Jane Phillips (1753-1800)

Jane Phillips was baptised on 11th June 1753 in St Erth, Cornwall, England. Her parents were John and Jane Phillips. Her siblings were Ann and Joseph.

Child out of Wedlock
At age 16, Jane had a child out of wedlock with a man by the name of James Rodda. James was the son of Matthew and Mary Rodda (nee Davey) of Crowan, and was 21 years old. The child was called Matthias Williams Rodda and was born at Falmouth on the 10th December 1769. It appears the couple may had the child in Falmouth to discreetly hide the birth from their communities.

Marriage
Whether the couple hid the birth from their family or community or not, they married 16 days later, in James' hometown of Crowan, on the 26th December 1769.

The couple initially settled in Crowan, but were in Gwinear for the baptism for their third and remaining children.

Birth of Grandchild
On the 10th January 1796, Jane and James baptised a child by the name of Matthew Rodda in the parish church at Gwinear. Because this child was born some 7 years after the birth of their youngest son, John Phillips, it is suspected that this child is not their child, but their grandchild. In the same way that James and Jane tried to hide the birth of their first child due to being born out of wedlock, it is beleived thay may have baptised this child for one of their own children to give it some legitimisy. Further investigation is required to determine this though.

Death
Jane was buried in Crowan on the 15th March 1800, aged 47. Her cause of death is currently unknown.Husband James would outlive her by 10 years.

Children

 * colspan="3" bgcolor="#FFfce0" style="color: #000000;" |Children of James and Jane Rodda
 * colspan="3" bgcolor="#FFfce0" style="color: #000000;" |Children of James and Jane Rodda