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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Kent => England => Kent Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Olicana on Wednesday 24 January 18 12:57 GMT (UK)
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I am trying to find some informaton about Martha Stedman, who was married to Edmund Stedman. Edmund was christened on 1st April 1781 in Sevenoaks, Kent. Edmund's father was Nathaniel Newbury Stedman and his mother was Ursula Hardy. Edmund and Martha's daughter, Martha Glyn Stedman was christened on 24 July 1807 in Saint Margaret, Rochester, Kent. Therefore, an initial guess (not necessarily correct!) is that Martha was born between approx 1780 and 1790, and that her marriage to Edmund took place between 1800 and 1807.
If the marriage registration could be found, it should provide Martha's maiden name and possibly her father's name, from which it might be possible to find her baptism. Alternatively, if Martha and Edmund could be found on any census, it would help determine Martha's date and place of birth. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.
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What happened to Martha Glyn Stedman? Did she marry - and if so where, when, to whom and who were the witnesses?
Is her baptism currently the only “sighting” of parents Edmund & Martha together?
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Thank you for your reply avm228. I have no other information on Martha Glyn Stedman and yes, currently her baptism is the only "sighting" of her parents together.
I did wonder if Glyn could be her mother's maiden name as it seems rather unusual as a girl's given name, but couldn't find a Martha Glyn that fitted.
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How sure are you that this Edmund is a son of Nathaniel?
This Stedman researcher acknowledges the 1781 baptism, but has found that Edmund is not mentioned in Nathaniel’s will and infers that he may have died young:
http://www.stedmanharrisarchive.org.uk/Stedman%20Family.pdf
Also if you know nothing at all about either Martha beyond the 1807 baptism, then there’s no certainty at all that Martha jnr was an infant or child at the time of her baptism.
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How sure are you that this Edmund is a son of Nathaniel?
Edmund's baptism states that Nathaniel Stedman is the father.
Thank you avm228 for the interesting link to the Stedman family. It makes fascinating reading. Although the author infers that Edmund died young, he offers no evidence for this other than that he wasn't mentioned in any wills; there could be other reasons for this. It appears that some others were also excluded from wills.
The Edmund Stedman recorded as father of Martha Glyn Stedman might be from a different family, although the author seems to think there was only one Stedman family in the area.
You are quite right that Martha could have been an adult at the time of her baptism. However, Edmund was presumably at least 16 when he fathered her so, unless he too was an adult when baptised (and assuming that we have the correct Edmund), Martha Glyn Stedman was unlikely to be born before 1797. It would be useful if her parents' marriage registration could be found.