Hi
I was going through some records I have for the STEPHENS part of my family and realised that there are records that don't look quite right and I was hoping for some help. Sorry if this seems a bit longwinded. I have been going over things to make sure I haven't gone wrong later on.
My great x 2 grandfather is William John PHILLIPS b. 13 Dec 1940 in Whitstable. His birth certificate shows his mother as being Susannah PHILIPS formerly STEPHENS. Father is Thomas PHILLIPS Coastguard.
The marriage certificate for Thomas and Susannah shows her name as Susanna STEPHENS and a spinster and her father is Richard STEPHENS in the Coastguard Service. Both Thomas and Susannah are resident in Swalecliffe Kent 17 May 1839.
The 1841 census has been destroyed, but the 1851-1881 gives her year of birth as approximately 1817 to 1881. They all say Devon and either Kingstone, Kingsland or Maker. All the parish records I can find seem to based in Cornwall.
I don't have any censuses with Susannah with her parents, but I have census for 1851 which shows Richard and his wife Catherine. There is also a visitor William John PHILLIPS, so pretty happy that this is her parents.
I then tried looking for both her parents marriage and her baptism and this is where things get confusing.
The marriage looks like it should be 1821 in St Clement. I have found a few family trees that have that and shows the mother is Catherine KESSELL. However, the marriage is after Susannah's birth. I have found baptism records for the siblings showing Richard and Catherine STEPHENS and I believe the locations match his locations for the coastguards (using ADM 175), however, I couldn't find Susannah.
I did find a Susannah STEPHENS which matched one of the census, but the parents are Edward and Mary STEPHENS. I did wonder if they died and Richard adopted, but I think I have found them in a census too.
I also found a Susannah PHILLIPS which also matched one of the census year of 1817, but parents are Nicolas and Mary PHILLIPS.
I have tried to see if there was a previous marriage for Richard Stephens and also looking for Susannah KESSELL but no luck.
Any help would be greatful!