The Reverend William Stephenson

[50but17inside]

So grateful for any ideas on what my next step should be to discover his parentage. He was born in 1782 in Thorngumbald, Sculcoates, Yorkshire. He married twice - to Mary in 1805 and Harriot in 1812. Had ten children. Was a non-conformist minister, highly educated and listed as gentry. I’m sure there must be a record of his birth somewhere with the names of his parents. I would be so grateful to receive any ideas of where so should go next with my research. Many thanks

Have just done a wee search of Familysearch - they have transcribed many of the records which exist pre compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths.

There is a William STEPHENSON baptised in Cottingham, Yorkshire, on 15 July 1782, son or Richard STEPHENSON and Ann. No great matches for a wedding of a couple in the same area, but not all records still exist.

The best place to explore would probably be the minister route - there are various sites about clergy in the churches concerned. Was he a quaker?

The other thing you could do is try to work out where he's buried and look for a gravestone - there's a site called Find A Grave, you can request photos from someone local if you can't get there yourself.

Oh how kind of you to look Raspberry! He held the ministry of the Congregational church in Thorngumbald in 1815

No problem. Looks like Hull History Centre have a lot of documents, minutes and correspondence relating to that church

catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/files/l-dcfs.pdf

Worth making an appointment with them to view what they have. Are you local?

Hi, Oh that’s great thank you very much - I’m not local so will contact them tomorrow and see if I can pay a researcher to have a look for me.