eboracensis

Dennis Driscoll born c1806 Cork, Ireland

2011-05-25T20:31:00.014-06:00

My great-grandmother was Mary Driscoll, born in Birmingham in 1883 to John and Mary Driscoll. John Driscoll in turn was the son of Dennis Driscoll and his second wife Susan. John was born also in Birmingham in approximately 1862 and lived a varied life doing various jobs including being a gas fitter, brass turner and comedian. Dennis Driscoll was born in Cork, Ireland in about 1806-9, though it is hard to be specific as his age varies in the records. I previously wrote about what I knew about him in this entry.

Dennis Driscoll

I am about to hire a local researcher to look through the Birmingham Catholic Archives to get more information about my Irish ancestors and in preparation for this I have been doing some extra work to try and put together dates and relationships amongst my Driscoll relatives. Since I last wrote about the Driscoll family the index to the registrations of births, marriages and deaths has improved vastly on ancestry.com and now appears to have extensive coverage.

Using this index I have managed to produce a much improved family tree. The biggest improvement is finding the potential maiden name for Dennis Driscoll’s first wife Julia (Connor). Secondly finding the death date of Julia and the marriage date of Dennis to his second wife Susan has allowed me to discern that John Driscoll’s sister Mary Ann Driscoll is likely to be the child of Dennis and Julia not Dennis and Susan. I am of course ordering many certificates to find out if the family tree and other information below is accurate – therefore don’t assume that this is all 100% accurate (though I think it is).

Additionally, I think that I have now found Dennis Driscoll in the 1841 census, something which I previously did not manage to do. I have located on Hill St, Green’s Village, Birmingham – which is a heavily Irish area at this time - a Dennis Driscoll aged 35 (born approx 1806) a labourer who was born in Ireland. All these details fit with my ancestor, as does the fact that a Julia Connor (the presumed name of his first wife) aged 20 who was also born in Ireland is living in the same house. This would mean Julia would have been born around 1821 which is close to my previous estimate of about 1817. There is also a Joseph Connor aged 25 living in this house who possibly could be a brother of Julia.

Congruent with this in the 1851 census Dennis & Julia Driscoll are still living in Green’s Village. Also living with them are Thomas Connor (b1830) and Mary Ann Connor (b1833) who are described as brother and sister of Dennis and Julia. Interestingly, they were born in Kidderminster – this suggests that the parents of Julia Connor (b1817 in Cork) had come over to England prior to 1830.

Children of Dennis Driscoll

Using the censuses and registration index, I have found out what I assume happened to Dennis’ children in addition to my own 2xgreat-grandfather John Driscoll. I am quite confident that what I have found is correct, though it shouldn’t be read as definitively true until I have accrued more sources to back it up. Interestingly, it was only after I widened my search to include all possible spellings of DRISCOLL – (DRISCOL, DRISCALL, DRISCAL, DRISKAL, etc.) that I found many of the individuals. I should note that it is always important to follow the siblings of relatives as they may give leads as to extra information about your own direct ancestors. This is especially true for Irish ancestry research if we wish to know more about where in Ireland our ancestors came from.

Chidren with Julia Connor:

1. Thomas Driscoll b.1846 - Thomas seems to have married Elizabeth Lane and gone on to have several children. I don’t know how many as I have not looked at the full 1911 image. Thomas lives with his family in 1871 at Howard’s Place Birmingham, the same place as Dennis Driscoll is living in 1871. By 1881 he has moved to Latimer St. where he is still living in 1911. Thomas worked as a marble mason, though by 1911 he was ‘out of work’. The 1911 census also tells us that his daughter Kate is married and now called Kate Warwick with a son Henry Warwick (b1906). This census also shows that Thomas’ only son (as far as I can tell) also called Thomas (b1876) was still unmarried at the age of 36 – he was a brass worker. Interestingly, one of Thomas and Elizabeth’s first daughters was called Julia – probably after Thomas’ mother Julia Driscoll (nee Connor). This Julia does not appear on any censuses after 1871 and there is a registration in 1876 that is likely to be her death. I also think I have found a match for the death of Thomas (b1846) in Apr 1914.

2. Cornelius Driscoll b. 1853– I cannot trace Cornelius beyond 1871 and I have found a death certificate in the index for 1872 which would appear to explain this.

3. Mary Ann Driscoll b. 1857 – Mary Ann only appears in the 1861 census. I do not know what happened to her after this time point.

Children with Susan:

4. John Driscoll b. 1862 – this is my great-great-grandfather.

5. Catherine Driscoll b. 1867 –Catherine appears to have married a Clement Wollaston in 1892 – I cannot find Catherine in the 1891 census. In 1901 the couple are living at number 185 Lightwood Road, Smethwick with Clement’s widowed mother Susan. Clement is employed as a gold and silver smith. The 1911 census reveals that they had had by this time 3 children during their marriage but only one, Ellen (b1906 in Smethwick), had survived. The jump in social class from her early life seems to be quite great for Catherine Driscoll – this made me concerned that I maybe had the wrong person, but I believe that this is the right Catherine. Especially as her sister Ellen Driscoll is living with her.

(Catherine & Ellen in 1901)

6. Ellen Driscoll b. 1871 – The 1891 census finds an Ellen Driscoll living as a lodger in the house of a John Hanbury on Albion Rd. Yardley. I believe this is the right Ellen – she is described as a ‘nut maker’. In 1901 she is living with her sister Catherine and Catherine’s husband Clement Wollaston. Also there is a Harold Driscoll (b1893) who is presumably Ellen’s illegitimate son. By 1911 Harold is still living with Catherine and Clement and is now working as a jeweler, presumably with his uncle Clement. I cannot find a death record of Ellen Driscoll, though there is a marriage entry in the indexes for 1910 in Aston which may be her.

Death Certificate of Michael Hennigan

2011-05-24T17:09:00.009-06:00

Michael Hennigan was one of my 3xgreat-grandfathers. I wrote previously about him and his family. One hindrance to this line of research is that his last name can be (mis)spelled in many ways including Hennigan, Hannigan, Henigan, Hanigan, Hennighan, Hannighan, Hennigon etc.

In this entry I am showing a copy of Michael’s death certificate. This was kindly provided to me by Mrs K. Moreton a couple of years ago, but I have just got round to looking at some more of my Hennigan ancestry.

(click to enlarge)

Michael Hennigan was born somewhere in Ireland between 1832-1834. I believe his father’s name was Charles Hennigan. The family moved to England in the 1840s or early 1850s and Michael married Catherine Grogan (b1840), daughter of Thomas Grogan, on 14^th Oct 1860 at St. Peter’s Chapel, Birmingham (this information is from their marriage certificate though I have yet to get a copy myself).

He died on 5^th January 1885, at the Weston Road Workhouse, Birmingham. His name is spelled “Michael Hannigan” and he is 51 years old. His occupation is described as “labourer of Birmingham” which is quite general. The cause of death is given as “Chronic Bronchitis Dilated Heart” – though it’s not hard to imagine that he was likely in terrible physical condition. He was born in Ireland before coming over to England during the worst of the potato famine and ended up living in quite awful poverty.

The first census record that Michael appeared in is the 1861 English census (clicking the link will take you to a copy of the image). I cannot find him in the 1851 census suggesting he move to England after this date.. In 1861, he is living in one room of a house on Tindal St., Birmingham and is working as a paper maker. In 1871 Michael is working as a bricklayer’s labourer living in one room on Windmill St Birmingham. Things got worse for Michael as by 1881 he had moved to the Marston Green Cottage homes which were actually part of the Birmingham workhouse. Sadly, he is living here with his four youngest children – Margaret, Ellen, James and Michael.

The informant of the death in 1885 was his wife Catherine Hennigan who was apparently in attendance at the death. Her residence was 10 Beak Street. She was living on the same street four years previously in 1881 (the time when Michael was in the workhouse) when she described herself as a ‘laundress’. She also said that she was a widow on this census. Her older children John, Jane and Catherine are living with her as is Jane’s illegitimate son John Curley. Jane went on to marry my 2xgreat-grandfather Thomas Curley.

I do not know how long Catherine went on to live for. I cannot find her in the 1911 census or find her death certificate. I do know that she lived until at least 1901 as she appears in this census living on Beak St. She is unemployed and living with her unmarried daughter Mary Ann (b1860-2) who is a spoon polisher. They are living two doors away from one of the sisters who in 1881 was forced to live in the workhouse – Ellen Hennigan (b1875) and her husband Thomas Moore.

Mary Ann Hennigan can be found in 1911 living with Thomas and Ellen Moore (Ellen had had 9 children by this time but only 5 had survived). Mary Ann is still a spoon polisher. Mary Ann Hennigan possibly died in Apr-Jun 1930 according to the death register indexes, though I’d need to get the certificate to confirm this.

THE SIBLINGS OF MARY BENSON part 2

2011-05-21T11:59:00.027-06:00

My 3xgreat-grandmother Mary Wright (nee Benson) had three younger brothers that survived until adulthood. This post describes what I have found out about their lives – each of them led very interesting lives in 3 different places – Newcastle, York and Acomb.

Click here for a family tree showing Mary & her siblings

George Gowland Benson - the railway worker

George Gowland Benson was born in York in 1849 just before his parents George & Eliza moved back to George’s family parish of Acomb. George’s middle name “Gowland” comes from his mother Eliza’s maiden name. It is possible he was baptized on 29 Apr 1849 at All Saint’s Pavement, York ( this record appears in the ancestry.com database but not in the familysearch.org database – I will need to consult the original records).

In 1871 George was still living with his parents and was described as a farmer’s son. I do not know what George was doing until 1880 when he married Mary Bristow in Jan-Mar 1880 in Newcastle. Mary Bristow was born in Fridaythorpe in 1862 and so was 14 years the junior of George. It is likely that the wedding was a quickly arranged affair as their first daughter Eliza E. Benson was also born in mid 1880.

In the 1881 census, George and Mary were living with Mary’s parents James & Elizabeth Bristow in Pottery Lane, Westgate, Newcastle. I do not know if George Benson knew the Bristow family before coming to Newcastle, though it is interesting to note that James was born in Escrick and Elizabeth in Fridaythorpe, so it is possible he did.

In 1881, George’s occupation is given as a ‘checker for N.E.R’ (North Eastern Railways). This is the same occupation as he held in 1891 whilst living at 48 Brussel St., Gateshead. In the 1901 and 1911 censuses George is still employed in the railways but is called a “rolly loader” or “loader on railway co”. Throughout this time, George and Mary are living at 10 Dale St., Pottery Lane, Newcastle with Mary’s brother Thomas Gray Bristow (b.Jul-Aug 1866 Newcastle) and widowed father James Bristow.

1911 census

George Gowland and Mary Benson had a total of 12 children together, with 9 of these being still alive in 1911 (according to that census). The following is a list of these children & their birthdates:

b1880 Eliza E.
b1881 Elizabeth
b1882 Mary E
b1885 George
b1886 Lilly
b1889 Christiana
b1892 John Thomas
b1894 Jane Ann
b1901 Hannah
b1904 Frederick John

All were born in Newcastle except for John Thomas and Jane Ann who were born in Gateshead. I cannot find the last two children – they may have been born any time between 1880-1911. Nor am I sure that Eliza E. and Elizabeth are two separate children or different spellings of the same daughter.

From the index of wills and administrations, it seems that George Gowland Benson died on 15^th July 1922. Interestingly, he died whilst living at Poplar Grove, Acomb – the same house that his elder sister (my 3xgreat grandmother Mary Wright nee Benson) was still living in. I do not know why George Gowland Benson moved back to Acomb. The majority of his will was left to “George Benson, railway clerk”. I presume that this is his son George b1885.

William Benson - the butcher

William Benson was born on 27^th September 1851 along with his twin sister Martha Emma Benson in Acomb. William seems to have left home in the late 1860s to go and start an apprenticeship with John Shilleto (b1842) as a butcher. John Shilleto’s butcher’s shop was at 27 Micklegate, York.

1871 census

In the 1881 census, William is now living at 36 Micklegate (which is today called the Micklegate takeaway!) in his own butcher’s shop. He is living with his wife Fanny (b1851) and son George A. Benson (b1880). An older son William Herbert (b1877) was spending the night of the census with his cousin John George Wright and grandparents George and Eliza Benson in Acomb.

1881 census

An investigation of the marriage indexes suggests that William Benson married Fanny Flower between Apr-Jun 1876 in York. Fanny was the daughter of George and Jane Flower, both of whom were from York. They appear to have been fairly well-to-do as they were living in 1871 at 18 The Mount, an elegant street just off Micklegate, and George Flower was a ‘coach proprietor’.

In 1891, William Benson has moved back to 27 Micklegate, York to take over the butcher’s shop where he served as an apprentice. Living with him is his wife Fanny and children William Herbert, George A., Frederick (b1882), and Fanny (b1886).

1891 census

By 1901, William Benson, his wife and daughter Fanny had moved to the other side of York – to 9 De Grey Terrace. William is still employed as a butcher and interestingly has 5 lodgers including four ‘actresses’. Three of these are sisters Norah (22), Flora (21) & Emma Stewart (18) from Blackpool. The other is Nellie Freeman (22) from London.

1901 census

In the last census we have available in 1911, William is now a widowed retired butcher and is living with Chistopher Cawood and family as a lodger at 23 De Grey Terrace. This is only four doors down from William’s previous address and it seems the families knew each other for some time as the Cawoods were also living there in 1901. Fanny Benson appears to have died between Oct-Dec 1908 whereas William Benson seems to have died between Jul-Sep 1917 (according to the death indexes).

More information about their deaths and that of another daughter is available from a monumental inscription in St. Stephen's Church, Acomb:

"In loving memory of Florence Muriel, the dearly loved child of William and Fanny Benson of York b July 13 1883, d July 22 1884.

Also Fanny Benson who died at York, Oct 29 1908 in her 59th year.

Also William Benson husband of the above who died Aug 21 1917 in his 87th year.

Also George Alfred, 2nd son of the above and beloved husband of Annie Violet Benson who died Jan 14 1922 aged 42 years."

