Which Nicholas Stephens married Ann Sandoe at Kenwyn, Cornwall, 20 Nov 1803?
research note by Wesley Johnston, begun 13 May 2014, last updated 14 May 2014
Background
On 20 Nov 1803, Nicholas Stephens and Ann Sandoe married at Kenwyn, Cornwall. The image of the record can be seen at:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11775-47660-63
Both are noted as "of this parish". He signed his name, but Ann signed with a mark.
By the 1841 census, Ann was apparently a widow. Her last child, Harriet Ann Stephens, was born in 1818, when she was only 34, so that it seems likely that Nicholas died at that time or soon after.
All that is known on Nicholas is from his marriage record and the baptisms of his children, one of which shows him as a labourer in 1813 and another that shows him as a miner in 1818.
Ann was born in 1784. So it seems likely that Nicholas was born about then, but that is not a certainty, since no record has yet been found to indicate the age or birthplace. However, if he did die about 1818 of age and not an accident or unusual illness, then he may have been a decade or more older than Ann, who survived to 1882.
Another factor to consider are the names given to the oldest children of Nicholas and Ann: Elizabeth and Nicholas. Ann's parents were Anthony and Alice. So if the children's names were family names, then they indicate a likelihood of Nicholas being the son (or grandson) of an Elizabeth or a Nicholas.
Candidate Burials of Nicholas Stephens at Kenwyn
All of the children of Nicholas and Ann were baptized at Kenwyn. Their abode in 1813 when Christopher was born was Newmills in Kenwyn. Their daughter Harriet Ann died there (age 15) in 1833, on Calenick Street, which is the same street (about 1 mile from Newmills) on which Ann was living (with daughter Grace) in the 1841 census. So it seems highly likely that Nicholas was buried at Kenwyn.
So here are the Nicholas Stephens burials at Kenwyn from 1818 onward, in the Cornwall Family History society reserach database:
1818-Apr-3 - age 60 - no abode given (image https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11775-49183-59)
Since Ann was apparently widowed by 1841, there is a possibility of Nicholas having died after the 1837 beginning of civil registration. So here are the burials in the Cornwall OPC database, which includes post-1837 parish registers that the CFHS DB sometimes does not;
1818-Apr-3 - age 60 - no abode given (image https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11775-49183-59)
1849-Sep-4 - age 58 - Calenick Street (image at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-22656-58601-53)
It is also possible that if he lived past 1836, then he was not buried through the church and would only appear in FreeBMD. But this seems highly unlikely since the family burials all seem to have been through the parish church at Kenwyn, even after 1837.
The 1849 burial of a 58-year-old Nicholas at Calenick Street would indicate a 1791 birth - IF the age was correct. Nicholas and Ann's son Nicholas was born 1805, so that he would only have been 44 in 1849. Regardless of whether he was the son of Nicholas and Ann, the 1849 Nicholas could not have been the one who married Ann, since he would only have been 12 years old when they married in 1803,
So it seems highly likely that the 1818 Nicholas burial was the husband of Ann. He is in the right place. His death coincides with the birth of Ann's last child. But he would have been born about 1758 and thus 26 years older than Ann.
For the record, here are the other 1818 and onward burials anywhere in Cornall of a Nicholas Stephens or Stevens:
1818-Feb-8 - at Mylor - age 18 (1800 - thus eliminated) - abode Flushing
1818-Apr-3 - at Kenwyn - age 60 - no abode given (image https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11775-49183-59)
1821-Jan-24 - at Mylor - age 66 (1755) - abode Mylor
1827-Apr-8 - at Antony - age 58 [1769] - abode Torpoint
1834-Aug-29 - at Landewednack - age 69 (1765) - abode Lizard Town
None of the other parishes are any closer to Kenwyn than 12 miles (Mylor). And since every single record of the family is in Kenwyn, none of these are at all likely.
