Author: Chatterton, Stephen
Biography:
CHATTERTON, Stephen (1739-1791: ancestry.co.uk)
Conflicting accounts have been given of his parentage, birth, and occupation. He was possibly the Stephen Chatterton baptised at Saint Matthew, Walsall, on 31 Oct. 1739, the son of Stephen Chatterton and his wife Mary Brevitt, who had married in 1736. He may have married Alice Goodtree or Goodtrey on 7 Jul. 1766 at Saint Matthew, Walsall. They had several children. (The signatures to his GM contributions of 1765 show that he was certainly in Walsall at this time.) He was reported to have been a schoolmaster but at the time of his death, all reports give him as the master of the Bell Inn, Willenhall, with one stating that he was “well known for his eccentric and poetic effusions.” The monumental inscription in Willenhall is now illegible and gives no age but has him next to Catherine Chatterton which would normally suggest she was his wife but there are no marriages which match. An Alice Chatterton was buried on 29 Mar. 1801 which fits the 1766 marriage. Furthermore, Poems (1795) was printed for the benefit of his widow so she clearly died after him. Nevertheless, his birth and marriage advanced here are hypotheses to be tested not sources to be replicated. He died on 9 Dec. 1791 and was buried at St. Giles, Willenhall. (ancestry.co.uk 1 Jan 2022; findmypast.co.uk 1 Jan. 2022; Wolverhampton Chronicle 14 Dec. 1791; Chester Chronicle 23 Dec. 1791; Birmingham and Staffordshire Chronicle 22 Dec. 1791; Monumental Inscription [Midland Ancestors]; Staffordshire Poets, 102-3) AA