Frederick Thomas Benson - the innkeeper

Frederick Thomas Benson was the youngest son of George and Eliza Benson and was born in Acomb on 9^th May 1861. He was the only son to remain in Acomb all of his life.

At the age of 19 in 1881, Frederick was still living at home with his parents and working as a farmer’s son. He married Sarah Hardcastle between Apr-Jun 1885 in Acomb. Sarah Hardcastle was born in 1865 in Hessay to Thomas (b1829) and Mary Ann Hardcastle (b1839). Mary Ann was originally from Hessay, but Thomas Hardcastle was himself born in Acomb. In 1881, prior to the marriage of Frederick Thomas Benson and Sarah Hardcastle, Thomas Hardcastle had become widowed and had moved back to Acomb and became the innkeeper of the Sun Inn, which looks out on the village green. At this time, Sarah was working as a barmaid and it’s probable that this is where she met her future husband. . Their marriage may also have been prompted by the death of Thomas Hardcastle in late 1884, as by 1891 the couple were now running the Sun Inn. Interestingly, Frederick’s eldest sister Mary Wright (my 3great grandmother) was at this time running the Marcia Inn also in Acomb.

The couple continued to operate the Sun Inn at least until 1901 as they were living at the Sun Inn in both the 1891 and 1901 censuses. The couple had at least 7 children - Walter (b1886), Rose (b1887), Eliza Mary (b1889), George Frederick (b1890), Florence (b1892), Annie (b1893) and Amy (b1895). Also living with them in both censuses were two of Sarah’s younger brothers - William (b1862) and David (b1868).

1901 census

Frederick Thomas Benson died in 1902. His wife went on to live for 51 years more than her husband. Their monumental inscription in St. Stephen’s Churchyard also contains details of one of their sons and reads:

"In affectionate remembrance of Frederick Thomas BENSON, died Dec 20 1902 aged 41 years. Also George Frederick BENSON son of the above died June 4 1946 aged 55 years. Also Sarah BENSON, wife of Frederick Thomas, died March 9, 1953 aged 88 years."

Apparently there is an obituary of Frederick in the Yorkshire Gazette dated 27 Dec 1902, though I have not had a chance to see this yet (available at York Reference Library).

The last piece of information I have regarding Sarah Benson (nee Hardcastle) is that in the 1911 census she is living in a 6 roomed house at "The Green, Acomb". She is living with her out of work son George, and her two youngest daughters Annie (a confectionary maker) and Amy (a box labeler). Her unmarried brother William Hardcastle is also living with her still. Interestingly she also has another son – Fred Benson (b1904), whose father is obviously a mystery.

1911 census

The Sun Inn meanwhile was by 1911 being run by Robert and Ada Barnett who had previously lived at Ash St., Holgate.

The Benson grandchildren of George & Eliza Benson

Finally, in this entry discussing the lives of the brothers of Mary Wright (nee Benson), I have not gone on to trace much about the lives of the children of the brothers. However, in the next post I shall discuss a bit more about the life of George Frederick Benson, (1890-1946) the son of Frederick Thomas and Sarah Benson – specifically, his service during WW1.

THE SIBLINGS OF MARY BENSON part 1

2011-05-20T16:35:00.032-06:00

Introduction

In the previous post, I wrote about how I found out that my 3xgreat grandmother Mary Wright was born Mary Benson and that she was the eldest daughter of George and Eliza Benson. George & Eliza had (as far as I can tell) 9 children, with three dying in infancy. I do not know why each of the three died, though it would be possible to get their death certificates to find out. This entry will follow what I have found out about the two younger sisters of Mary that went on to live to adulthood. Most of this material has come from the census and parish records as well as monumental inscriptions and newspapers. The next post will deal with the three brothers of Mary Benson that went on to have children.

(click to enlarge)

Elizabeth Benson

Elizabeth was baptized on the 6^th January 1845 at St. Michael’s Spurriergate, York. She was younger than her elder sister Mary Benson by three years. She was living at home with her parents in Acomb in 1851 and 1861. By 1871 she is living in nearby Holgate (which is a sub-parish squeezed between Acomb and York itself). In 1871 Elizabeth is working as a parlour maid in the house belonging to two elderly sisters - Sarah & Elizabeth Backhouse - who both appear to have been born in Darlington and are said to be ‘living off dividends’. They also live with their widowed nephew a Joseph Cranfield who is a tea merchant.

In 1879 she had a daughter Florence Anne Benson (named after her youngest sister who had died in Feb 1878 aged 12). This daughter was born out of wedlock as Elizabeth does not appear to have ever married (at least not by 1911). I believe Florence Anne was born in Filey (according to 1901 and 1911 censuses, though the 1891 census gives Acomb as Florence’s birthplace). If she was indeed born in Filey, this would suggest that Elizabeth went there to secretly give birth. Interestingly, I cannot find either Elizabeth or her daughter in the 1881 census – finding her may shed some light on to who the father was?

Elizabeth is living with her daughter in the house of her parents (1891) and her widowed mother Eliza (1901) in Acomb. By 1911, she is living in Long Marston (which is about five miles from Acomb) with her now married daughter. Florence Anne married James Hields (b. 1880 Acomb) who was a farmer. Their marriage certificate (Jul-Sep 1903) would also glean possible information as to the father of Florence Anne. Interestingly, on the marriage index she is listed as Florence Anne C Benson, but I have no knowledge as to what the ‘C’ stands for. It is possible that it could be the surname of her father as illegitimate children often were given their father’s name as a middle name. In 1911, James and Florence Hields had already had four children, all of who were still living (Harold James b1907/d1980, Wilfred George b1908-9/d1968, Lilian Alice b1909-10, Frederick Thomas b1910/d1978).

I'm not sure when Elizabeth Benson died as there are far too many matches for that name in the death registers, even when taking birth date and location into account. However, I have found Florence’s death in Jan-Mar 1963 in Hull. She is registered as Florence A. C. Hields. Florence's husband James Hields is registered as having died in Holderness in 1938.

Martha Emma Benson

Martha Emma was born on the 27^th September 1851 along with her twin brother William Benson (more about him in the next post). Both were baptized at St. Stephen’s Church, Acomb on 2 November 1851. Martha lived with her parents in Acomb until 1881 when she married Alfred Ballans (b.1854, son of George Ballans) on 21 Nov 1881 at Acomb. Alfred was born to George and Mary Ballans in North Stainley near Ripon, the 3^rd of 6 children. The Ballans family moved to Ulleskelf from North Stainley around 1857 and came to Acomb by 1871. The family lived at Parks Farm in 1871 and in 1881 at Hambleton Farm, Carr Grange.

The wedding of Martha Emma and Alfred Ballans was announced in the Yorkshire Gazette of 26 Nov 1881:

"BALLANS-BENSON - On the 21st instant, at St. Stephen's Church, Acomb, by the Rev R P T Tennant, vicar, Alfred, eldest son of Mr Ballans, Carr Grange, to Martha Emma (Pattie), youngest daughter of Mr George Benson, all of Acomb"

Martha and Alfred Ballans had two children both of whom survived. Cecil Benson Ballans was born in 1884 (bp. 17 Sep, Acomb) and Linda Mary Ballans was born in 1895, also in Acomb.

In 1891 Alfred and Martha are living at West Field Villas, Acomb, next door to Martha’s parents James and Mary Wright who are living at the Marcia Inn. Alfred is listed as being a cattle dealer and having been born in Tanfield (this is less than a mile from North Stainley). In this census, his surname is mis-spelled as ‘Ballance’.

In 1901 Alfred Ballans is living at Green Lane, Acomb and is a ‘manager on a farm’. Perhaps this was the farm of his recently deceased father-in-law George Benson?

In 1911 Alfred and Martha Ballans are living at ‘Glenholm’, Acomb. This is probably the name of the house, though I’m not sure where in Acomb it is. Alfred is now a labourer in a warehouse, which I believe is named as ““Rly Co Warehouse” which is likely short for “railway company”.

According to the death register index, Martha died in Aug-Sep 1918 and Alfred died in Jan-Mar 1916.

Their son Cecil was training to be a cabinet maker in 1901 but by 1911 was a worker at the N.E. Carriage works in Acomb. By this time, Cecil was married to Annie J Ballans and had one child – George B. Ballans. The family are living at Grange Lane, Acomb. Cecil signed the census return as “Cecil Benson Ballans”.

The early life & parents of Mary Benson 1843-1931

2011-05-19T15:04:00.011-06:00

Introduction

Mary Wright (nee Benson) was the wife of James Wright and they were my 3xgreat grandparents. It took me quite a while to locate the marriage record of James and Mary in the Yorkshire Gazette (1861), as I could not find a record in the parish records of parishes that I thought they may have married in. This newspaper record told me that they were married at St. Olave's Marygate, York - I have yet to look through this parish's records to see if there is any extra information about this marriage e.g. who were the witnesses? Also, when I started this research in 1999, I was not accustomed to ordering marriage certificates - I also have not yet got this certificate though I do know its reference number. This may give me some extra interesting information.

The first clue that Mary Wright was born Mary Benson came when looking through the Acomb Census records - in the old fashioned way of scrolling through microfilm at York Library. Here I found in the 1881 census that John George Wright, the eldest son of James and Mary Wright was living in Acomb with his grandparents George and Eliza Benson. This showed me that Mary Wright was the daughter of George and Eliza Benson.

(click to enlarge)

John George Wright seems to have been close to the Benson family as he named one of his children "Benson". Unfortunately he died in infancy:

From the baptismal register of Edward-the-Confessor Church, Dringhouses: bp. Jan 1 1885, Benson Herbert, son of John George & Annie Elizabeth Wright, North Lane Dringhouses, builder.

Yorkshire Gazeette 22/12/1888:

Death of John George Wright's son Benson Herbert aged 4.

The children of George & Eliza Benson

Mary Benson was the eldest child of George & Eliza Benson. I was able to piece together their family details from parish records, the IGI, census records and the newspaper indexes at York library. It appears that George and Eliza had 9 children, with 3 dying in infancy. The remaining 6 children all had children (issue) of their own (I will detail these descendants in the next post). What's also notable from this pedigree is that Eliza's maiden name is GOWLAND - this was first evident to me when I saw that George and Eliza had used this name as a middle name for two of their sons.

(click to enlarge)

From what I can gather (more info to come in later posts), George Benson was born in 1818 in Acomb but left at some point prior to 1841 to apprentice as a baker in York (this was with his future wife Eliza's father). George and Eliza married in York between Oct-Dec 1841 and had five children in York:

IGI search on Familysearch.org

bp. 18 Dec 1842, Mary, daughter of George & Eliza Benson, St. Michael's Spurriergate, York.

bp. 6 Jan 1845 Thomas Gowland, son of George & Eliza Benson, St. Michael's Spurriergate, York

bp. 6 Jan 1845 Elizabeth, daughter of George & Eliza Benson, St. Michael's Spurriergate, York

bp. 17 Jan 1847 Eliza, daughter of George & Eliza Benson, All Saint's Pavement, York.

George Gowland Benson - known to have been born in 1849 from census records, but I cannot find his baptism in either parish records or the IGI. They then moved around 1851 to Acomb and had four more children:

baptisms MF 624 Acomb Parish Registers

bp 2 Nov (b 27 Sept) 1851 - William Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

bp 2 Nov (b 27 Sept) 1851 - Martha Emma Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

bp 3 June (b 9 May) 1861 - Frederick Thomas Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

bp 5 Oct (b 19 Aug) 1866 - Florence Anne Eliza Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

The deaths of Eliza and Florence Anne were confirmed from death records in the York newspaper index. Thomas Gowland is presumed to have died by 1851 as he no longer appear in the census.

What did George Benson do after returning to Acomb?

The census records show that George Benson worked as a farmer after returning to Acomb in 1851 until his death in Acomb in 1897 (according to the York newspaper index). Between 1851-1881 he and his family lived on front street apparently at the corner of gayle/gale lane. This is what each census record says (I won't post each of these images just yet as they will take up too much space):

1851 - farmer of 87 acres,

1861 - farmer of 120 acres

1871 - farmer of 100 acres employing 2 men

1881 - farmer

1891 - now living on gale lane at the corner with front st, still a farmer

In 1901, Eliza Benson is now a widow and living at 21 albert street, Acomb. She is living with her second eldest daughter Elizabeth who appears never to have married. She is also living with her grand-daughter Florence Anne Benson, named after her youngest daughter who died in infancy. This grand-daughter was born in Filey and I have now found out from the 1911 census that she is the daughter of Elizabeth. I'll write more about that in the next post.

(click to enlarge)

Eliza Benson died on the 8th August 1906 (again, according to the York newspaper index) - 7 years to the day after husband.

some extra background on the Bensons of Acomb

2011-05-19T11:22:00.002-06:00

The next few posts will be about the Benson family of Acomb - both their ancestors and descendants (as far as I can trace both). The majority of people with the name "BENSON" living in Acomb throughout the nineteenth century are related to one another and are descended from one man - William Benson who was born in Whixley in February 1722. One year after he was born, his parents and siblings all died within one month of each other and he moved to Acomb. Presumably William was the only survivor of an infectious disease that came through Whixley and was sent to live in Acomb with a relative.

William Benson's two sons, William (b1752) and John (b1754), went on to become the progenitors of two large branches of the Benson family. There are many interesting individuals in this family including historians, architects, emigrants, publicans, farmers and many others. It's amazing to think that all of these descendants owe their lives to one male Benson baby suriviving a pox or some other disease that swept through Whixley in the early 18th century.

In addition to the usual sources of evidence, I have additional information about the Bensons of Acomb from other contemporary researchers such as Mr Brian Kingston. Interestingly, one of the Benson family - a George Benson - was a local historian who also left several notes about his (and by extension my) family history. I will write more about this George Benson later. He has several published volumes (some of which I own) as well as having left some personal notes to the York City Archives (Acc108 - also available as a copy on microfilm at the London Family History Centre.

The next post will detail the first Benson to whom I'm related - my 3xgreat grandmother Mary Wright (nee Benson) b. 1843.

Mary Wright (nee Benson) 1843-1931.

