I have been attempting to find the birthplace and family of my 3x-gr grandfather John WEBB for many years without success. He died prior to the census years so I do not have a birthplace from that source to go on. He spent approximately the last 20 years of his life in Bilston Staffordshire where he died in April 1835 the age of 55.
The earliest event that I know of referring to John’s life is his marriage to Hannah WITHINGTON on 31 May 1804 at Eyton Upon The Weald Moors, Shropshire. Hannah and her family were from the Edgmond area and I am rather certain that she was christened at High Offley, Staffordshire in March of 1779. (Her parents Timothy and Mary had seven children that I have found records for and there were a total of 4 churches where the christenings took place.)
I have located 2 children of John and Hannah in Shropshire:
Thomas - Birth: 3 September 1810 Christening: 30 September 1810 at Priors Lee, Shropshire, England
Mary Ann - Christening: 22 October 1812 at Wombridge, Shropshire, England
Considering their marriage took place in 1804, I would suspect that there were one or two children prior to Thomas whose records have not yet surfaced.
The family relocated sometime after the birth of Mary Ann and prior to their next child who was born in Bilston in 1815.
I just came across another interesting development just recently when I discovered a christening of John WEBB the child of Daniel and Sarah WEBB that took place at Preston on the Weald Moors in September 1791. This couple was married at Shifnal in November 1790 and a possible birth of Daniel occurred in 1768 with his christening taking place at Swan Hill Independent Chapel in Shrewsbury.
There are three things regarding this family that would seem to indicate there may be a connection to my family. First is the close proximity of the christening at Preston on Weald Moors to the location of my family, second the name Daniel is a prominent given name in my WEBB family and third is the non-conformist christening of Daniel. My WEBB family became Methodists prior to the death of John in Bilston.
What I would like to know is where I might be able to direct my efforts from this point in locating more information about John and finding more information about Daniel and his family.
Any assistance in this regard would be greatly appreciated.
Tom
Mike,
Thanks for checking the Swan Hill Chapel records. As I stated previously, I have no documented evidence that this family is at all connected to mine. It is just my gut feel that there could be a connection.
If indeed William and Jane were the parents of my 3x-gr grandfather, it is likely that they did not stay in the Shrewsbury area very long. I believe that William was from just over the Shropshire border in Adbaston Staffordshire and they may have gone back to that area.
The time frame I am dealing with would indicate that even though the family was non-conformist, the marriage of William and Jane would have taken place in a CofE church but I have not been able to locate where that would have been. That is an area of concern for me that I would like to resolve but at this point am out of ideas as to how to proceed or where to look.
Tom
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Hello Tom
Just a bit of information to tidy up the details you have found about the baptism at Swan Hill Chapel in Shrewsbury.
When I looked at this on Family Search I noticed the baptism of Daniel WEBB is recorded as taking place on 7th June AND 7th July 1768 and on 7 July there is also a baptism for a David WEBB, the parents of both children being William & Jane WEBB but it appears that some errors have crept into this transcript.
I have managed to have the original register checked and this is what is recorded:-
Daniel WEBB of William and Jane WEBB, Shoplatch, was baptised 7 July 1768 by Rev Robert Gentleman.
There are no other references for the family in the baptism register and no WEBB references in the burial register or list of communicants.
Hope this helps.
Mike