [S104] Sussex Family History Group Data Archive, Sussex Family History Group, ((http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php )), accessed 21 Oct 2013), Burial of Grace GRAYLEY. (Reliability: 3).
Simply shows burial of Grace GRAYLEY, no relationship or age or any other details noted - [S186] Sussex Marriage Index (up to 1837), Sussex Family History Group, ((2008)), Marriage licence for the marriage of Nicholas SHELLEY to Mary WITHER. (Reliability: 3).
Shows Nicholas as gent of Warminghurst
(Sussex Record Society vol. 6) - [S186] Sussex Marriage Index (up to 1837), Sussex Family History Group, ((2008)), Marriage licence for marriage of Philip NEWMAN to Grace SHELLY. (Reliability: 3).
Shows Philip was a widr, malster, of Arundel; Grace a spinster of Arundel.
Sussex Record Society entry 32; sponsers for licence: Philip NEWMAN and Richd HURST - [S186] Sussex Marriage Index (up to 1837), Sussex Family History Group, ((2008)), Marriage of Philip NEWMAN to Grace SHELLY. (Reliability: 3).
- [S188] Family Search - England Marriages, 1538–1973, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://new.familysearch.org )), entry for Henry TAPNER and Grace SHELLY, person ID NKBS-YB9. (Reliability: 3).
Gives year as 1743. Entry on FamilySearch website. Prob OS date as most FamilySearch entries are, and another FS entry for the same marriage gives year as 1744.
Both entries give Grace's surname as Shelly despite that being her maiden name and her having been married to Philip Newman. Need to see PR to confirm details. - [S186] Sussex Marriage Index (up to 1837), Sussex Family History Group, ((2008)), Marriage of Grace TAPNER to Thomas GRAYLEY. (Reliability: 3).
Grace otp, Thomas bach of East Lavant (married by licence) - [S186] Sussex Marriage Index (up to 1837), Sussex Family History Group, ((2008)), Marriage licence for marriage of Grace TAPNER to Thomas GRAYLEY. (Reliability: 3).
Shows Grace a widow, aged 48 of West Stoke; Thomas a bachelor, aged 21 [sic], husbandman, of East Lavant
(from Sussex Record Society, volume 32)
- [S115] Family Search - England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://new.familysearch.org )), accessed 30 Sep 2013), entry for Grace Shelly, person ID JWN2-V4N. (Reliability: 3).