CHILDHOOD IN BOXLEY
Stephen Hales was christened at Boxley 1 May 1729, the second oldest son of John Hales and Mary Foster.
Stephen would have been eight when his mother, Mary Foster, died in 1737.
The Hales family were no longer listed as tenants and the next record of them in Boxley is the burial death of Stephen's stepmother Sarah on Oct 12, 1754.
MARRIAGE
Two months after his stepmother’s death, Stephen married Ann Clinch in Bicknor (21 Dec 1754).
She was already about 7 months pregnant. On Feb 9 1755, Stephen and Ann Hales christened their son William in the same church.
Ann was the daughter of William Clinch, a prominent farmer and one of the seven "knights" from the neighboring parish of Stockbury that could vote for the members of parliament who represented Kent. The Clinch's main residence appears to have been in Deans Bottom, Bredgar parish, which is on the border of Stockbury and only two miles across the fields from Bicknor.
BOXLEY
Stephen still had ties to Boxley and may have lived there for awhile.
Stephen buried his father John Hales in the parish churchyard on July 29th 1756.
England was in the midst of the Seven Years War. Every parish in England drew up a list of able bodied men, between the ages of 18 and 50, who could serve in the militia. Ballots would determine who would actually serve. Boxley listed Stephen Hales and his younger brother Lawrence in August 1757.
In 1758, Stephen’s older brother Thomas Hales married Ann’s sister Mary Clinch in Boxley.
YEARS WITH ANN IN STOCKBURY
Stephen and Ann Hales were in Stockbury by this time. Ann undoubtedly initiated the move as all of her family were in that parish. They christened three more children in that parish:
Stephen was most likely a labourer. The Seven Years War (1756-63) should have been good for his class, but there was a disastrous harvest in 1756, followed by a bad one in 1757. He did not make the transition to tenant farmer until 1765, when the parish Poor Rates state he was paying 16 shillings a year to his landlord Jorg Evings Backer for land in that part of Stockbury known as South Dean (or South Green). According to my cousin Ron Hales-Reid, he was one of the three tenants on Pett Farm.
Ann Clinch was buried on Oct 1, 1765.
SECOND MARRIAGE
Stephen was then 37 and had four children: William (9); John (7); Ann ( 4); Stephen (2). Like his father before him, Stephen remarried quickly. He chose Sarah Wells, the daughter of another Stockbury farmer.
They were married at Stockbury on May 6 1766, and had six children, only two of which lived beyond the age of three:
1 Elisabeth Hales (bap April 10 1768 - buried March 1769)
2 Lawrence Hales (bap Jan 22 1770 - buried Jan 28 1770)
3 Lawrence Hales (bap Jan 27 1771) of Stockbury
4 Henry Hales (bap Dec 13 1772 in Stockbury - April 5 1829) m (A) Hannah Kitney or Kidney?(c 1774 of Newington, Kent - bur Mar 5 1825 at Stockbury) at Newington, Kent (B) Rebecca (c 1785 Boughton, Kent
5 Elisabeth Hales (bap May 21 1775 - buried May 14 1777)
6 James Hales (bap Jan 19 1778 - buried Oct 27 1780)
Though Stephen Hales was no longer part of the family,William Clinch left him 15 shillings in his will (probated Feb 10 1769). Each of William’s daughters received £15 and his three sons divided the farm.
When he died, on 25 April 1783, Stephen Hales was listed as “husbandman from Hartlip”
SARAH WELLS LAST YEARS
On 28 July 1784, his widow Sarah married Peter Beck, widower at Newington by Sittingbourne. Both were of that parish. Forty six years later, Sarah passed away at the village of Gillingham.
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SOME NOTES ON CHILDREN OF STEPHEN HALES AND ANN CLINCH
William Hales (biography follows)
John Hales (bap October 1757 - Aug 25 1847) m Ann Syflet (1765 -May 27 1844) in Stockbury Jan 28 1783. John was a laborer in Stockbury (1784 - 89) and Hartlip (1792 - 1804). His great uncle William Hales (" 7, Hales of Maidstone" ) moved to Hartlip by 1794 - within two years of John's arrival. Ann died at Milton Poor House, aged 78. John died three years later, at Hartlip. Their children:
Stephen Hales (baptized 7 Aug 1763 - 17 Jan 1794) m Margaret Waterman (chrs Nov 1 1761 at East Peckham, Kent ) at Stockbury Sept 9 1789. She was the widow of John Harbour, who stole two cows and a calf belonging to a Mr Luck in Westerham. John Harbour was hanged at Penenden Heath on April 5, 1786. His widow, Margaret, married Stephen Hales three years later.
NOTES ON CHILDREN OF STEPHEN HALES & SARAH WELLS
Henry Hales (bap Dec 13 1772 in Stockbury - April 5 1829) m (A) Hannah Kitney or Kidney?(c 1774 of Newington, Kent - bur Mar 5 1825 at Stockbury) at Newington, Kent (B) Rebecca (c 1785 Boughton, Kent) Children: