WILCOCKE, Henry (Grimwade p.701)

[silverly]

12 April 1721 Henry Wilcocke of the Parish of Saint Alban Wood Street Batchelor and Goldsmith aged above 23 years alleged his intention to marry Anne Biddle Spinster aged 18 years with the consent of her father William Biddle.

[silverly]

A minor note concerning Henry Wilcocke's freedom is that his master Maurice Boheme testified that Henry Wilcocke served four years of his apprenticeship and the rest was spent at sea. The master declared he was satisfied. (There is a chance that the missing years were spent in a press gang.) Coincidently, Henry Wilcocke was a signatory to the petition against assaying the work of foreigners not having served seven years.

[silverly]

12 April 1721 Henry Wilcocke of the Parish of Saint Alban Wood Street Batchelor and Goldsmith aged above 23 years alleged his intention to marry Anne Biddle Spinster aged 18 years with the consent of her father William Biddle.

Another minor note: Henry Wilcocke's father in law William Biddle was a Goldsmith of the Parish of Christ Church.

And I need to thank Trev for helping me with my previous entry in the this thread. I was struggling with deciphering the word sea, couldn't tell an "S" from and "L" and the idea of a press gang whether it truly applies or not would have never crossed my mind. So thank you very much.

[buckler]

It 's difficult to ascertain the actual period spent at sea . He entered apprenticeship in December 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 - 1714) and was made free in March 1715 . Rather than being employed in a press gang, it is more likely that he was actually impressed into the Navy for sea service around 1710 and only discharged at the end of the War. The press gangs always targeted seaman , but were not unwilling to grab healthy young 16/17 year old apprentices . Once aboard one of her Majesty's ships he was stuck until she decommissioned !