2011-05-18T21:07:00.021-06:00

My 3xgreat-grandfather James Wright was married to Mary nee Benson. They were married, according to the announcement in the Yorkshire Gazette, on 24 Mar 1861 in St. Olave's Church, Marygate.

James and Mary went on to have 10 children (4 boys, 6 girls) including my 2xgreat-grandfather Henry Wright. (click image below to enlarge).

Mary Wright (nee Benson) died 23 years after her husband on the 29th April 1931 in Acomb. This information was gleaned from the monumental inscription on the gravestone of St. Stephen's Churchyard, Acomb.

This is observable by going to the church and looking - or at York Reference Library there is a pamphlet detailing all of the records (ref = Y929.5 Baxter)

The inscription reads:

"In loving memory of

AMY / The dear and much beloved child / of JAMES AND MARY WRIGHT / born June 7th 1877 / died December 6th 1883 / it is well with the child ... it is well : KINGS.IV.26 /

Also JAMES WRIGHT / father of the above / who died 9th December 1908 / aged 72 years / 'thy will be done' /

Also MARY WRIGHT / wife of the above / died 29th April

1931 / aged 88 years / 'at rest' /

Also LUCRETIA HUNT / daughter of the above / passed away 18th May 1940 / aged 56 years"

I pieced together the later life of Mary Wright (nee Benson) primarily from the 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses as well as some trade directories. You can read more about what I found out about this at this earlier page.

In 1861, the newly married couple are living with James Wright's parents in the parish of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, York - the only information given about Ann is that she is '18' meaning she'd have been born around 1843 and that this was in York. By 1871, the couple had moved to "Poplar Villa" a house located on Skew Balk Lane - what is now the Wetherby road - leaving Acomb. For the next 30 years, James and Mary lived between Poplar Villa (sometimes called Poplar Grove) and the Marcia Inn which is located just off Acomb Green. James Wright worked as a market gardener, brick manufacturer, victualler and apparently a foster carer for disabled children during this time.

Further information about their life at Poplar Grove can be gleaned from a document listing the previous owners given to me by the current owner of the property. (Or at least the owner as was when I knocked on the door in 1999!). When I visited, the owner showed me how he had modified the building and demonstrated which walls were original - perhaps I shall be able to find a photo at some point. The owner also mentioned to me that he would occasionally find in the garden clay smoking pipes - these may have been Mary's as women were just as likely as men to smoke pipes in the 19C .

On this paper the following is written:

"POPLAR GROVE

20th Aug 1883 - James Wright of Acomb, gardener, admitted tenant of half of close of land called the Pasture

20th Dec 1899 - 10 acres of land loaned by Mary Wright from Robt Holtby (land previously held by her husband James Wright) - 30 pounds a year rent (between 1883 & 1899 James Wright declared bankrupt).

25th July 1909 - Mrs Wright buys 5 acres of land for 775 pounds (= southern half of house Pasture close).

19th Aug 1912 - Land valued at 775 pounds

20th Aug 1920 - Another 4 acres (= northern half of house Pasture close) bought for 305 pounds

31st Oct 1925 - Mrs Wright sells land to Mr W Wright of Knaresborough for 1100 pounds.

1st May 1926 - Mr W Wright sells property to Mr E Atkinson for 1900 pounds. Mrs M. Wright then 'of' 18 Albert Terrace, Acomb.

7th May 1927 - Atkinson sells property (in 2 blocks) to Hinchcliffe for 1700 pounds."

I believe Mr E Atkinson is Edward Atkinson, the husband of James and Mary Wright's daughter Mary Ellen Wright (b.1871). The Atkinson family later ran an off-license in Blossom Street, York and their descendants still live in York. I'm not sure who Mr W Wright is, but he is likely to be James and Mary Wright's son William Wright (b 1874). I'm also not sure who Mr. Robert Holtby is - I can't find him in either the 1891 or 1901 census in Acomb.

1911 Census

It is interesting that James Wright suffered financial difficulties during his later life, though he seems to have got this sorted several years before he died in 1908. This may be why Mary Wright herself, and not James, is named as victualler of the Marcia Inn in 1890 -

In the 1911 census Mary Wright is living as a widow at "The Poplars, Acomb" and her given occupation is market gardener. The building is said to have 12 rooms. She is living with 3 servants (Ellen Bland aged 30 domestic servant b.York; James Duff aged 10 gardener b. Kirk Hammerton; Arthur Coggrave aged 19 born Howden) and 3 boarders (George Cairns, aged 76, retired farmer, born Alnwick in Northumberland; Frederick Robert Bateman, aged 36, male nurse, born in Easington, Durham.). I cannot transcribe the third boarder. His name appears to begin with an H. and his last name is Lucas (I think). I cannot decipher his occupation or birth place. Unfortunately, the 'disability' column is blanked for the 1911 census (due to the 100 year disclosure rule). I have a feeling that this individual may be one of the patients that the Wright family occasionally housed at Poplar Grove. This may explain why a male nurse is living at the property.

The transcriber of the 1911 census thinks that this person is a "Harold Lucas", occupation "Private Means", born "Hitchin" - but I am not so sure about the first name or the birthplace. "Private Means" seems to be true and is commonly seen on the census.

I may in the future try and find out more about the other individuals living at the property. Interestingly, of her 10 children she lists 2 as having died. I know her daughter Amy (b.1877) died aged 6, but I do not know which of the other children it is that died (I may also look into this later).

Mary's post WW1 life in Acomb

I don't have much information about Mary Wright from 1911 until her death, other than the document above that states that in 1926 she was 'of' 18 Albert Terrace. I don't know why the 'of' is in inverted commas. This suggests that perhaps this wasn't the permanent residence of Mary. (In the 1911 census a mother and daughter are living at 18 Albert Terrace - Ellen and Mary Galland. They have no known connection to the Wright family).

I do not yet have the death certificate of Mary Wright - this would be useful to get as it would tell me where she was living when she died. (I have not yet found the reference to this). I did however find an entry to the index of the England & Wales Probate Calendar which is an Index of Wills:

"WRIGHT Mary of Parkhurst 65 York-road Acomb Yorkshire, widow, died 29 April 1931, Probate, York, 20 May 1931 to William chief clerk railway estate office and Florence Bulmer (wife of John William Bulmer). effects 2205 pounds, 3 shillings, 6 pence."

The William named here is presumably Mary Wright's son - the same one who bought and sold Poplar Grove five years previously. Florence Bulmer is I presume her 2nd youngest daughter (listed as Flory or Florie on the censuses). I will need to order the will to find out if these two were the only beneficiaries of the will. If so, I wonder why she only gave money to two out of the eight living children. -nb. 65 York Road, Acomb, is now a TSB Lloyds bank. I wonder what the Parkhurst refers to - perhaps a previous name for the house?

What's interesting to me is that my grandmother (Doreen Wright) was born a few years before her great-grandmother Mary Wright died. It's funny to think that my grandmother whom I grew up with may have spent time with her great-grandmother who was born in 1843!

In the next entry I shall detail the early pre-marriage life of Mary Wright (nee Benson).

The Benson Family of Acomb

2011-05-18T17:42:00.008-06:00

It has been a long time since I have had any free time to pursue family history. I started researching over 10 years ago before so much genealogical material came available online. If I was to start now, I could have done nearly all the work in a fraction of the time it took! Ironically, the information that I have yet to unearth regarding my family is still (hopefully) contained in libraries and archives. Unfortunately I do not have the time to visit them - I also happen to live on a different continent to those repositories.

Nevertheless, I do possess a lot of notes and findings that I have yet to publish on this website. I have been very slow to do this as other things keep getting in the way, but I am hoping over the next few weeks to start putting more on this website. This should help me organize my thoughts and material, and also allow others to read it.

I am going to start with the Benson family of Acomb. In previous posts on this website my writing style was to discuss how I went about finding the material related to each ancestor. However, since some of this stuff was collected 12 years ago - I have no idea how I came across some of it. Perhaps writing it up will jog my memory!

I am descended from my 3xgreat-grandfather James Wright who was born in York, Yorkshire, in 1836. He married Mary Benson in 1861 also in York at St. Olave's Church, Marygate. Here is the wedding announcement in the Yorkshire Gazette of 1861:

The next few posts will detail more about the Benson family who have quite extensive connections with Acomb, and led me to learn much more about early 19C and 18C rural English social history.

Thomas Green - 1911 census

2010-08-19T07:11:00.004-06:00

Here is the census image for my grandmother Mary Jane Green's parents and her older siblings.

Her father is Thomas Green and her mother Mary Jane (nee Phipps). The census confirms that they were married in 1896 but also reveals that Mary Jane has had 7 children of which only four have survived - Wilfrid (who seems to go by the name Frank according to this census), Ethel Lavinia (whose middle name is the same as Mary Jane's youngest sister Lavinia Phipps), Norman and Dora. Therefore 3 of her children must have already died in infancy.

I believe that Thomas Green may have been married once before Mary Jane and had a daughter Elizabeth with this previous wife. I presume that this first wife died, but I do not yet have the full information.

My grandmother doesn't appear in this census as she was born in May 1911 whereas this census was taken in April 1911.

All of Thomas & Mary Jane's children were born at Watling St., Brownhills where they are currently living in a place known as "Thacker's buildings" which has four rooms. The other information matches that from previous censuses with Thomas being a coal miner and having been born in Wellington, Shropshire whereas Mary Jane was born in Coseley, Staffs.

The Wright family in 1911

2009-08-15T12:16:00.005-06:00

Please click on the 'Wright' tab on the right hand side to find more information about my great-grandfather Harold Wright, his parents and family. The 1911 census does not add to

o much extra information to what I already knew - All four children were born in Acomb, Henry Cecil Wright b1897, Harold b1900, Ethel b1902 and Kathleen Maud b1905.

In 1911 the three younger children were at school and Henry (named Harry on the census) is an apprentice cabinet maker. Their father Henry Wright (b1868, Acomb) is working for North Eastern railways as a wagon maker. This census also confirms that Henry and Ada Wright had only four children all of whom survived. They are living at Gale View, Acomb in a house with 5 rooms.

John Driscoll (comedian) in 1911

2009-08-13T15:59:00.006-06:00

My great-grandmother was Mary Driscoll who was born on Curzon Street, Birmingham on 23rd October 1883. Her parents were John Driscoll and Mary Lines who were both born in Birmingham also. According to their certificate of marriage which took place on 25th December 1882 they were born in 1859 and 1860 respectively and were both living on Great Lister Street, Duddeston. At this point John Driscoll is described as a goods porter. However, in the 1881 and 1901 censuses he was described as a negro comedian or simply comedian. He obviously did other jobs as in 1891 he was a brass turner and at the birth of Mary Driscoll in 1883 he was a gas fitter. I'm not 100% positive about his birth date as in the 1881 and 1891 censuses his birth date would be 1862ish whereas according to the 1901 census it would be 1865ish.

According to the 1911 census, John Driscoll and his wife Mary are living at 28 Tennant Street, Birmingham in a house with 3 rooms that is also described as a 'shop'. John is described as a comedian working in the 'stage' industry, whilst Mary is involved in 'domestic work'. Interestingly they have been married for 28 years which agrees more or less with their marriage date of December 1882. However, they both claim to be 45 meaning that they were born in 1866 although as pointed out above their marriage certificate puts their dates of birth 6-7 years earlier.

They are living with two children Ada (aged 13) and Agnes (aged 8), but it also states that they have had 13 children in total but only 4 are living. That means that in addition to Ada and Agnes and my great-grandmother Mary there must be one other living child whom i do not yet know the name of. I don't know where this child is living or why he or she does not appear in the 1891 or 1901 censuses. The only child of the 9 who died that I know the name of is Clement John who was born around 1900 and appears in the 1901 census, but whose death record I've found in the register of deaths for 1902. I know from family information that Ada Driscoll did not marry and went on to run a boarding house for people involved in the theatre in the centre of Birmingham. I have found a marriage record for an Agnes Driscoll to a Sidney Jones in Birmingham in 1924.

There is lots of work still to do on the Driscoll family including filling in details about the children of John and Mary Driscoll. Church records and further birth certificates will help this. Also, I know that John Driscoll was the son of Dennis and Susan Driscoll from census records (click on the Driscoll tab on the right to find out more), but I need to see more church records and birth certificate work to find out further details of this family.

The Wilkes family in Castleford

2009-08-12T09:22:00.009-06:00

I have previously researched the history of my Wilkes ancestors back to around 1800 in West Bromwich. I have yet to fill in some gaps in what happened to my more recent Wilkes ancestry - in the pedigree shown I've added in the extra information I've acquired recently in red.

According to the 1901 & 1911 census, John Thomas Wilkes and his wife Eliza Beatrice Wilkes had three children (John Thomas, Pollie and Elsie) in West Bromwich before moving to 5 Grafton Street, Glasshoughton (Castleford) between 1907 and 1911. They had a second son, Albert, in 1912 born in Castleford although I have yet to get the birth certificate. Albert was the only son to survive infancy.

It appears that John Thomas Wilkes died aged 39 in Castleford in late 1916 as I have found a death record for this event though I have yet to get the certificate. Eliza Beatrice Wilkes remarried a John White in early 1919 - I knew she remarried a White as my grandfather remembers Eliza Beatrice as being called 'Granny White'. I don't know yet what happened to Eliza Beatrice and John White after this time.

Of the three surviving children, Elsie Wilkes who is my great-grandmother married David Hughes and moved to York. I do not know very much about Albert Wilkes and his family though there is a family story that while he was young Albert saved some boys from drowning in a lake or brick pond. It will be interesting to search local newspapers to see what happened. I'd also like to find out more about Albert Wilkes' life.

I know more about Pollie Wilkes as I have a copy of both her birth and marriage certificates. The birth certificate (born 4th May 1902, West Brom) is not one that contains any family information, so I think it was not the official birth cerificate but simply a register of a birth certificate entry (it is a copy obtained in 1971 for what reason I don't know).

The marriage certificate is interesting and shows that she married a William Haigh, a miner, son of Amos Haigh, a miner, on the 26th March 1921. The witnesses are Harry Haigh and Lena Crosswaite. The Haighs live at 25 Temple Street Castleford and Polly Wilkes at 65 Grafton Street - presumably with her mother Eliza Beatrice and step-father John White.

