{"id":34154,"date":"2026-03-23T11:51:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T11:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=34154"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:16:22","slug":"william-bushell-of-martham-1768-1823","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=34154","title":{"rendered":"William Bushell of Martham (1768-1823)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

William Bushell of Martham (1768-1823)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

William BUSHELL was killed by lightning during a violent thunderstorm on 25th<\/sup> August 1823 whilst taking his horse to Cess<\/a><\/em> Common in Martham. A vivid account of his death was published in the Norfolk Chronicle on 30th<\/sup> August as shown below.<\/p>\n\n\n

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William was born about 1768 and became a butcher. When he was 20, he married Susannah DRAKE on 23rd<\/sup> April 1788 at St Mary the Virgin,<\/a> <\/em>Martham and according to the newspaper report went on to have six children but I can only trace four who were all born in Martham as follows:-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. William BUSHELL who was born on 6th<\/sup> December 1789. He married Hannah KERRISON on 21st<\/sup> February 1815 at St Mary\u2019s.<\/a><\/em> He died in 1827 at Hemsby and was buried in an unknown grave at St Mary\u2019s<\/a><\/em>, Martham on 14th<\/sup> October 1827.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Robert BUSHELL who was baptised at St Mary\u2019s<\/a><\/em> on 20th<\/sup> June 1791. He married Susannah GALLANT on 7th<\/sup> November 1815 at St Mary\u2019s <\/a><\/em>and they went on have five children. They lived in a cottage on the east side of Cess Road <\/a><\/em>a short distance from the Common Road junction that was plot No606 in the 1842 Martham Tithe Award.<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Mary BUSHELL who was born on 8th<\/sup> July 1793. She married Robert GOOSE on 30th<\/sup> July 1811 at St Mary\u2019s.<\/a><\/em> They moved away and lived in Cambridge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Thomas BUSHELL <\/a><\/em>who was born in about 1792 based on his stated age when he died but this may be wrong as he was baptised at St Mary\u2019s<\/a><\/em> on 29th<\/sup> March 1795.  He married Hannah DEARY on 19th<\/sup> August 1823 at St Mary\u2019s<\/a><\/em>; Hannah was a widow having previously been married to William Rix SEAGO. Thomas inherited the land his father owned at Cess <\/a><\/em>and became a very successful grocer and draper. They lived at Hope Cottage<\/a><\/em> on The Green <\/a><\/em>for most of their life. The grand house still exists on the east side of The Green<\/a><\/em> and it may have been Thomas who had it built.
    Hannah died in 1876 and was buried at     St Mary\u2019s graveyard<\/a><\/em> in section F, plot L6 and Thomas was buried beside her on 8th<\/sup> March 1878 at section F, plot L5.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
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    Hope Cottage, The Green. Sept 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Under the 1807 Martham Inclosure Act,<\/a><\/em> William claimed he was the freehold owner of a cottage, barn, stable, yard, garden and pightle on a plot measuring one acre & two roods situated near the Common at Cess.<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the actual 1812 Martham Inclosure Award <\/a><\/em>he was allotted two plots Nos 209 & 210 that measured four acres, two roods and 17 perches held as copyhold of the Manor of Martham. <\/a><\/em>They were at the same place he had made the claim for in1807<\/a><\/em> and are shown on the map below. He may also have owned other freehold property in the village that was not subject to Inclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    After William\u2019s untimely death he was buried on 28th<\/sup> August 1823 at St Mary the Virgin, graveyard <\/a><\/em>in section F, plot L9. Susannah lived until she was 78 and was buried beside her husband in section F, plot L8 on 22nd<\/sup> August 1832.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    William Bushell’s gravestone at section F, plot L9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    Susannah Bushell’s gravestone at section F, plot L8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Back to People<\/span><\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    William Bushell of Martham (1768-1823) William BUSHELL was killed by lightning during a violent thunderstorm on 25th August 1823 whilst taking his horse to Cess Common in Martham. A vivid account of his death was published in the Norfolk Chronicle on 30th August as shown below. William was born about 1768 and became a butcher. … Continue reading “William Bushell of Martham (1768-1823)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-34154","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t