William MARSTON

                   CHRISTENING:
    In the Bishop's Transcripts of the Parish Registers of Norton, Gloucester, England, we find the children of William and Patience Marston.  In the LDS extraction, Thomas is omitted, but in the original records he is listed as John, christened 8 Mar 1804.  If the Branch records of the Newport LDS branch were created in 1848 as is supposed, then Thomas' age in that record would place his birth in 1804, exactly the time when this christening debate arises. Also, the familly already had a living John, and had recently buried their son Thomas in 1801.  It would be very unlikely that this child would have actually been named John, and almost certainly would have been named Thomas, as is supposed.

NOTE:
    Thomas and Mary Ann are listed on the Newport Branch LDS membership record of the Herefordshire Conference.  The branch was organized May 14 1848, and in the Branch record book the Marstons are listed on the second page, without baptism dates.  It is likely then that they were founding members of the branch and were baptized before 1848.  However, W. Henshaw, who baptized many of the Marston children, was baptizing others in the branch in October 1848, so this may have been the date of baptism.The individuals listed on the record are:
-Thomas Marston, born in Littlewood, Gloucester, age 44, baptized by "Littlewood," ordained an Elder Aug 16 1850 by "Wheelock," emigrated 17 Sep 1850, parents are Wm. and Pachence.
-Mary Marston, age 41, baptized by "Littlewood," emigrated 17 Sep 1850, parents are Thomas and Sarah.
-James Marston, born in Monmouth, Monmouth, age 15, baptized by "W. Henshaw" emigrated 17 Sep 1850, parents are Thomas and Mary.
-Mary Ann Marston, age 13, all other info same as James
-Sarah Marston, age 11, all other info same as James
-Henry Marston, age 21, birth, baptism, and parent info same as James, ordained an elder Aug 16 1850, emigrated 26 Aug 1850
-(note, Thomas Clark who follows these children on the records has sometimes been listed as Thomas Clark Marston, although is parents are listed as James and an unreadable mother's name.  He is not the son of Thomas and Mary)
-(note, a 2 year break in Marston family baptisms occurs here, the original records are found on page 2, the later records on page 19)
-William Marston, residing in Newport, born in Monmouth, Monmouth, age 10, baptized Mar 3 1850 by "Henshaw," emigrated 17 Sep 1850
-Joseph Marston, age 8, all other info same as William.

NOTE: 
    The W. Henshaw who baptized many of the Marston family children, and possibly even the parents, was almost certainly Elder William Henshaw, an English convert who had married a Welsh woman. In 1842 he and his family were sent by Lorenzo Snow to establish themselves in the heartland of Wales at Merthyr Tydfil.  Henshaw could not speak Welsh, and only preached in English, making the conversions there slow.  Eventually, Mormon Elder Dan Jones was called to teach in the area, and took over for Elder Henshaw.

EMIGRATION:
Thomas Marston and the majority of his children traveled to New Orleans from Newport Wales on the ship Sachem, originally of Boston, around October 1850.
                  

                   SOURCES:
    1. 1841 Census Norton,Gloucester,England (FHL#288770)
    2. 1996 Ancestral File - nil
    3. 1997 Ordinance Index
    4. Main Archives
                  

                   SOURCES:
    1. 1851 & 1941 Census Records of Norton,Gloucester,England (FHL#288770 (1841) & 87361 (1851))
    2. 1996 Ancestral File
    3. 1997 Ordinance Index