I’ve been trying for a while to find a baptism and marriage for Joseph Bennett. It’s a bit of a brick wall I have.
Joseph was born ca. 1742 and he was a gardener who lived in The Wicker.
He died there in March 1816 aged 74. I’ve got his will, and it mentions his children and his 2nd wife, but doesn’t refer back to his own parents.

Joseph had a daughter Sarah, baptised 12-Apr-1772 (mother’s name not mentioned.) Sarah was my direct ancestor.

It looks like twins were born in 1775. An unnamed child was buried 13-Feb-1775, the same day that another baby, Joseph, was baptized.
Baby Joseph was buried 21-May-1775, and then on 26-Nov-1775 a wife Elizabeth was buried.

Joseph then married Ann Oldham on 1-Jan-1779. The marriage license says he was 36 at the time and otp Sheffield.

Can anyone find a marriage for Joseph to Elizabeth?

Heths

There seems to be only one marriage of a Joseph Bennett between 1760 and 1770. Joseph Bennett

England, Yorkshire, Parish Registers, 1538-2016

Marriage 10 February 1760
Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul Sheffield, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Spouses Martha Oldfield

FamilySearch has this record.
Name Jos. Bennet
Sex Male
Spouse's Name Abigail Owen
Spouse's Sex Female
Marriage Date 4 Feb 1771
Marriage Place Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul Sheffield, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Marriage Place (Original) Cathedral Saint Peter, Sheffield, York, England
Event Type Marriage

To view the image you need to go to an LDS family history centre for FamilySearch affiliate library.

Heths
on 6th Jan 1749 there is a marriage of a Joseph Bennet to Elizabeth Robinson in Sheffield. Could she be the Elizabeth who died in 1775?
Dave

FindMyPast has two images of the Bennett-Owen record (sign-in, no fee)
4 Feb 1771, Jos. Bennet (sic), bat(chelor) & Abigail Owen, Spr, both of this Par.

The other image adds:
By banns.
Bride signed with her mark.
In the presence of Tho Hall & George Blackwell. Hall witnessed the three other marriages on the page and Blackwell two others, so no clues there of kin.

No Edit function!!
All 3 marriages reported so far are on FMP (original records)
Jos Bennet Blacksmith married Elizabeth Robinson 1749
Jose Bennet Labourer married Martha Oldfield 1760
Joseph Bennet (no occupation given) masrried Abigail Owen 1771.

Dave

I share the same surname, so in my research at the Archives I noted all Bennett names, just in case they turned out to be mine. Here are the "gardener" records I found (NOT my Bennett family). I see that your date are earlier, having Joseph and Elizabeth dying in 1775, which pre-dates all these records. It is odd that we have the same names, gardener, and even the Wicker here.

Anyway here they are. I hope they help and not cause even more confusion!





Sheffield Parish Church burials 1787 -

Mary Bennett, dau of Joseph (gardener) aged: 4 years Wicker
16th January 1816 (yob 1812) P 50; No 398

William Bennett, son of Joseph (gardener) aged: 1 year Wicker
26th January 1816 (yob 1815) P 53; No 422

Elizabeth Bennett, dau of Joseph (gardener) aged: 6 years Wicker
16th February 1816 (yob 1810) P 60; No 476

Joseph Bennett, gardener aged: 74 years Wicker
25th March 1816 (yob 1742) P 74; No 589

Joseph Bennett, gardener aged: 32 years Bull Stake
25th March 1836 (yob 1804) P 134; No 1071



Sheffield Parish Church baptisms 1778 -

Ann, dau of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth
1st April 1808 (born 13th march 1808)

Amy, dau of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth
9th April 1809 (born 8th March 1809)

Elizabeth, dau of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth
21st February 1810 (born 26th December 1809)

Charles, son of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth
5th May 1811 (born 14th April 1811)

Mary, dau of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth
5th August 1812 (born 15th July 1812)

William, son of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth
1st March 1815 (born 3rd February 1815) P 163; No 1211

Mary, dau of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth
16th July 1817 (born 25th June 1817) P 363; No 2900

Jane, dau of Joseph (gardener) and Elizabeth) Sheffield
25th February 1825 (born 23rd January 1824) P 214; No 1706

Thank you all for looking at this.