John Thomas Wilkes in 1911

2009-08-10T15:54:00.005-06:00

My great-grandmother was Elsie Wilkes (b1908), the daughter of John Thomas Wilkes (b1878) and Eliza Beatrice Evans (b1881). The Wilkes and Evans families were living in West Bromwich for the second half of the nineteenth century, and I have previously traced the Wilkes line back to the beginning of that century in that area (click on the Wilkes tab for more information). I knew that there were also two older children - John Thomas b1900 who died in infancy, and Polly (b1902). I also believe there to be a youngest son called Albert who I had thought to be born pre 1911. I also knew that the family moved at some point between 1902 and 1911 to Castleford, but I was not sure when.

In the 1911 census, I find John Thomas and Eliza Wilkes living at 5 Grafton Street, Glasshoughton, in a house with 4 rooms. It is a traditional terraced house that the majority of coal miners would have lived in - John Thomas is working as a coal hewer. They have been married for 11 years, which tallies with the marriage certificate that I already have - they also have had 3 children with only 2 surviving. Both Polly and Elsie are listed as having been born in West Bromwich, meaning that the Wilkes family must have moved to Castleford after 1908. This also means that Albert Wilkes must have been born after 1911 and in the Castleford area - there is a reference to an Albert Wilkes being born in the June Qtr of 1912 in the Pontefract district (which includes Castleford) so it is likely that he was born then. I shall also do a post sometime soon about Albert Wilkes's namesake and John Thomas' elder brother Albert Wilkes , a footballer who played for Aston Villa and England.

John William Hughes in 1911

2009-08-09T14:25:00.006-06:00

John William Hughes

From the 1901 census I found out that my great-grandmother's father was called John William Hughes and that she (Catherine Annie Hughes b1897) had two brothers Mathew (b1895) and Zachariah (b1900). He was born in 1872, but he did not know where as the census stated NK - not known. He was married to Margaret Annie Carr (b1871), the daughter of Mathew Carr and Ann Padley. I found out this information after consulting Catherine Annie's birth certificate and the marriage certificate of John William Hughes and Margaret Annie in May 1893.

Also from the marriage certificate I know that John William's father was Zachariah Hughes - I have previously traced the family of who I believe to be the correct Zachariah Hughes here, however, I need to find a birth record that associates John William with Zachariah.

In the 1911 census, I find John William Hughes living at Landsale Cottages (or Landsdale Cottages), Greenside, Ryton-upon-Tyne. The house had 2 rooms and he is still a coal miner/hewer. He is living with a new wife called Elizabeth Hughes (b1881, Dunston), to whom he has been married for 8 years meaning that he married her in 1903. Elizabeth Hughes has had four children, one of whom has died. The three surviving children are Elizabeth (b1902), Winnie (b1904), and John William (b1910). The first two children were born in Dunston and then John William was born in Greenside, Ryton. Therefore, as Zachariah was born to Margaret Ann Carr in 1900, she must have died between 1900-1902. Interestingly, two of John William Hughes' children with his previous wife - Mathew Hughes and Zachariah Hughes - are also living there but Catherine Annie is not.

I found Catherine Annie Hughes living in the same town, Ryton-upon-Tyne at 1 Holborn House in a house that has 4 rooms. She is living with her mother's parents Matthew and Ann Carr and three of her uncles - Matthew, Joseph and John Carr. Strangely, she is described as being a servant rather than a grand-daughter. All of the Carr men are coal hewers. The other interesting information from this census is that Ann Carr (nee Padley) has had 11 children and four have died. Other than Catherine Annie's mother Margaret Annie, I knew that Ann had had 8 other children, so that means that there are 2 further children who likely died in infancy that I do not yet know the names of.

The most useful piece of information here is that I have found out that John William Hughes was born in Consett, Durham in 1872/3.

Morris Hughes in 1911

2009-08-06T11:47:00.012-06:00

Morris Hughes was my 3xgreat grandfather born in 1856 in Bilston, Staffordshire. Here he is pictured with his wife Mary Gray who was born in Cawood near York in 1862. They were married in Normanton, Yorkshire in October 1881. They had 10 children - David, Jane, Mary Ellen, Charles, Morris, Harriett, Elizabeth, Laura, another Morris and Evelyn.

I looked up the recently released 1911 census. In it I find Morris and Mary Ellen Gray living at 16 Regent St, Castleford in a house with 4 rooms. Their unmarried daughters Mary Ellen (34), Elizabeth (25), Laura (12), Evelyn (7) and son Morris (10) are living with them. They have been married 31 years, and Morris is still working as a coal hewer underground.

I still cannot find a record of a death certificate for Morris, and haven't searched the church records. It will be interesting to find out how and when he died.

Thomas Curley - 1911 census

2009-07-15T15:10:00.009-06:00

Background
My grandfather Cornelius Curley's parents were Thomas Curley and Mary Driscoll. Thomas Curley's parents were Thomas Curley (b1859) and Jane Hennigan (b1863). I have a longer post detailing what I have found out about Thomas here.

In short this is what I know:

- he was born in 1859 to Michael and Margaret Curley in Birmingham.

- in 1861, aged 2, he is living in Greens' Hill, Birmingham with his parents. He is the eldest child with a younger brother John.

- in 1871, living on Bath Row, Birmingham with his parents and 3 more younger siblings (Mary Ann, Jane, William - John is not listed)

- in 1881, his father has died and Thomas is living with his mother and five younger siblings (Michael and John in addition to 1871) at Myrtle's Row, Birmingham. He is now a spoon and fork polisher.

- he married Jane Hennigan on 24th Feb 1888 at St. Catherine's Church, Birmingham. Thomas' occupation was spoon polisher and he lived on Beak Street.

- in 1891 I cannot find him with 100% certainty (see previous post above). This would be the census where I should find him living with his son Thomas (my great-grandfather).

- in 1901, he is living on Hackers Bldng, Holliday Street and is a jeweller's polisher and has 6 children - Mary Ann, Margaret, Jane, Jonah, Michael, William P.

- on the 26 Dec 1904, he is present at the marriage of his son Thomas Curley to Mary Driscoll and his occupation is described as metal polisher. His son's residence is 3 Holliday Street.
In order to fill in the gaps of Thomas' life I shall need to get the birth and marriage certificates of some of his children, as well as get church records.

What the 1911 Census says

I managed to find Thomas still living on Holliday Street. He is living with Jane and he says that they have been married for 30 years (it was actually 33 years by this time). The children living with him are Jane 19, Jonah 13, Michael 11, William 9, Bernard 8, Peter 6 and Martin 1. Jane Hennigan was 49 years old at this point ! Thomas is described as a spoon and fork polisher, working in a factory.

The census also says that Thomas and Jane had only 7 children all of whom are alive - I know that they had had more by this time, so I'm thinking that they did not completely understand the question and just put down how many children were living at their house, not how many they had had in their marriage.

This census matches very nicely with the 1901 census, meaning that I can now list the children as:

Thomas b1884-5?

Mary Ann b1885

Margaret b1891

Jane b1893

Jonah b1899

Michael b1900

William b1901/2

Bernard b1903

Peter b1906

Martin b1910

From family information, there were also children called John and James - these may be the older children on the 1891 census where I think I've found Thomas with his parents but I'm not sure. This census lists the children as being - John b1879, Thomas b1886, James b1888 and Margaret b1890. The children's names match family information and the birth dates are within an acceptable margin of error, but unfortunately there is no Mary Curley despite her being aged 4 years old or so at this time. Also the father's name is William (not Thomas). I thought that this might be an error made by the enumerator (which is possible) as his age and occupation are both correct and Jane's name and age are correct - but it is possible that there was another Curley family with the same wife's name and many of the same children's names with similar birthdates living in the same area !. I'll have to dig around to be more certain.

The nicest thing about the 1911 census is that it confirms that the family living on Holliday Street are my Curleys, as at Thomas's wedding in 1904 he was living at the same address as the family are living in 1911.

Cornelius Curley - 1911 census

2009-07-13T15:56:00.012-06:00

I have just found out about the early release of the 1911 census. I thought that I would get what information I could from it, as my writing up of my older genealogy information is on the back burner. I'm not sure why clicking on the census images doesn't make them bigger - i'm working on that.

I have found my grandfather Cornelius Curley (b1905) living in Birmingham in the 1911 census

with his younger brother John Thomas (b1907-8?) and sister Doris Mary (b 1909). At least 9 more sons were born to their parents (Thomas Curley and Mary Driscoll) after this date - at least that I'm aware of. I also believe an elder sister, Mary was born in around 1906-7 but did not survive. The background to the family is here and here [or just to click on the CURLEY tab on the sidebar to get all relevant info].

To shed extra light on how many children Thomas and Mary had, this census has three columns that state: 1) number of children born alive, 2) number of children still living, 3) number of children who have died. Thomas entered '3' for all 3 columns and then appeared to cross out the last one for the number who died. Meanwhile, it appears that the enumorator has drawn an arrow from the '6' in the column of "number of years of marriage" into the cell that has "number of children born alive". Unfortunately, this muddies the waters - did Thomas and Mary have 6 children in 6 years of marriage and only 3 survived until 1911? did they have 4 children and only Mary died (as I had previously believed), or did they only have 3 and all survived? I don't know the answer to this yet.

The occupation of Thomas is given as a cycle polisher as per the birth certificate of Doris Curley in November 1909 on this birth certificate. Mary is additionally described here as being employed in domestic work.

Interesting information is given about where they were living - they are at 22 Tennant Street, Birmingham, and their house has apparently 3 rooms in total. This information is signed by Thomas Curley. In November 1909 they had been living at 7 Back 88 Bishopsgate Street, but it was not uncommon for poor people like the Curleys to move around and anyway Tennant Street comes off of Bishopsgate Street (Tennant Street runs parallel with Broad Street in the middle of Birmingham).

Here is a picture of Thomas and Mary Curley with several of their children. Cornelius in standing on the top row, second from the left. 3rd and 4th from the left are John and Doris.

This is interesting extra information - though the major steps in the Curley research would be for me to fill in a lot of gaps - e.g. I can't find Thomas Curley in the 1901 census, and I have not yet gotten any church records for the Curley family.

new posts coming

2008-12-10T10:21:00.003-05:00

Hello all. This website attracts a surprisingly large amount of traffic. Unfortunately, other commitments have meant that I haven't been able to do any updating. I'm still about five years behind in putting online what I've already researched about mine and my wife's family history. At least I have enough material for a while. I'm going to try and put together some newer posts over the next couple of months. In the meantime, I thought I'd simply list here some names that I shall be looking at in those posts - then people who search for these names will find this site and be interested.

My Yorkshire genealogy: I'll be going into more detail about my BENSON, GARBUTT, GOWLAND, SMURFITT, MAWLAM ancestry. That's mainly around YORK, NORTH RIDING OF YORKSHIRE, KIRKBY WHARFE, & KILBURN.

My wife's genealogy: This will take longer but will include - CHAMPAGNE, LANDRY, BLANCH, TORBORG, SCHROEDER/SCHRODER, DRECKMANN/DREKMANN.... amongst many others, covering MINNESOTA (RICHMOND COUNTY), SASKATCHEWAN (HUMBOLDT & MUENSTER), QUEBEC (MONTREAL), SAINT PIERRE ET MIQUELON, NEW BRUNSWICK (WESTMORLAND COUNTY), FRANCE (NORMANDY, BASQUE, AIX), GERMANY (HANNOVER).... and several others I can't think of just yet!

Hoepfully at least some of this I'll get to in 2009

Pictures of the Hughes family

2008-05-18T19:41:00.006-06:00

Here are some pictures that I recently found of who we believe are Morris Hughes and Mary Gray - my grandfather's great-grandparents. Morris was born in February 1856 in Bilston, Staffs and married Mary Gray in October 1881 in Castleford. Mary was born in Cawood, near York in 1862. I had previously believed that Morris and Mary had had 9 children (David, Jane, Mary Ellen, Charles, Morris, Harriett, Elizabeth, Laura, and another Morris). This information was gleaned mainly from census records, with the last one available being the 1901 (where Morris was aged 1). Recently, however, a relative has been in touch to let me know that her grandmother was an even younger daughter of Morris Hughes and Mary Gray - Eveline who was born in 1903. My great-great-grandfather was David, who was the eldest child.

I don't know when or where these pictures were taken, but they appear to be taken at least after 1906 as Morris seems to be at least 50.

Here is a picture of my grandfather's grandfather David Hughes who was born in 1882 in Whitwood. Here he is in his WW1 uniform. He was in the KOYLI (King's Own Light Infantryman) regiment.

Who witnessed the Wrights and why ?

2008-01-03T16:11:00.002-05:00

Background
In the last post, I discussed searching for the baptism of my 4xgreat-grandfather John Wright in 1804. His place of birth as given by the census was 'Dringhouses', which covers 3 different adjoining parishes on the Southwest corner of the City of York. I am quite confident that I have found the correct entry - a John Wright son of Thomas Wright. This is based on it being the only baptism of a John Wright at the right time in the parish that I knew John to live in (Holy Trinity Micklegate). However, as the marriage entry for John Wright to Ann Calvert in 1829 did not give the name of his father, I want to have another record to link John Wright to Thomas Wright to be completely satisfied.

Did Thomas Wright live until 1841?
What I ideally would be able to do is find some record that has John Wright and his wife Ann Calvert, that link directly to Thomas Wright', or at least the other children that Thomas had. I suggested in the last post that perhaps the banns would help here. As I don't have access to that yet I thought about other possible routes. One thing I thought about was whether I could find Thomas Wright in the 1841 census. If he had lived until then, he would be at least 66 (his first child Jane was born in 1793 so his earliest possible birthdate would be 1775). There would therefore be a good chance that he would not be alive, but I thought it would be worth a try. Therefore I searched for "THOMAS WRIGHT" "Born 1765 +/- 10 years". I gave a wide margin for the date of birth due to the unreliability of ages in the 1841 census, and the possibility that Thomas didn't marry and have his first child until his late twenties. Using this criteria there were 15 Thomas Wrights born between these dates living in Yorkshire in 1841, and one living in Holy Trinity Micklegate! As there were no other Thomas Wrights living in any other York parish, I think there is a good chance that this is the Thomas Wright assuming he lived until 1841! A good test of this would be to search the burial records in the parish to see if Thomas did die between 1810 (the last time I have a definitive record for Thomas, at the baptism of his son James) and 1841.

