Maidstone Parish - FURNELL

[TangoDancer]

Can anyone look up a baptism of Benjamin Furnell, about 1796.  It is either Maidstone or Dartford and the Dartford record is ruined by flooding.  No one else seems to have got back further than Benjamin on any tree, so I suspect he is lurking in the illegibility of Dartford, but I would be so grateful if someone could check Maidstone, just to make sure.

Many thanks.

[scintilla]

I have looked at transcriptions of PR's for All Saints, Maidstone, but cannot see a baptism for a Benjamin FURNELL. There are children of a Benjamin and Ruth FURNELL or FURNAH being baptised at this church between 1835 and 1842. Could these be the children of your man (he may be getting a bit old for a young family)? He is recorded as a papermaker - possible link to the industry also found in the Dartford area.

[scintilla]

Checking familysearch I see a baptism for a William FIRNELL at Dartford in a non-conformist record index in 1824. Father Benjamin, mother Ruth, so looks to be the same family.
I'm not sure of the history of non-conformist churches, could Benjamin have been baptised at one in 1796?

[TangoDancer]

I have looked at transcriptions of PR's for All Saints, Maidstone, but cannot see a baptism for a Benjamin FURNELL. There are children of a Benjamin and Ruth FURNELL or FURNAH being baptised at this church between 1835 and 1842. Could these be the children of your man (he may be getting a bit old for a young family)? He is recorded as a papermaker - possible link to the industry also found in the Dartford area.

Thank you for looking that up Scintilla.  "My" Benjamin is listed as a papermaker in the census so it could well be the same man.  I have come across other ancestors who have children much later in life than this, so I don't think that his age is against it being him.  He does seem to be a bit of a brick wall, though.

[TangoDancer]

Checking familysearch I see a baptism for a William FIRNELL at Dartford in a non-conformist record index in 1824. Father Benjamin, mother Ruth, so looks to be the same family.
I'm not sure of the history of non-conformist churches, could Benjamin have been baptised at one in 1796?

I, like you, have no idea about non-conformist records.  I do have a son of Benjamin names William but he is baptised in 1833.  Of course this does not mean that there was not another William before that date who died.  There are not many Furnells around and the chance of there being another Benjamin and Ruth in the same area would surely be very small.  I will try a separate post to see if anyone can help on the non-conformist idea.  Thanks for all your trouble.

[kovel]

Hi,

Dartford, Holy Trinity,
Thomas Furnell bapt 7 June 1818,
Father Benjamin Furnell, Mother Ruth.
Father occ. Papermaker,
Abode Dartford.
Source Freereg.

Regards.

[scintilla]

When I looked at the census for your man I could see he had a large family so I realised that the children at a later age in life fitted in. The combination of an unusual surname and 2 fairly uncommon first names for the parents makes it easier when checking for the baptisms - there seem to be more baptisms on familysearch for the family in non-conformist church registers, this time in Maidstone. I have come across some of my ancestors having some baptisms in Methodist / Wesleyian churches and some in C of E churches in the first half of the 19th century, so not uncommon, I think they were trying out some of the new strains of religion (or the chapels were just closer to where they lived!).

There is this baptism for a Benjamin FURNALL - 29 May 1808   SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL,​ MILTON BY GRAVESEND,​KENT,​ENGLAND     parents:   Ann FURNALL, which isn't too far from Dartford
I thought perhaps it may have been a baptism in childhood for him, but as his mother is a single woman (I checked the cityark image) I think it makes it less likely to be your Benjamin, although not impossible, but you would need to see if you could find this other Benjamin in records to eliminate him.