So little information is available about Frances Larkham, that I can only speculate about her age and origins in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. I know that she was the mother of Lancelot Larkham, because this relationship is stated clearly in the indenture for Lancelot's apprenticeship in 1749. My belief that she was the wife of Thomas Larkham, who appears in South Kingstown records from 1739 to 1746, is based on notes kept by my great-grandmother, and from the fact that Frances and Thomas are the only Larkhams mentioned in South Kingstown (or other Rhode Island) records for this time period.
In Lancelot's apprenticeship contract, Frances is named as "of South Kingstown in Kings County in the Colony of Rhode Island & Providence Plantation in New England Woosted Corner", Woosted Corner, no doubt being the name of a mill village in South Kingstown where "woosted", or worsted, was woven. This, and the fact that Frances bound her son as an apprentice to learn the trade of weaving, probably indicates that she, too, was involved with the weaving trade.
Thomas Larkham is recorded as having served in Captain Cole's Company during King George's War in 1746 and he disappears from the record books after this date, leaving me with the assumption that he died or left the area. At any rate, the fact that Frances was the one to place 8 ½-year-old Lancelot into an apprenticeship appears to be significant. My guess is that raising a son on her own presented Frances with a hardship that necessitated placing him into the care of others, despite the fact that age 8 was a bit early for an apprenticeship.
The parties involved in the apprenticeship of Lancelot may have had a significant relationship to Frances, whose maiden name is unknown. Lancelot was apprenticed to Joseph and Margaret Enos, weavers of Richmond. The indenture was witnessed by Anna Kinyon and John Webster. These four individuals were connected in several ways, and because of this and the fact that they were party to young Lancelot's apprenticeship, I have to wonder what their relationship was to Frances:
1. According to Marjorie Webster Schunke, who wrote A Line of Descent from John Webster of Westerly, it is "possible that the Margaret Webster who married Joseph Enos in Westerly 20 Sep 1716" was a sister of John Webster (who was a witness to the indenture).
2. Anna Kinyon, who also witnessed the indenture, is no doubt Anna (Barber) Kinyon, wife of Sylvester Kinyon. There were several documents during the mid-1700s in which John Webster signed as witness along with either Anna Kinyon, Sylvester Kinyon, or both of them. In fact, on May 15, 1749, all three witnessed the will of John Enoss.
3. John Webster married, for his first wife, Sarah Kenyon, a sister of Sylvester Kinyon (husband of Anna Barber Kinyon).
4. John Webster's eldest daughter, Hannah Webster, married Ezekiel Barber, Anna (Barber) Kinyon's older brother.
5. John Webster's youngest daughter, Elizabeth Webster, married John Kenyon, son of Sylvester and Anna (Barber) Kenyon.
6. John Webster's youngest son, Thomas Webster, married Patience Adams, born ca. 1745 in Richmond, daughter of John and Patience (Hall) Adams. Lancelot Larkham married 1763-1765, Prudence Adams, born July 29, 1741 in Richmond. I believe it's very likely that Prudence Adams was another daughter of John and Patience (Hall) Adams and a sister to Patience (Adams) Webster.
In 1751, Frances Larkham was paid 1£ from the estate of William Robinson (South Kingstown Town Council records, Volume 4, p. 370, Film # 093184). This is the last record I have found for her.
Sources
Indenture for the Apprenticeship of Lancelot Larkham of South Kingstown, Rhode Island to the Weavers Joseph and Margaret Enoss of Richmond, Rhode Island, July 7, 1749
(original document in the possession of Sally Russell Cox)International Genealogical Index parish register extraction listings from
the LDS Church's Family Search Internet Genealogy Service at http://www.familysearch.org/Search/searchigi.aspThe records of Sarah Clark Burdick
Rhode Island in the Colonial Wars by Howard M. Chapin, p. 22
South Kingstown, Rhode Island Land Evidence Records, pp. 275-277
(LDS Family History Library Microfilm # 0931301)South Kingstown, Rhode Island Town Council Records
(LDS Family History Library Microfilms # 0931833 and # 0931834)
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