The bottom line is that we are left with one and only one burial that fits with the evidence:
1818 Apr 3 - at Kenwyn - age 60 - no abode given
(image https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11775-49183-59)
There is a very significant additional factor which supports this being the burial of Ann (Sandoe) Stephens' husband. In 1826, she gave birth to a base child, Mary Ann Amelia Stephens, who was baptized 26 Jun 1826 at Kenwyn. This is further evidence that Nicholas was no longer living with the family by 1825. Certainly, he could have been living elsewhere, but the end of his children's baptisms in the same year as the burial -- which is the only burial that could be him -- all point to the 1818 burial being him.
Candidate Baptisms of Nicholas Stephens
The Cornwall Family History Society research database has these Nicholas Stephens baptisms from 1789 back to 1750.
1784-Oct-16 - at St Agnes to Samuel and Sidwell
1784-May-30 - at Redruth-St Uny to John and Constance
1777-May-27 - at Manaccan to John and Mary
1776-Feb-18 - at Lanhydrock to William and Susanna
1773-May-27 - at Manaccan to John and Mary [must have died before 1777 son birth]
1770-May-27 - at Budock to Richard and Mary
1769-Oct-16 - at Withiel to William and Mary
1768-Dec-18 - at Zennor to Nicholas (mother not named)
1768-Oct-16 - at St Ives to John and Alice
1765-Mar-13 - at Mylor to Nicholas and Elizabeth [maybe the 1821 burial]
1765-Feb-4 - at Redruth-St Uny to Nicholas and Ursula
1764-Feb-24 - at St Agnes to Nicholas and Jane
1762-Jun-4 - at Zennor to Nicholas and Prudence
1757-Apr-9 - at Kenwyn to Nicholas (mother not named)
1755-Dec-10 - at Kenwyn to Christopher (mother not named)
1755-Sep-28 - at Mylor to Henry and Olave
1755-Jan-26 - at Gwennap to Christopher and Elizabeth
1754-Jul-31 - at Rame to Antony and Elizabeth
1750-Feb-16 - at Kenwyn to Christopher (mother not named) [must have died before 1755 son birth]
Thus the leading candidate, taking into account both the age at death and the fact that he was of the parish of Kenwyn at the time he married, is the 1757 Nicholas. But the 1755 Nicholas could also be him.
The fact that the 1757 Nicholas' father was Nicholas and that he was the second son to be named Nicholas after the first one presumably died (although no burial record has been found) indicates a strong concern in the family to pass on that name, so that it seems most likely that the 1757 Nicholas son of Nicholas is the right one -- and that his father's father was also named Nicholas.
Examining the 1755 Nicholas' siblings' baptisms in the CFHS DB, he was also the first son. So it is possible that the Nicholas who fathered the 1750 Nicholas and the 1757 Nicholas was the brother of the Christopher who fathered the 1755 Nicholas. And it also seems that of the two (Nicholas and Christopher), Nicholas was probably the oldest, since his first child was born 5 years before Christopher's.
I cannot determine with certainty which of the two is the one who married Ann Sandoe. However, since the age at death agrees more with the 1757 Nicholas, I am going to carry him in the database as the one.
I remain open to revising this conclusio if other records provide convincing evidence otherwise.
Was Nicholas a widower when he married Ann?
Since Nicholas was 46 when he married Ann, it seems very possible that he had been married before. The 1803 marriage record does not state whether the parties were single or widowed.
There is a possible childless marriage and burial of the wife that may have been his first marriage.
1790 May 17 - Nicholas Stephens married Elizabeth Kirby at Kenwyn.
There are no baptisms in Kenwyn of children from this marriage.
1791 Mar 3 - Elizabeth Stephens was buried at Kenwyn, simply stating her name and date of burial and nothing more. The image is at:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-22650-30598-76
There was another Elizabeth Stephens burial at Kenwyn 8 Nov 1795, again with just name and date:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-22650-31002-80
The most likely scenario is that 10 months after their marriage, Elizabeth and their child died in childbirth in March 1791. This would mean that Nicholas remained unmarried for 12 years before marrying Ann Sandoe in 1803.
We may never know if this was him in the 1790 marriage, but it seems likely.