John EDWARDS' first wife was called Elizabeth and died in 1826 aged 23.

Elizabeth SALTER

An Elizabeth SLATER married John EDWARDS on 24 Dec 1820 at Aston Juxta Birmingham. (It looks like the record was mis-transcribed by LDS as STAKES.) If this is the Elizabeth who died in 1826 then she could have been the Elizabeth SLATER baptized by John SLATER and Elizabeth HARPER on 19 Sep 1803 at St Martin's in the Bull Ring. This Elizabeth SLATER would have been 17 years old when she married.

Neither John EDWARDS nor Elizabeth SLATER could sign their names. John's daughter Sarah Ann could (in 1850) but Elizabeth could not.

No wills for for her father or mother have been found, and no link to John EDWARDS' or John and Elizabeth's daughters Sarah Ann or Elizabeth have been found.

Elizabeth BEACH

An alternative is the Elizabeth BEACH who married a John EDWARDS on 13 Apr 1819². Witnesses included G EDWARDS and John FABER/SAKEL/JAKES. Both John EDWARDS and Elizabeth BEACH could sign their names.

Again, if she died in 1826 aged 23 then she would have been born in 1803, leading to two possibilities:

• Elizabeth BEECH baptized by Joseph and Letitia BEECH on 2 Jan 1804. This this would imply she was only 16 when she married and unable to legally marry by banns as that marriage was conducted. She had siblings baptized in 1802 and 1806, so we was probably very young when baptized. Joseph died in 1817 before any marriage of his daughter to John EDWARDS could have happened. He did not mention the names of his children, but did name his wife "Lettice".
• Elizabeth BEACH baptized by John and Sarah BEACH on 21 Jun 1803. Again she had siblings who were baptized in 1802 and 1804. She would have been 17 years old.

The witness to the BEACH marriage, G EDWARDS, might have been:

• George EDWARDS, born 15 Jul 1793, baptized 1 Dec 1794 by John and Elizabeth EDWARDS at St Martin's in the Bull Ring
• George EDWARDS, baptized 28 Dec 1795 by James and Elizabeth at St Martin's in the Bull Ring
• George EDWARDS, born 24 Mar 1795, baptized 1 Jul 1796 by George and Catharine at St Martin's in the Bull Ring
• George EDWARDS, baptized 2 Aug 1802 by Owen and Mary at St Martin's in the Bull Ring

Contrasting these to possible birth parents for John EDWARDS, the only couple to have both a John and a G EDWARDS were George and Catharine:

• 1791 by John and Mary
• 1792 by John and Sarah
• 1793 by Joseph and Sarah
• 1794 by John and Sarah
• 1798 by Benjamin and Sarah
• 1799 by George and Catharine
• 1799 John and Rebecca

George and Catharine had children Eliza(beth) 1794, George 1795, Daniel Dixon 1798, twins Catharine and John Joseph in 1799 and Charles in 1801. George would have been John's eldest brother. Catharine must have died in infancy as she was not mentioned in her mother's will of 1803³. One of the executors was Thomas MILLWARD. Daniel married Elizabeth BERRYMAN in 1861 at St Martin's. John Edwards was a witness and made his mark. While thin evidence, John's illiteracy is inconsistent with him being able to sign his name when marrying Elizabeth BEACH.