William Edward Stevens Smith - Whittlesey

[DebbieAnn]

In a copy of an old will, I found a list of siblings to an ancestor of mine. One sibling, William Edward Stevens Smith, I had not known of. He would have been born between 1800 and 1815 in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire to Mary and Richard Smith. All I can find is a marriage in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1838.

Can anyone help? I'd really like to nail down his birth...

Debbie

[ChristineR]

Just in case you haven't seen it, the Cambridgeshire Family History has an online database of Baptisms 1801-1837 :)

[DebbieAnn]

I had completely overlooked that resource! (Too much studying for finals, I guess!)

It creates more questions than it answers, though. John's will says William Edward Stevens Smith is his brother. This means Richard and Mary are his parents. Mary died in 1815. The only William in the database that fits this was born in 1819. BUT - there is a William S. Smith born in Whittlesey to John and Ann in 1834. My John died in 1838. John and Ann lived on Delph Street, the same as my John's brother Simon (whose daughter Mary is my gr-grandmother).

So, if William S. is William Edward Stevens Smith he was not John's brother. Was my John the same as the John married to Ann? Who is Ann (I have no spouse for John, and none is mentioned in his will)? When John died, he was in what is now New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. but still owned a share in property located in Whittlesey, which was split equally among his siblings in the will.

THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

Debbie

[ChristineR]

What about census entries - would they be of any help?
And what if he is a half-brother? they didn't always make that distinction.
And what if he wasn't baptized until he was older - that index only goes to 1837. FreeBMD?

My SMITH family is John SMITH and Martha WONNER. His parents are William SMITH and Ann GAGE. They ended up Kingston, Caldecote way.

Christine
Australia

[DebbieAnn]

After Mary died, Richard remarried - to Elizabeth - and had several more children. All, including his father who was still living, were cut out of John's will. John was only 25 when he died, and owned a share in a property that he did not inherit (since his father was still alive at his death) that was large enough to split between 5 siblings. He was apparently single and was living in Louisiana. So he had a certain amount of means. His father did not. It appears he left home as soon as he was able, made his success, and cut his father and step-siblings completely out of his will - bad blood? His will refers to him as being considerably weak in body - I suspect he was on his deathbed when he made the will. Speculation runs rampany - did he contract an illness? was he in an altercation and suffered a fatal wound? what was he doing in Louisiana? how did he get his money? why did he own property in Whittlesey but not where he was living?

Is there a way (land records?) to trace the ownership of the property in his will to find out who the other owners were? When he bought his share? who was the previous owner? It might give a clue to how he came to buy it...

Debbie

[ChristineR]

Land records are out of my league, as is a lot of British research :D someone who knows these things might be able to tell you.

Christine
Australia