How were they related?

[tedscout]

Richard CORBETT (b 1806 according to death cert) was sent to Australia for life after being convicted of robbing Benjamin HALFPENNY in 1836.

From the Worcester Assizes I have this information.
One of the witnesses is Thomas HARDMAN who states that he knew CORBETT - "He is a relation of mine; he married my sister. I saw him at (a cider shop) on the 22nd of February.  He told me of a child of his who had died."  The person robbed was CORBETT's uncle Benjamin HALFPENNY.

The places mentioned in the court case are Mamble, Rock and Bewdley, looking on Google these places are very close together (you will know this better than me though). Benjamin HALFPENNY is said to live in both Mamble and Bewdley.

Richard's wife Mary's maiden name was HARDMAN and I think she was born in 1800. I don't know his mothers maiden name.

I would like to find out more about Thomas HARDMAN and Benjamin HALFPENNY and hopefully prove the relationships.

Thank you for reading this. Please don't hesitate to ask me questions. I am in Australia and don't know how to search very well prior to the censuses.

Cheers Ted

[Ruskie]

Ted, this looks to be a really interesting puzzle for everyone to get their teeth into.

I don't have the time now (I have to pop out) but will return later when I can concentrate and spend a bit more time sleuthing. 

Some things to look for:

The marriage of Richard Corbett and Mary Hardman.

The birth and death of the child of Richard and Mary Hardman in c.1836.

How Benjamin Halfpenny is uncle to Richard Corbett. (I'm a bit befuddled already, but have distractions at the moment)

... I will return later .... 

[tedscout]

Thanks Ruskie for replying

Will try and answer what I know!

Richard and Mary married on 5 Sept 1828 in St Martins Birmingham - this is on IGI her maiden name is mistranscribed as Hamus

These are his and Mary's children: Sarah Corbett 1829 – 1890, John Corbett 1831 – 1894, Emma Corbett 1834 – 1835, William Corbett 1836 – 22 Feb 1836, Jane Corbett 1837 – 1910

The baby that had just died was William according to the dates.

Mary managed to bring Sarah, John and Jane out to Australia to join Richard.

[Ruskie]

OK, I've had another think and drawn out a little diagram.  I think I understand.

Richard Corbett's father was X Corbett.
Richard Corbett's mother was X Halfpenny. Her brother was Benjamin Halfpenny, (thus making him Richard Corbett's uncle).

So we need to find (or do you already have any of these?)
Richard Corbett's birth?
Richard Corbett's parent's marriage?
Richard Corbett's mother's parents and siblings (one of which is Benjamin Halfpenny)

I think that's right ... and hope I've explained it clearly enough.

It might also help to locate Mary and the children on the 1841 census, if she was still in England. Do you know the date she and the children came to Australia?

All this might be incorrect of course if Benjamin Halfpenny was a great uncle, or a husband of his father's sister (ie uncle by marriage) ...  Gee I hope not. 

[Ruskie]

Can I just ask what leads you to believe that Mary Hardman was born about 1800? (28 is quite old to marry in those days ...) There appear to be loads of them on the IGI, my first port of call. 

Do you have a dob for Richard Corbett?

What church would families living in those places have used? Genuki doesn't help much with this ...

Just found:
Mamble - St John the Baptist
Rock - St Peter and St Paul
Bewdley - St Annes, St Leonards, St Andrews(?)

[tedscout]

Hi Ruskie,

From Richards death certificated he died on 13/9/1865 aged 59 (giving him a birth year of 1806)

And from the Worcester Assizes on 21/7/1836 he was aged 31 (giving him a birth year os 1806).

From Mary Corbett (nee Hardmans) death cert she was 62 when died on 19/1/1862.

Death cert says she was married at 28 to Richard Corbett, her parents are stated as John and Sarah Hardman (no maiden name).

From Richard's death certificate his parents were William and Mary Corbett (no maiden name)

There is no information about first marriage on Richard's death certificate.

I thought I had Richards 2nd marriage certificate but I dont.

Mary and the 3 children arrived on The Orissa on 10/5/1840 into Port Phillip so we won't find her and the children on the 1841 census.

[Ruskie]

Richard was married twice? 

Was Mary his second marriage or first?

So Richard's parent's are William Corbett and Mary Halfpenny?

[tedscout]

both his wives were Mary - Mary Hardman married her in England and Mary Walsh married her in Australia

I think thats what we need to find out was Richard's mothers maiden name Halfpenny? 

[Ruskie]

Even if we find Richard's birth entry it won't give his mother's maiden name at that time (1806ish). Just for completeness, have you looked for his birth/baptism?

The next best thing would be to try to find William Corbett's marriage to Mary probably some time before 1806 to see if her maiden name is Halfpenny.

Do you know if Richard b 1806 had any older siblings, so we can try to get a rough idea of years to look for this marriage?

As Benjamin Halfpenny is not a very common name, it might be worth chasing up his birth (even though we have no idea of years to search) - if we find this and any siblings, maybe one will be a Mary.