Mary SKILLINGTON was the daughter of William SKILLINGTON whose will of 1725 makes a provision for her as MARY HAZELWOOD. She grew up in Ratcliffe on the Wreak where her father was a yeoman/farmer.

Mary SKILLINGTON married James HASILWOOD in Asfordby on 25 Apr 1713. The following February they baptized Isabell and then James the following year. They had no further children.

James died in 1742 and left his estate to his son James and daughter Isabell. No provision for his wife Mary was made.

A Mary HASILWOOD, widow, was buried in Asfordby in 1756. No other marriages between a HASILWOOD (or variants) and a Mary occurred near Asfordby, so it is very likely that this burial was Mary SKILLINGTON.

Mary died after James so why wasn't she mentioned in James' will? Had there been a marital breakdown?

No baptismal record for Mary (or her younger sister Abigail who was also mentioned in the will) with a father William has been found.

If Mary was the daughter of William's first wife, Mary, who died in 1675, then she would have been at least 38 when she married James. James was 35, but a marriage of a spinster aged 38 was less likely.

Alternatively, Mary might have been a daughter of William's second wife Isabell. They are a couple of gaps in William and Isabell's baptisms (1682-88 and 1692-94) where Mary and Abigail could have were born and baptised. If born in 1685, say, then she would have been 28 when she married, and 71 when she died.

James had been 35 years old when he married Mary suggesting that this was his second marriage.

Other information:

A John SKILLINGTON baptised 7 daughters in Rearsby between 1694 and 1704 including a Mary. This John married Sarah SPENCER in 1693 in Rempstone and died in Rearsby in 1715 leaving a will. The witnesses to that will included William SKILLINGTON, Elizabeth SKILLINGTON and Isabel SKILLINGTON.