Thomas Marchant

  General Notes:

Baptised privately as son of Mr John and Susannah Marchant. Edburton church b a p tism 23 Jan 1782
Buried as Thomas Marchant of Fulking aged 81
Quote from SUSSEX IN BYGONE DAYS
Reminiscences of NATHANIEL PAINE BLAKER M.R.C.S. which cites this Thomas March a n t thus:
I cannot help mentioning the Sussex smugglers, as I recollect some of them, w h o , when I knew them, came to Church regularly, and passed as most respectabl e m en , though a few years before they had ridden through the village in gang s of f ro m fifty to a hundred, well mounted and carrying rolls of silk and smal l barre l s of spirits, Hollands or Brandy, slung across their saddles, from th e coast i nt o the Weald. Many of the smaller farmers and tradesmen were smuggle rs, and th es e rose their own horses; but others hired horses in a rather summa ry manne r : th ey simply took a horse out of some stable, usually a farmer's, a t night a fter da rk, and returned the animal before daylight in the morning, al ways leavi ng a rol l of silk or barrel of spirits on the doorstep of the owner' s house. Th e rustic s were very superstitious, and the smugglers worked on thei r fears. On e mornin g the whole place was in consternation, owing to a report t hat two me n had bee n frightened close to a large wood by a ghost, which appear ed in the s hape of a n animal about the size of a calf, with flaming eyes. Ever yone was afr aid to g o near the place. Mr. Thomas Marchant, who gave me this ac count, went a nd examin ed it, and found a large quantity of smuggled goods.
This old gentleman, who was rather eccentric and a bachelor and a thorough spo r t sman, who still kept a few beagles, was very fond of children, some of whom , n o w "in the sere and yellow leaf," will recollect him as "Uncle Tom Marchant . " I w as a favourite with him, and he implanted in me the love of field sport s w hic h I have always retained. He believed himself, and I almost think correc tly , fo r I can account for it in no other way, that when about or over seventy , h e cu t a new set of teeth. What the real explana-tion may be I know not, bu t I d o kno w that, whereas he had at one time few or none, in the course of a f ew mon ths h e had a good set, of which he was not a little proud, and I have se en hi m freque ntly crack nuts to show how strong they were. My mother, who sa w a goo d deal o f Mr. Marchant's mother, told me that when very advanced in yea rs, sh e cut a bea utiful white tooth, from its situation in the jaw, I believe , a mola r. He had "n o opinion of parsons," and often said that when he died, h e hoped h e should hav e a "view halloo" over his grave. I was at his funeral so me years a fter at Edbur ton Church, which is situated some two or three hundre d yards fro m the foot of t he Downs. During the service a hare, hard pressed b y the Brighto n hounds, came o ver the front of the hills and squatted about hal f-way down the m, and perhap s a quarter of a mile to the east of the Church. A s the coffin wa s being lowere d into the grave the huntsman and hounds appeare d over the top o f the hill; he g ave the view-halloo, the hounds ran the hare i n view to abou t a quarter of a mil e to the west of the Church, where she was k illed exactly a s the service ended . So the old man had his wish.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Baptism: Private Baptism, 30 Nov 1781, Edburton, West Sussex England.