Hepburns in Worplesdon in 1834

[AsH62]

Hi.
I am tracing the life of a Naval Captain ancestor called John Stuart Hepburn 1803-1869. He was an 'overlander' who helped to discover the interior of Victoria, Australia.

At the beginning of his marriage he was off at sea for a lot of the time and his wife remained in England. They married in Tower Hamlets in 1830 and their first two children was born there but the second child died as a baby in 1834 and his burial was registered in St Mary's Worplesdon. I would normally assume that a young child wouldn't have a head stone but later in life Captain Hepburn sent money back for a stone for his father and I am hoping that he did the same for his first son.

I can't find out why (if there was any specific reason) that his wife Eliza lived in Worplesdon, there may have been Hepburns there or her own family - Combes- and I am hoping that a head stone may reveal some answers. Does anyone know of any listings of monumental inscriptions for this church please or any other local records that may help.
Thank you
Alison

[lizdb]

There is this family of Hepburns in 1841

Worpleston
Henry 50 ag lab
Harriet 45
Eliza 10
Amy 5    all b in county

and this
Wood Street, Worpleston
John 50  N
Elizabeth 55  N
Mary 20  Y
Jane 20  Y

[AsH62]

Thank you, it looks as if it may be a Hepburn connection.

Alison

[keyboard86]

Hi it is possible the surname was spelt in various ways as I have located marriages in Worplesdon of Hepburn/Heyborn/Hebbern/Hebborn/Heborn/Heybourne to name a few!

Possibly sisters marrying brothers :-

Celia Hepburn to James Searle 17th February 1831

Esther Heyborn to John Searle 10th September 1833
Keyboard86

EDIT The Esther who married John Searle had a child Henry James HABORN baptised 30th March 1831 at St Mary Islington abode Workhouse occ Poor

[AsH62]

I hadn't thought about the spelling although I should have since it has come up before, thank you
Alison

[keyboard86]

Hi again it may help if you could possibly supply the parents of John Stuart Hepburn and his place of birth c 1803?
Keyboard86

[AsH62]

HI, you are right, that is the logical approach but there lies the mystery. Captain Hepburn was born and brought up in East Lothian, Scotland. I assume that he married in London because his career in the navy took him there. There was a book written about him by Lucille M Quinlan where she says that after the death of the baby he decided that he didn't want to be away from his family and so he left the navy and they went off to Australia. His wife Eliza Combes was from Oxford but her brother did live in London. The rest of Captain Hepburn's family stayed in Scotland and didn't come south at all so I have no idea why his wife and children would be in Surrey.
Alison