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I do have a record of Samuel Fasham's baptism in the Parish Church of Deal, which I found through ancestry.com. Likewise his sister, Frances Roby, who was baptized in the same church. Thank you for locating the marriages, these are indeed SF Roby's parents and grandparents. My opinion of SF Roby is seemingly confirmed by his mother's will (she died in 1808) in which she appointed her daughter Frances Roby as her executrix and left her entire estate to her. This despite the fact that SF was an attorney, as was his father.
I have finished transcribing SF Roby's will, apart from a section that is so badly damaged I can't read the words. Henry Wright and Edward Thompson were appointed executors, and had absolute control over his estate until Anna Maria turned 21. Thereafter, they had to hand over the estate to Anna Maria. I'm waiting for a quotation to get the transcript of the court case, because I'm sure it was related to the inheritance.
Your comment about Roby's being "gentry" is interesting - SF's conduct is anything but gentlemanly. Elizabeth Hammond, who was the mother of his first illegitimate child Frances Roby Hammond, was registered as a pauper in 1851. Frances Roby Hammond herself became housekeeper to a "gentleman" - Jacob Mills Davey - and had two illegitimate sons fathered by him. She baptized them at Ash in 1820, giving her name as Frances Roby and their names as Frederick Roby and Norris Fasham Roby. Her strategy (and her mother's strategy) of naming the children so as to identify them clearly as "Roby" did not work. She married Jacob Mills Davey in 1829, and the boys then took the surname Davey. They were very bright boys, both King's Scholars in Canterbury. Jacob, on the other hand, failed in business and was a declared insolvent. He spent time in jail early in the 1840's, and died in 1845, leaving all his possessions to Marianne Marshall, presumably his mistress. A year later, his elder son, Frederick, shot himself, leaving a suicide note with phrases scribbled on the outside including "Memories of childhood". I guess he grew up witnessing his mother's struggles. Norris Fasham Davey became a doctor in Romford, and had 10 children. The eldest, Norris Edward Davey, came to South Africa in the early 1870's after a furious row with his father. NE Davey's five children stayed in South Africa, and his eldest son, Norris Lewis Davey was my grandfather.
In the end, Frances Roby Hammond succeeded in breaking through the barrier between working class and professional class, and I admire her for her fortitude.

This is very helpful, thank you. The court case would make sense, since the names are familiar to me, except the last defendant. Frances Roby Hammond is my 3g grandmother, and was half-sister to Anna Maria.

I will certainly follow up the newspaper article and the report of the court case. Many thanks for your help - this is getting more and more fascinating.
EdithSA

Hi all
I have reached a dead-end in my search for the life story of Anna Maria Roby, daughter of Samuel Fasham Roby and Hester Reynolds. She was born in 1812, baptized in 1813, and her parents married in 1818. Her father died in 1823, leaving most of his considerable estate to Anna Maria, to be held in trust for her until she is 21.

She marries William Irwin Breslin in Dover in 1828, when she was 15 or 16 years old, and he about 10 years older. Thereafter, I can't find any records of children or her death. William Breslin died in November 1870, and I've found a record of a marriage of his daughter in June 1870.

Does anyone have records of descendants of Anna Maria and William Breslin, or a date of death for Anna Maria (Roby) Breslin?
 

Elizabeth Hammond was my 4-greats grandmother. She had a daughter in 1799 with Samuel Fasham Roby, who was a wealthy attorney in Deal, and heir to the manor at Great Mongeham. She named her daughter Frances Roby, the same name as Samuel Fasham Roby's sister.

Frances Roby Hammond became housekeeper to Jacob Mills Davey in Ash around 1817, and bore him two sons, the first in 1818 and the second in 1820. She named them so as to identify HER father: Frederick Roby and Norris Fasham Roby. Samuel Fasham Roby had a second illegitimate daughter in 1813 with Hester Reynolds, whom he married in 1818. He died in 1823, leaving an annuity of ten pounds a year to Frances Roby Hammond, and all the interest on his various properties, lands, etc. to Anna Maria Roby.

Frances Roby Hammond married the father of her two sons, Jacob Mills Davey, in 1829. Her sons went to the King's School in Canterbury. Frederick became a surveyor and Norris a physician. I am descended from Norris. I would love to know more about Elizabeth Hammond and her family with John Radcliff.