The Thomas Wright I found was aged 77, which is a little older than I anticipated, but also suspicious as people were not meant to write the exact age only put their age down to the nearest '0' or '5'. Thomas is living with a Sarah Wright aged 75. Now, I already know that the Thomas Wright I am researching was married at least twice (to Ann Shaw on 12/2/1793 in Acomb and to Jane Morris between 1796-1799 at some place unknown). I think he may have also remarried to another Ann between 1810-1813, based on finding a baptism of a Henry Wright in Holy Trinity Micklegate to a Thomas and Ann Wright in 1813. However, there is no way to be sure if this is the same or another Thomas Wright. Thus, if the Thomas Wright in the 1841 census is indeed the right one, then it appears he has remarried again. Working from this hypothesis, I searched for a marriage between a Thomas Wright and Sarah in York between 1813 and 1841. I found in the IGI a record for a marriage in the neighboring parish:

"25/10/1829, Thomas Wright & Sarah Smith, St. Mary Bishophill Junior, York"

Can I get a witness?

Although this research is somewhat speculative at the moment, I think that it is very plausible that this is the Thomas Wright I'm interested in for three reasons. Firstly, Thomas Wright is living correct parish and is a 'farmer' - exactly the occupation that is described in the Dade registers of his children between 1793-1812. Secondly, John Wright and his wife Ann Calvert are living just down the street and are listed on the very next census page. Thirdly, when I re-examined the census image I noticed that living next door to Thomas Wright was a 'Robert Bellerby - aged 30'. I also then saw that living next door to John Wright was another 'Robert Bellerby - aged 63'. This was strange, but the name also rang a bell with me - I then remembered that I had seen the same name on the marriage record of John Wright and Ann Calvert in 1829 at St.Mary Bishophill Junior, as Robert Bellerby was a witness to their marriage. Both Robert Bellerbys are gardeners like John Wright.

While I don't have proof yet that this Thomas Wright is the father of John Wright, there certainly seems to be strong connections. The next steps for me would be to get details of marriages, births and importantly deaths to map the life of Thomas, his wives and family. Unfortunately, this Thomas didn't live until 1851 so I cannot look to see if he was born in Patrington, where I believe he was born according to the Dade Baptismal Registers of his children. Another thing I could try would be to follow the lives of the other children of Thomas Wright to see if I can connect my John Wright to Thomas Wright. Also, doing some research into the Bellerby family of this area may also be helpful - perhaps the link was more than friends, perhaps they were related in some way.

Eighteenth Century Wrights

2008-01-02T14:59:00.002-05:00

Background
My 4xgreat-grandfather John Wright was born in Dringhouses, York, in approximately 1804. I found this information from the 1841-1871 censuses where he was described as a gardener still living in Dringhouses. In 1829, he married Ann Calvert, and they had 7 children together between 1831 and 1844 including my 3xgreat-grandfather James Wright in 1836. In this post I shall try and find out more about the early life and parents of John Wright.

Weighing up the baptismal evidence of John Wright
The first step in finding out more about the early life of John Wright was to find a baptism. As I've mentioned previously, this part of York at this time had 3 parishes that were very close in distance. Thus, if someone moved only a small distance then they may move from one parish to another. Therefore, one needs to search the registers of St. Mary's Bishophill Junior, St. Mary's Bishophill Senior and Holy Trinity Micklegate when looking for a baptism in the 'Dringhouses' area. When I first researched this family, I only found the one record for a John Wright - he was baptised on Sunday June 10th 1804 at Holy Trinity Micklegate, the son of Thomas Wright a farmer at Dringhouses. This is also corroborated by two other family history researchers who had been studying the Wright family and had come to the same conclusion that my John Wright was the son of this Thomas Wright (and whose research I trust!). Another positive was that Holy Trinity Micklegate was also the parish that on John Wright's marriage record in 1829 he was registered as being from - hence why I searched these registers first. Unfortunately though, the marriage record for John Wright and Ann Calvert did not record their father's names so I cannot cross-check that I have the correct baptism. I therefore do not have a direct record other than the baptism with 'John Wright son of Thomas Wright' upon to prove the link. However, as John Wright and Ann Calvert were married by banns (this is where the announcement of intent to marriage was read out for 3 consecutive Sundays in the parish church of each individual), I may be able to get these registers to check. I also need to think if there is anything else in the local records that may help me here, as well as consulting with others who have worked on this line to see what records they have looked at.

Another way to be completely sure would be to establish if any other John Wrights were born in neighbouring parishes. I found two, maybe three, born in St. Mary Bishophill Junior according to the IGI between 1802-1803. It appears as if two John Wrights may actually be one as the same date (26th September) is given for the baptism of a John Wright son of George Wright, but one is 1802 (from the parish records) and the other 1803 (from an LDS member, so perhaps not as reliable). The chances of these being two John Wrights seem slim and therefore they are probably one and the same. The other John Wright was the illegitimate son of a Hannah Wright (bp 27 Aug 1803). I cannot completely eliminate the possibility that one of these is my John Wright. I could try and start doing this by 'killing them off', i.e. checking the burial registers to see if either of them died in infancy. Alternatively, I could 'marry them off' to another wife rather than Ann Calvert, which would demonstrate that they couldn't possibly be the correct John.

Nevertheless, the fact that my John Wright stated on his marriage record he was from Holy Trinity Micklegate parish and that there was only one John Wright born there at the correct time leads me to believe that this is the correct John Wright for me. It has to be remembered that when moving into Eighteenth Century research, it becomes harder to have more than one piece of evidence that clarify relationships, though this is always the ideal. Currently, I'm happy to think that my John Wright was the son of Thomas Wright, as are the other researchers who have looked into this. I would hope to find extra records to prove this, or to look for records that eliminate those John Wrights baptised at roughly the same time in neighboring parishes.

John Wright in the Dade Registers
The complete transcript from the Holy Trinity Micklegate baptism register reads:

"Born Sunday June 10 1804, John Wright, son of Thomas Wright, farmer at Dringhouses, son of Thomas Wright, farmer at Patterington. Jane daughter of Robert Morris carpenter at Harton neigh Burlington"

In the same register, there were entries for five other children between 1799-1810 for the same parents. There were also three entries for children between 1793-1796 to the same father, but a different mother:

"son/daughter of Thomas Wright, farmer at Dringhouses, son of Thomas Wright, farmer at Patterington. Ann daughter of William Shaw, farmer at Cottingworth."

The last entry of these children in 1795 had Ann's father William Shaw being a farmer at "Pattrington".

These detailed baptismal entries are thanks to Rev. William Dade who proposed the use of the so-called 'Dade Registers', a system of detailed baptism records with much family history information as seen above. The system was discontinued in 1812 when the printed baptism form was introduced thanks to George Rose's Act, but between 1770 and 1812 many Yorkshire parishes used this system. See here for a list. A good tip for Yorkshire research is that if you find an IGI entry for an ancestor in one of these parishes, be sure to check the original entry as you may find much, much more.

Putting the Wright information together
It therefore appears that a Thomas Wright was born in Patrington (a place in Holderness, on the peninsula of the East Coast of Yorkshire, about 50 miles from York) and that he was a farmer and that he had a son Thomas Wright. The younger Thomas Wright at some time before 1793 married Ann Shaw the daughter of a farmer William Shaw who was from 'Cottingworth'. It is a bit difficult to be sure where this place is as there isn't a place exactly of this name today. The most likely candidates are the parishes of East Cottingwith or West Cottingwith which are half-way between York and Hull (Patrington is East of Hull, the other side from York). If this is the right place, one has to wonder why William Shaw then left there to move to Patrington in 1796? It is always possible that he did not and that the entry in the printed copy of the Dade Registers is a misprint or transcription error when it states William Shaw as being from Patrington. The other potential place could be 'Cottingham' which is a parish within Hull itself.

Nevertheless, Thomas Wright the younger and Ann Shaw went on to have 3 children together, after which between 1797-1799 it seems Ann died. Thomas remarried Jane Morris, whose father was Robert Morris, a carpenter from 'Harton neigh Burlington' - or 'Harton near Burlington' in modern parlance. Burlington is an older name for today's Bridlington, which is on the East Coast of Yorkshire about 40 miles from York. Again, it is difficult to be precise where this Harton may be. There is a village of Harton that is only about 4 miles Northeast of York, but this is not near 'Burlington' and yet there is no 'Harton' near to Burlington/Bridlington that I can find. There is a Marton however which is a parish within Bridlington, so perhaps this is another case of transcription error as 'H' and 'M' can often be confused. I shall have to consult the original entries rather than relying on the transcripts that were published by the Yorkshire Parish Register Society. Thomas Wright and Jane Morris went on to have 6 children together between 1799 and 1810.

In the Holy Trinity Micklegate registers I also found another baptism, unfortunately after 1812 when the Dade Registers were discontinued:

'28th April 1813, Henry, son of Thomas & Ann Wright, Dringhouses, labourer in husbandry'.

Now, there were no other Thomas Wrights from Dringhouses having children baptised during this time-period. My working hypothesis is that perhaps Jane Wright (nee Morris) died around 1810 and Thomas again remarried to another Ann and had another child - Henry in 1813.

Thomas Wright and his wives
So far I have only been using baptism records as evidence. Ideally, I need to be using death records and marriage records to reconstruct families and relationships. Therefore, I searched for the marriages of Thomas Wright using the IGI -

1. Ann Shaw - 12 Feb 1793, Acomb.
2. Jane Morris - cannot find yet!
3. Ann ? - cannot find yet, and perhaps never happened!

What leaps out immediately is that Thomas Wright (who we know was the son of Thomas Wright of Patrington in Holderness) married Ann Shaw (who was probably from Cottingworth in East Yorkshire) in 1793 in Acomb. This is the same parish that my Wright family have lived in until the present day after James Wright (Thomas Wright's grandson) moved there in 1868. Between 1793 and 1868, Thomas Wright and his son John Wright had lived in the neighboring parish of Dringhouses. It seems very coincidental that they married in Acomb without any prior connection to it. I still don't know why they married there despite not living or being from that parish. Perhaps if they were married by banns and these registers survive I may get more information, such as which parish they came originated. One reason for marrying in a different parish was if the wedding had to be 'hurried', but this does not seem to be the case here as their first child was not born for 9 months. I remained perplexed as to why they chose Acomb.

What is to be done?
From this long entry, one realises that when doing research pre-1837, things get trickier, but there is still a lot of information out there. My problem is that I am currently quite reliant on already published information that I can access, when I really need to get to the original documents - especially banns, baptisms, marriages and deaths. The only way you can completely understand a family is to know exactly when each individual was born, married and died. This is particularly true when studying a large family with a common surname such as Wright. In family history and genealogy, you can get too caught up with rushing to find out your direct line rather than looking at all related individuals. My next steps with the Wright research will be to review various side branches and cousins to myself to see if they give any extra clues as to what happened to my own ancestors.

Calvert Family of York

2008-01-01T14:43:00.001-05:00

Background
My 4xgreat-grandmother Ann Calvert was married to John Wright in 1829 and lived in Dringhouses, a parish on the South-West border of York. From the 1841-1871 censuses, I knew that she was also born there around about 1803. In 1826 she had an illegitimate child, George Calvert, and had 7 children with her husband John between 1831 and 1844. I also knew that prior to her marriage she had lived in the parish of Bishophill Senior (next to Dringhouses, closer to York) as this was stated on the marriage entry and the IGI entry for her bastard son George.

The Calvert Family
The key in tracing Ann Calvert was to find her baptism. I searched the corresponding parish records (Bishophill Jnr, Bishophill Snr and Holy Trinity Micklegate - HTMK) and found a baptism for Ann Calvert:

"Ann Calvert, born Wednesday 22nd June 1803, baptised Sunday June 26th 1803, daughter of Mathew Calvert, labourer at Dringhouses, son of William Calvert labourer at Acomb, and Elizabeth his wife, descent unknown."

This seems to be the correct entry as there is no other Ann Calvert baptised at the right time in these parishes. There was however, an Ann Calvert baptised in April 1803 in the parish of Holy Trinity King's Court, York, who was the daughter of a James Calvert and Ann Bland. I found this entry when doing a sweep for all Ann Calverts born 1798-1808 in Yorkshire on the IGI index. This is unlikely to be the right Ann Calvert as the parish is not a neighboring one although it is in York. However, I would really like to have one more connecting piece of evidence to be completely sure that the HTMK baptism is the correct Ann to follow. As she married pre-1837 I won't be able to get this from her marriage certificate, and her marriage church entry did not mention her father's name. I shall have to come up with some other secondary confirmation, ideally with her married name Ann Wright connected to either Mathew or Elizabeth Calvert. Perhaps Ann was the informant of death of her parents?

Nevertheless, following the Ann Calvert from the HTMK baptism registers, I found four elder siblings of Ann also baptised. They were, William (1791), Ann (1795), John (1796) and George (1800). Of these, Ann the elder does not appear in the IGI. I'm hoping that my note-taking from 10 years ago hasn't failed me and that she really was in the registers! All of them described their father as Mathew Calvert (a labourer) son of William Calvert (a labourer), except for the eldest child Willliam when both are recorded as 'farmers'. For all children, Mathew's wife Elizabeth is described as 'descent unknown'.

I haven't managed to find too much extra information from parish records, though I have sporadically looked through them. I did do an IGI search for the baptism of a Matthew Calvert son of William which produced one possible match - 25 Feb 1757 in Saint Mary Bishophill Junior. This Calvert line will need much more systematic research of parish registers and other records in the future to get further.

