Early Life
Lawrence Stephens would have been born around 1740 (though see next paragraph that hints he may have been born in 1726) - the names of his parents are currently not known. Was he connected to
this family???
The closest match to a baptism that I have is
this Lawrence Stephens, baptised Nov 1726 at Pembridge in Herefordshire, son of John Stephens and Anne ___. Not entirely satisfactory as this would make him 41 at the time of marriage to Hannah which is quite late. On the plus side, Pembridge is only a couple of miles east of Lyonshall, where Lawrence had an estate; and he is recorded as having died in Pembridge itself (though the obit quoted below suggests he was "of Cotmore near Kington".
If we look at other potential siblings, we develop the following family:
- John, b. 1724 (first son, named after his father)
- Laurence, b. 1726 (potentially the Lawrence of this page)
- Anne, b. 1728 (first daughter, named after her mother)
- James, b. 1732 (bapt. in Lyonshall)
- Susan, b. 1737 (bapt. in Pembridge)
The first 3 children all baptised in Pembridge, but James was baptised at Lyonshall, so perhaps John and Anne moved there after 1728. However there is also a Susan, b. 1737 back in Pembridge.
Career Family Life
Lawrence married
Hannah Meredith, daughter of
David Meredith and
Sarah Owens, on the 11
th of June 1767 at
Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire.
I assume Lawrence was a farmer, based on the properties he apparently owned (see
Death).
Death
From the
Hereford Journal, 7
th February 1798, page 3:
"On Monday se'nnight died, suddenly, whilst eating his dinner, Mr Lawrence Stephens of Cotmore, near Kington, in this county. He was a gentleman of so great respectability in his neighbourhood, and of such strict integrity in all his dealings, that his loss will be long deplored by his family and acquaintance. His Estate, called the Heath, in the parish of Lyonshall, it is said, goes to the Rev. Jon Powell, of Cabalva, Radnorshire, by virtue of the will of the late Mrs Elizabeth Dale, formerly of the Heath."
This looks like the location for his farm:
Google Maps, showing it to be in Lyonshall.
It would be helpful to establish who Mrs Elizabeth Dale was, along with Rev. John Powell. There is a
Cabalva Farm in Herefordshire, about 10 miles SW of Lyonshall.
This sort of inheritance pattern suggests that Elizabeth Dale was probably Lawrence's aunt or grandmother and Jon Powell would have been his cousin or nephew.
There are marriage records for an Elizabeth Stevens [sic] marrying a William Dale in 1730 in Bristol, which is roughly the right date and location for her to have been an aunt of Lawrence's.
Cotmore Farm was (and still is) actually located to the East of Lyonshall, as shown in
this old map from 1904 (horizontal center, top third).
The Heath is visible in
this map from 1904 (left of horizontal centre, top third), to the NW of the excellently-named
Crackadonia.
Abt 1740 - 1798 (~ 58 years)
