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The SESTONs

a C19th/C20th Birmingham family
with likely origins in Dronfield, N. Derbys & Sutton in Ashfield, Notts.
& with relations in Bromsgrove, WOR

Possible phonetic/regional name variations: include:
CESTEARN, SEARSON, SEARSTEN, SEARSTON, SEARSTONE, SEASON, SEASTON, SEASTONE, SEATON, SEESTON, SEESTONE, SESSTON, SISEN, SISON, SISSON, SISTON, SISTONE, SYERSTON, SYESON, SYSTEN, SYSON, SYSTON

Whatever the origins, in general the name was SESTON upon arrival in early C19th Birmingham and through to the C20th. Researchers should note that the family name is a nightmare to locate in uncorrected census indices, where I have found that it can be mistranscribed as ESTOR, FOSTER, GRASTON, JACKEN, LESTON, SATON, SESTOR, SEXTON & TESTON. Where I am able, I have submitted corrections to make the trail easier for others to follow. Many family members are also difficult to trace in the BMD (and some not yet traced!) due to the number of variant surnames and errors also there. A number of key events were also difficult to establish. While this is very much "work in progress" I am looking for any modern Birmingham or related SESTON families to complete this story and who may have photos of these ancestors.

The SESTON descendants of Sutton in Ashfield, Notts in Late C18th, then C19th & C20th Birmingham are outlined below. SANDERS descendants believe family to have origins in or near Dronfield, North Derbyshire [noting that one child born in nearby Staveley]. Census data prior to 1851 does not clarify ancestral origins, although references to Sutton in Ashfield NTT are the most common and that they are the descendants of Thomas & Julia SESTON. Based on the number of references there is some suggestion parts of the family may have been in the Birmingham area by the end of the C18th. The clues are complex and don't yet make an entirely coherent tree, with several key events not in the time one would normally expect. The current outline now follows.

I am seeking the marriage prior to 1813 of Thomas SESTON,  later a Weaver of Sutton in Ashfield, Notts., but a Soldier in 1813, and his wife Julia of unknown family. On one family record this was noted as Judith, however based on other records the name is most certainly Julia. This couple are my 4xGGPs. This implies a birthdate for Thomas & Julia in the early 1790's, and if the 1851 census is to be believed it would be c1793 in Nottinghamshire for him & 1787 for her, putting their marriage in the period 1810-13. Their descendants, who arrived in Birmingham by 1846, have the chance for a few C20th descendants in the Birmingham area. I am also looking for them in 1841, and Thomas's death in period 1851-61 (possibly the entry in 1851). The descendant tree is:

• Rebecca SESTON (c1813 Staveley  DBY) m. in 1849 B'ham = John WATTS;

• William SESTON (c1817, see his story below);

• Thomas SESTON (c1820), unm. in 1851 and living with parents;

• Samuel SESTON (c1823 Sutton in Ashfield NTT), who married:

  • (1)  Elizabeth TEASDALE in 1846 B'ham, but who died in late 1852/early 1853. She died after Mary Ann had moved in with Samuel and was registered by the 1851 census. Elizabeth was perhaps seriously ill accounting for this domestic arrangement. She has not yet been located in 1851. Children:

    • Grace Elizabeth SESTON (1848);

    • William SESTON (c1849 B'ham, who presumably died young);

  • (2) Mary Ann BAYLISS in 1855, although she had become Samuel's de facto wife by the 1851 census, and with whom he had the following children (all Birmingham):

    • Betsy SESTON (c1851), m. Thomas PARKES in 1878 Bromsgrove;

    • Sarah Ann SESTON (1856), m. Aaron DRAKELY in 1877;

    • Samuel SESTON (1858), m. Emily POPLEWELL in 1879 Aston. Children:

      • May SESTON (1880);

      • Emily SESTON (c1883);

      • Samuel SESTON (c1886), m. Eleanor LANCASTER in 1910. Children:

        • Samuel T SESTON (1912) - any descendants?;

      • Susan SESTON (1889);

      • "Willie"  or William SESTON (1894), m. Helena M. RHEAD in 1918;

    • Emily SESTON (1861), m. in 1882 to John WILSON or William CHECKLAND;

    • William SESTON (c1864), unmarried by 1891 - any descendants?;

