Prof ordered the death certificate for the William Stevenson who died in Tiverton and he shared it with me this morning. Exciting to have confirmation! It turns out the William Stevenson we now know is definitely our ancestor, who was 69 at time of death in 1840 which makes him born in 1771. This exactly matches the birthdate of the William who was the son of William Stevenson and Ann (Jerram) Stevenson born in Loughborough. We also know based on his widow's notation on the 1841 on census in Devon that her name was Elizabeth.
This is where things get strange. When I go onto FamilySearch and check around I come across a marriage of a William Stevenson in Loughborough to Elizabeth Rogers in 1797 but this person dies in 1799, much to early to have had 3 children in 1801, 1803 and 1805 respectively. There are several entries in Familyserchof the same death. It also states that this William who died in 1799, is the son of John Stevenson and Sarah Parker not the parents stated above and he was born in 1772. Then if I pull up Elizabeth Rogers, I find her birth as 1775 but also a record of her marriage to a William Stevenson on October 7th, 1799 as well as 1797.
So I've got 2 questions. Can Familysearch records be incorrect, have a record mixed up? Or could it be possible she married 2 men called William Stevenson since we have evidence of different birthdates- perhaps cousins, one dying early in the year? I know that sounds far fetched! I also tried calling up other men of that name who married a woman called Elizabeth in a wide date range of date for Leicestershire who might have been the father of her children and there aren't any.
Any help for Prof and I sorting this out or any other theories would be appreciated. Obviously we would like to explore down the Rogers line but can't do that until we're sure.
