Stephen Clements born Avebury c. 1758

[ElizabethHerts]

Stephen Clements was baptised on 30th July 1758 St James, Avebury, Wiltshire. His parents were Robert and Ann Clements.

His sister Ann was my 4x great-grandmother.

Stephen was mentioned in his father Robert's will, so was alive in 1797.

I have a big problem here as he also had a cousin named Stephen, baptised on 1st November 1761 at St James, Avebury. The parents of this Stephen were Joseph and Sarah Clements.


There were 4 brothers - John, William, Joseph and Robert.
My 5x great-grandfather Robert was father of Stephen the subject of this thread.
Joseph was father of the other Stephen.

In John Clement's will he mentions:
"my great Nephew John Clements son of my Nephew Stephen Clements and the Heirs of his body for ever". However it isn't clear which Stephen this is!

William Clements was single, as far as I can tell, and he mentions both Stephens in his will (1804):

"I also Give and Bequeath to Stephen Clements son of my late Brother Joseph Clements my Wearing Apparel of every sort or kind"

"I also Give and Bequeath to my Nephew Stephen Clements Son of my late Brother Joseph Clements the Sum of Forty Pounds of lawful British Money Ten pounds whereof I hereby direct shall be paid him within six Months after my Decease but in case the said Stephen Clements should die during my Lifetime Then my Will is that the said Legacy of Forty Pounds should go to and be equally divided by and between all and every Child and Children of the said Stephen Clements share and share alike"

"I Give and Bequeath to my Nephew Stephen Clements son of my late Brother Robert Clements the sum of Ten Pounds of lawful British Money to be paid him within one year next after my Decease"


There is a burial at Avebury for a Stephen Clements in 1807. I don't know which one (if any!) it is.


So I don't know if "my" Stephen married or if he had children.

[Merry]

This is one of those I have to read 300 times before I "get" it! lol

When did John Clements die?

[ElizabethHerts]

This is one of those I have to read 300 times before I "get" it! lol

When did John Clements die?

First name(s): John
Last name: CLEMENTS
Date of burial: 1 Mar 1798
Age at death: 83
Calculated year of birth: 1715
Place of burial: Avebury
Dedication: St James
County: Wiltshire


Merry, it is complicated, lol! I wasn't really expecting too many answers but perhaps someone out there might see this and know some answers.

[Asa]

Elizabeth, it isn't much but I notice there's a Stephen Clements son of Robert and Mary Ann born in Avebury in 1844. I sometimes find working backwards where family names show up makes things more obvious

[ElizabethHerts]

Thanks, Asa! I have noted them before.

The names Stephen, Robert and John appear frequently for the Clements family. It can be very confusing. I am lucky in that three of the four brothers left wills, and they do account pretty well for most of the family. It's just that these two Stephens were only 3 years apart in age.

[Merry]

So it seems likely the 1807 death is for one of the two Stephens as that's why John didn't need to clarify which one he was leaving a legacy to.

[Merry]

You don't have a death for the other Stephen?

[ElizabethHerts]

Merry, I thought both Stephens would have been alive when John died in 1798. EDIT - see below

John Clements bapt. 6 April 1714 St James Avebury, buried 1 March 1798 St James Avebury

William Clements bapt. 14 Dec 1715 St James Avebury, buried 31 Jan 1804 St James Avebury

Joseph Clements bapt. Oct 1720 St James Avebury, buried 18 Jan 1795 St James Avebury - no will

Robert Clements bapt. 30 June 1723 St James Avebury, buried 6 Feb 1797 St James Avebury

A Stephen died in 1807.

I haven't found an obvious death for the other Stephen, although I have just noted the following:

Stephen Clements burial 3 July 1796 East Kennett
Stephen Clements burial 14 Oct 1798 East Kennett

East Kennett is the next village to Avebury.

[Merry]

OK I was too quick to read your earlier post and read 1715 as 1815 and made that the date of death instead of the estimated dob. Apologies.

[Merry]

I really do think one Stehen has to have died before John died as otherwise there might have been a dispute over the legacy! Can you tell from his will if he had legal advice :rolleyes: Were any of the witnesses solicitors clerks etc?

[kiterunner]

Was William Clements' will written in 1804, or was it written before then and proved in 1804? If it was written in 1804 then it is unlikely that one of the Stephens died before 1798, isn't it?

[ElizabethHerts]

William Clements' will was made on 4th April 1802 and proved at Sarum
on the 2nd June 1804.

John's will seems to have been witnessed by Avebury residents.

[Phoenix]

Isn't it marriages you need to be looking for? One Stephen had a son John - doubtless in the hopes that Old John would leave the boy some money!

Presumably the other cannot have had a surviving son called John at the time the will was made.

Land Tax is my usual standby at this period. You can often work out who dies by the names of people paying tax on land. I've done this on two Nicholas Adams who died in the 1790s in Devon.

[ElizabethHerts]

Unfortunately Wiltshire marriages aren't as easy to find as baptism and burials. From the wills and baptisms I know names of some of the wives but haven't been able to find marriages.

[ElizabethHerts]

Isn't it marriages you need to be looking for? One Stephen had a son John - doubtless in the hopes that Old John would leave the boy some money!

Presumably the other cannot have had a surviving son called John at the time the will was made.

Land Tax is my usual standby at this period. You can often work out who dies by the names of people paying tax on land. I've done this on two Nicholas Adams who died in the 1790s in Devon.

Thanks for the suggestion, Phoenix. We'll be going down to Wiltshire later in the year so I must remember to look at the records.

[Phoenix]

Not sure what happened to it, but there used to be two sisters doing an index of marriages. I did some transcribing for them in the 1980s. All I can remember is that one was called Barbara...!