Person:Maria Stockwell (1)

Maria Stockwell was born about 1808 in Sheerness, Kent, the second child of stockbroker and journeyman shipwright George Stockwell and Maria Smith.

Maria had five sisters (who married shipwrights, inn keepers, navymen, and merchants) and three brothers (all shipwrights). Some time between 1820 and 1825 the family moved to Rotherhithe in London.

On 13 Sep 1828 Maria was married to shipwright Frank Whitfield at St. Dunstan and All Saints Church, Stepney. A Maria Whitfield (probably Frank's sister) and a John Baskett were witnesses.

Maria and Frank were living at Albion Street in Rotherhithe when their first child, Maria Elizabeth, was baptised at St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe on 11 November 1829. Maria probably died young as she would have been 11 at the time of the 1841 census but was not living with the family. Frank and Maria had moved to Grove Street in Deptford when their second child, Frank, was born in Deptford on 30 Sep 1830 and baptised at St. Paul's Church, Deptford on 21 Nov 1830. They were at the same address when their second son George Robert was born 1 Sep 1832 and baptised at St. Paul's on 7 Oct 1832. Their second daughter Elizabeth Louisa was born in Limehouse on 4 Jun 1836 and baptised at St. Anne's Church, Limehouse on 23 Oct 1836.

By 1839 the family had moved to Poplar, where their fourth child William James was born 23 Dec 1839. The family of six were living at North East Row in Poplar during the 1841 census. On 21 Dec 1841 Maria's father George died at the age of 65 of haemoptisis (coughing up blood) and was buried at the Brunswick Methodist Chapel.

More children were born to Maria and Frank in Limehouse, London: John Alfred on 16 Mar 1843, Robert Israel (named after Frank's father Robert Israel Whitfield) on 18 Apr 1845, Georgiana Harriet on 21 Jan 1847 and Edward Thomas on 16 Jan 1849. William, John, Robert, Georgiana and Edward were all baptised together on 1 Apr 1850 at St. Anne's Church, Limehouse. The family was living at Nightingale Lane, Limehouse, when the children were baptised in 1850. The 1851 census lists the family's address as 4 Cooper's Buildings, Limehouse, but this was in the vicinity of Nightingale Lane and it's possible it was a different way of noting the same address. By this time the eldest sons Frank and George had left school and become shipwrights.

Two more children were born to Maria and Frank after the 1851 census: Rosetta Thomas, born 1851 in Limehouse, and John, born about 1853 in Poplar. It is curious that they named a son John when they already had a living son named John. The only mention of the youngest son John that has been found is his listing as their son on the 1861 census, so it would be useful to find a birth or baptism record to confirm he was definitely their son and not perhaps a grandson. Maria was 22 when she had her first child, and 45 when the last of her 10 children was born. Sadly one of Maria and Frank's children, Edward Thomas, died in Jun 1851 at the age of 2 and was buried on 18 Jun 1851 at the Brunswick Methodist Chapel (the same place his grandfather George Stockwell was buried).

In 1858 Maria was with her mother when she died at the age of 75 on 14 Nov 1858 from senile decay and was buried 22 Nov 1858 at All Saints Church, Poplar. Maria's brother George Stockwell died the same year. Maria Sr.'s death certificate lists Maria Jr.'s place of residence as 3 Gill St., Poplar, but by the 1861 census they had moved yet again, to 27 Oxford Terrace, Poplar (Oxford Terrace was somewhere near Norfolk Terrace and Samuda St). Their eldest children Frank and George had married and moved into their own homes, and their next eldest son William appears to have also moved out. The eldest two sons remaining at home, John and Robert, had left school and like many of the other men in the family, were working as shipwrights. The younger children Georgiana and Rosetta were still at home, along with Maria and Frank's grandson Edward Wray. Edward was the child of Frank and Maria's daughter Elizabeth, who is listed as living with them in 1861 and also listed by her maiden name. Elizabeth's husband Edward was a shipwright who worked abroad so this is probably why she was living with her parents.

In the 1871 census Frank and Maria were living at the same location, sharing the dwelling with their daughter Georgiana, her husband William Blois and their two children, as well as Frank and Maria's daughter Rosetta and grandchildren George, Charlotte, Minnie, Sarah and Henry, children of their son George Robert Whitfield. George's wife Sarah had died in 1868 and when George also died in 1874 the orphans were left in the guardianship of their grandparents Frank and Maria.

Maria died on 27 May 1874 at 12 Oxford Terrace in Poplar, aged 66 years, due to "disease of the heart" and "dropsy".

Descendants of Frank and Maria are known to currently live in England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.

DNA Genealogy

If you are a descendant of Maria Stockwell and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England. Saint Dunstan and All Saints Church Parish Records, in London, England. Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930. (Ancestry.com)
   13 Mar 2010.

   Frank Whitfield m. Maria Stockwell, 13 Sep 1828

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Middlesex, England. 1841 Census
   Poplar, page 9; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Aug 2009); citing PRO HO 107/702/1.

