Joseph Storton and Mary Ann Jeffery (couple 8)

[Dad's maternal grandmother's maternal Grandparents]
[Josephine Smith > Mary Ann Storton > Storton/Jeffery]

Joseph Storton (1823-1665)
Born: Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation 1851: Cooper... unless he worked for Mr. Cooper in town.  (Ambiguous!)

The 1861 Census reports him living in St. Giles Parish of Northamptonshire, Potterspury district (possibly still at the place of his birth in Stony Stratford).

At some point soon after the census, he must have moved his family to Harlestone.  Four years later, his death is recorded in Harlestone (1865), confirmed as accidental shooting by inquest reported in Northampton newspaper (according to FamilySearch sources.)   This was 20 miles north of Stony Stratford where he was born.  It was there that his daughter Mary Anne Storton met her future husband, Albert Smith.  One ironic tidbit is that both Joseph Storton and George Smith (Albert's father) are reported to have died by accidental shooting.  Makes me wonder if there was a problem with the gunsmiths in Northamptonshire!

His wife, Mary Ann Jeffery (1831-1897), was born about 10 miles away from where Joseph was born, over in Moulsoe, Buckinghamshire.  Some genealogists suppose that their marriage is the one recorded as 15 August 1852, St. Pancreas Parish Chapel, Camden, London  (60 Miles away! Possibly incorrect, given the times).  I'd be interested to hear if there is corroborating information about their date/place of marriage, and why they went to London instead of being married in the village church!

Together they had three children:

Children
John Brunton Storton (1853-1854) Stony Stratford, died in Infancy
Mary Anne Storton* (1856-1931)  Moulsoe (11 Miles away) 1882 Immigration with Albert Smith
Edwin Jeffery Storton (1862-1939) Stony Stratford, died in Harlestone (married Mary Ann Lack), worked as a cooper like his father.

Thirteen years after their marriage, Joseph died tragically, leaving her with two surviving children.  Four years later, Mary Ann ultimately remarried a supposed widower named Thomas Manning (1881 census shows him with an older son), and together they had two daughters, Ellen and Ada, both of whom lived and died in Harlestone, Northamptonshire, England.  He was a engineering fitter and turner, what we would call a machinist.

Children:
Ellen Manning (1870-1949)  (married a William Wadsworth, a cousin of her half-sister's husband)
Ada Jane Manning (1873-1938) (married a George Ashby)

As far as villages go, Harlestone hasn't seen much grown in the past 200 years.   It is holding strong at about 400-600 residents!  The village is close to Northampton, but was largely reliant on the jobs and industry around Althorp, the house and estate of the Earl of Spencer.

Village Website: Harlestone Village
Wikipedia:
In the 1870s, the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described the parish as follows:

"a parish in Brixworth district, Northamptonshire; 2½ miles WSW of Brampton railway station, and 4 NW of Northampton. It has a post-office under Northampton. Acres, 2,530. Real property, £4,314. Pop., 615. Houses, 138. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to Earl Spencer. Harlestone Hall is a chief residence. Traces of an old fort are on Dylve's Heath. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £577. Patron, Earl Spencer. The church is of the 14th century, very good, and has an old font. There are a national school, and charities upwards of £100."

The population as recorded in the decannual censuses peaked in the 1830s at just under 650 people, falling to 420 in 2001:^[4]

1801	1811	1821	1831	1841	1851	1881	1891	1901	1911	1921	1931	1951	1961	2001
437	563	564	645	639	610	569	613	575	536	541	511	483	413	420