Mansfield Genealogy

5 March 2018

 

 

 

 

MANSFIELD family tree

MANSFIELD family summary

MANSFIELD ancestor chart

 

 

Dr Geoffrey Mann
geoff.mann@btinternet.com
home page

     

4 James MANSFIELD

5 William MANSFIELD c1795-1872


m Mary Ann DEARSLEY 1815

 

 

 

 

William Mansfield was born in 1795, in or near Epping, though no record of his baptism or his parents have been found.  Around the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Henry Dearsley in the nearby village of Roydon to learn the trade of wheelwright. He fell in love with his master's daughter Mary Ann, though she was ten years older than him, and as soon as his apprenticeship ended in 1815 he married her.

 

But they were married in Stepney not in Roydon. Perhaps Henry disapproved of his daughter marrying his young apprentice. Perhaps they ran away to London together?  William set himself up as a wheelwright in Bethnal Green, in Digby Street just behind the Green where they were to stay all their lives.   They had at least eight children, but like William himself, no baptisms of any of their children have been found.  If they were baptised at all, the baptisms must have taken place in a non-conformist church whose records have not survived.

 

 In 1851 and 1861, William and Mary were living alone in Digby Street, but their children and grandchildren were all close by, the sons having taken up their father's trade or that of carman.  William's eldest son William, expanded the family business very successfully into nearby James Street and became wealthy, leaving nearly £4000 when he died in 1879.

 

Mary died in 1864 and William senior in 1872 aged 77; both were buried in Victoria Park cemetery in Bethnal Green

 

 

 

 

 

EVENTS

 

 

           age

   DATE   WM MD

 

                       EVENT

      1795     

26Nov1816 20 30

     c1816 21 31

     c1819 24 34

     c1823 28 38

     c1824 29 39

     c1825 30 40

     c1826 31 41

     c1827 32 42

    c1828 33 43

 6Jun1841 45 55

30Mar1851 54 65

 7Apr1861 66 76

23Sep1864 69 79

 2Apr1871 76 --

31Aug1872 77  

 5Sep1872 77  

William born, probablyy at Epping

m Mary Dearsley at Stepney

son William born Stepney

son John born

son Thomas born Bethnal Green

dau Sarah Jane born

dau Maru born

son Alfred born Bethnal Green

son Robert born

son James  born Bethnal Green

census: at Digby St with wife and 4 children; Wm was a wheelwright

at 2 Digby St; on their own; Wm a wheelwright

at Digby Walk, BG on their own; Wm a wheelwright

Mary buried at Victoria Park Cemetery, Bethnal Green

census not found; not in Digby Walk or James St

William died at 77 James St, at son Thomas' home

William buried at Victoria Park Cemetery, Bethnal Green

 

 

 

PRINCIPAL RECORDS

 

b=born  m=married  d=died

C=Christened        B=Buried

BIRTH

 

From census and death certificate ages, William was born about 1795.  The 51 census gives Epping Essex as birthplace, 61 census gives Rotherhithe Surrey.   The William Mansfield baptised at Rotherhithe in 1787 married Elizabeth and appears in the 51 and 61 census at Lambeth as a bookseller.

 

William was apprenticed to a wheelwright at Roydon which is only 5 miles frpm Epping and there are many Mansfield families in the Epping parish register.  But no William C between 1778 and 1807.

 

In all census returns except one, the children of William and Mary are said to be born in Bethnal Green/Stepney/Mile End, but no baptisms have been found there.  The one exception is the 1891 census for son James in which he is said to be born in Hertford.  Hertford is only 10 miles from Epping and 5 miles from Roydon.  The registers of Hertford all Saints and St Andrew have been examined; there were several Mansfield familes in All Saints in the early 19th C but James baptism was not found nor any evidence of Wiliam. 

 

William's 3xgr granddaughter Jean Stevenson has a DNA match to two Ancestry members both of whom are descendants of Joseph Mansfield and Martha Wollard both of Epping who married at nearby Theydon Garnon (1 mile from Epping, 6 miles from Roydon) in 1766 and baptised seven children at Epping between 1766 and 1788 (including William 1778)

 

It seems almost certain therefore that William's origins lie in or near Epping. The failure to find his baptism, together with the absence of any baptismal records for his children, suggests a non-conformist background.  There was a Congregational Church at Epping in this period but the records have survived and contain no Mansfield entries.

 

Baptisms at Theydon Garnon (1 mile from Epping, 6 miles from Roydon) include the following:

 

John    C25Mar1786 s John & Anne Mansfield

Francis C 8Oct1787 s John & Anne Mansfield

xxx     C14Feb1790 s John & Anne Mansfield 

William C28Jul1799 s John & Anne [no surname written]

 

xxx illegible; has been interpreted as Wm but it looks more like Jn to me

 

 William Mansfield baptisms 1790-1800 in ESS and HRT include the following with distance from Epping/Roydon in miles:

 

Navestock ESS ( 6/10) C25Dec1800 s Elisabeth Mansfield (no father named)

Roxwell   ESS (12/15) C27Jun1790 s Henry & Jane

Roxwell   ESS (12/15) C 4Sep1798 s John & Elizth

Danbury   ESS (20/23) b24Oct1794 s Thomas & Mary (Baptist; William moved to Hinckley,Leicestershire)

Bocking   ESS (22/24) C30N0v1793 b21Jan1790 s  Thomas & Susan

 

Hatfield      (HRT)(15/12) C25Mar1794 s Benjamin & Elisabeth d26Apr1795

Kings Langley (HRT)(23/21) C30Apr1809 bOct1798 s James & Elizabeth

Kings Langley (HRT)(23/21) C26Mar1797 s William & Elizabeth

 

None of the above look promising. The presumed illegitemate birth at Navestock is interesting but it is really too late for Williams marriage in 1815 and there is no extra information in the register to suggest a late baptism.  There are William Mansfield baptisms in London, including one at Clerkenwell in Middlesex on 15Mar1795 son of Joseph and Rebecca which some Ancestry members have concluded  is the correct baptism. This seems very unlikely; William never gave Clerkenwell or London as his birth address, and in 1841 specifically excluded Middlesex. He did not name any of his children Joseph or Rebecca, and it seems unlikely that a London child would be apprenticed so far way as Roydon

 

There are a number of Illegitemate Willams born in Epping around 1795, including sons of Sarah Perryman in 1791, Esther Newman in 1794 and Mary Wilson in 1798.  But no subsequent marriage of any of these to a Mansfield has been found. 

 

MARRIAGE

 

The census records name William's wife as Mary, born about 1785 in Royden  ESS.  A Poor Law examination of Mary in Bethnal Green gives her maiden surname as Dearsley, and a marriage at Spitalfields on 26 Nov

 

There is a suitable marriage at Stepney Spitalfields Christchurch:


m 26Nov1815 William MANSFIELD & Mary DEARSLEY; wit: Samuel ART---, Robert ROOK[?]

 

and a suitable baptism at Royden:


C 2Oct1785 Mary d Henry & Elizabeth DEARSLEY

DESCENDANTS

 

no suitable baptisms of children of William & Mary found. Mary named 7 children with birth dates in her poor law examination, but forgot Alfred, known to be a son from his marriage certificate. The birth dates she remembered agree reasonably well with census and other records except for Sarah Jane said to be born 1828 but born 1824 from her marriage certificate.