    • George SESTON (1868-69);

    • Arthur SESTON (c1874), m. Minnie WOOD in 1909 Aston. Children:

      • Minnie SESTON (1911);

      • Elsie SESTON (1914);

      • Doris SESTON (1920);

    • Edwin SESTON (c1878), m. Susan Jane CALE in 1906 Aston. Children:

      • Edwin H. SESTON (1911-12);

      • Edward S. SESTON (1913) - any descendants?;

• Selina SESTON (c1826), who m. James NICHOLLS in 1846;

• James SESTON (my 3xGGF, see below);

• Caroline SESTON (c1829), who m. Charles FINCH in 1851;

• Charles SESTON (c1833), who married:

  • (1) Elizabeth JACKSON in 1854. Children:

    • William SESTON (1856) m. Ann ASTON in 1874. Their Birmingham children:

      • Elizabeth SESTON (c1874), poss. m. Albert GENGE in 1897;

      • William Thomas SESTON (1876), m. Blanche WISE in 1898. Family & children in Smethwick in 1901:

        • William Sydney SESTON (1899);

      • Abraham SESTON (1878);

      • Alfred SESTON (1880-82);

      • Samuel Charles SESTON (1882-1902);

      • Arthur SESTON (1885-1908), m. in 1905 to Florence DAWSON or Avis NEAL;

      • Harry SESTON (c1888-1906);

      • Edwin SESTON (1890-1900);

    • Sarah Ann SESTON (1860), m. Samuel HOLLINS in 1880;

    • Matilda SESTON (1862), m. Henry JONES in 1881;

    • Julia SESTON (c1864), m. WOOD or ROWLEY in 1887;

  • (2) Pamela BENNETT (widow) in 1876. Children:

    • Isabella Mary A. SESTON (1877);

    • Charles SESTON (c1880);

James SESTON (c1825 Sutton in Ashfield NTT, above), a weaver, m. Matilda DUGARD in May 1844 at Birmingham St Philips, my 3xGGPs. Their children:

• Elizabeth Matilda SESTON (1844);

• Emma SESTON (1847), who m. Joseph SANDERS in 1867, my 2xGGPs;

• Mary Ann SESTON (c1857), unmarried by 1891;

• Harriet SESTON (c1859), unmarried by 1891;

• Charles SESTON (c1862), who d. by 1898, m. Rose YATES in 1889. Children:

  • Charles Joseph SESTON (1890), who poss. m. Ellen SIMPSON in 1913. Children

    • Ellen R. SESTON (1914);

    • Mabel F. SESTON (1919);

  • Florence Emily SESTON (1892), m. John W CLEMENTS in 1913 Walsall;

  • Joseph SESTON (1894-1901);

  Widowed Rose, as Rosina SESSTON (BMD) remarried in 1898 B'ham to John William THOMPSON.

William SESTON (c1817 Mansfield or Sutton in Ashfield NTT, above),  m. widow Grace HALLIDAY (d/o John HARTLEY) in 1879 Birmingham. It is not clear why they married so late, since they had been a de facto couple since the 1840's and are known to have witnessed both the marriages of Selina SESTON (in 1846) and James SESTON to Matilda DUGARD (in 1844) as William & Grace SESTON, and were recorded as such on census data from 1851 onwards. One could speculate that she left her husband Frederick HOLLADAY and did not remarry until his death between 1871 & 1881 census when she was in her sixties. 

William & Grace had no children of their own, but the couple were with Grace's daughter Ellen HOLLADAY (1838) from her 1835 marriage. Ellen is aka  Ellen SESTON (assumed by natural adoption) on census records. Ellen married Joseph PHILLIPS as HOLLADAY in 1855 in Bromsgrove, WOR. Also living with William & Grace was niece Grace Elizabeth SESTON (1848-90), d/o of brother Samuel SESTON and his first wife Elizabeth TEASDALE. 

William & Grace were in Great Dodford, Bromsgrove WOR sometime after 1851. Grace, through her father John HARTLEY, would be connected to the Chartists. Julia SESTON, his mother was resident from 1861 after the death of her husband until her death in 1863, as was Betcy SESTON, the daughter of Thomas, also as a "niece" in 1871 until her marriage in 1878.

SESTON Family Tree / Seston BMD for Birmingham area

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