Benjamin Stone [st.2.4]

Benjamin Stone was the fourth child of James Stone & Eliza Woolley born at Tipton & christened October 17th, 1830 at St Thomas, Dudley, Worcs.

In 1841 Benjamin was living with his parents & brothers & sisters at Hall Fields, Bilston, Wolverhampton.

Benjamin was still living at home in 1851 at Old Meeting St, West Bromwich. His father had died by this time, but there were 2 brothers & 4 sisters still at home. Benjamin was an iron roller.

On February 28th, 1853 Benjamin married Amelia Hackett* at the parish church of North Harborne, Kings Norton, Staffs after the reading of banns. They were both of full age & both fathers were deceased. Witnesses at the wedding were Benjamin Fletcher, Benjamin’s cousin, & his wife Ann, & William George Hourdon. Amelia was born December 12th, 1828 at Poplar & christened March 15th, 1829 at St Luke Old Street, Finsbury, London, the daughter of Martha Hatton & Joseph Hackett, a mechanic. At the time of the marriage Amelia was living at Smethwick & she was found in the 1851 census with her widowed mother Martha & younger brother Joseph at High Park Row, Smethwick where she was a dressmaker.

In 1861 Benjamin & Amelia were living at 16 Lombard St, West Bromwich & Benjamin was a sheet iron roller & Amelia a milliner. They had a son James H (7) & daughter Martha E (5).

Benjamin & Amelia (Stane in Ancestry.co.uk index) were living at Dudley Rd, West Bromwich in 1871 & Benjamin’s occupation was unchanged. The family included James, a clerk in rubber manufacture, Martha, Letitia J (9) & Miranda (3). They had a 17 year old visitor, Emily Young, who was to marry son James later that year.

By 1881 Benjamin had become a general dealer & he & Amelia were living at 19 Hill St, Stourbridge, Worcs. Still at home were Letitia, a school teacher & Miranda.

A notice in the County Advertiser & Herald for Staffordshire & Worcestershire of August 12th, 1882 stated that the partnership of Benjamin Stone & James Henry Stone trading as B. Stone & Co at Stourbridge, tailors, drapers, furniture & general dealers was dissolved. The business was to be carried on by James alone.

At the time of the 1891 census Benjamin was a lodging house keeper at Holdenhurst, Bournemouth, Hants. He & Amelia were living at ‘Cleeve’, Bradburne Rd with their daughter Miranda who was an assistant lodging house keeper. They had a 24 year old servant Jane Butler. Interestingly Benjamin’s older sister Hannah Bowater had also become a lodging house keeper in Holdenhurst back in 1881.

Benjamin & Amelia, both 70 years old, had left Hampshire by 1901 & were living with their daughter Miranda & her husband William Deane, a book keeper with the gas corporation, & their 3 sons. They were living at 48 Woodfield Rd, Kings Norton, Worcs & Benjamin was described as a retired sheet iron roller living on his own means.

By 1911 Benjamin & Amelia were living on their own at 45 Woodman Place, Wednesbury, West Bromwich. Benjamin was listed as a retired sheet iron roller.

Benjamin & Amelia both died in 1912 in West Bromwich, Benjamin in Jan-March, aged 81 & Amelia in April-June, aged 84.

The children of Benjamin Stone & Amelia Hackett were:

st.2.4.1 James Henry Stone born at Lombard St & christened October 23rd, 1853 at Christ Church, West Bromwich; died April-June 1913 at Nottingham
st.2.4.2 Martha Elizabeth Stone born September 1st, 1855 at Lombard St, & christened October 21st, 1855 at Christ Church, West Bromwich; died January 20th, 1945 at 257 Ashbourne Rd, Leek, Staffs
st.2.4.3 Letitia Jane Stone born January 7th, at Lombard St, & christened March 16th, 1862 at Christ Church, West Bromwich; died September 2nd, 1946, at 6 Lake Walk, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
st.2.4.4 Miranda Stone christened March 24th, 1868 at All Saints, West Bromwich; died July-September 1926 at West Bromwich

*Amelia’s brother Henry Hackett, born 1824, & his wife Elizabeth had a daughter Emily Louisa Hackett, born 1853 in Warrington. Emily married Joseph Griffith, a farmer, in Warrington in 1872 & they had 2 sons, Fred (born 1879) & Arthur Stanley. Fred Griffith became a world famous bacteriologist.