The first child of the marriage was born in 1800, it is not known
exactly when or where. This was John, "the brother some three years
older than myself," whose beauty in infancy was so great "that
people, especially those of the poorer classes, would follow the
nurse who carried him about in order to look at and bless his lovely
face," {6a} with its rosy cheeks and smiling, blue-eyed innocence.
On one occasion even, an attempt was made to snatch him from the arms
of his nurse as she was about to enter a coach. The parents became a
prey to anxiety; for the child seems to have possessed many endearing
qualities as well as good looks. He was quick and clever, and when
the time came for instruction, "he mastered his letters in a few
hours, and in a day or two could decipher the names of people on the
doors of houses and over the shop windows." {6b} His cleverness
increased as he grew up, and later he seems to have become, in the
mind of Captain Borrow at least, a standard by which to measure the
shortcomings of his younger son George, whom he never was able to
understand.

For the next three years, 1800-3, the regiment continued to hover
about the home counties. The Peace of Amiens released many of the
untried warriors, who had enlisted "until the peace," their adjutant
having to find new recruits to fill up the gaps. War broke out again
the following year (18th May 1803), and the Great Terror assumed a
phase so critical as to subdue almost entirely all thought of party
strife. On 5th July Ann Borrow gave birth to a second son, in the
house of her father. At the time Captain Borrow was hunting for
recruits in other parts of Norfolk, in order to send them to
Colchester, where the regiment was stationed. In due course the
child was christened George Henry {7a} at the church of East Dereham,
and, within a few weeks of his birth, he received his first