 

bc1816 William    m  1836 Susan BAKER Shoreditch St Leonards

bc1819 John

bc1823 Thomas     m  1844 Sarah DELIEU at Bethnal Green, St Philips

bc1824 Sarah Jane m  1845 Edwin CLEMENS at Bethnal Green St Philips

bc1825 Mary

bc1826 Alfred     m  1848 Ann Sarah BATT at Bethnal Green St Philips

bc1827 Robert

bc1828 James      m  1850 Mary Ann NEWMAN at Stepney St Dunstan

certificates:

 

m 7Apr1844 at St Philps Bethnal Green by banns

Thomas x Mansfield full bch wheelwright of 11 Gibraltar Walk & Sarah Dulieu 19 spr of 11 Gibraltar Walk

fa: William mansfield, wheelwright, John Dulieu, weaver; wi: John Dulieu, Sarah Dulieu

 

m 25Dec1845 at St Philip Bethnal Green by banns

Edwin Richard CLEMENS 21 bch carman of 15 Hope Town, & Sarah Jane x MANSFIELD 21 spr of 15 Hope Town

fa: Joseph CLEMENS dyer, William MANSFIELD wheelwright; wi: Richard ELLIS, William S(?)ARVENT

 

m 27Aug1848 at St Philip in parish of Bethnal Green by banns

Alfred x MANSFIELD 22 bch labourer of 6 Hope Town & Ann Sarah BATT 20 spr of 15 Tyssen St

fa: William MANSFIELD wheelwright; John Thomas BATT salesman; wi: Thomas x MANSFIELD, Sarah x MANSFIELD

 

b 10Jun1850 Emily girl at 4 George gardens Bethnal Green

fa: Thomas MANSFIELD carman; mo:Sarah MANSFIELD formerly DELIEU

r 13Jul1850 at Green, Bethnal Green MDX by Sarah x MANSFIELD mother of 4 George Gardens Bethnal Green

DEATH

certificates

 

d 19Sep1864 Mary_Ann MANSFIELD female age 79, wife of William MANSFIELD, wheelwright at 1 Digby Walk from dropsy

r 20Sep1864 by D_LAMBERT pad of 1 Digby Walk, Bethnal Green, at Green,_Bethnal_Green,_MDX

 

d 31Aug1872 William MANSFIELD male age 77, wheelwright at 77 James St from natural decay

r  2Sep1872 by Sarah x MANSFIELD pad of 77 James St, Bethnal Green, at Green, Bethnal Green, MDX

 

Sarah is a daughter in law, wife of Thomas

 

from Victoria Park, Bethnal Green, cemetery records:

 

B 23Sep1864 Mary Ann MANSFIELD of Digby Walk, Green St, Bethnal Green; age 79 [b1785]

B  5Sep1872 William MANSFIELD of 77 James St, age 77 [b1795}]

 

no record found in the E London newspapers of his death

 

 

CENSUS

1841 Digby St, Bethnal Green HO107/692 Bk5 Dist12

 

William    MANSFIELD          45  1795    wheelwright                                     n

Mary       MANSFIELD          55  1785                                                    n

John       MANSFIELD          20  1820    labourer                                        y

Thomas     MANSFIELD          20  1820    labourer                                        y

Alfred     MANSFIELD          15  1825    labourer                                        y

James      MANSFIELD          13  1827                                                    y

 

1851 2 Digby St HO107/1540 f96

 

William    MANSFIELD   he mar 54  1796    wheelwright                   Epping, ESS

Mary       MANSFIELD   wi mar 65  1785                       Royston or Roydon, ESS

 

1861 1 Digby Walk, Bethnal Green RG9/252 f7-13

 

William    MANSFIELD   he mar 66  1794    wheelwright                    Rotherhithe, Surrey

Mary       MANSFIELD   wi mar 76  1784                                   Roydon ESS

 

1871 census not found

not at Digby Walk; not at 77 James St where he died which was occupied by son Thomas & Sarah and family. A William Mansield was in the Hackney workhouse, but was a labourer aged 67 (b1804) so probably not William-5

 

OTHER

census and other data for sons of William & Mary:

William

1841 Digby St, Bethnal Green HO107/692 Bk5 Dist12

 