Wright tracks

2007-12-31T13:01:00.003-05:00

Background
My grandmother was Doreen Wright, who was born and raised in Acomb in the Ainsty of York. I had traced her Wright ancestry back three further generations - her father Harold Wright (1900-1972, a painter & decorator), her grandfather Henry Wright (1868-1956, railway wagon builder & market gardener) and great-grandfather James Wright (1836-1908, market gardener, brick manufacturer, pub landlord & private care home for mentally handicapped children proprietor!) - all of whom also lived in Acomb. James Wright was not born in Acomb though, coming to the village in about 1868 just prior to Henry's birth. James had actually been born in the neighboring parish of Bishophill Senior. This parish is one of the four along the Western route into York from Acomb. The other three are Holy Trinity Micklegate, Dringhouses and Bishophill Junior. This map is a useful guide to the unusual jigsaw nature of these parishes. In this previous post, I showed how in the 1841-1861 censuses, James Wright is living with his parents John (a gardener) and Ann Wright along with some siblings. I'm not sure of the exact address in each of these as it doesn't appear to be given. To find out about the Wright family of Dringhouses, I had to search through the church registers of each parish as well as using the IGI.

John and Ann Wright
From the censuses I had found the names of 8 children of John and Ann. Looking through the St. Mary Bishophill Senior baptismal register, I found the records for five of the children. The ones I could not find were George (b.1827), Mary (b.1839) and Henry (b.1844). The five entries I did find were quite good giving both the date of baptism as well as the actual date of birth. All of them, which occurred between 1830-1841, listed John Wright as a gardener. From the marriage records of the same parish, I found the following marriage entry:

"John Wright, husbandman, of the parish of the parish of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, bachelor, and Ann Calvert, of this parish, spinster. Married in Church, by banns, 12 Oct 1829, witnesses, Robert Bellerby & Richard Douglas."

Additionally, this marriage notice appears in the York Reference Library Newspaper Index, though I have not viewed it. This gives a lot of background information about John and Ann (especially her maiden name which is another common local surname). The other notable fact is that this marriage took place well after the eldest child George (according to the census) was born. Using the IGI, I found a George Calvert the bastard child of Ann Calvert baptised in St. Mary's Bishophill Senior on 30th July 1826. I still haven't found the baptism entries for Mary or Henry.

Tying up the loose ends
In the next posts, I shall discuss the childhoods and parents of John Wright and Ann Calvert. However, it is worth taking some time to figure out what we still need to know about their adult lives. We have found out that they married in 1829 and had 7 children together until 1844 plus Ann's illegitimate son George changed his surname to Wright and was named as John's son in the census. During this period John was working as a husbandman & gardener, suggesting that he leased the land he worked upon. The 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses confirm that John was a gardener, on 15 acres in 1851. To see if John and Ann were still alive in 1871, I checked that census - I found that they were both living in Dringhouses with John (aged 66) working as a brickmaker and gardener (see image above). These occupations were common to the Wright family, and the Dringhouses & Acomb areas was well known for its brickmaking ponds - [good link to article on 19thC brickmaking in York]. Also living with them is John Wright a grandson (b. 1858) and a servant John Spencer. This grandson appears to be the same one that was living with John and Ann in 1861 ten years earlier. I cannot find either John or Ann Wright in subsequent censuses, suggesting that they died before 1881. A search of the free index of births, marriages and deaths finds that a John Wright b.1804 had a death registered in York in 1880 and an Ann Wright b.1804 had a death registered in York in 1879. Both of these are likely candidates. I'm still not sure whose child the grandson, John Wright, is - he could be an illegitimate child of one of the daughters, a child of an unknown son, or the child of George Wright (Calvert). I don't think it's a son of John & Ann's son James as I think I know all of his children, and it is unlikely to be the son of their other son Henry as he is too young. A look at my notes for the parish records and a search of the IGI doesn't find a good match, so I am left wondering for a bit longer.

Curley family memories

2007-12-20T14:43:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to a website that has a large amount of information pertaining to Ladywood, the part of Birmingham that my Curley family lived during the last century. There is lots of history and photos of various streets, including Ryland Street which was lived on by my great-grandfather Thomas Curley and his family.

Under the "Memories of our Street" tab there are also some entries by my aunts describing some of their memories of their lives growing up in Ladywood.

Naming your daughter after a pub...

2007-10-10T13:58:00.001-06:00

Background
I have described earlier a little about the life of John George Wright, who was my great-great-grandfather's eldest brother. John George was born in April 1862 in Dringhouses, only a few weeks after his 18 year old mother (Mary Benson) and his 25 year old father James Wright were married. He was baptised in the neighbouring parish of Acomb on 6th April 1862. John George became a brick and tile manufacturer and lived at first in Acomb (until about 1895) and then he and his wife Annie Elizabeth moved to Bridlington. John George appears to have been close to his mother's family, as in the 1881 census when he was aged 19 he was living with his mother's parents in Acomb.

In my previous post, I noted that John George and Annie Elizabeth had one child living with them in the 1891 census, a Mary Ellen Wright who was only 6 months of age. She certainly survived until she was at least 10 years old as she is also living with her parents in the 1901 census in Bridlington.

On looking through my notes taken 10 years ago, I now realise that John George and Annie Elizabeth actually had 3 other elder children who all died in infancy prior to 1891. It appears as if the couple had been living in Dringhouses, near to Acomb between 1885 and 1889. This is quite plausible as Dringhouses had numerous 'brick ponds' that were important for brickmaking.

From Edward-the-Confessor Church, Dringhouses, baptismal register:

Jan 1 1885, Benson Herbert, son of John George & Annie Elizabeth Wright, North Lane Dringhouses, builder.

March 1886, Marcia, daughter of John George & Annie Elizabeth Wright, North Field Terrace, builder.

July 24 1888, Marcia Lucy Harriet, daughter of John George & Annie Elizabeth Wright, North Field Terrace, builder.

And from the York Reference Library newspaper index:

Yorkshire Gazette 18/12/1888
On 15/12/1888, at 1 Northfield Terrace, Dringhs York, death of John George Wright's daughter Marcia Lucy Harriett, aged 1 yr 12 days.

Yorkshire Gazeette 22/12/1888
Death of John George Wright's son Benson Herbert aged 4.

It appears therefore that John George Wright and Annie Elizabeth married probably in 1884. Searching a marriage of all John George Wright's on the ancestry (incomplete) index, I wasn't able to find a match for John George and Annie Elizabeth, so I'm still unsure about the exact details of this marriage. However, they had their first child - Benson Herbert - in January 1885. Benson seems to have been named after John George's mother's family name, and unfortunately he died aged 4 in 1888 in the same week that his sister Marcia Lucy Harriett died. Their sister, also named Marcia, was born and presumably died before Marcia Lucy was born. Both of these girls share a name with the public house (pictured & now called 'The Poacher') that their John George's parents were operating.

James Wright of Acomb

2007-10-07T14:24:00.001-06:00

Background
James Wright and his wife, Mary (nee Benson), were my 3xgreat-grandparents and lived the majority of their lives in Acomb, near York. The church of Acomb, St. Stephen's is pictured to the left. They had 10 children, including their second eldest son Henry - my great-great grandfather - the pedigree is viewable here. In this post I am going to detail how I found out more information about the life of James Wright from the York City Archives, York Reference Library, Borthwick Institute and Acomb churchyard.

James Wright's life in Acomb
Having found my 2xgreat grandfather Henry Wright and his various siblings in the 1871 -1891 censuses, I had been able to identify a tombstone in the St. Stephen's churchyard as that of his father James Wright. Coincidentally, this tombstone is next to another Wright tombstone - that of Eustace Wright and family, though I do not think that they were at all related as Eustace came from the Midlands. These MIs are also kept at York Reference Library thanks to an indexing project by a Miss J. Baxter in 1974. The tombstone (pictured) read in part:

"also JAMES WRIGHT / father of the above / who died 9th December 1908 / aged 72 years / 'thy will be done' "

From the Acomb parish and census records and trade directories, I was able to find out that James Wright was living in Acomb village from about 1868 (when he was aged about 30) onwards and that he appeared to have varied occupations:

22/10/1868 - farmer at baptism of son Henry

5/3/1871 - farmer at baptism of dau Mary Ellen

10/4/1871 - farmer of 20 acres employing 2 servants (Isabella Barker and William Dykes), living at Poplar Villa in the census.

1872 - market gardener in Acomb (directory)

10/11/1872 - farmer at baptism of son James

25/10/1874 - farmer at baptism of son William

1876 - market gardener in Acomb (directory)

15/6/1877 - farmer at baptism of dau Amy

27/7/1879 - gardener at baptism of dau Flory

3/4/1881 - brick manufacturer and farmer of 80 acres, employing four servants, living at Poplar Grove in the census. James Wright also has boarding a boy who is described as an imbecile. We know from family history that he took in mentally handicapped children to look after as a business.

1881-1882 - brick & tile manufacturer in Acomb(Stevens directory)

10/9/1882 - market gardener at baptism of dau Lucretia

1890 - market gardener at Poplar Grove (Bulmer's directory). Though his wife Mary is listed as the victualler of the Marcia Inn.

5/4/1891 - licensed victualler at the Marcia Inn, Acomb

9/3/1895 - market gardener at wedding of son Henry 1895 - market gardener in Acomb (White directory)

31/3/1901 - market gardener living at Poplar Grove. James Wright is now blind.

9/12/1908 - dies in Acomb.

It seems therefore that James Wright was primarily a farmer or market gardener and brickmaker who lived the majority of his life at Poplar Grove. Throughout the last half of the nineteenth century the land he was farming increased in size and he was at one time farming 80 acres. He also though was at times running the Marcia Inn and had a side-business in looking after ill children. I also have a document given to me by the current owners of the house at Poplar Grove that describes that James Wright was declared bankrupt between 1883 and 1899, so some of his endeavors may not have been so successful.

James Wright between 1862 and 1868
James Wright arrived in Acomb in around 1868. This can be seen from the baptism of his son Henry Wright which occurred in Acomb. Before that, he and his wife seem to have lived in the parish of York known as All Saints Pavement (church pictured) from 1864 to about 1868 where two of his daughters were baptised. This parish covers the very centre of York around the streets of Coppergate, Pavement, Piccadilly, High Ousegate and Parliament Street. The period between 1862 and 1864 is also confusing. James' first child, John George Wright was born in 1862. On all his census records his birthplace is Dringhouses, a parish on the outskirts of York near to Acomb. I could not find his baptism in the Acomb registers (though I may not have gone back far enough in my original search). The IGI claims that John George was baptised on 6th April 1862 in Acomb, so it is possible that he was baptised here but born in Dringhouses. I therefore know that James and Mary had three children between 1862 and 1868, but am not entirely sure about their whereabouts or occupations during this period.

The marriage of James Wright and Mary Benson
For a long time I could not find the marriage of James and Mary. I knew from the census that James was born in Dringhouses and Mary was born in York but had lived in the neighbouring parish of Acomb, so I searched these registers but to no avail. Also the parish registers of All Saints Pavement (where their second and third children were baptised) and the parish register of Holy Trinity Micklegate (which is in between A.S.P. and Dringhouses) also failed to show the marriage record. Finally, I got lucky when I searched the newspaper index at York Reference Library and found an entry for 30th March 1861 in the Yorkshire Gazette.

"WRIGHT - BENSON - On the 24th inst., at St. Olave's Church, Marygate, in this city, by the Rev. A. Bartliff, Mr. James Wright, son of Mr. Wright, gardener, Dringhouses, to Mary, eldest daughter of Mr. George Benson, farmer, of Acomb, near this city."
St. Olave's Marygate is pictured here. It is adjoined to the city walls, next to the Museum Gardens. The fact that their son John George was born only one month after the wedding may be a factor in why I found it so hard to find the parish in which the wedding occurred. It seems that they may have married hurriedly in a parish that they did not normally frequent.

I have no details about the occupation of James at this time as I have not got either the parish record entry or marriage certificate yet. Two weeks later the 1861 census was taken, and James and Mary Wright are living with James' parents, John and Ann Wright and their children in a private house in Holy Trinity Micklegate, York. James Wright is described as a gardener, like his father and brother Henry.

The early life of James Wright
In 1851, James Wright is aged 14 and living in Dringhouses with his parents John and Ann. John is a gardener of 16 acres and James is also working as a gardener.

In 1841 the family are living in the Bishophill Junior part of the Dring- houses parish where John Wright is a gardener. Though I have not found the baptismal entry of James Wright, from the IGI I have found that James was baptised on the 3rd June 1836 at St. Mary Bishophill Senior.

What happened to Henry Wright's siblings?

2007-08-10T10:01:00.001-06:00

Introduction
In the previous post I discussed how I found out more about the early life of my great-great-grandfather Henry Wright, including learning about his brothers and sisters. I have found that James and Mary Wright, who spent the majority of their lives in Acomb, had at least 10 children. In this post I shall discuss what I know about each of these.

1. John George Wright, baptised 6th April 1862. John George was the eldest child and was born in Dringhouses, that at different times existed in either the parish of St. Mary Bishophill or Holy Trinity Micklegate on the western border of York. This is the place that his father James Wright had also been born in. In 1871 I found him living with his parents at Poplar Villa in Acomb, but in subsequent censuses he wasn't living with them.
In the 1881 census he is staying with his grandparents, George and Eliza Benson (his mother Mary's parents), in Acomb. He is unmarried and working as a bricklayer's apprentice. (nb. see here for information on three children born 1885-1888).

I next find him in the 1891 census, living at 17 Beaconsfield Terrace, Acomb, working as a brickmaker. He has married an Annie Elizabeth who was born in Tadcaster, and had a daughter Mary Ellen. From the parish registers, I found that Mary Ellen was baptised on 9th Nov 1890 in Acomb, and her father was described as a brick manufacturer. He seems to have been doing fairly well as he had a live-in domestic servant, Eliza Hardcastle who was from Acomb. John George appears twice more in the records of Acomb in the trade directories of 1893 and 1895 where he is described as a brickmaker at the same address as the 1891 census. In March 1895, John George was a witness at the wedding of my great-great-grandfather Henry Wright in Acomb. I have not yet found any record of John George's marriage to Annie Elizabeth, so I am unsure as to her maiden name.

