Zachariah Fitch **

   Cause of his death was General Decay.

   Another name for Zachariah was Zechariah Fitch.

  General Notes:

Zachariah was a non-conformist, as several of the children were baptised in non-conformist churches. These were Protestants who did not conform to the disciplines or rites of the Anglican church. There were several groups including the Puritans, Quakers, Presbyterians and Baptists. They were subject to persecution in England with many fleeing to the US (e.g. the Pilgrim Fathers). There are a number of people named Zecharia/Zacharia Fitch mentioned in US genealogies dating back to the 1600's, many of whom came from Hertfordshire and are probably connected to this family (see below). Ancestry DNA confirms links to numerous people who are descendants of Fitch people who were prominent pioneers in Connecticut and had their origins in Essex, England. At this stage the common ancestor couple is speculated to be George Fitch b. 1566 in Bocking, Essex, England d. 12 May 1605, same place and Joan Thurgood b 1578 Elsenham, Essex, England d. 1661 Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

There are records of Zachariah Fitch in Ware in the Hertfordshire Militia Lists. These Lists recorded details of men aged between 18 and 45 in respect of liability for militia service from 1757 until about 1807. There is only one Fitch recorded in Ware: Zachariah. His occupation is recorded as Butcher (note that wife Elizabeth's occupation in the 1841 Census was recorded as Butcher also) and he is listed for the years 1793-94, 1796-1798, and 1801. Assuming he joined at age 18, this suggests a birth year of 1775. His address for 1793, and 1797-98 was listed as "Ware Infra" which refers to the environs of Ware Town, for 1794-1796, simply "Ware", and for 1801, "Ware Extra" which refers to the west and north west of Ware Town.

There was a Zakary Fitch buried in Ware on 20 May 1824. It is likely that this was his son born in 1812.

In 1822 "Zacharia" was named as one of two Executors to the Estate of his father-in-law, William Cordell.

The Pigot's Directory for Hertfordshire 1839 records Zachariah Fitch as a Butcher in Baldock St - the same location where his wife Elizabeth is recorded as a Butcher in the 1841 Census. This does not mean he was actually still alive in 1839, of course.

Indeed, his Death Certificate records that "Zechariah" Fitch, a Butcher, died on 8 December 1838 in the Hoxton House Luncatic Asylum in Shoreditch. He was aged "abt 62 years" and the informant was the Surgeon at the Asylum. A this time Hoxton House was the largest and major Lunatic Asylum in London.

An Elizabeth Fitch also has a death record in Shoreditch but she was not his wife. Shoreditch is not far from where their son William lived in Cheshunt.

Zacharia and Elizabeth possibly followed naming conventions in naming their children since the second born son and first born daughter were named after Elizabeth's parents. This could mean that the first born son would be named after Zachariah's father and the second born daughter after Zachariah's mother.

Their first son was named Isaac and the second daughter Sarah Ann. There is a record of an Isaac Fitch baptised 29 March 1749 in the Haverhill Old Meeting House, Suffolk. Isaac's parents were Zachariah and Sarah Fitch of Bumsted (probably Steeple Bumpsted just nearby). This is just 42 miles NW of Ware. Of interest is that this Isaac married Sarah Wiseman on 8 May 1770 in Steeple Bumpstead. The 1851 Census records a Samuel H Fitch, 72, and his sister Elizabeth, 62 living in Bishops Stortford, Herts. Both unmarried and born in Bumpstead. He is a retired Butcher (as Zachariah below was) and she a Schoolmistress. They are possibly children of Isaac and Sarah, and possibly siblings to Zachariah. Interestingly there is also a father and son Zachariah Fitch (surname recorded as "Tibek" at Ancestry.com) recorded in the 1851 census living at Balsham Cambridgeshire (not too far from Steeple Bumpstead). Zacharia Snr is 83, widowed, a pauper and butcher born Fulbourn. Son Zachariah is unmarried, 46, also a butcher. Living with them is another son Richard, unmarried, 48, a butcher and daughter Jane, unmarried, 44, a housekeeper. All these children were born in Balsham.

Despite the interesting naming connections, geographical proximity and the common trade - butchers - I have so far been unable to conclusively prove Zachariah's birth or parentage.

DNA
DNA links to numerous Fitch descendants in the USA strongly suggest that Zachariah is a descendant of George Fitch b. 1566 in Bocking, Essex, England d. 12 May 1605, same place and Joan Thurgood b 1578 Elsenham, Essex, England d. 1661 Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. (Or George's parents, Roger Fitch and Margery Humphrey) Bocking is only 32 miles away from Ware. I show DNA links to several descendants of at least 1 of their sons - Thomas Fitch b 13 Jun 1590 at Brazen Head Farm, Braintree Essex, England who married Anne Reeve b 25 Nov 1590 at Gosfield, Essex, England. They also had children named Zachary/Zacharie (amongst many others). One of these sons was apparently born in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Thomas had a brother Zachery also. More work to be done to identify the intermediate generations.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He worked as a Butcher from 1793 to 1801 in Ware, , Hertfordshire, England.

• He worked as a Butcher according to his Death Certificate.

Zachariah married Elizabeth Cordell **, daughter of William Cordill and Elizabeth Pickett, on 21 Nov 1799 in Broxbourne, , Hertfordshire, England. (Elizabeth Cordell ** was born in 1777 in Ware, , Hertfordshire, England, christened on 7 Mar 1777 in Ware, , Hertfordshire, England and died after 1851.)

  Marriage Notes:

They were both recorded as being of the Parish (Broxbourne). Witnesses were [Unrecognisable Initials] du Bois, Ann Cock and John Walpole.