Marriage in or near Rochford

[geno500]

Hi Matt  I think Edmund and Samuel are brothers,the  thing to remember is that I looked at the marriages starting back in 1740 there are no other marriages of Offords at Rochford they suddenly turn up  in 1795 so I think they are not from Essex or at least from the Rochford area suggest you get the 1881 census or another earlier one if you have Ancestry and put in Offord in then see where the eldest and the most are in the country,I have found that to be the best way of finding the source of a name,the fact that you have found Edmund and Ann having Mary Ann baptised in Maidstone I think seals it even if we do not find Anne's baptism,just how many Edmund Offords married to a Ann do you think there are,I bet there the only ones plus you have that tag back to Rochford where Anne says she was from in a later census,I will try again with the baptisms around Rochford for Anne.#
Best Regards

[geno500]

Hi Matt
           Okay looked at the baptisms only found one for Edmund and Anne Offord they had a son George baptised 14 June 1795 ,well as they got married in Jan 1795 looks as though they had a 5 month baby,I love this because it makes them more than just names they were real people,but there were no other baptisms at Rochford I could find,but as I said this must be the parents of Anne,looked up the Offord name in the Chelmsford Records it would seem there was a monied family of Offords around the Braintree area and there is a mention of Suffolk, its possible that this Rochford branch has come from Braintree,the good news is that you have a good line to take back as most people only get Ag/Lab with little or no money therefore no records,this Offord line maybe traceable back into the 17th cent but you will have to get to the records this will not be on Ancestry theres no money in it for them.
Best Regards

[MattD30]

Hi

Thanks for those. I will certainly follow these up and I think it is also likely that

a) Edmund and Ann are my ancestors

and

b) Samuel is Edmund's brother.

All we need to find now to confirm it is Anne Offord's own baptism. If she isn't christened in any of the C of E churches in Rochford I wonder if he might be christened either in a nonconformist church or in Maidstone? Any thoughts?

Thanks again.

Matt

[geno500]

Hi Matt  I will look at the baptisms for the nearest towns/villages for you, to see if I can find Anne's baptism,but she says Rochford  whats a puzzle is if the family left the area and went to Kent just after Anne was born say around 1796 how would she have known she was born there,you normally find people  like Anne who say in the 1851 census  aged around 60 where they remember they lived as a child,which may not be where they were born,if the family stayed at Rochford until the 1810's why are there no more children,still thats the fun of family history.
I have found a reference for the will of Rebecca Offord of Little Stambridge wife of Samuel dated 1837 I will give it a look you never know !! with regard the Offord name in Essex Records you may well  have a line back to the holy grail of family history ,I am picking up references for a William de Offord 1250 so not that far from the Norman Conquest it will only take you about 10 years  of research  to track that back
Best Regards

[MattD30]

Curious and curious......

Where did you find that Will reference? Is it online? Do you have a transcript?

I have found what I think is Edmund Offord in the 1841 census. He is living in Maidstone, and is aged 66 (making him born c1775). He says he wasn't born in Kent which makes sense. He is living with Elizabeth King (aged 60) and her family and there is no sign of Edmund's wife or any children.

I have also found several Samuel Offords on the 1841 and 1851 census.

There is a Samuel Offord in Little Stambridge in 1841 aged 70 (so born c1771) who I think might be the Samuel who married Susannah Merrett in 1799 in Rochford and then Rebecca Barns in 1818 in Little Stambridge. I say this because there is no wife listed for this Samuel on the 1841 census but living with him is a Samuel Offord aged 40 (so born c1801) who is probably his son by Susannah Merrett. This is proved even more likely by the 1851 census which shows that Samuel Offord (born 1801) was born in Rochford. Also interesting is the fact that on the 1841 census Samuel Offord (b1771) is described as a "Publican" and on the 1851 census his son Samuel (b1801) is described as a "Victualler".

There is also a Samuel Offord on the 1841 census married to Mary and described as an Ag Lab. He had a son named Samuel born in c1808. According to the 1851 census  for Great Oakley, both Samuel and Mary were born c1776 in Bradfield. Living next to them in 1851 is Samuel Offord who is probably their son (although according to this census he was born in 1804 rather than 1808) and who was born in Wrabness, Essex.

I don't this these ones are linked to the Rochford ones yet but you never know.

I think I have found Edmund's death in Maidstone in 1849 but there are three questions I'm still trying to answer.

1) When did Edmund's wife Anne die?
2) Where is George Offrod (b1795) in 1841 and 1851?
3) Where were Anne, Edmond and Samuel born?

Anyhow I've got a set of 1841 and 1851 Offord census returns to look at so I will let you know what I find later.

Matt

[geno500]

Hi Matt   The reference for the will is D/AEW 43/5/14  the Essex Records will copy this for you for a fee it will not be much, the will is original,I had a look at it this morning expecting one page and found it was fourpages long,the guts of it are that she could leave bequests because she had a settlement when she married Samuel plus property from a Aunt she leaves small amounts to sisters and to her 4 children by her first marriage,her maiden name was Heywood and leaves the propertys to Samuel whilst he lived then to her family,not bad reading well worth getting ,but no mention of Edmund but it was a long shot.
You mention Samuel was a publican I can tell you he had the Cherry Tree at Little Stambridge he took the Pub on in 1802 and was still the landlord at 1828 and as you have him in the 1841 he must still of had it then.
Burials at Litlle Stambridge  John Offord 20/12/1805,Susanna daug of Samuel and Susanna Offord 7/5/1811 baptisms 18/8/1840 Sarah Ann daug of Samuel and Sarah Offord Publican also Frances Ann same parents 26/2/1843.
Best Regards Brian.

[MattD30]

Hi Matt   The reference for the will is D/AEW 43/5/14  the Essex Records will copy this for you for a fee it will not be much, the will is original,I had a look at it this morning expecting one page and found it was fourpages long,the guts of it are that she could leave bequests because she had a settlement when she married Samuel plus property from a Aunt she leaves small amounts to sisters and to her 4 children by her first marriage,her maiden name was Heywood and leaves the propertys to Samuel whilst he lived then to her family,not bad reading well worth getting ,but no mention of Edmund but it was a long shot.
You mention Samuel was a publican I can tell you he had the Cherry Tree at Little Stambridge he took the Pub on in 1802 and was still the landlord at 1828 and as you have him in the 1841 he must still of had it then.
Burials at Litlle Stambridge  John Offord 20/12/1805,Susanna daug of Samuel and Susanna Offord 7/5/1811 baptisms 18/8/1840 Sarah Ann daug of Samuel and Sarah Offord Publican also Frances Ann same parents 26/2/1843.
Best Regards Brian.

Not much time for a long post now as I'm going out shortly but I thought I'd let you  know that Samuel is at the Cherry Tree in 1841 and Samuel jnr is there in 1851 so it probably passed down from father to son.

Also i've found some more children of Edmund and Ann christened in Maidstone, but this time their name is spelt ORFORD rather than Offord! So it may be worth looking for ORFORDs as well.

Matt