Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Sarah Wells

Female Abt 1746 - 1831  (~ 85 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Sarah Wells 
    Born Abt 1746  , Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died Gillingham, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried 23 Oct 1831  Newington next Sittingbourne, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1832  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family 1 Stephen Hales,   c. 1 May 1729, Boxley, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 25 Apr 1783, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 53 years) 
    Married 6 May 1766  Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Elizabeth Hales,   c. 10 Apr 1768, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 4 Mar 1769, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 0 years)
     2. Lawrence Hales,   c. 22 Jan 1770, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 28 Jan 1770, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 0 years)
     3. Lawrence Hales,   c. 27 Jan 1771, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     4. Henry Hales,   c. 13 Dec 1772, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 5 Apr 1829, Newington next Sittingbourne, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 56 years)
     5. Elizabeth Hales,   c. 21 May 1775, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 14 May 1777, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 1 years)
     6. James Hales,   c. 19 Jan 1778, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 27 Oct 1780, Stockbury, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 2 years)
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F813  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Peter Beck,   c. 15 Mar 1761, Newington, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 27 Sep 1791, Newington, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 30 years) 
    Married 3 Aug 1784  Newington, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Eliza Ann Beck,   c. 5 Dec 1784, Newington, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 19 Jan 1791, Newington, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 6 years)
     2. Sally Beck,   c. 17 Jun 1787, Newington, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F836  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. The burial of "Sarah Back" on 23 Oct 1831 reports that she was 85 years old. There are no Sarah Wells christened in 1746 in the shire of Kent per the indexed records of Family Search; however, there are several Sarah Wells christened in 1745 in Kent, England including those from Swanscombe, Egerton, and Tonbridge-Wells. If 1744 and 1747 are used, there are additional ones in Staplehurst and Lenham. None of these parishes are immediately adjoining Stockbury, but they are within an approximate ten mile range (except Swanscombe). The marriages were generally done in the the bride's home parish, which would normally point us to Stockbury for her christening. There was no indication in the marriage entry that Sarah was of another parish. There is one christening on 4 Jun 1740 in Stockbury for a Sarah Willes, dau. of Willm. and Mary Wills; however, this child is then shown buried 1 Oct 1740. Without something more definitive than an age at death, it is only a guessing game to assume any of the above Sarah Wells are our Sarah Wells who married Stephen Hales.
      Family researcher Glen Hales comments on what is available looking only at the indexed records. I add some comments in [brackets]:
      "My research confirmed several documented facts. Sarah Wells married Stephen Hales on 26 May 1766 in Stockbury, Kent. Stephen's first wife, Ann Clinch, had died the previous year and was buried 1 Aug 1765 in Stockbury, Kent. Stephen and Ann had been married 21 Dec 1754 in Bicknor, Kent. Stephen Hales died and was buried in Stockbury, Kent 25 Apr 1783. Sarah, now Sarah Hales, married Peter Beck 3 Aug 1784 in Newington, Kent. Sarah Beck or Back was buried 23 Oct 1831 in Gillingham, Kent and the record states that she was 85 years of age. Assuming the above dates are all correct, Sarah had to be born between October 1745 and October 1746 ... marriages usually took place in the parish of the bride. Since the marriage of Stephen Hales and Sarah Wells took place in Stockbury and the record stated that they were both from that parish, I therefore searched the Stockbury records carefully to look for marriages or deaths that would place a family member of Sarah Wells in Stockbury so that we could assume that a particular Wells family had moved to Stockbury. I found none.
      "Next, it was time to search for any Sarah Wells that was born near Stockbury at the right time. I, obviously, was not able to look at all parish records in Kent, so I used the internet and Family Search to identify the possibilities. I could only find the three different people named Sarah Wells that were born in Kent in 1745 or 1746. They are Sarah Wells the daughter of Thomas and Mary Well who was christened 21 Mar 1745 in Tunbridge Wells. Tunbridge Wells is over 18 miles from Stockbury. The second Sarah Wells was the daughter of John Wells who was christened 15 Dec 1745 in Swanscombe. Swanscombe is about 16 miles from Stockbury. The third Sarah Wells was the daughter of John Wells and Elizabeth Law who was christened 20 Dec 1745 in Egerton. Egerton is less than 10 miles from Stockbury.
      The first Sarah Wells was at least 86 ½ years old when Sarah Beck Died ... The Swanscombe parish record of the second Sarah Wells says "Sarah Wells the daughter of John Wells was christened 15 Dec 1745". Shortly after in the same parish record is says "Sarah Wells the daughter of John Wells was buried 14 Jan 1746" so the second Sarah Well is not a possibility. That leaves the 3rd Sarah Wells who was christened in Egerton on 20 Dec 1745.
      "[The] other possibilities from Staplehurst and Lenham. The Sarah Wells from Staplehurst would have been much more than 85 years old when Sarah Beck died ... The Sarah from Lenham would be possible if she wasn't christened until she was about 2 years old, but the record has her name as Sarah Wiles not Wells [Wiles/Willes is a variant Kent spelling for Wells]..."
      The first observation would seem to indicate that the Sarah Wells, daughter of John and Elizabeth, christened 20 December 1745 in Egerton is a strong possibility. From my work in the Kent Records Office in Maidstone and at each parish onsite, I believe more research is needed before we can fully narrow down the possibilities. Some points to consider in further research:
      1. Not all the surrounding parishes for Stockbury have been indexed. A radius parish by parish search needs to be done. The name Wills, Wells, Wiles all used interchangeably -- and the name is very common in Kent.
      2. The target area should be larger than 10 miles. Our Hales and associated families were itinerant in many cases chasing the harvests or whatever. They moved a lot from village to village working for others and so this spreads our search area. There was a lot of social and economic distress in this area at this time, which probably led to our Hales leaving for Canada. They left no land or ownership records that have been found thus far.
      3. "Reported" ages in Kent records are not certain. In many instances the estimated ages probably came from a third party who may not have been certain. We see the same thing in American census records.
      4. The indexed records do not allow for non-conformist churches, which need to be analyzed as well.
      5. The actual images for most all wills for Kent are now online on Family Search and we need to go through all Wells (and variant spellings) of the area and time period to search for mention of our Sarah as a sister, daughter, or whatever.
      6. We need to develop and follow each Wells family in our search area beyond a simple christening entry analysis to see if they show up up later in other marriages or adult burials.

      BIRTH:
      1. Nothing found in Stockbury Church records. Stockbury does have the christening of a John Wells, 15 Oct 1769, born in Hucking to his mother Hannah Wells. Could this be a relation of Sarah?

      MARRIAGE:
      1. FHL film 1752235 item #2, Archdeacon's Transcript of Stockbury: "1766, May 6th, Married Stephen Hales and Sarah Wells by Banns." Gives no mention of any other parish origin for Sarah. FHL film 1473718 Parish Records for Stockbury, Kent adds that both are of the parish. The same film also has the marriage banns which state that both are of the parish.

      2. Findmypast's "Kent Marriages": Peter Beck, widower, and Sarah Hales, widow, both of the parish, md. 3 Aug 1784 at Newington (Sittingbourne) by licence. Source: Newington marriages 1558-1836.
      The above also confirmed in FHL film 1736928 Bishop's Transcript of Newington (next Sittingbourne).

      BURIAL:
      1. Findmypast's "Kent Burials": Sarah Back, age 85, residing at Gillingham, bur. Newington (Sittingbourne) 23 Oct 1831. Source: Newington burials 1558-1864.

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. 18 Dec 2002 website .