Between 1895 and 1901, however, he has moved address to Bridlington on the East Yorkshire coast about 55 miles away. In the 1901 census, they are living on what appears to be a wealthy street with music teachers, wine merchants and government officials, with all the houses having names. Their abode is Lansdown [sic] Villas No2, Archibald House, Freshfield, The Muck? (I can't quite read this word). John George is a bricklayer and they have no more children living with them. This is the last information I have on this family, though I'd love to know what eventually happened to them.

2. Eliza Anne Wright, was baptised on 31st July 1864 at All Saints Pavement, York. She is living wither her parents in Acomb in 1871 and 1881, but I have no information thereafter. She probably married around 1881-1891, but I haven't found her marriage record.

3. Jane Wright, was baptised on 27th May 1866 also at All Saints Pavement. She is living with her parents in Acomb in 1871, but not in 1881 despite only being 15. I cannot find her elsewhere in the census, so I wonder if she died, though I have not find her in any parish records or monumental inscriptions.

4. Henry Wright - my great-great-grandfather.

5. Mary Ellen Wright. Mary Ellen is the sibling of Henry that I know the most information, as my relatives grew up knowing their cousins in this branch and I have also been subsequently in touch with descendants of Mary Ellen. She was baptised on 5th March 1871 in Acomb, and appears aged 2 months living at Poplar Grove in the 1871 census. In 1881 she is living with them still at Poplar Grove and is at school.

By 1891, her parents had taken over running the Marcia Inn. This meant that at the census of 1891 Mary Ellen was listed as being the head of household back at Poplar Grove, the property the Wright family owned on Askham Lane, and is working as a market gardener. So she is probably running the farm as well as the house. She is living there with her two younger sisters, Flory Wright and Lucretia Wright (who is named Louise on the return), two farm labourers and a house servant. Also living in the house is a domestic nurse, Elizabeth Nelson, who is from York. She is obviously there to help the Wrights look after two patients - Glendaline Davies from Lancashire and Alexander Thomas from Bristol who is described as deaf and dumb. Both of these two are boarders who are 'living on own means', which probably means that they were the offspring of wealthy individuals who needed looking after as they had illnesses. I do not know why the Wright family got into the business of looking after sick children, it may have been for financial or charity based reasons, it would be very interesting to find out.

Very shortly after this census was taken, Mary Ellen Wright married Edward Atkinson on the 12th Nov 1891 at Newton Kyme, near Tadcaster. The father of Edward Atkinson is given as Robert Burrow Atkinson according to the IGI. According to the 1891 census Robert Atkinson was a retired ham and bacon factor (a dealer) who was originally from Whittington, Lanchashire. He and his family were living at 23 Blossom Street, York. Edward Atkinson was also a ham and bacon factor like his elderly father, but was born in York. I am unsure why they married out in Newton Kyme, and not in either Acomb or York.

The last documentary evidence I have for Mary Ellen is the 1901 census, where she is living with her husband Edward, a provision dealer, at 23 Blossom Street. They are living with their children Betsy Alice (named after Edward's mother), Olive, Lawrence Guy and George B, all of whom were born in York. Indeed, the Atkinson family ran this provisions shop for a long time throughout the twentieth century.

6. James Wright, the namesake of his father, was baptised on the 10th November 1872 at Acomb. In 1891 he is a market gardener living with his parents at the Marcia Inn. In the 1901 census he is still living with his parents at Poplar Grove, but is now listed as a bricklayer and is unmarried. I don't know what happened to James Wright after 1901.

7. William Wright was baptised on 25th October 1874 at Acomb. He is listed as a market gardener in 1891 and is living at the Marcia Inn. In 1901 he is also still living with his parents but is working as a railway clerk. I don't know when William married or what happened to him after 1901.

8. Amy Wright was baptised on 15th June 1877 at Acomb and is living with her parents in the 1881 census. However, she died at a young age, as I found her monumental inscription in the churchyard of St. Stephen's:

"In loving memory of AMY, the dear and much beloved child of James and Mary Wright, born June 7th 1877 died December 6th 1883. Is it well with the child... It is well: Kings.IV.26"

9. Florie Wright was baptised on the 27th July 1879 at Acomb. She was living at Poplar Grove in 1881-1901, and was still unmarried by 1901. I don't know what happened to Florie after 1901.

10. Lucretia Wright was baptised in Acomb on 10th September 1882. She also was living at Poplar Grove in 1891 and 1901. I found from the churchyard in Acomb at the same grave as her sister Amy and her parents the following monumental inscription:

"Also LUCRETIA HUNT daughter of the above passed away 18th May 1940 aged 56 years."

I'm not sure why she would be burried in Acomb and not with her husband, but perhaps she had moved back to Acomb during the war. From the BMD indexes, I found that she married in 1910 to a John A Hunt which was registered in Gt. Ouseburn, which covers the Acomb area.

After discussing all of the children of James and Mary Wright, in the next post I shall discuss their lives.

Henry Wright of Acomb

2007-08-09T14:02:00.001-06:00

Introduction
In the previous post I discussed how the obituary in 1956 of my great-great grandfather Henry Wright had described how he was living on Front Street, Acomb, and had worked as a wagon builder at the local rail-works. I also knew from the baptisms of his four children, his own marriage certificate in Acomb in 1895 and the 1901 census that he had always worked as a joiner or wagon builder. The 1901 census stated that he was living on Front Street, Acomb, and in his obituary it mentioned that his family had farmed a large tract of land off Askham Lane, Acomb. His marriage entry had given his father's name as James Wright, a market gardener. A John George Wright was one of the witnesses and was probably a brother. It should be therefore fairly easy to find more local information on Henry Wright.

The early years of Henry Wright

The first search for Henry Wright was the 1891 census. Here, he was found at the Marcia Inn, on Front Street, Acomb, where his parents James and Mary Wright are the licensed victuallers. James Wright was born in Dringhouses, York, whereas Mary was born in York itself. Henry like his two younger brothers James and William was born in Acomb and is working as a market gardener. James Wright was described as a market gardener.

In the 1881 census, Henry's father is described as a brick manufacturer and a farmer of 80 acres, and is living at Poplar Grove, which is off Askham Lane. This census also reveals other siblings; Eliza Ann, Jane, and Mary Ellen, who are older than Henry, and Flory and Lucretia who were the youngest of the family. The oldest two children were born in York, with Mary Ellen being the first born in Acomb in 1871, suggesting that James and Mary Wright first came to Acomb as a married couple in that year. They appear to be a wealthy couple at this time as James is a farmer of 80 acres, and they are employing four servants, two in the house and two in the farm. There is also living at the house a Thomas Johnston a child of 10 years who was born in Scarborough and is described as being an imbecile from birth. I have subsequently found out that the Wrights used to take in mentally handicapped children from wealthy families who did not want to raise them themselves.

In the 1871 census, Henry is still living at Poplar Villa as it is described with his parents. James Wright is a farmer of 20 acres at this time and employs 2 servants, one in the house and one on the farm. On this census, there is the oldest child born to James and Mary Wright, John G. Wright who was born in Dringhouses like his father. This is John George Wright, the witness to Henry's wedding 24 years later.

Parish Records
To confirm some of these relationships, a search of the parish records of St. Stephen's, Acomb, found the baptism of Henry Wright, on 22nd October 1868 to James and Mary Wright of Acomb. James Wright is described as a farmer, as he is for the baptisms of his next four children born in Acomb, Mary Ellen, James, William and Amy, who was baptised in 1877. The last two children to be baptised were Flory and Lucretia in 1879 and 1882 where James Wright was described as a gardener or a market gardener. I also found the baptism in 1862 of John George Wright in Dringhouses, where James Wright is again described a gardener. On the IGI I found the baptismal entries of Eliza Anne Wright and Jane between 1864 and 1866 at All Saints Pavement, York, a parish in the centre of York. In the next post I shall discuss what I have found out about the later lives of Henry's brothers and sisters.

Henry Wright's Obituary

2007-08-01T20:50:00.001-06:00

My great-grandfather Harold Wright was the second of four children born to Henry Wright and Ada Smith. From parish records and the 1901 census I had found out that Henry Wright had worked at the turn of the century as a wagon builder at the railway works in Acomb near York. I did not know very much more about Henry Wright until I found the following obituary in the York Reference Library Newspaper Card Index.

Yorkshire Evening Press 2nd Jan 1957
"Death of Mr. H. J. Wright. Family's Long Link With Acomb District.

The funeral takes place tomorrow at St. Stephen's Church, Acomb, of Mr. Henry James Wright, aged 88, of 121 Front Street, one of the district's oldest residents, who died at the weekend. Last surviving member of a well known Acomb family of market gardeners, who at one-time worked 11 acres of land in the Askham Lane area. Mr Wright was born and lived all his life in the suburb.

Until his retirement at the age of 65, Mr Wright was a wagon builder on the railway. He was also a pioneer member of Acomb Working Men's Club. During his younger days his great hobby was river fishing.

His knowledge of Acomb towards the end of the last century was extensive and he enjoyed local fame as an authority on the striking changes which have taken place in the district.

Mr. Wright's wife died two years ago - just one month before they were due to celebrate their golden wedding - and he leaves two sons and two daughters."

This is an interesting obituary, giving a nice impression of Henry's interests. It is particularly interesting to see that he had a great knowledge of local history. We also now know the date of death of Ada, which would be 1954, and that Henry had a middle name which was James. Furthermore, the statement that the family once owned and gardened 11 acres off Askham Lane is consistent with family stories. The only thing that is a bit strange is that they newspaper is proclaiming his death as the end of the Wright family's association with Acomb. Well, 51 years after this newspaper article was written, my family are still living there! In the next post I shall discuss more about Henry Wright's earlier life.

Early life of Harold Wright

2007-07-31T17:19:00.001-06:00

Introduction
In the previous post I showed the newspaper report of the coroner's inquest of my great-grandfather Harold Wright's death in 1972. I have yet to obtain his marriage certificate to my great-grandmother Catherine Annie, so I don't know that date. Fortunately, my close relatives have been able to supply me with the names of their children, though I only really knew my grandmother and her sister Joan, both of whom have passed away. In this post, I shall describe how I found who were the siblings and parents of Harold Wright.

The Earlier Life of Harold Wright
When I first went to the Borthwick Institute to look at the Acomb parish registers, I did not actually know the birthdate of Harold Wright. Only later did I get the newspaper report of his death, and at the time the 1901 census had not been released. However, I was lucky in that I knew his name and that there was nobody else by that name living in Acomb at the turn of the century. With a little bit of effort this enabled me to find him, his brother and sisters and his parents all in the Acomb parish registers.

Baptisms
May 12 1897: Henry Cecil son of Henry & Ada Wright, Acomb, joiner
Jan 17 1900: Harold son of Henry & Ada Wright, Acomb, joiner
Sep 24 1902: Ethel dau of Henry & Ada Wright, Acomb, joiner
Aug 23 1905: Kathleen Maud dau of Henry & Ada Wright, Gale View Acomb, joiner

Marriages
Mar 9 1895:
Henry Wright, 26, bachelor, joiner, Acomb, father James Wright market gardener
Ada Smith, 23, spinster, Acomb, father deceased no name given.
Witnesses- John George Wright, Lilly Smith & Mabel Ellis

Based on this I was able to create my first family tree, which then triggered various memories in my parents and other relatives as they were able to tell me more about each child:

Henry Cecil Wright - We believe that Henry Cecil moved away from the York area perhaps to the West Midlands after the second world war. We don't really know much more than this but I would love to find out. We think that this might be a picture of Henry Cecil with his mother and a son.

Ethel Wright - 'Aunty Ethel' as my mother and aunties call her, was a very kindly genial lady who lived as a spinster all her life, living in the family home that stood at the end of Gale View, a long street in Acomb. Ethel died on the 3rd July 1982.

Kathleen Maud Wright - Kathleen Maud married William Dobbie and lived in York. William Dobbie was the son of William Dobbie Snr, a local councillor and railway worker. William Dobbie Snr later became a Labour Lord Mayor of York, an MP for Rotherham, and was later awarded the CBE. Kathleen Maud died on 21st March 1991 and I think is burried in Acomb cemetery with her husband.

When I found this information back in 1999 I obviously wanted to immediately know more about Harold Wright's parents, Henry Wright and Ada Smith. It took me 3 more years to be able to progress with this research as far as Ada Smith was concerned as I required the 1901 census to find Ada's birthplace:

In 1901 living on Front Street, Acomb, is Henry and Ada Wright with their two eldest children Henry Cecil and Harold Wright. Henry is a wagon builder at the local railway works, the biggest employer in the Acomb area. Henry had been born in the Acomb area. In the next post I shall discuss the what I know about life of Henry Wright, my great-great-grandfather.

The Inquest of Harold Wright's Death

2007-07-30T22:00:00.002-06:00

Introduction
My maternal grandmother's father was Harold Wright, who died in 1972 before I was born. I therefore never met my great-grandfather, but he is partly to blame for this obsession that I now have in family history. I used to hear a lot of stories about him from relatives, mainly to do with how he was a bit of a 'black sheep' or 'a character' as we're fonder of saying in Yorkshire. When speaking to those who knew him, one thing that is often repeated is how he used to nervously jiggle coins in his pocket which led to him being nicknamed 'jiggles'. Also, he used to give directions to people only by naming public houses on route. Not surprisingly, his push bike was regularly to be found outside one of these in his native Acomb. A further fact that is relevant to me is that he always drunk his tea black, never taking milk, something that I appear to have inherited from him. These and other stories such as how he was from a long line of Wrights who had lived in the village led me to be curious about Harold Wright and family history. In the next few posts I shall discuss more about the Wright family.

The Inquest of Harold Wright's death
York Reference Library has a wonderful card index with lists of names of individuals that appear in local papers for over 200 years. I have used this source on numerous occasions to find records of births, deaths and marriages that would have otherwise meant a lengthy search through the countless York parish records. Also surprisingly I came across a notice of an inquest to be held about Harold Wright's death. This is what was reported in two separate entries.

