Sarah Elizabeth STEVENSON

Abt 1841 -

• Name	Sarah Elizabeth STEVENSON
  Birth	Abt 1841	Shadwell, Middlesex   [1, 2]
  Gender	Female
  1841 Census	"Martins Buildings", Shadwell, Middlesex   [3]
  	At 1841 Census, she is 1
  1851 Census	2, Victoria St., Shadwell, Middlesex   [1]
  	At 1851 Census, she is 10
  1861 Census	4, Popes Hill, Shadwell, Middlesex   [4]
  	At 1861 Census, she is 21
  1871 Census	73, Woodstock St., Plaistow, West Ham, Essex   [5]
  	At 1871 Census, she is 30, occ "[Carpenter and Joiner's] wife"
  Individual Note	possible birth Jan qtr 1840, Bethnal Green vol 2, p24, or Oct qtr 1841, Bethnal Green vol 2, or less likely Apr qtr 1840, Stepney
  Person ID	I157	Webb
  Last Modified	1 Jun 2025

  
  

  Father	Thomas John STEVENSON,   b. 12 Sep 1808, ?Abbot? St., Tower Hamlets
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Sarah CHAMBERLAIN,   b. 23 Oct 1812, Shadwell, Middlesex
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	1828	Christ Church, Spittalfields, London   [6]
  Notes	Slightly awkwardly, John Thomas STEVENSON(?) marries Sarah POTTER on 20/9/1830 at the same church, and one of the witnesses is Mary CHAMBERLAIN. There is a high chance this is the same Sarah, though I do not know why the surname changes. However I am taking it that the birth name is Chamberlain, if only because there are baptisms of STEVENSON children at St Dunstan, Stepney recorded in IGI as follows: Frederick Alfred Henry, bapt 6/9/1829 Emma Sarah, bapt 22/5/1831 Robert, bapt 27/5/1832 Mary Ann, bapt 22/12/1833. Mary Ann matches a name and age from the 1851 Census.
  Family ID	F59	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	William James WEBB,   b. 1839, 27, Austin St., Bethnal Green, Middlesex
  Marriage	5 Oct 1857	St. George in the East, Tower Hamlets   [7]
  Notes	After 1861 the story of William and Sarah becomes less clear. In the 1871 Census, Sarah is married to Alfred, a joiner from Suffolk, living in West Ham. This clearly is the right Sarah as her mother is there too. But in 1881 Alfred appears back in Suffolk, unmarried, with his Aunt and Uncle. There is no complete evidence for Sarah anywhere after 1871, in Census or in BMD indices, but it might be presumed that she had died and Alfred then went back to his roots. I can find no record of Sarah WEBB (or STEVENSON) marrying Alfred WEBB. Slightly less likely is that they were not living together in 1871, Alfred was just lodging, and for convenience went in as head, or that this was his property and Sarah and some of her children, and her mother, were lodging with Alfred. Robert(2), Susannah(1 wk), are also there but without the birth certificates do not know who their father is. I have not found Robert or Susannah later than this but they are with none of the possible parents in 1881. Lastly, there is a Sarah WEBB who died in Shoreditch Jan qtr 1870. This means that Alfred just reported her (by mistake, or for simplicity or public perception?), but she was not actually alive. William meanwhile appears in 1881 and 1891 Censuses, in 1981 as widowed, with Harriet HALL (married) as a housekeeper. There are likely children, James(1y 8m) and Emma(3m), born to Harriet and William, so again they either married or were treated as such. The key indicator here is that William is a Fish Porter, so I am fairly sure we have the right person, given age, place of birth and children. Church records have John George born to William and Harriet 10/12/1882 (bapt 2/10/1888), then James Walter and Harry Charles, twins born 28/7/1879 (bapt 21/9/1879) to William and Harriet. James and John appear in School lists in 1892 (living at 24, Elstead St., father a fish porter), but there is no Harry. Then in 1891 William is married to Emma. Again there is no BMD evidence for Harriet's marriage or death (there is no Harriet Hall in death indices), nor for any marriage to Emma. Perhaps most likely is that Emma and Harriet are the same person and that one of the names (probably Harriet) was written down incorrectly. There is possible death evidence for both Emma (Lewisham Q1 1898, aged 42, which matches the Census) and William (Southwark Q4 1895 aged 55, giving DOB of 1840, which is close enough).
  Children	1. William James WEBB,   b. 1860, 4, Newcastle Place, Stepney, Middlesex  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Sarah Elizabeth WEBB,   b. 9 Nov 1858, 4, St Annes Row, Mary St., Stepney, Middlesex  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Leonard Richard WEBB,   b. 1863, Stepney, Middlesex d. 1909, London (Age 46 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Harry Stevenson WEBB,   b. 1865, Stepney, Middlesex  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F57	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 Jun 2025

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Abt 1841 - Shadwell, Middlesex 1841 Census - At 1841 Census, she is 1 - - "Martins Buildings", Shadwell, Middlesex  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S251] 1851 Census :- 2, Victoria St., Shadwell, Middlesex. [S357] Baptism transcript :- Sarah Elizabeth Stevenson (1840). [S358] 1841 Census :- "Martins Buildings", Shadwell, Middlesex. [S256] 1861 Census :- 4, Popes Hill, Shadwell, Middlesex. [S265] 1871 Census :- 73, Woodstock St., Plaistow, West Ham, Essex. [S263] Marriage Banns :- Christ Church, Spittalfields (1828). [S250] Marriage register entry :- William James Webb - Sarah Elizabeth Stevenson (1857).