edmund frost + rebecca meadows
Edmund was born at Hunston in Suffolk to Edmund Frost and his wife Lettice Moseley. The Frost Family pedigree lists Edmund’s baptism date as 7 March 1678 but this record has not been confirmed in available sources. The first confirmed record is his admission to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons as an Extra-Licentiate on 26 April 1704. An Extra-Licentiate was admitted to the College after supplying references that spoke of their experience and competence as a physician while Licentiates were admitted after successfully passing an examination. Edmund’s admission record notes that he practiced at Hunston so it appears he was still living at Hunston Hall at the time.
Edmund married Rebecca Meadows on 27 August 1706 at St Mary in the Marsh in Norwich, the same church where his sister Judith had married four years previously. Rebecca was born on 12 December 1682 in Stowmarket, Suffolk, the daughter of the Reverend John Meadows and Sarah Fairfax of Ousden.
St Mary Marsh
The church of St Mary Marsh was built in medieval times in the heart of Norwich to serve as the parish church of the cathedral close. Following the protestant reformation there were more churches in Norwich than were needed and many were pulled down, including St Mary in 1564. To appease the parishioners of St Mary’s the Bishop of Norwich allowed them to use one of the chapels in the cathedral as their ‘parish church’ and the baptismal and marriage records list the church as St Mary despite the fact they occurred in the chapel of St Luke at Norwich Cathedral.
Their first son Meadows was baptised at Hunston on 23 December 1707 followed by a daughter Rebecca in 1710 but sadly, she died four months later. Their second daughter also named Rebecca was baptised on 21 July 1712 and a third daughter, Mary, followed on 1 July 1713. Sadly, Rebecca died in childbirth and although Mary initially survived, she too died three months later. The family tragedy was compounded when daughter Rebecca died one month after Mary. Of their four children, only Meadows survived infancy.
According to the notation in the Visitation of Suffolk, Hunston Hall was sold in 1727 by the assigness of Edmund Frost. This could indicate that he could no longer afford the Hall or was forced into bankruptcy. There are no further records relating to Edmund until his death in 1743 and his burial at St Petronilla in Whepstead, a small village south of Bury St Edmonds.