Right, hopefully some of you wont remember how often I tried to find this - but the marriage of Edward Horstead and Elizabeth Selby is the bane of my life. Well, that and their birth places and of course their ancestry.
They are my GGPx4 - I can stand in front of their headstones at the church in Ketteringham, Norfolk, just down the way from where I live (which for the uninitiated was a total surprise as I was born in Docklands and moved here in 1987.
But the facts are Edward birth year is 1735 - he died in 1827 (good ages my Horsteads). Elizabeth Selby born 1741 died 1826.
Earliest record I have is a settlement certificate dated 1768 (possibly 1763 - smudged) where they move about a mile from Ketteringham to the next village, Carleton. First known child, Thomas born about 1765 - no place known. Other children born Ketteringham, Norfolk.
Now, there are clutches of Horstead/Hosted/Hostead/Horsted in the Aylsham area of Norfolk, about 20 north of Ketteringham. There are clutches in the Glapthorn area of Northamptonshire and some in Yorkshire (and some odd groups in sussex/kent) But I cannot find a substantial bunch of them before the say 18th century.
Where did they come from? Is there name totally changed? Not Horstead or Hosted but maybe Orstead or something? Dont know. But there is a John Horstade about 8 miles from Ketteringham marrying a Bridget Pilgrim in - going on memory - about 1730 and I toyed with them being Edwards parents.
SO, any new angles would be appreciated. Neither can I find any Selby families in the Norfolk area in the 18th century, apart from the mention of two on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. There are though, Selbys in the Northamptonshire area.
Can anyone suggest anything? Why no sign of the name before the 1730ish era. How did they suddenly turn up in Norfolk and how are the Norfolk bunch related/if at all with the Northampton lot? I cant imagine ever solving this one, but things do happen sometimes dont they
Many thanks guys.