Alice Underdowne (1602-)

Baptism
Alice Underdowne was the first child of George of Marie Underdowne that we have a record of. She was baptized in Ottery St Mary on the 31st October 1602.

Her father was a labourer and, if he worked on a farm, it is likely that Alice spent her childhood on a farm in the Ottery St Mary area.

Death of father
Alice’s father George died in January 1609 when she was 6 years old. How her mother raised Alice and her siblings after his death is not yet known.

Child out of Wedlock
Alice had a daughter called Marie (after her mother) out of wedlock. The child was baptized in Ottery St Mary on 26th July 1630. The child only lived just over two months and was buried on 11th October 1630. No location is recorded for the burial, but it is assumed to be Ottery St Mary.

Marriage
Alice was married in Ottery St Mary on the 12th January 1633 to Mark Staple, the man who is recorded as the father to her out-of-wedlock child. His origins are currently unknown but there a John Staple, physician active in Ottery St Mary around the time who left a will in 1684 (and was active in the town in 1665). By the contents of the will, it does not appear that Mark was directly related to this man (as he names his siblings and children, and they do not match this family), but he may have been distantly in some manner.

==Children=

Alice and Mark would have three more children that we know of, all baptized in Ottery St Mary – Peter on 9th November 1634, a female child (name unknown) in 1636, and John on 2nd September 1638.

Civil War
In 1645, with the country split in half and fighting each other during the Civil War, Ottery St Mary became a busy garrison town under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax. Oliver Cromwell visited and stayed in Ottery St Mary when he came to survey the progress of his army in the south west of England. He allowed his troops to remain in the town after their campaigns, in order that they should have some rest and recuperation. During his stay, Fairfax and Cromwell set up their campaign headquarters in Ottery's Chanters House where they plotted the next stage of their campaign and their next movements. However, an outbreak of an epidemic was instrumental in finally moving troops out of the area.

How Alice, Mark and family were affected by these events is not yet known.

Death
No record of Alice of Mark’s burial has been located at this stage.

Children

 * colspan="3" bgcolor="#FFfce0" style="color: #000000;" |Children of Mark and Alice Staple
 * colspan="3" bgcolor="#FFfce0" style="color: #000000;" |Children of Mark and Alice Staple