In the summer of 1847 he married Emily Hood and several of their children were baptised in Nettlestead.

In 1861, Aaron and Emily Laflin were living in Nettlestead and Aaron was working as a "drainer". He had been born in Baylham while his wife Emily came from Haughley. With them were five children - William (a labourer aged 13 and born in Somersham), Sarah (aged 12), Emily (aged 6), Emma (aged 4) and Charles (aged 2).

In 1871, Aaron & Emily Laflin were living in a cottage in Nettlestead and Aaron was working as an agricultural labourer. With them were five children - William (an agricultural labourer aged 23), John (aged 12), Aaron (aged 9), Emily (aged 7) and Caroline (aged 5).

In 1881, "Aron and Emily Laffling" were living in Somersham and Aaron was working as an agricultural labourer. With them was their son Charles John (a boot and shoe repairer aged 22) but the other children seem to have left home. Their daughter Pheby Laffling (aged 18) was working as a domestic servant and living in the household of Charles Raffe in Clarkson Sreet, Ipswich.

They have yet to be found in 1891, but in 1901 "Arron and Emily Laflin" were living in the Main Street in Somersham and Arron was "living on parish relief". Aaron Laffling, aged 81, died in the third quarter of 1908. Emily Laffling, aged 90, died in the first quarter of 1912.

THEIR CHILDREN

1. WILLIAM LAFLIN was born in the third quarter of 1847, but no baptism record has been found. He was living with his parents in 1861 (aged 16) and in 1871 (aged 23). In the second quarter of 1874, he married Amy Groom. They had two daughters - Alice Lavinia (born in thesecond quarter of 1875) and Amy Rachel Emily (born in the first quarter of 1877). When they were baptised in Nettlestead on 30th June 1878, William was described as a labourer from Barking.

2. SARAH ANN LAFLIN was baptised in Nettlestead in 1849, but her birth does not seem to have been registered until the third quarter of 1851. Sarah Laflin, aged 12, was with her parents in in 1861 census but seems to have left home by 1871.

3. EMILY LAFLIN is a bit of a mystery. The easiest way to explain the somewhat contradictory entries is to assume several daughters called after their mother Emily. Emily Laflin died in the second quarter of 1854 and "Emily, aged 3, the daughter of Aaron and Emily Lafflin of Nettlestead" was buried in Nettlestead in April 1854. This suggests she was born in 1851 and raises the possibility that hes sister's name was given when her birth was registered in the third quarter of 1851.
Then in 1861, an "Emily Laflin" aged 6 (and so born around 1855) was living with her parents. No birth or baptism has been found for this Emily.
Finally in 1871, an Emily Laflin aged 7 was living with her parents in Nettlestead - no birth or baptism has been found for this Emily either. There are two possible explanations for this entry - firstly that her age should have been given as "17", in which case she is the same Emily born around 1855. Secondly the name was incorrect and she was in fact the daughter Phoebe born in 1863.

4. EMMA LAFLIN was born in the second quarter of 1856 and baptised in Nettlestead in July 1856. She was with her parents in the 1861 census, aged 4, but had left home by the 1871 census, when she was 15. Although the names "Emily" and "Emma" are often interchangeable, in 1861 there were clearly two daughters, one called Emily and one called Emma.

5. CHARLES JOHN LAFLIN was born in the third quarter of 1859 and he was baptised in June 1859. Having two names, he sometimes appeared under one and sometimes under the other. "Charles J." was with his parents in the 1861 census (aged 2), "John" was with them in 1871 (aged 12) and he was "Charles John" in 1881 (aged 22), when he was working as a “boot and shoe repairer”.

6. AARON LAFLING was born in the second quarter of 1861 and baptised in July 1861. He was with his parents (aged 9) in the 1871 census but had left home by 1881.

7. PHOEBE LAFFLING(probably called after her grandmother) was born in the third quarter of 1863 and baptised in September 1863. She was aged 7 in the 1871 census and should have been with her parents. Ifshe was there, then her name was given as “Emily”. She had left home by 1881 and was working as a domestic servant in Ipswich.

8. CAROLINE LAFFLIN was baptised in November 1865 and was with her parents (aged 5) in 1871, but no birth entry has been found for her. She had left home by 1881.

Sources for this section.

Parish Registers for Baylham and Nettlestead - available in Ipswich Record Office.
Civil Registration Indexes available online from FreeBMD.
Civil Registration Indexes and Census Data available online from Findmypast.

Page maintained by Susan Laflin. Last updated in December 2007.