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Looking
for this family using the transcription of the 1881 Census available on
disk is an object lesson in the sort of errors which can creep in.
First, the disk gives the family name as STATIFORD - an echo of the
local pronunciation in that area of Plymouth - not just at that
time but even at present. Next, the middle initial of the Head of
Household is not "F" but "E" - a misreading of the
enumerator's handwriting which is critical to a researcher because this
man may have been known by his second name which was Edward. |
Ashburton.
Artist unknown.
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From
a Victorian scrapbook
Courtesy
of Steve Johnson
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George
Edward Stentiford was born in Ashburton on 10 May 1837. His father was
an Edward Stentiford who had more than one marriage. George was the
eldest child of Edward's marriage to Joanna Widdecombe which took place
in 1833. He appears to have been named George after one of his father's
brothers and for now, we'll call him by that name.
You can find his father, Edward, in the 1851 Census Transcription
with a wife whose name has been wrongly recorded as "Thomas" - yet another problem for
descendents of this family! In 1851, Edward was a greengrocer and the family lived
in East Stonehouse. |
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George
married Sarah Fairbarn and this family too can be found in the 1851
Census. Her father, James Fairbarn, was a musician in the
Royal Marines, then stationed in Plymouth.
In the19th century, the Royal Marines took on the task of providing
music for the Royal Navy and their bandsmen are to be found on permanent
postings in ports such as Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth.
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The
Band of HMS Tenedos, 1885.
By
courtesy of Vintage Brass Band Pictures
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The wedding took place on 12 Aug 1863 at Stoke Damerel and the
bride's name is incorrectly read as "Fairburn" although her sister's surname is correct in the same
Register in 1870. |
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After
George's death in 1890. Sarah continued to earn her living as a
dressmaker. The 1891 Census shows her living in York Street with her son
Oscar George (not yet married) and someone she describes as an
"adopted daughter" - a little girl of 6 called Florence Lake.
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Click
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