Was Stedman really from Yarkhill?
Richard Smith
richard at OBsdl3cv-WkQIw39aO7gQfDNwWKs2aO5Tlvsh1Ug2LXC40KjPR-pWmQwVeHfF2Z9MBV8v8nPga1vt0Y.yahoo.invalid
Wed Jun 15 21:13:59 BST 2011
I hope this isn't considered off-topic for this list as it's
not bell history per se, more ringing history.
Being generally rather sceptical about a lot of what has
been written about Stedman, I decided to spend a little time
examining the claim that Fabian Stedman, the London ringer,
really was the same person as the Fabian Stedman who was
baptised at Yarkhill on 7 Dec 1640. His name might be
unusual, but even so it would be dangerous to assume there
was only one person going by that name at the time.
However, my conclusion, based on a comparison of
genealogical information in the Yarkhill parish registers
with that contained in Stedman's 1713 will, is that they are
the same person -- i.e. that Stedman was indeed from
Yarkhill. I expect little of this is new, but equally, I've
not seen any of this discussed anywhere, so I thought I'd
share it.
I've not consulted the original Yarkhill parish register,
only a transcription, though I've no reason to believe there
are any substantive errors in the transcript. There are
seven Stedmans baptised at Yarkhill in the 17th century, and
it's pretty likely that they are all siblings:
14 Oct 1627 Francis [only father stated]
20 Sep 1629 Ro[bert?] [parents not stated]
9 Apr 1635 Urs[ula]
8 Dec 1636 Sar[ah]
20 Nov 1638 Urs[ula]
7 Dec 1640 Fabian
14 Feb 1642 Adam
We can assume the first Ursula died as a baby, and a later
child was given the same name; this practice was common at
the time. The parents are given as Francis and Urs[ula].
It seems reasonable to assume that Francis, the father, was
the vicar of Yarkhill. Joseph Foster's 'Alumni Oxoniensis'
has an entry for Francis as follows [p.1416]:
STEDMAN, Francis of Salop, pleb. [i.e. commoner] BRASENOSE
COLL. matric. 24 Nov., 1615, aged 17, and again
28 Feb, 1616-17, aged 18, B.A. 3 June, 1619, M.A.
6 May, 1622; vicar of Yarkhill, co. Hereford, 1625.
That firmly puts him in Yarkhill at the right time, and make
him the right age to be having children during the period
1627-42. The Yarkhill parish register also lists two
marriages of Stedmans:
Urs[ula] married J[oh]n Ravenhill on 15 Aug 1655
Sar[ah] married J[oh]n Bond on 9 Jul 1661
It seems highly likely that Sarah must be Fabian's sister,
and quite likely that Ursula is also Fabian's sister (though
we could perhaps believe it might be his mother if she been
widowed). The Yarkhill register also mentions the
baptism of one child to Ursula and John Ravenhill.
30 Oct 1656 J[oh]n son of J[oh]n and Urs[ula] Ravenhill
So that's the little we know about the Yarkhill Fabian
Stedman. What do we know about the London one? We have the
will of "Fabian Stedman of the parish of St Andrew
Undershaft, London, Gentleman" that was made on 7 Oct 1713,
and for which probate was granted on 28 Nov 1713.
Trollope, in his unpublished work on 17th and 18th century
London ringing, tells us he was buried at Undershaft on 16th
Nov 1713.
In the will, he bequeaths "my sister Sara Bond twenty
pounds"; he also remembers the children and grandchildren of
Sarah, though not by name. After a number of other bequests
to non-relatives, the remainder of his estate goes to "my
cousin John Ravenhill son of my sister Ursula whom I make
sole executor". (The OED tells us that at that time,
"cousin" meant any relative more distant than a sibling,
frequently a niece of nephew.)
This matches precisely what we find in the Yarkhill parish
registers. The registers suggest Fabian had only two
sisters, Ursual Ravenhill and Sarah Bond, both of whom are
named in the will. (Ursula wasn't bequeathed anything and
could perhaps have been dead by 1713.) Fabian's executor,
John Ravenhill, can also be matched to someone in the
Yarkhill parish registers.
That seems to prove conclusively that the Fabian Stedman who
died in 1713 and was buried in St Andrew Undershaft was the
same one who was baptised in Yarkhill, Herefordshire in
1640. We don't definitely know that this person was the
ringer, but having firmly placed him within the City of
London makes it seem highly likely. A 1640 birth also
matches Trollope's estimate of 1640-41 for Stedman's birth;
and Trollope was writing at a time when the 1640 baptism at
Yarkhill had yet to be found and conventional wisdom has his
birth in 1631.
Anyway, I don't know to what extent this is of interest to
those on this list, but I thought I'd share it in case.
RAS
More information about the Bell-historians
mailing list