William    MANSFIELD          20  1820    wheelwright                        y

Susan      MANSFIELD          20  1820                                       y

Susan      MANSFIELD          4   1836                                       y

Mary       MANSFIELD          2   1838                                       y

 

1851 2 James St, Bethnal Green HO107/1540 f522

 

William    MANSFIELD   he mar 34  1816    wheelwright                     Mile End

Susannah   MANSFIELD   wi mar 33  1817                                    Bethnal Green

Mary Ann   MANSFIELD   da     11  1839    scholar                         Bethnal Green

Harriet    MANSFIELD   da     9   1841    scholar                         Bethnal Green

Job        MANSFIELD   so     7   1843    scholar                         Bethnal Green

Susannah   MANSFIELD   da     4   1846                                    Bethnal Green

Maria      MANSFIELD   da     4m  1850                                    Bethnal Green

 

1861 1 James St, Bethnal Green RG9/256 f117

 

William    MANSFIELD   he mar 45  1815    wheelwright                      Mile End Stepney

Susan      MANSFIELD   wi mar 44  1816                                     Bethnal Green

Mary Ann   MANSFIELD   da unm 21  1839    assistant at home                Bethnal Green

Harriet{?} MANSFIELD   da unm 19  1841    assistant at home                Bethnal Green

John       MANSFIELD   so unm 17  1843    assistant at home                Bethnal Green

Susannah   MANSFIELD   da unm 14  1846    scholar                          Bethnal Green

Maria      MANSFIELD   da     12  1848    scholar                          Bethnal Green

Sarah Ann  MANSFIELD   da     9   1851    scholar                          Bethnal Green

Ellen{?}   MANSFIELD   da     4   1856    scholar                          Bethnal Green

 

1881 56 Nightingale Rd, Bethnal Green RG11/304 f28

 

Susan      MANSFIELD   he wid 63  1817    annuitant                        Bethnal Green

Maria      MANSFIELD   da unm 27  1853                                     Bethnal Green

Sarah      MANSFIELD   da unm 25  1855                                     Bethnal Green

 

will William MANSFIELD of 268 Old Ford Rd, Victoria Park; s 4Apr1879 d 17Jul1879 p 16Mar1881

 

To wife Susannah all household effects; to son Job all wheelwright's stock-in-trade and goodwill of the business; to daughter Sarah Ann GREISER, wife of John GREISER £19 19/; execs: wife, daughter Maria, and Samuel Pound of the Unicorn, Auckland Rd, Victoria Park.

 

Rent from freehold houses 2 3 & 6 Willow St, Mile End to wife for life then to daughter Maria

Rent from leasehold houses 69,71,73 James St to wife for life then to da Harriet SPIEGELHALTER, wife of George SPIEGELHALTER

Rent from leasehold houses 75,77,79 James St to wife for life then to daughter Ellen SCADDEN, wife of John SCADDEN

Rent from leasehold houses 54 56 James St to wife for life then to son Job

Rent from leasehold house 23 Brierly St Bethnal Green, now occupied by son-in-law Robert HOBART to wife for life then to daughter Mary Ann HOBART wife of said Robert for her separate use; after her death, house to be sold for her children

 

signed 4Apr1879; witnessed by William GOODWIN (solicitors clerk) & Nicholas John GARDNER of 272 Old Ford Rd; Samuel POUND renounced his executorship.  Estate <£4000

Alfred

1851 15 White St, Bethnal Green HO107/1542 f173

 

Alfred     MANSFIELD   he mar 25  1825    carman                      Bethnal Green

Mary       MANSFIELD   wi mar 19  1831                                Bethnal Green

Eliza      MANSFIELD   da     1   1849                                Bethnal Green

1861 3 Albion Cottages, Hollybush Gardens, Bethnal Green RG9/260 f27-41

 

