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Robert Steatham's Marriage, by Rev. George Croft D.D. |
Hannah Butler The first Hannah in Robert's life was his mother Hannah Statham. This is the story of Hannah Butler who married Robert Steatham in 1798. I aim to cover her the whole of life starting at her marriage to Robert, then forward to her death, and then discovering her ancestry, after all she was the mother of the Steatham Family tree, I will only be briefly covering her children as they are all covered in great detail elsewhere. Also the format will be more of a timeline rather than the normal format for featured person sections of, [Quick Overview / Detailed Research / Census / findings / Discussion / Research - Additional Planned]. Hopefully this will make it more readable and interesting to read. It all starts when Hannah Butler, then aged 18, married [BPL] Robert Statham, on Monday the 24th December 1798 [Christmas Eve], by the Vicar George Croft D.D., at St Martins, the Bull Ring, Birmingham. Robert signed his name but Hannah left her mark. Hannah had still not learned to sign her name, when over 28 years later she travelled to Lichfield Ecclesiastical Court to sign the documents of Probate [LRO] for Robert's will. The last occasion for Hannah to sign her name was on Tuesday the 28th February 1843, in her will, and again she signed with her mark [X]. The witness's at Hanhah's wedding were her elder sister, Sarah Butler, and a William Lo??es, which I assume was the best man. Rev. George Croft D.D. is featured person click here to read about his life. To read more about St Martins, go to Steatham Research - Churches page. |
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They then live at Darlaston, Staffs in the Black Country as it was know.
They have ten children #), and the transition from Statham to Steatham name begins. 1) It all begins on Monday 20th January 1800, when James Stathem (note the e, but at the end), was baptised [WHC], he was buried on Sunday the 17th April 1819. 2) Next we have Thomas Statham baptised [WHC] on Sunday the 13th February 1803. 3) John Statham is next, baptised [WHC] on Wednesday the 27th March 1805, he was buried on Monday the 20th October 1806. 4) Next is Joseph Statham, born [WHC] on Thursday the 11th of December 1806, baptised [WHC] a little later on Thursday the 25th December 1806. So far we have only seen Statham (sic). |
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 First recorded use of the Steatham surname. Sarah & Elizabeth Steatham's baptism on Sunday the 11th of June 1809, St Lawrence, Darlaston, Staffs. |
5) 6) Then we have it, where it starts, with the twins, Sarah & Elizabeth Steatham being baptised [WHC] on Sunday the 11th of June 1809.
This event is significant, it being the first recorded use of the Steatham surname. Sarah was buried [WHC] on Sunday the 13th May 1810. Elizabeth was buried [WHC] two months later on Thursday the 19th of July 1810. 7) William Steatham was baptised [WHC] on Sunday the 28th of April 1811. William was buried [WHC] on Saturday the 21st December 1811. The burial records again say Steatham. 8) Moses Steatham was baptised [WHC] on Sunday the 21st February 1813. 9) Samuel Steatham was baptised [WHC] on Sunday the 26th of March 1815. 10) Next we have another child baptised [WHC] as James Steatham on Monday the 27th of April 1818. This James was buried [WHC] on Wednesday the 17th of February 1819. He was the last child born to Hannah and Robert Steatham. So Hannah and Robert's first and last child were both named James! Tragically neither survived. After this date Hannah and Robert Steatham only have their four surviving Sons, Thomas Steatham (1803-1873) Joseph Steatham (1806-1889) Moses Steatham (1813-1891) Samuel Steatham (1815-1884) Robert Steatham signed his will on Wednesday the 18th of October 1826, making Hannah one of the executors [executrix] as stated his 'loving Wife Hannah'. The original will can be viewed, and I would strongly advise visiting Lichfield Records Office [LRO] to see it. What we have is a will signed by his own hand, in a solicitors office in Darlaston, all those years ago - it is the closest we can get to Robert! To read his will in full, go to Robert Steatham's Will page. |
Robert Steatham's burial. |
Hannah now becomes a widow when Robert dies. Robert Steatham was buried on Friday the 6th April 1827, at St Lawrence, Darlaston, Staffs. There is no memorial stone for him. He joined in the churchyard, his six children who had pre-deceased him. |
Robert Steatham's Probate. |
Hannah now travels to Lichfield to enact the Probate. The papers for Robert's probate are all together, with his will, lodged at Lichfield Record Office [LRO]. To read his Probate documents in full, go to Robert Steatham's Probate page. |
Hannah Steatham's marriage. |
