He married Frances Durrant on the 18 May 1671 at the same church, Frances in turn had been baptised at Brettenham  twenty years earlier in 1651.

From the Hitcham parish register it was possible to locate the baptism dates for many of the children, [2] these were at regular intervals starting in 1672 with Thomas and some 22 years later with Robert R40 my direct descendant in 1694. A search of the burials Register revealed the burial of two children, prior to Thomas's death in 1711, John R113 in 1679 and Anne R114 in 1688.

Of interest is John R108 who appears to have been baptised in 1681 with the name of his deceased brother, some two years after his death; this apparently was not uncommon. His elder sister Frances was married to a Henry Leaver [3] in 1696 at Hitcham. It is noted that for the period 1681 to 1691 there are no baptism record at Hitcham for the children. It is assumed that it was during this period Mary, Jane, William and Anne were born and possibly baptised elsewhere.

An extract of the Raynham Tree covering this family is shown on the next page.

There has much speculation concerning the number of children that Frances bore over the 22-year period, assuming that Frances was the mother, a search of the IGI [4] and later confirmed in the Brettenham parish register establishes her baptism in 1652. Assuming that she was born around this time, she would have been approximately 19/20 years of age at marriage; it is therefore feasible that she had Robert R40 in her early forties.

The location of Thomas's will, by Chris Alexander [5] provided significant details of his surviving family, particularly the children. The will was witnessed on the 4 October 1711 having been made out on the 8 August 1711, a photo of the will and its transcript [6] is shown below.

In the Name of God Amen the Eighth day of August in the Tenth yeare of the Reigne of our Sovereigne Lady Anne by the Grace of God of Great Brittan France & Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith &c Annoqr Dom. One Thousand Seven hundred & eleven. I Thomas Raynham of Hitcham in the county of Suff. Yeoman the Elder Although at this psent Time of Sounde & pfect Minde & Memory, Thanks be given unto Almighty God therefore, yet being somewhat ill & weake of Body And Considering the Frailty & Uncertainty of my Life & the uncertainty of my Death And howsoone it may happen unto me God Almighty Onely Knows & being now of a disposing Mind doe Make this My Last Will and Testament as herafter following And first & principally I Committ my Soule into the hands of Almighty God my Maker who gave it And my Body to the Earth from whence it Came to be decently & in Christian like Manner Buried at the Will and discretion of My Executors hereafter to be Named And as Touching that pte & portion of Worldly Estate & goods which God have Graciously Lent Me I give and dispose thereof as hereafter following And my Mind & desire is that all such Just & due debts as at the Time of My decease I shall happen unto any pson or psons to owe Together with all my Funerall Charges & probett of this my Will be first well & Truly satisfied & paid Itm I give & bequeath unto my sonne Thomas the sume of Five pounds to be paid unto him within one yeare next after my decease Itm I give & Bequeath unto Frances my Wife the sume of Forty pounds of Lawful British Money Itm I give & Bequeath unto my Sonne James the sume of Five shillings of Lawful British Money Itm I give and bequeath unto my sonne Lawrence the sume of Five pounds to be pid unto him one yeare next after my decease Itm I give and bequeath unto my Four Daughter (That is to say) Frances Leaver Daughter Mary Daughter Jane Daughter Elizabeth And to my Two Sonnes (that is to say) William & Robert And to each & every of them my sd foure daughters And two sonnes the sume of Tenn pounds a piece of Lawful British Money to be paid unto them and each of them respectively within one Whole Yeare Next after my decease Itm I give and Bequeath the sume of Fifty poundsof Lawful British Money to rest & remaine in the hands of my Executors hereafter to be named to be by them very Carefully Kept & Improved to the sole use & benefit of my sonne John of whome I desire My Executors to take speciall Care being not so Capable to take care for himself. And if the overplus of my Estate & Stock after all my sd debts discharges will not amount unto or be sufficient to Answer all other my gifts & Legacies herein bequeathed & mentioned So as my sd sonne James (by virtue of Executorship) may have as good a portion as any of his Brothers have had and will have Then my Mind & desire further is that Every of my other Children (the sd John my sonne onely excepted) shall beare a proportionalle share in whatsoever shall fall short or be wanting as aforesd. And I doe nominate Appointe and Make the sd Frances my very Loving Wife And the sd James my sonne joynt Executors to this my Will Earnestly desiring them my sd Exors to se this my Will duely & carefully pformed & fulfilled in Every respect According to the purport True Intente & Meaning hereof (And especially relating to my sd sonne John) And so revoking all former & other Wills by me at any time made I doe declare and make this writing Conteyned in one Sheet of paper to be my Last Will & Testamt. In Witness whereof I have hereunto sett My hand and seale the day and yeare First above written..

Sealed subscribed published & declared by the sd Thomas Raynham to be his Last Will & Testamt in the presence of us who subscribed our names in the presence of the Testator

Hen. Symmons T Raynham
James Raynham
Richard Bishop

4o Oct 1711 Francisca Raynham & Jacobus Raynham Executors supra notal jurat prom me John Flasby

The will makes reference to his wife Frances (spelt ffrances), six sons Thomas R104, James R105, Lawrence R107, William R112, Robert R40, John R108, his four daughters Frances Leaver R106, Mary R109, Jane R110 and Elizabeth R111.

All were bequeathed various sums of money ranging from ?5 for Thomas to ?40 to his wife; the will did not refer to any property, around ?306 to ?2500 today. John nominated his wife and son James as Executors of the will. The valuation given was ?399 09s 05d, less deduction of fees of ?10, in today's money this would put his wealth at ?27.850. [7]

From research by Malcolm Marjaram it seems that Thomas and Frances's son William R112 became churchwardens at Brettenham in the 1750s, it is interesting to note that William was also married to Robert's R40 sister in law Elizabeth Studd . [8]

The period of Thomas's life was, like his father's, very turbulent for England baptised in the middle of the Civil War in 1644 with Charles 1 being defeated at the Battle of Naseby in 1645. Many Suffolk yeomen provided support for the Cromwell parliamentary cause, in the form of volunteers, arms, raising money, and tending to the injured. [9]

Life became more tolerant with the advent of Charles 11 reign in 1660. The unbending morality of the Purtanism was relaxed at all levels of society, the Church of England was fully restored and nonconformity licences were issued to Presbyterians in south Suffolk, Congregationalists in the north-east, and Baptists in Bungay. More interest was shown in agriculture, estate management, commerce and transport.

At the close of Thomas's life Queen Anne was on the throne, he died in the autumn of 1711 probably in Hitcham.