William Hebden and Frances Akehurst married in 1813 at the church of St. John at Hackney. They became the founders of the Brighton branch of the family, living first at No.21 Camelford Street, near the Steyne, before moving to a small shop at No.4 Market Street around 1830.

They had six children. STEPHEN born in Armagh on the 29th January 1814, ELIZABETH born in Brighton on the 18th November 1815, WILLIAM born in Brighton, 1818, JOHN GEORGE born in Brighton 1821, FRANCES born in Brighton on the 15th November 1821 and HENRY born in Brighton 1825.

William (Senior) died in 1839, and within a year STEPHEN married ELIZABETH ATHREALL on the 24th August 1840 at St Nicholas Parish Church, Brighton. He carried on his father's trade of making boots and shoes at the family shop at number 4 Market Street Brighton, moving in with his new wife. It is possible that his mother, Frances, might have stayed with them, but at some stage she left the shop and moved to 36 Cheltenham Place, Brighton, where she died on the 8th of December 1848. 

Stephen and Elizabeth had four children. The first,  MARY ANN was born in September 1841. She died the following year. WILLIAM  was born 11th May 1844, GRACE born 6th February 1848 and died in 1850, and HENRY STEPHEN born in 1850. The two surviving sons both married. WILLIAM married ELIZA OTTAWAY on the 4th September 1867. The couple had three children, GRACE EMILY born 13th August 1868,  WALTER WILLIAM born 12th April 1870 and HARRY STEPHEN born 1872. Very little is known about HARRY STEPHEN so far, and his birth certificate is the only clue to his existence. In 1893 GRACE EMILY married Arthur Charles Kirkham and moved to London, where they certainly had at least one child, Charles D. Kirkham who was born in Battersea in 1897.

WALTER WILLIAM married three times and had seven children. His first wife was ELLEN MARIA BELAM whom he married on the 18th October 1890. The couple had two children LILIAN GRACE born 8th September 1891 and WALTER WILLIAM, born 2nd October 1892 in St Pancras Ellen died in 1897, and in 1898 he met and married ANNIE ELIZABETH MINNETT in Richmond Surrey. They had two children ARTHUR LEONARD born 1st December 1903 and MOLLY GRACE born June 1908, but in the autumn of 1908 Annie died, leaving Walter Walter William with two infants. He quickly married LAVINIA SARAH TAYLOR on the 20th December 1908. They were to have four more children, but not in England. On Christmas Eve 1909 the family set sail from the Pool of London bound for Australia and a new chapter in the family's history. 

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