I have gathered information about Christian Cawnfield, later known as Christian Hickling, from the Find a Grave Memorial website. Unfortunately, I couldn’t access the details from FamilySearch and Ancestry due to restrictions and lack of content. However, based on the available information, here’s a narrative about her life:

Christian Cawnfield, born in 1500 in Norton, Derbyshire, England, embarked on a life that would span over five decades of the early 16th century. Born into the family of John Cawnfield, an esquire of London, and Ann Cawnfield, Christian grew up in an era of significant transformations in England, marked by the Renaissance and the early Reformation period.

Living through the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, Christian witnessed the significant socio-political changes that England underwent, including the shift from Catholicism to Protestantism under Henry VIII. This period was marked by social upheaval, religious reform, and the dissolution of monasteries. As a woman in this era, Christian’s life would have been largely shaped by the norms and expectations of Tudor society, which placed women in domestic roles and under the authority of their husbands or fathers.

Christian married John Hickling, and together they had six children: William, Robert, John, Elizabeth (who married Richard Seabyan, a grocer of London), Jane (who married Thomas Serjeant of Handly, Northamptonshire), and Ursula (who married Thomas Curtis of London). Her life as a wife and mother would have been centered around managing her household and ensuring the well-being of her children, a typical role for women of her status during the Tudor period.

Despite the lack of detailed personal records, it is likely that Christian’s life was impacted by the socio-economic issues of her time, including the effects of the Reformation on property and social structures. Being part of the gentry, the Cawnfield family might have been involved in the complex social changes of the time, navigating the shifting religious and political landscape.

Christian’s later life, and eventually her death on 24 February 1557, occurred in a country still grappling with religious and political changes. She was laid to rest in St Bartholomew Churchyard in Greens Norton, South Northamptonshire Borough, Northamptonshire, England, leaving behind a family that would continue to live through the Elizabethan era, another significant period in English history.

Christian’s story, while not detailed in the annals of history, represents the life of a Tudor woman of the gentry, shaped by the tumultuous times she lived in, fulfilling the roles expected of her as a wife and mother, and witnessing firsthand the transformation of her country. Her legacy, carried on through her children, is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of individuals during one of the most transformative periods in English history.