   1841 Census information:
   Name: Maria Whitfield
   Age: 28
   Estimated birth year: abt 1813
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Middlesex, England
   Civil parish: Poplar
   Hundred: Ossulstone (Tower Division)
   County/Island: Middlesex
   Country: England
   Street address: South East Row
   Occupation: n/a
   Source information: HO107/702/1
   Registration district: Poplar
   Sub-registration district: Poplar
   ED, institution, or vessel: 15
   Page: 9
   Line number: 12
   GSU Number: 438815

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Middlesex, England. 1851 Census
   Limehouse, folio 373, page 40; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Aug 2009); citing PRO HO 107/1554.

   1851 Census information:
   Name: Maria Whitfield
   Age: 42
   Estimated birth year: abt 1809
   Relation: Wife
   Spouse's name: Frank
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Sheerness, Kent, England
   Civil parish: Limehouse
   County/Island: Middlesex
   Country: England
   Street address: 4 Coopers ??? can't read it
   Occupation: n/a
   Condition as to marriage: Married
   Registration district: Stepney
   Sub-registration district: Limehouse
   ED, institution, or vessel: 13
   Household schedule number: 164
   
   Household Members:
   Name Age
   Edward Whitfield 2
   Elizabeth Whitfield 14
   Frank Whitfield 45
   Frank Whitfield 20
   George Whitfield 18
   Georgeanna Whitfield 4
   John Whitfield 8
   Maria Whitfield 42
   Robert Whitfield 6
   William Whitfield 11

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Middlesex, England. 1861 Census
   Poplar, folio 64, page 18; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Aug 2009); citing PRO RG 9/311.

   1861 Census information:
   Name: Maria Whitfield
   Age: 53
   Estimated birth year: abt 1808
   Relation: Wife
   Spouse's name: Frank
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Sheerness, Kent, England
   Civil parish: Poplar
   Ecclesiastical parish: Christchurch
   County/Island: Middlesex
   Country: England
   Street address: 27 Oxford Terrace
   Occupation: n/a
   Condition as to marriage: Married
   Registration district: Poplar
   Sub-registration district: Poplar
   ED, institution, or vessel: 40
   Household schedule number: 81
   
   Household Members:
   Name Age
   William Mather 30
   Elizabeth Whitfield 24
   Frank Whitfield 56
   Georgeanna Whitfield 14
   John Whitfield 18
   John Whitfield 8
   Maria Whitfield 53
   Robert T Whitfield 16
   Rosster T Whitfield 9
   Elizabeth J Wray 1

5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} London, England. 1871 Census
   Poplar, folio 47, page 40; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Aug 2009); citing PRO RG 10/588.

   1871 Census information:
   Name: Maria Whitfield
   Age: 64
   Estimated birth year: abt 1807
   Relation: Wife
   Spouse's name: Frank
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Sheerness, Kent, England
   Civil parish: Poplar
   Ecclesiastical parish: Christchurch
   County/Island: London
   Country: England
   Street address: 27 Oxford Terrace
   Occupation: n/a
   Condition as to marriage: Married
   Registration district: Poplar
   Sub-registration district: Poplar
   ED, institution, or vessel: 38
   Household schedule number: 194
   
   Household Members:
   Name Age
   John Howes 18
   Charlotte Whitfield 17
   Frank Whitfield 63
   George Whitfield 15
   Henry Whitfield 8
   Maria Whitfield 64
   Minnie Whitfield 13
   Rosetta Whitfield 19
   Sarah Whitfield 11

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Death Index. (London, United Kingdom: General Register Office, 1837-Present)
   entry for Maria Whitfield, volume 1c, page 414, Apr-May-Jun quarter 1874, Poplar (To 1965) district; accessed 28 Aug 2009.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} General Register Office. England & Wales. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death
   death certificate for Maria Whitfield, died 27 May 1874; citing 1c/414/116, Apr-Jun quarter 1874, Poplar registration district, Poplar sub-district.
   Maria (Stockwell) Whitfield death certificate
8. ↑ Limehouse, Middlesex, England. St. Anne's Church Parish Records
   "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," John Alfred Whitfield, bap. 1 Apr 1850; accessed 11 Oct 2009.
9. ↑ General Register Office. England & Wales. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death
   death certificate for Maria Stockwell, died 14 Nov 1858; citing 1c/497/500, Oct-Dec quarter 1858, Poplar Union registration district, Poplar sub-district.
   Maria (Smith) Stockwell death certificate
10.   Church of England. St. Paul's Church (Deptford, Kent). Parish registers for St. Paul's Church, Deptford, 1730-1950. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1962, 2000)
    "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," Frank Whitfield, bap. 21 Nov 1830; accessed 13 Mar 2010.
11. ↑ England. Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast)
    Maria Stockwell, parents George & Maria, bap. 28 Feb 1814 at Minster-in-Sheppy, Kent.