Just over sixteen months after Robert was buried, Hannah Steatham was married on Monday the 25th of August 1828, by the assistant Curate Francis Foreman Clark, to a Widower, William Jones at St Matthews, Walsall, Staffs. Interestingly Hannah knew how her name should be spelt, but she could still not sign it herself, as she signed again with 'her mark'. To read more about St Matthews, go to Steatham Research - Churches page. Hannah then became Hannah Jones, and as we say with all Steatham women who when marrying lose their Steatham name; was now lost to us. In addition Jones is a very difficult name to research. Due to a great stroke of luck we now see Hannah in the 1841 Census. Hannah is at Great Croft Street with her youngest son Samuel Steatham. She is stated as aged 60, in this census that means an age of 60 and under 65, so Hannah must have been born between 1776 and 1781, just possibly a little younger than Robert. |
 Hannah Jones [nee Steatham] [nee Butler]'s will. |
Hannah now makes a Will signed on Friday the 5th of May 1837. It is interesting to note that Hannah's Will is written by the same hand as Robert's Will. The Will was witnessed by Thomas Hemmingsley, William? Adams and William Harrison. Again Hannah signed with 'her mark' [X]. The Will validates what we know about the surviving children. We see the only surviving children (sons), interestly in the actual Will, they are mentioned in the order of age, Thomas Steatham, Joseph Steatham, Moses Steatham, and Samuel Steatham. With the two oldest Thomas Steatham and Joseph Steatham being made joint Executors. The Will was quite simple, in that Hannah left everything equally, to all four sons. Hannah Jones, as she is now named, at Blakemore Lane, dies on or around the 28th February 1843. As Hannah was buried on the 28th, it's very unlikely she died that day, so it must have been a few days earlier, when I obtain her death certificate all be revealed. Hannah in her Will left effects under £20. £20 in 1843, in todays money would be the equal to £2,707 - Calculated using this Link. Hannah was stated as being a widow on the probate declaration, so her husband William Jones must have pre-deceased her. Thomas Steatham signed the Probate Declaration with 'his mark' [X]. To read Hannah's Will click here. |
Hannah Jones' burial. |
We now find Hannah being buried on Tuesday 28th February 1843 at St Lawrence, Cock Street, Darlaston. Fron the burial records we finally find Hannah's age, 63 years! So Hannah was born in 1780. Hannah will be joined later in St Lawrence, Cock Street, Darlaston, by her eldest son Thomas Steatham and his wife Sarah. Thomas Steatham and his wife Sarah, died well after the opening of James Bridge Cemetery, Darlaston, there was the obvious place to buried, after all his brother Moses' son, also named Moses, was the Sexton there, but we now know why they didn't chose to go in there. Thomas Steatham just decided to join his mother in St Lawrence, Cock Street. So Hannah was just 18 years of age when she married Robert Steatham. Hannah's end of life story finishes for us, but what about her life before she married Robert Steatham? |
Hannah Butler's baptism. |
We now find Hannah Butler, the daughter of Eli and Mary, being baptised on Saturday the 28th April 1781, at St Lawrence. What a surprise this is! The idea has always been that Hannah came from the Birmingham area, that's why they married there, and then they moved on to Darlaston. But as we now know Hannah was from Darlaston, the question swaps around. As Hannah was from Darlaston, why then did they get married in Birmingham? |
Sarah Butler's baptism. |
We now see Hannah's elder sister Sarah Butler, a witness at Hannah's wedding, daughter of Eli and Mary, being baptised on Sunday the 25th August 1776, at St Lawrence. |
Eli Butler's baptism. |
We now see an elder brother of Hannah, Eli Butler, son of Eli and Mary, being baptised on Sunday the 2nd April 1797, at St Lawrence. The norm was for the first son to be named after the father, could it be that up until now they had only had daughters? |
Eli Butler's marriage. |
Hannah's parents were Eli Butler and Mary Fields, banns were read at St Lawrence on, Sunday the 22nd October 1775. Sunday the 29th October 1775. Sunday the 5th November 1775. Eli Butler and Mary Fields, both of this Parish, were married Monday the 6th November 1775, at St Lawrence. Witnessed by Noah Butler and John Meek [his mark X]. We now find much later Hannah's father, Eli Butler, now aged 58, at St Lawrence - Eli Butler (widower) and Mary Bratts? (widow), being married by Rev. John Waltham M.A. on Tuesday the 12th June 1810, again at St Lawrence. |
Eli Butler's baptism. |
Now Hannah's father Eli Butler, was the son of Benjamin and Hannah, and was baptised on Sunday the 15th October 1752, at St Lawrence.
Benjamin and Hannah's marriage as not yet been found. But we now have an good idea where the name Hannah came from. |
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We can see a Benjamin Butler being baptised on Sunday the 16th August 1724, to Nathaniel, at St Lawrence. The date and location look good.
With Nathaniel Butler the trail then goes cold hopefully further research into Nathaniel, and Eli's son Eli, born 1797, and Benjamin Butler and Mary, will enable more updates to be forthcoming. So in the end, to put it colloquially, we have a born and bred Darlaston girl Hannah, marrying a country lad, Robert from way out in the sticks - Uttoxeter, and that union started the whole Steatham Story. |
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