Baptism and Burial details for 2 Martha Wildsmiths

[david1701]

Hello

I wonder if anyone can offer me any assistance please?

Essentially, I'm trying to establish 2 things, relating to 2 ladies with married names of Martha Wildsmith.

The first Martha Wildsmith was the wife of Robert Wildsmith (my 5x gt grandfather).  Robert was born at Staveley in Derbyshire in 1713 and died at Duffield in Derbyshire in 1804.  He married a Martha Smith in Duffield on 24th March 1742.  Martha was the daughter of Richard Smith - I believe she was baptised in 1716.

The second Martha is the wife of Robert's son, Thomas.  I can find no birth or baptism record for Thomas, although I have seen his gravestone at Duffield (died 15th Nov 1783, aged 32) so he must have been born around 1751.  Thomas married Martha Harvey in Duffield on 18th June 1776.

My queries are:

1. When was Martha Harvey baptised?  I can find 2 possibilities, both in the Duffield Parish Registers:
Bap 15th June 1751 - father Richard Harvey.  Or Bap 25th May 1755 - father Richard Harvey of Heage.  I'm not sure whether, or how, I can establish which of these was correct.  I know Martha's father was Richard Harvey (I have his will) - and that his other children mentioned in his will are sons Richard and William, and daughters Mary, Anne and Margaret (I can't find a baptism for Margaret either - but that's a problem for another day!).  Indeed I wondered if these 2 Martha Harveys were both born to the same parents, with the earlier one dying young - but I can find no relevant death in the 1751-55 period.

2. The second query is how might I be able to find out the death/burial dates for these 2 Martha Wildsmiths.  The IGI indicates that a Martha Wildsmith was buried at Pentrich on 5th October 1794, with another Martha Wildsmith being buried at Duffield on 1st August 1795.  My query is, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I find out which one was the wife of Robert - and which the wife of Thomas?  I've seen neither gravestone, so have no idea of age at death.  In fact I'm uncertain whether gravestones exist - certainly I know that the Duffield one doesn't, and I fear the Pentrich one doesn't, either.  The entries in the Parish Registers give no clues that I can see.

Apologies for the rather lengthy and convoluted nature of these queries - but any help or suggestions that anyone can offer will be gratefully received.

Thanks in anticipation,

David Wildsmith

[robo196]

does the church still exist st alkmund Anglican 1/8/1795

[david1701]

Yes, St Alkmund's Church, Duffield still exists - and I have visited and searched the gravestones.

[spendlove]

Hi,

Re Richard Harvey's will when was it probated, does it give details of where he was living and details of his occupation? Or land/property he owned.

What evidence do you have that the Robert wildsmith born 1713 staveley is the same man who died 1804 duffield aged abt 91

Spendlove

[david1701]

Hi Spendlove - thank you for responding.

If I'm reading it correctly, Richard Harvey's Will was probated at Ufton Hall on 18th October 1786.  Probate was granted to William Harvey - who I believe to be one of Richard's sons. 

Richard Harvey's will describes him as "Richard Harvey of Headge in the parish of Duffield in the county of Derby, Shopkeeper".  The will gives no specific detail of property owned - but does refer to "all my real estates in Headge aforesaid".  The only other reference to property is to his "Dwelling House".  Another point of interest in the will is that it refers to "my eldest son Richard Harvey of Shurland" (my underlining).

With regard to Robert Wildsmith, I suppose I have no cast-iron evidence to show that he is the same person born in Staveley in 1713.  That said, I have a copy of Robert's will, and although it does not refer to any of Robert's brothers or sisters, the children mentioned all point to this Robert being the chap who married Martha Smith in Duffield in 1742.  Robert's will describes him as "of Morley Park in the Parish of Duffield in the county of Derby, Yeoman" - and an article in the Derby Mercury of 29th March 1804 refers to the recent death of Robert Wildsmith of Morley Park near Heage, at the advanced age of 91 - meaning that he would have been born around 1713/14. 

With this information I searched for a birth/baptism of a Robert Wildsmith around 1713/14 (on the Familysearch site) - and it only gave me the Staveley baptism referred to above.  The only other possibility was a Robert Wildesmith baptised in Whitechapel, Middlesex, on 11 August 1717.  In view of this I thought it reasonable to assume that the RW who died in 1804 was indeed the one who was baptised in Staveley in 1713 - although as I've already said, I can point to no firm evidence to support this - other than the matters just outlined.  Of course, if anyone out there can provide any alternative suggestions, I'm quite happy to consider them.

Is this information helpful?  If anyone requires any further information in order to assist - please just let me know.

Regards,
David