Bentley Family Walsall

[Elan]

Looking for the parents of Benjamin Bentley Walsall Staffordshire b 1808-1812  D 1855 Digbeth - married Ellen Whitehouse 25 May 1837 St Matthews. Both of the parish. Witnessed by Edward Holden and Mary Loyns. Issues - Joseph, William, Herbert, John and Samuel

[trish1120]

I presume this is them in 1841?
Benjamin Bentley, 25, Inn Keeper
Ellen Bentley, 29
Joseph Bentley, 3
Willm Bentley, 2
Herbert Bentley, 1

Are some of the Children with the Jennings in 1851 as Boarders?
Henry 12/Herbert (as Hert) 10/John 9 (names are hard to read)

In 1851 Census is Benjamin a Widower, Builders Clerk, born c 1812 Welton on Trent, Lodging with the Clust Family?


If so this may be him;
Benjamin BENTLEY Christened April 1812, Weston Upon Trent, Stafford
Parents WILLIAM/ELEANOR
(Source Familysearch.Org)

You may already have these;
BURIALS, St Matthew, Walsall
ELLEN Bentley, 29 February 1844, age 32, abode George St
BENJAMIN Bentley, 27 August 1855, age 45, abode Digbeth

Trish

[suzard]

hello,

Are you certain of Benjamin's possible y.o.b. and p.o.b.??

1841 census shows
Dudley St Walsall Staffs
Benjamin Bentley 25 Innkeeper
Ellen 29
Joseph 3
William 2
Nerbert 1
Harriet Appleby 15 F.S.
all b in county

as the 1841 has ages of adults 15 plus years rounded down to the nearest 5 years - then benjamin was aged between 25-29 which would give his birth year 1812-1816.
He answers "yes" to b in county living in - which means he was born in Staffordshire - not necessarily Walsall

Is this benjamin in 1851?
George St Walsall Staffs
Benjamin Bentley Lodger widower 39 Builder's clerk Waston on Trent
HO107 2023 398 19

and 3 of the children are boarding on Day St walsall?

Suz

[trish1120]

Yep thats them suzard, Ellen had died;
Children all have 2 names except Herbert/Samuel;
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE, 25 April 1838
WILLIAM HENRY, 17 April 1839
HERBERT, 05 Aug 1840
JOHN JAMES, 04 May 1842
SAMUEL, 28 Feb 1844

EDIT, SAMUEL Bentley Buried 24 July 1844, St Matthew, Infant, abode Hill St

[trish1120]

If that is the correct Parents for Benjamin then his Parents had these Chilren (all on F/S,Org)
GEORGE 1792/ALEXANDER 1794/HANNAH 1796/JANE 1798/EDWARD 1800/PETER 1804/THOS 1807/ANNE 1809/BENJAMIN 1812

1841 Census
St Mary and St Chad, Staffs;
William BENTLEY, 75, Independant
Ellen, 75
+ 1 Servant
Both born in County
HO107/1010/2/St Mary and St Chad

[Elan]

Thanks guys for your response. As the only Benjamin Bentley I can find is the same as your finds I guess i am going to have to go with it. But for me it still doesn't feel right. Granted some of their childrens names ring true with both of their family names as in Joseph,  William, John, James - but where does the Herbert and Samuel come from, also the Henry of William Henry. 

[gr_oxy]

Hello, I am researching Sarah Mason b 1765 ? Walsall (convict) arrived Australia 1792. Another cousin has had correspondence in 2003 from a John Bentley who lives in Walsall and his wife is a relation of Sarah Mason. Does anyone here know of this John Bentley ? He has Sarah on his tree but (IMHO) the dates just don't seem to gel. I would love to write to him to clarify a couple of queries. Thanks to any one who reads this and can offer advice, cheers from Australia, Robin

[suzard]

Hello and welcome to RootsChat

Which dates don't gel for you?

Criminal records put Sarah's d.o.b. as c. 1768
England & Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 from image Page 104

July Sessions for Middlesex June 28
Entry no 66 (Lydia same entry no)
Name Sarah Mason
Description place of birth and age - age 24 5'1'' Hazel eyes black hair fresh complexion Born at Walsall Staffordshire Single Woman
What place received  Newgate
By whom committed Bond
Crime  received  from John Spencer the above property
Tried July 5 1792
Before whom : Buller
Sentence: Transportation 14 years
When transported 28 July 1792
to whom delivered???
Delivered on board the Bologne at Deptford

John Spencer at the same trial was accused of stealing property from Mr Thomas
John Spencer received transportation for 7 years  26 sept 1792

also tried at the same time Lydia Stevens age 32 received stolen proerty from John Spencer Lydia was b Aylesbury. Transportation 14 years 28 July 1792 on same ship as Sarah Mason

Maybe this will be of some help

Suz

[gr_oxy]

Thank you for your reply Suz,
the date I am having trouble with is her supposed baptism. According to Mr Bentley's tree she was baptised 24/7/1765 at Walsall and I have not found this record in my searches. However she had the last of her 5 children in 1813 which would make her 48. So she was either the most fecund woman in the colony or she was born about 1776 (which is in line with her age recorded at trial - 16), and about 37 in 1813.

Your info says Sarah was 24 (ie b~1768), So another red herring arises , nice description though.
From the Old Bailey site I found Sarah recorded as 16:
336. JOHN SPENCER , was indicted for stealing, on the 12th of June last, six linen shifts bodies, value 4 s. four aprons, value 8 s. a velveret waistcoat, value 2 s. and a pair of velveret breeches, value 5 s. the property of William Thomas .
And LETITIA STEVENS and SARAH MASON were indicted for receiving the said goods, knowing them to be stolen .
WILLIAM THOMAS sworn.
I am a broker in Maiden-lane; the prisoner Spencer worked for me a month: I lost the things; they were taken from a closet.
The different pawnbrokers produced the things pawned by the other prisoners.
(The things deposed to.)
JOHN SPENCER , GUILTY .
Transported for seven years .
LETITIA STEVENS , SARAH MASON , (Aged 16.)
GUILTY .
Transported for fourteen years .
Tried by the second Middlesex Jury before Mr. Justice BULLER.

The trouble is one of our most respected researchers has said Bentley's tree is correct so I am challenging the accepted 'truth' of our tree in Australia. Sarah and her hubby Fred Meredith have over 12k descendants and it is a common pass-time to copy 'the tree' over and over again. I'm just trying to double check all the records as I come across them.

I found a Baptism record for a Sarah Morgan, this might be closer to the mark (or not):
11 May 1777 Parish St Giles Willenhall, Staffordshire, England
Father's Name Richd Morgan, Mother's Name Lidy Morgan.
Willenhall is a medium-sized town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands

I hope this ramble makes sense, and I would appreciate your thoughts
Kind regards
Robin