Guernsey Baptisms Requests 1833-1840

[Chris Nilsen]

I need some advice as to whether baptism records for Guernsey are available online for the period 1833-1840.
As I am in Australia it is not possible to go to any local resource for myself.

I am looking for 4 baptisms, the parents were John & Mary Ann Stephens:
Mary Ann Stephens, born 3rd Feb 1833.
Elizabeth Stephens, born 22nd Oct 1834.
Jn Robert Stephens, born 21st Mar 1836.
Selina Stephens, born 7th Jan 1840.

According to the 1841 census they lived at Boullion in St. Peter Port.
Thanks,
Chris.

[Ashtone]

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Guernsey_Church_Records

https://www.priaulxlibrary.co.uk/

[TobyO]

Hi Chris

There are actually 6 baptisms, all in St Peter Port (I’ve stuck to the original spellings in the records but have translated them from the original French). These are not available on line.

John-George Stevens, son of John Stevens and Mary-Anne Avery, his wife, born 24th November 1831 and baptised 18th December 1831. Godparents were John Stevens, George Avery and Jane Doews.

Mary-Anne Stephens, daughter of John Stephens and Mary-Anne Avery, his wife, born 3rd February 1833 and baptised 24th February 1833. Godparents were John Stephens, Mary-Anne Stephens and Elizabeth Brinton.

Elizabeth-Ageneria Stephens, daughter of John Stephens and Mary-Anne Avery, his wife, born 22nd October 1834 and baptised 9th November 1834. Had for sponsors John Stephens, Ageneria Kingston and Mary-Anne Avery.

John William Stephens, son of John Stephens and Mary-Anne Avery, his wife, born 21st March 1836 and baptised 7th May 1836. Had for sponsors John Stephens, John Head and Mary-Anne Stephens.

William Henry Stevens, son of John Stevens and Mary-Ann Avary, his wife, born 12th March 1838 and baptised 31st March 1838. Had for sponsors John Stephens, Henry Cornelius and Mary Longmaid.

Selina Stephens, daughter of John Stephens and Mary-Anne Avery, his wife, born 7th January 1840 and baptised 8th February 1840. Had for sponsors John Stephens, Mary-Ann Avery and Mary-Ann Stephens.

Regards
Toby

[Chris Nilsen]

Hi Toby,
Thank you so much for looking these up for me and giving me the details.
I really appreciate it.
I didn't know about the other two children.
I'm guessing they died prior to 1841 as they do not appear in the census with the rest of the family.

The other interesting thing is that it brings a possible marriage date for John & Mary-Anne Avery back a bit as I now know their first child was actually John George born in Nov 1831.
I have never been able to locate the marriage of John Stephens to Mary-Anne Avery.
I didn't find it in Devon where they both were born so I am assuming they married in St. Peter Port.

Do you know if marriage records for c1831 have survived and available as well?

Best Regards,
Chris.

[TobyO]

Hi Chris,

I’ve found a marriage for John and Mary-Anne on 30th September 1831 at the Town Church in St Peter Port. It’s in English and it reads:

“John Stephens, son of John Stephens of the Parish of Ipplepen in the County of Devon, and Mary-Anne Avery, the daughter of John Avery of the Parish of Modbury in the County of Devon, were married together by Banns on 30th September 1831.”

It wasn't unusual in Guernsey for women to be pregnant before they married. It guaranteed an heir.
 
Ipplepen is only about 20 miles from Modbury. Both are close to busy coastal ports like Dartmouth, Brixham and Plymouth all of which would have traded regularly with Guernsey.

I’m sure you’re right that the two other children probably died as infants before 1841.  I’ll have a look at the burial registers when I get a chance.

Regards,
Toby

[Chris Nilsen]

Hi Toby,
Thank you so much for looking this up for me.
This is an amazing find for me in my research of this family.
It confirms what's in the shipping record and may help me trace what happened to this family in New South Wales.
Thanks again, appreciate it.
Chris.

[TobyO]

Happy to help.

I've found a burial record for John-George Stephens. It’s in English:
‘John-George, son of John Stephens was buried on 13TH April 1835, age 3.’ (St Peter Port Town Church Burials, page 253).

Haven't found a burial William Henry Stephens yet, but unlike the baptisms these records aren't indexed so it's harder to find things and easy to miss them! If it turns up I'll let you know.

You may have already seen these bits, but here they are anyway.

On Family Search I also found the original ship's record of their assisted passage on the 'Lady Clarke' (not just the summary index card). Under the Stephens family record for Male children family it also lists "an infant born on board, as yet unnamed". That's quite a journey for Mary-Ann to make as she must have been heavily pregnant when they left England! At least there was a doctor on board to accompany the passengers. This is the link to the record page (John Stephens snr is on the previous page):

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKD-JSS7-G?view=index

Captain Alexander Lawrence was the captain of the ship Lady Clarke in 1841. The ship departed Plymouth on September 4, 1841, with 192 emigrants (some records say 225). There was 1 death on the voyage. It arrived in Port Jackson, Sydney, New South Wales on December 26, 1841. The Stephens family came out as assisted immigrants under the Bounty Immigration Scheme in New South Wales which paid for their passage. Applicants had to provide accurate information about the age, occupation, character, and condition of the people they were bringing to the colony.

Newspaper reports on the ship's arrival:

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32191836?

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2555369

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser Tue 28 Dec 1841:
“Ship News. The Lady Clarke, out from Plymouth 113 days, arrived on Sunday with 192 emigrants, under the superintendence of Dr. Anderson. The ship appears to have been kept in a clean state during the voyage, and every comfort shown to the passengers, who speak in the most
flattering manner of the attention bestowed on them by the captain and doctor. When off the
Cape, the Lady Clarke experienced a severe gale of wind, and on the 30th November, spoke the ship Alexander, with emigrants from London to Port Phillip, in Lat, 33 S., long. 8E.”

Regards
Toby

[TobyO]

One more thing. Their last child George Stephens was born (on board ship) in NSW on 7 Nov 1841 and christened in St James’, Sydney on 21st Feb 1842.
It seems likely the whole family remained in Sydney. I noticed the shipping list on the Lady Clarke had changed their name from Stephens to Stevens for some reason so I checked burials on ‘Find a Grave’ website and 3 Stevens popped up in All Saints Cemetery, North Parramatta, NSW. Memorial wall plaque AP.1:
George Stevens: 21/12/1844 age 3y (born Nov 1841)
Elizabeth Stevens: 26/3/1845 age 10 (born Oct 1834)
Mary-Anne Stevens: 14/11/1846 age 34 (born 1811/12)
These looks likely to be Mary-Anne Stephens and 2 of her children as the ages all agree with their birth years.
https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2018/142/UNCEM_2498808_0e374abb-e304-4864-9259-cbd5a982f760.jpeg
Hope this helps.
Regards
Toby

[Chris Nilsen]

Hi Toby,
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This is an amazing find for me, especially for Mary-Anne.
There are over a dozen trees on Ancestry that claim she died in 1898. I knew this was wrong, but I wasn't able to find what was right.
I am pretty sure this is her, everything fits.
It also answers what happened now to all but one of the children.
John William is the only one left to trace now.
I'm pretty sure these shipping records relate to him:

Victorian arrivals:
Stephens John   DoB 1832   Aged 22 Ship: Siren   To Victoria   from Sydney   1854-07-3

Victoria Departures:
STEPHENS   JOHN   31   LONDON III   1857   OCT         TO SYDNEY

But after 1857 there are just too many John's to be sure when he died.
Thanks so much for all your research.
Chris.