Are Joseph and Benjamin Sceffington part of my family?
QThomas (1730–1792) and Mary (1740–1810) Skeffington were my 6x great grandparents. They had seven children, all christened at St Benet Paul’s Wharf, London. Benjamin and Joseph Sceffington were also christened there on 20 April 1767 (pictured). Their parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Sceffington, but I can’t find this couple in any other records. Datewise Joseph and Benjamin would fit into Thomas and Mary’s family nicely. Do you think that there might be a mistake in the records? I’m also looking for Thomas and Mary’s parents. Gwynneth Watson
AI also couldn’t see any other mention of Thomas and Elizabeth Sceffington, but I did find the marriage of Thomas Skeffington S and Mary Griffiths on o 27 May 1763 at St Giles in the t Fields Church, Holborn. There was also the baptism on o 20 May 1730 of a Thomas Skeefington S at Christchurch, Greyfriars, G Newgate, who had h been born on 25 April 1730. Thomas’ parents were w Timothy and Anne Skeefington. S Timothy had married m Anne Crouch at St Benet B Paul’s Wharf Church on o 30 May 1725. Mistakes in the records are, unfortunately, fairly typical. Variation in the spelling of surnames (particularly unusual names) was commonplace when literacy rates were low. Mary and Elizabeth were probably the two most common biblical forenames for women at that time, so were therefore easily mixed up. On that basis I think it would be fairly safe to add Joseph and Benjamin to your family tree. Ancestry ( ancestry.co.uk) has the collection ‘London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681–1930’, which includes a record of the apprenticeship on 25 June 1754 of Thomas Skeffington, son of Timothy Skeffington, of the parish of Christchurch, poulterer, to William Skeffington, citizen and barber of London.
There is also a baptism for a William Skevington (sic) on 22 January 1693 in St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street. You may wish to do some further research into whether this William is a brother or cousin of Timothy. Alan Stewart