THE STANBURYS OF DEVON

The Stanbury family which came together with the Smiths on Guernsey originated in north Devon, the county which separates Cornwall from the rest of England, in villages near Ilfrancombe overlooking the Bristol Channel. Some of the family moved into south Devon about 1700, in and around the famous village of Widecombe-on-th-Moor in the heart of Dartmoor, the forbidding plateau that is famous as "Hound of the Baskervilles" country.

Charles Stanbury, Rebecca's grandfather, married Barbara Batsel (a name spelled many different ways) in the nearby village of Crediton March 11, 1720, and they raised a large family in Widecombe-in-th-Moor:

Barbara: March 4, 1721
James: June 21, 1724
Mary: January 17, 1727
Jane: March 23, 1733
Elizabeth: April 19, 1736
Benjamin: January 30, 1739
William: May 10, 1742

Barbara then passed away, date yet unkown, and Charles married Elizabeth Splat (what a wonderful English name!) on January 15, 1744, and they had a son:

Charles: March 31, 1746

We have not yet traced the descent of the older children in parish records because that is "related" data rather than direct line of descent: that may be a future project.

William married Catherine Smerdon, daughter of a family we have traced back to 1660 in Widecombe, on February 20, 1764, and they began their family immediately (actually, it was the other way around!):

William: September 17, 1764 ("premature")
Anne: June 12, 1766

At this point, William and Catherine went over to Guernsey, settling initially in the town of St. Sampson, the deep sea harbor about 2 miles north of St. Peter Port, later moving into the parish of Forest on the southern coast after the first birth in St. Sampson, and continued their family:

Charlotte: June 1, 1768
Nicolas: January 1, 1772
John: March 25, 1774
Rebecca: February 18, 1776

There is a suggestion in the records that there may have been two other children, James (possibly born in 1770) who died 1775, and Eliza Jane. They also may have been children of another Stanbury relative who came over from Devon. We have no way of determining that, but would expect that the births of the children would have been recorded if they were children of William and Catherine.

William's brother Benjamin and half-brother Charles also came over from Devon. Benjamin, in fact, may have been the first to come over, and he married Rachel Moulin on April 26, 1772. They had a daughter Rachel born October 10, 1773. Benjamin died July 28, 1774, and Rachel followed him April 26, 1826.

Charles, as the youngest, stayed in Devon until his marriage to Mary Woodley in 1769, and they immediately moved to Guernsey, settling in St. Sampson as did William. They baptized two children there: Mary (December 23, 1770) and Charles (March 15, 1772). Records search shows that they returned to Devon and had another 6 children there. There is evidence that his son Charles may have returned to Guernsey since we have found the burial of a Charles Stanbury, son of Charles Stanbury, at the appropriate time. He was a shop keeper downtown at the time of his death.

Catherine Smerdon Stanbury died in 1794, William remarried (Elizabeth Woursdell from Penryn, Cornwall) in 1797, and William died in 1806, as did his eldest son William.