| Home Page | Root Page | Census Records | GRO Records | Parish Records | Names Directory |
Elizabeth (3) Woodhurst was born to parents Andrew (3) Woodus and his wife Susannah. She was christened on January 29th 1792 with her surname spelled as Woodus [Fairlight Parish Register].
She is the only known candidate for the "Elizabeth Woodhurst" named in the Fairlight Parish Register as the mother of three illegitimate daughters christened during the period 1814-1824.
She married at Pett on March 16th 1825 to James Foster [Pett Parish Register]. Descendants' reports state the following: James was baptized at Mountfield - about 10 miles NNE of Hastings - on December 4th 1803 of parents Daniel Foster and Elizabeth (nee) Sellens; after his mother died in November 1818 his father Daniel remarried to a widow Sarah (nee Relf) Stone by whom he had four further children, including sons named Jonas and Reuben.
The 1851 Census finds Elizabeth (3) and James with their unmarried sons Joshua and Edgar living in Pett Street, Pett where James was occupied as a grocer and employing Joshua likewise. Edgar was occupied as a butcher.
The 1861 Census finds them still in Pett Street where James was occupied as a carrier and grocer. Also present was their grandson John Foster aged "12" and born in Pett.
The 1871 Census finds them, with no other family, again in Pett Street but now within Fairlight parish. James was occupied as a carrier.
Elizabeth (3) died at Pett aged 82 in 1874 [Death Index: Hastings 2b 9, 1874 (Sept)] and was buried in Fairlight. James died aged "76" in 1880 [Death Index: Hastings 2b 10, 1880 (Sept)].
Charlotte was buried at Pett on October 5th 1828 [Parish Register].
Descendants' reports state the following: Alfred, who was a mariner, married Maria Britt in 1853 and produced at least five known children, but possibly as many as thirteen; Edgar, who was a seaman/mate, married Elizabeth Lewis in 1853 and produced at least three children; Joshua was born on December 27th 1829 and married Harriet Rayner in the Isle of Wight in 1856; he had been a grocer but became a Bible Christian Missionary and in 1856 emigrated with his wife to Australia; he arrived in South Australia in 1860 and lived there until his death in 1920; he and Harriet produced five children.
A history of this Foster family, written by one of Joshua's grandchildren Mary Bailey and titled "Fostering Good Relations", has been deposited at both Pett Parish Church and the Sussex County Records Office at Lewes.