Good evening everyone.
Please excuse some of this message as it straddles the Northamptonshire and Leicestershire border! As some of you may know, I've been trying to find a baptism or any other detail of my 4th Great Grandfather for over 20 years now, and many of you have helped with this search to no avail.
William Stevenson in all parish records and census up until his death in 1861 states he was from Weston (Weston-by-Welland), Northamptonshire. Supposedly born around 1790, but no baptism exists, including the myriad of Non-Conformist chapels that surround the local area. I felt the disappointment that after exhausting all avenues, and spending many weeks of totalled research hours in both Northamptons and Leicesters record offices I assumed it was a lost cause. Although not giving up with it, I put it on the back burner hoping that one day a new record would be unearthed that could crack this case.
Since then, the reason I took on my family history, was for dad. He began this vast work in the days long before internet, and pulling records up in seconds after pressing a few keys. Many letters were sent to Somerset House and various church across the country in his years of research. Seeing dad struggling with illness later in life, I decided to take the reins and hoped to find what he could not! Anything about William Stevenson. Dad passed away in 2020 after a long battle with dementia, and had long forgotten who his close family were never mind ancestors. I made a promise to dad that I would unearth this mystery in the end, and possibly now I might be close.
As the surname isn't really found in the parish, I assumed the family came from elsewhere and relocated to Weston at some point, if Williams earliest memories are of Weston then he'd assume he was from there. The only other baptism at Weston was in 1779, Hannah. She was the daughter of William and Mary. William and Mary King were married at Great Easton, Leicestershire in December 1778 which is 4 and a half miles away.
There are no more children to this couple, except for a birth on 22 Dec 1796 in Weston, another Hannah. This Hannah was baptised at the Ashley and Wilbarston Chapel on 23 Feb 1798. The previous Hannah from 1779 was buried at Hallaton, Leicestershire in 1791. Hence the re-using of name!
No other children between 1779 and 1796. 17 years. After a while I wondered if he had joined the army, and found my possible clue!
Discharged from the 16th Dragoons (Light Lancers) in 1795 due to disability of the hand, a William Stevenson of "Allerton" which sounds like Hallaton verbally, and connects with first child Hannah being buried there. Being released from duty in 1795 and another child in 1796 makes a lot of sense! This William was also buried at Hallaton in 1813. The ages are very close for his baptism at Hallaton for 1758, son of John Stevenson.
So I've found a collection in the National Archives for the 16th Dragoons which had muster books and pay lists and hopefully something that will help covering the years 1776-1797. I've contacted them for help and waiting for a reply.
Hopefully this wall will come down soon. Sorry for the long post.
Thanks for reading,
David.