@ Barry and Terry - Joseph was a widower when he married Ann Oldham in 1779. I can’t find a death for an Abigail or a Martha Bennett in the years leading up to that, and so I think I can discard the marriages to Martha Oldfield and Abigail Owen.

@ Barry - it’s a good job you mentioned that Thomas Hall was a professional witness. He was also one of the witnesses to the Ann Oldham marriage, which could have thrown me off course! Thanks very much for the info.

@Dave T - Joseph died in 1816 aged 74, and was 36 when he married Ann Oldham in 1779. That points to a birth ca 1742/3. The marriage to Elizabeth Robinson in 1749 is too early to be his. If this blacksmith’s wife was the Elizabeth who died in 1775, is there another Mrs Bennett who died between Sarah’s birth in 1772 and the marriage to Ann in 1779?

@ Kevin - yes, it can be confusing because there were 3 Joseph Bennett’s - father, son and grandson - who were all gardeners and seedsmen. Joseph 1742/3 - March 1816. His son Joseph 1780 - 1830 who married Elizabeth Awty In 1806. And finally Joseph 1804 - 1836 who was the “natural son” of Joseph 1780. The records which you found were for the children of Joseph 1780 and Elizabeth Awty. From what I can gather, my Bennett’s had a dwelling house and a messuage on Occupation Rd. The business was in the Wicker, and later moved to 8 Fruit Market.

Heths

Are you sure Joseph was born in Sheffield? I have looked in a book I have got of Parish records between 1736 and 1752 and there is no Joseph Bennett ? Benett etc recorded at being baptised at Sheffield Parish Church

Heths
This scenario may be worthy of investigation:
Joseph Bennett bap Chesterfield 1742
Joseph Bennett married Elizabeth Rogers 1761 at Sutton *** Duckmanton (nr Chesterfield)
Joseph and Elizabeth Bennett had 2 daughters (Elizabeth died as infant) and Margaret) in the 1760s at Sutton *** Duckmanton.
Apparently no more children to them IN THAT AREA after 1770
Could they have moved to Sheffield?

are you aware of this birth?
14 Nov 1773 Sheffield, Elizabeth d of Joseph Bennett Gardener

Dave

Hi John, I’m not sure if he was born in Sheffield or not. All that I could dig up was a mystery baptism 1 May 1743 for a Joseph, son of Joseph, with no surname mentioned. Might have been him - or not! I also found a John Bennett who was a gardener in Sheffield, who married Susanna Trickett in 1740. I found baptisms for his children Sarah 1745, Betty 1749 and John 1752. With him having the same trade I wondered if Joseph might have been one of his children, and maybe he just hadn’t got round to having him christened.

Tony - I didn’t have the 1773 birth. Thank you! I’ll follow her up and see if that gives any leads. I think she must have died before 1816 though, she isn’t mentioned in Joseph’s will. Ref the couple in Sutton *** Duckmanton, there’s a burial there for a Joseph Bennett in 1770 and FMP have a will/probate record. I’ll take a look at that when I renew my subscription to see if it’s the one who married Elizabeth Rogers or not.

Again, thank you all for your helpful suggestions

Heths

Heths,
The Will of Joseph Bennett who died in 1770 in Sutton shows that he was in fact the father of the Joseph Bennett who married Elizabeth Roger. However he also states that his son Joseph was already deceased.
Therefore you can close that avenue.
Dave

Heths, in the 1816 Will of Joseph Bennett does it name any children who were older than Sarah?
Dave

Hi Dave,

Unfortunately not. The only people he mentioned were his “dear wife Ann”, his daughter “Sarah the wife of William Warburton” and her (unnamed) children, and his son Joseph Bennett. The son left a will in 1830 and Sarah Warburton was the only sibling he referred to.

Heths

In 1725 a Joseph Bennett married at Sheffield Parish church a widow ( will try to find name as had a senior moment) and they were both living at CHESTERFIELD and Joseph was a Blacksmith I know it is before the Joseph you are interested in but I just wondered if this is the possible CHESTERFIELD connection