William New and Elizabeth Collins (Parents of Ann New)

William New, son of Adam New and Anne Tandy was born December 29, 1780 at Upton-on-Severn, Worcester, England.  Upton was a market town and a parish on the Severn River about 5 ½ miles northwest of Tewkesbury.  William New married Elizabeth Collins on December 7, 1809 at Pershore, Worcester, England.  Elizabeth Collins, the daughter of Benjamin Collins and Elizabeth Waters was born December 7, 1790 at Pershore, Worcester, England

By 1810, William was designated as a weaver.  Prior to the Industrial Revolution, men and women worked in their own homes aided by their families and apprentices.  The women prepared the yarn on their spinning wheels in their cottages; the men worked the looms that stood in the living rooms or in their sheds.

In 1817, he was the Head Constable at Upton-on-Severn.  For hundreds of years the parish constable had kept the peace.  This was a yearly office, a voluntary assignment.  Men were selected from the parish and appointed by the Justice of the Peace for the county. 

William New died September 29, 1845 at Upton-on-Severn, Worcester, England and was buried there. 

Elizabeth was said to have kept a confectionary store selling candy, cakes and such sweets.  She was fair complexioned and good-looking. 

Elizabeth watched her married daughters leave for America to join the Saints in Utah in the 1850’s.  The girls faithfully wrote to their mother sharing the events of their new lives.  Elizabeth eventually joined the Church in November 1870, just two months prior to her death. 

Elizabeth (Collins) New died January 25, 1871 at Upton-on-Severn, Worcester, England and was buried there.

 The Last Will and Testament of

William New and Elizabeth(Collins)New

In the name of God, Amen.  This 9^th day of September in the year of our lord God, 1845, I William New, a weaver, within the county of Worcester, England, being sick in body but whole and sound in mind and of good and perfect remembrance, do make my last will and testament in the manner following:

I bequeath my soul to Almighty God my maker and to His Son Jesus Christ my only Savior and Redeemer, and my body to this earth.

I bequeath to my dearly beloved wife Elizabeth, all my love, worldly goods and possessions.

I bequeath to my children: Sarah Passey; Elizabeth Bates; Stephen William New; Ann Passey; and John New; an inheritance to weave their eternal tapestries to wit:

·        Golden fibers to set the pattern to love the lord thy God will all thy heart, might, mind and strength

·        Entwined with silver yarns to serve thy God and one another with love

·        Colored threads to be of faith, courage and industry interwoven with those of honesty, trust, diligence and benevolence

That we may be found worthy of a joyful reunion in the hereafter, I do make and constitute mine executors of this my last Will and Testament.

William New

In the name of God, Amen.  I, Elizabeth New, a widow and shopkeeper, this 5^th day of January in the year 1871, in the parish of Upton, county of Worcester, England, do make a codicil to my husband William New’s will of 1845.

I bequeath to my daughters, their husbands and families: Sarah and William Passey, and Ann and John Passey, also my granddaughter Mary Ann Bates Ellsworth; all my love, my prayers and my faith in them.  They left their earthly inheritance in England, their loving mother, family and home, for our God and His Church, to pioneer and build His Kingdom in the Bear Lake Region in America.

I bequeath that the fibers in their eternal tapestries be strengthened through their sufferings of hunger, cold, sickness, adversity and death.  That the threads add a brighter sheen through faith, hope and charity.  That the beautiful designs be continued in happiness and success of their posterity.

This inheritance will turn the hearts of the children to their fathers as we await the promised reunion in our Heavenly Home.  I do hereby set my hand.

Elizabeth New