Alfred      MANSFIELD   he mar 34  1826    lime carter                 Stepney

Ann         MANSFIELD   wi mar 28  1832                                Stepney

Eliza Jane  MANSFIELD   da     11  1849    fancy trimmer               Bethnal Green

Robert W    MANSFIELD   so     9   1851    scholar                     Bethnal Green

Rosa Amelia MANSFIELD   da     5   1855                                Bethnal Green

Caroline    MANSFIELD   da     3   1857                                Bethnal Green

William J   MANSFIELD   so     10m 1860                                Bethnal Green

 

1881 60 West St Mile end Old Town  RG11/424 f46

 

Alfred        MANSFIELD     he mar 54  1827 carman                          Stepney

Ann           MANSFIELD     wi mar 49  1832                                 Stepney

Jessie        MANSFIELD     da unm 16  1865 fancy box maker                 Bethnal Green

Thomas        MANSFIELD     so      7  1874 scholar                         Bethnal Green

Alfred        MANSFIELD     so      4  1877 scholar                         Stepney

 

Thomas

1851 5 Hollybush Gardens, Bethnal Green HO107/1541 f683

 

Thomas     MANSFIELD   he mar 27  1823    carman                         Bethnal Green

Sarah      MANSFIELD   wi mar 23  1827                                   Bethnal Green

Sarah      MANSFIELD   da     6   1844                                   Bethnal Green

Thomas     MANSFIELD   so     4   1846                                   Bethnal Green

Emily      MANSFIELD   da     9m  1850                                   Bethnal Green

 

1871 77 James St, Bethnal Green RG10/488 f49-52

 

Thomas     MANSFIELD   he mar 50  1820    carman                         Mile End

Sarah      MANSFIELD   wi mar 40  1830                                   Bethnal Green

Mary A     MANSFIELD   da unm 18  1852                                   Bethnal Green

Thomas     MANSFIELD   so unm 23  1847    bricklayer                     Bethnal Green

Charles    MANSFIELD   so unm 16  1854    labourer                       Bethnal Green

Poor Law and Settlement Records

Bethnal Green, Hackney, Poplar, Shoreditch and Stepney

Examination Satuday 4 December 1847

Sarah Mansfield of 20 Henly Cottage, Derbyshire [St] age 22
wife of Tho Mansfield 24 laborer now sick 20 years in BG marr 17Apr1844 at st Phillips BG to Sarah Dulieu his [present?] wife
hath 2 children Sara 2 last march, Thomas 4 months

Mary Mansfield of 3 Digby St age 63 wife of Wm Mansfield age 53 wheelwright as to her son the above Tho Mansfield
Mary Mansfield was married at Spitalfields 33years ago on 26 Nov maiden surname Dearsley [N---?]
and hath by him 7 children Wm 31 Jno 28 Tho 24 Mary 22 Robt 20 Sarah 19 James 17
Husband was apprenticed to this examinants father Henry Dearsley at Roydon Essex (3-4 miles from Hoddesdon) wheelwright op the White Hart at Royden and duly served his ----

            Roydon Essex

DEARSLEY Family

Eastwick Herts

m 5Nov1775 Henry DEARSLEY bch of Roydon & Elisabeth TUFNAL spr otp

Roydon Essex. St Peter

C b2Oct1785 Mary d Henry & Elizabeth DEARSLEY at Roydon

B 30May1780 Henry

B 17Jun1806 Hester    DEARSLEY age 0

B b7Jun1813 Margaret  DEARSLEY age 32 [1781]

B 24Jul1813 Mary      DEARSLEY age 0

B 29Jul1820 John      DEARSLEY age 42 [1778]

B  2Aug1829 Thomas    DEARSLEY age 50 [1779]

B 11May1834 Thomas    DEARSLEY age 23 [1811]

B 27Feb1835 Elisabeth DEARSLEY age 79 [1756]

B 12Jul1835 Henry     DEARSLEY age 82 [1753]

 

 

 

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