Yorkshire Evening Press, 11th February 1972.
"Inquest opened on Acomb man. Mr. Anthony Morris, the York coroner, yesterday opened an inquest on Mr. Harold Wright, aged 73, of Stuart Road, Acomb, who died earlier in York County Hospital. The inquest was adjourned until February 21 after evidence of identification had been given by the dead man's son Mr C. W. Wright of South Cottages, Shipton Road."

Yorkshire Evening Press, 22nd February 1972.
"Swallowed Tooth Led To Death. The cause of death of a retired York painter and decorator could be traced back to the time over a year ago when he accidentally swallowed a tooth, the York Coroner, Mr. Anthony Morris said yesterday. Recording a verdict of accidental death on Mr. Harold Wright, aged 72 of Stuart Road, Acomb, York, Mr. Morris said the death was caused by bronchial pneumonia following a fracture of the neck of the right femur. But, he added, an underlying cause of death was an oesophageal stricture of an inflammatory nature caused by a molar tooth in the oesophagus. The accidental swallowing of the tooth had led to inflammation, making it impossible for Mr. Wright to swallow, until he became weaker and more feeble, Mr. Morris said. This weakness had led to the fall which fractured his femur, and was again responsible for his failure to recover after contracting bronchial pneumonia.

Pain In Throat. Mr. Wright's son, Mr. Harold William Wright of 1 South Cottages, Shipton Road York, said his father had led an active life up until about a year ago, when he complained of a pain in his throat and went into York City Hospital for investigations. He came home for Christmas 1971, but became progressively weaker and took to his bed. The fall occurred on February 4 and he was taken to York County Hospital for an operation on the fractured femur. But he died in hospital on February 10 after contracting bronchial pneumonia. Dr. Donald MacKinnon, consultant pathologist at York County Hospital said that death was caused by bronchial pneumonia following a fractured femur. The tooth was found during a post-mortem examination."

It was obviously quite a painful end for my great-grandfather, who had lived a very lively life. Although long-winded, this inquest report is full of useful genealogical information. In the next few posts I shall talk a bit more about the earlier Wright family.

Curley family pictures

2007-07-28T20:31:00.001-06:00

Over the last couple of months I was able to scan a new photograph of my grandfather, Cornelius Curley (b. Birmingham, 1905) that was lent to my father by one of his sisters. This picture is similar to how I remember my grandfather as he appears to be about 65 (he always looked a little bit younger than his years).

I was also lucky enough to scan two family pictures that had been submitted from a David Curley to a local history book of Ladywood called Ladywood Lives by Norman Bartlam. David Curley is the son of John (Jack) Curley, who ran two pubs in Ladywood, including the Red Lion on Warstone Lane. Indeed, the picture on the left was taken inside the pub - and this is the first time that I have ever seen my grandfather or indeed any of his siblings in their younger years. Also, I had never seen a picture of my great-grandparents, and so this is a real treat for me.

In the picture, taken in the late 1940s, we find - Top Row: Billy, Con (grandad), John, Doris, Tommy, Jimmy, Terry and Leo. In the front row is my great-grandfather Thomas Curley and his wife Mary (nee Driscoll).

Also in the book was this picture of the three eldest Curley boys - John (b.1907) Con (b.1905), and Michael. This was also submitted by David Curley who states that it was taken pre 1920 when the Curleys were living at Bishopsgate Street in Birmingham. He also says that they later moved to Ledsam Street. It is amazing to be able to find that such photographs exist and I must thank David for submitting them to this book.

New Posts Soon!

2007-05-23T08:32:00.000-06:00

I shall be posting more new entries onto my blog soon. After getting through a terrific amount of material in the first few months, I've had to take a step back as I've been busy with other things. Nevertheless, I feel as if I'm still only about half way through all my old unpublished research material - and I've actually got even more new research to put out there - including some work on North American and European genealogy. Thanks to everyone who is visiting in the meantime, I'm still receiving a large amount of traffic. One of the great things about genealogy blogsites is that the material will always be available to anyone who is interested. Hopefully, I shall start posting some more stuff in a couple of weeks. One I recommence, they will probably come thick and fast! Best wishes, James.

Finding my Welsh/English border ancestors

2007-03-04T12:35:00.003-05:00

Introduction
I had found that my grandfather Hughes' great-grandfather was Morris Hughes who had ventured the 200 miles to Castleford, Yorkshire in around 1881 from Bilston, Staffordshire where he had been born in 1856. Thirty years earlier, his father David Hughes had also been born in Bilston. In 1849 David Hughes married Jane Lewis. From his marriage certificate I discovered that David Hughes' father was called Maurice Hughes, a labourer. Here I document my search for Maurice Hughes.

Can I find Maurice Hughes?
The first piece of documentary evidence I have that mentions Maurice Hughes is the marriage certificate of his son, David Hughes. This is from 1849, and he is described as a labourer. It is not mentioned that he is deceased, so it is reasonable to believe that he was still alive at this time. This would mean that I should be able to locate him in the 1841 census and perhaps even the 1851. I have had instances, however, where an ancestor was named as a father on a certificate and the registrar failed to add that he was deceased. I also believe that Maurice would be living in Bilston, Staffordshire as this is where his son David Hughes was born in 1826 and where he was still living in 1849. I therefore searched the 1841 and 1851 censuses for the name Maurice Hughes or Morris Hughes. Morris Hughes appears to be a family name used in at least 3 generations, so I am presuming that Maurice could also be called Morris.

The 1851 census was most interesting as I found a Morris Hughes living next door to David Hughes in Black Horse Yard. He is living with his wife Betty and sons Morris and William. Given the unusualness of the name Morris Hughes, this appears to be the right Morris Hughes. Morris is 80 years old in this census and is described as 'not able to work'. It is stated that he was born in Montgomeryshire in Cherbury - but Cherbury is actually just inside England rather than Wales. His wife Betty was born in Montogmeryshire also, though her birthplace is extremely difficult to read - I think it says Ber* which I would presume could be Berriew a parish near to the English border in Montgomeryshire. Interestingly, this is the same area where David Hughes' future wife Jane Lewis also originated. Both sons were born in Bilston, placing this Morris in Bilston in the timeframe that I already knew.

Moving back 10 years, I can also find this Morris Hughes in the 1841 census. Living on High Street, Mill horn? Yard, Bilston, Morris and his wife Elizabeth are living with sons Morris and William and daughters Ann and Margaret. David Hughes is also living with the family providing confirmation that this is the right family. Morris Hughes is described as a labourer.

To find out some more information about Morris Hughes and his family I performed as search for baptisms and marriages in the IGI. I found some extra biographical information from member submissions in the online IGI database. Importantly, I found three elder children - Thomas, another Maurice, and Mary. I am certain that these are the right family as the parents' names were given as Maurice & Betty Hughes, which is quite a unique combination.

As I cannot find Morris Hughes in the 1861 census (he would be 90), I tried to find a death certificate between 1851 and 1861 in Bilston. The closest match was for a Morris Hughes who died on 4th August 1853 of a 'decline of nature'. The death was registered by Thomas Hughes (which could be Morris' eldest son) who was in attendance. Thomas Hughes is recorded as being from Lady Moor Sedgley, but this is certainly the right certificate as the address for Morris Hughes is given as High Street, Bilston.

I have yet to find out about the earlier life of Morris Hughes.

Morris Hughes

2007-02-25T21:04:00.003-05:00

Introduction
My grandfather's great-grandfather was Morris Hughes who married and brought up his 9 children in Castleford, West Yorkshire. He is pictured here in about 1907 at a family wedding. I had found Morris in the 1891 and 1901 censuses where he was described as being a coal hewer or coalminer. I also knew that Morris married Mary Gray in Normanton in October 1881. His marriage certificate told me that his father was called David Hughes. However, Morris had not been born in Yorkshire but in Bilston in Staffordshire. I therefore set out to find out more about his earlier life.

A step-father - Charles Woolley
My first task was to find Morris Hughes in the 1881 census. I found him living in Whitwood, a suburb of Castleford where he was working as a coal miner. He is living with Charles Woolley his step-father, and his mother Jane. Charles is described as 'nearly blind' and is not working. Charles was one of the witnesses at Morris' wedding a few months later. Charles Woolley, like his step-son, was also born in Bilston, Staffordshire.

Morris Hughes' father David Hughes must have died before 1871, as during this year Morris is already living with Charles Woolley (b.1833) and his mother Jane (b.1827) at Court 10 House 3, Coseley Street, Bilston. Both Charles and Morris are described as coal miners. Also living with the family is another step-child of Charles, Morris' sister Harriett Hughes and an adopted child called Maria Morris who is only 1 year old. I have no further information about Maria Morris so I do not know what happened to her or why she was adopted.

I was able to find the marriage certificate of Charles Woolley and Jane Hughes. They married on July 25th 1866 at Trinity Church, Ettinghsall. Both Charles and Jane were widowed; Charles worked as a miner and Jane as a laundress. Charles' father was also named Charles Woolley, and Jane's father was David Lewis. The witnesses were John and Mary Ann Allen.

Morris Hughes' father - David Hughes
I was able to further deduced that Morris Hughes' father David Hughes would have died between 1861 and 1866, as I was able to find Morris Hughes living with his father in a private house on Wolverhampton Street, Bilston in the 1861 census. Morris is there with his elder sister Elizabeth, younger sister Harriett and younger brother John, all of whom were born in Bilston. David Hughes who was born in Bilston in around 1826 was working as a labourer in the iron works.

I was able to confirm this information and these relationships from the birth certificate of Morris Hughes. This stated that he was born on the 6th February 1856 at High Street, Bilston to David Hughes and Jane Hughes (nee Lewis). David's occupation is listed as a blast iron founder labourer.

David and Jane were also married and living in Bilston in 1851 at Black House yard. Also living with them is their two year old son David Hughes. As David does not appear in 1861, it is very possible that he died in infancy.

Finally, I was able to find the marriage certificate of David Hughes and Jane Lewis. The marriage took place at St. Mary's Church, Bilston, on Feb 12th 1849. David Hughes, 23, was described as a furnaceman, whereas Jane Lewis, 22, was of no occupation. Both were from Bilston and were previously unmarried. The witnesses were David Lewis and Elizabeth Lewis. This David Lewis may be the father of Jane Lewis, who is described on the certificate as a labourer, confirming what was stated on the certificate of Jane's second marriage. We also get to find out that David Hughes' father was Maurice Hughes (sic) - the inspiration for Morris Hughes' name is revealed.

Read this post to find out updated information about Morris Hughes's youngest daughter, Eveline Hughes, and extra pictures of Morris and his wife.

The Hughes Clan

2007-02-17T09:19:00.003-05:00

Introduction

My maternal grandfather David Hughes (from now on I'll call David Hughes III) was born in Castleford in between the two world wars. Here he is pictured with my grandmother Doreen and my younger brother Daniel about 30 years ago!

My grandad David is the elder brother of Eric and Jack. Talking to my grandad I was able to find out initially a lot of information about the family. Their parents were Elsie Wilkes and David Hughes II. David Hughes II was born in Castleford on the 2nd June 1905. He died on the 13th February 1960. David II had a younger sister Mary born in 1907 and a younger brother Joe Hughes born on 31st May 1909 and who died on 14th December 1991. Joe Hughes married Amy Walsh and lived in Castleford. You can see an obituary for Amy Hughes here.

Also from my grandad I found out that his father's parents were called David Hughes I and Mary Garbutt, both of whom were born in Whitwood, near Castleford. My grandad also knew that David Hughes I was the eldest son and had a younger brother named Charles Hughes who had been in the army - see here for information about Charles.

David Hughes I of Castleford

Knowing the information that my grandad had given me, I found David (b.1882, Whitwood) and his brother Charles (b.1888, Castleford) in the 1901 census. Click here for a picture of David. They were living at 32 Nicholson Street, with their parents Morris Hughes (b.1856, Bilston, Staffordshire) and Mary Hughes (b.1862, Cawood, Yorkshire). Both David and Morris are coal hewers, whereas Charles is noted as a trapper underground. Making up the family in the house are four sisters (Mary Ellen, Harriet, Elizabeth & Laura) and a younger brother named Morris after his father. Also living with the family is Thomas Gray who is described as a boarder (born 1879 Castleford) and who is working as a labourer above ground at the coal pit. Although Thomas is described as a lodger, I subsequently found out that he is the brother of Mary Hughes.

In 1891 the family are also living in Castleford at 24 Love Lane. From this census we also find two other children - Jane and another Morris, who must have died in infancy as Morris and Mary had another Morris by the time of the 1901 census. The 1891 census also listed Sarah Gray as living with the family as a domestic servant - she is also listed as the sister-in-law to Morris, confirming that Morris' wife Mary Hughes' maiden name was Gray.

The marriage of Morris Hughes
Having found out the names of Morris Hughes & Mary Gray I was able to obtain their marriage certificate:

On October 8th 1881, at the parish church of Normanton

Morris Hughes, aged 24, bachelor, miner, of Bensons' Lane, father Daivd Hughes a labourer

Mary Gray, aged 19, spinster, of Bensons' Lane, father Thomas Gray a labourer

Witnesses - Charles Woolley & Annie Clayton

My grandfather's great-grandparents were therefore married in 1881 in Normanton, West Yorkshire. Mary Gray was born in Cawood in between York and Leeds in Yorkshire, whereas Morris Hughes had come to Yorkshire earlier in his life having been born in Bilston, Staffordshire. In the next entry I shall discuss the earlier life of Morris Hughes.

Commonwealth War Graves

2007-02-05T14:41:00.001-05:00

John Richard Goodall 1892 - 26/9/1916

In this previous post I wrote about the Goodall family of Castleford, where three brothers went off to serve in France in WW1. I said that I had no idea what happened to the brothers after they enlisted in 1915. However, after reading George G. Morgan's article in his Along Those Lines column - "In search of the Graves of our War Dead" - I decided to have a look in the Commonwealth War Graves database. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established in 1917 to mark and maintain the graves of the war dead from Commonwealth countries.

I was amazed by the depth of the database and the extremely useful genealogical information that it contains for some of the entries. Searching for the three Goodall brothers, I only found an entry for John Richard Goodall - hopefully the other brothers survived.

Corporal JR Goodall
10th Batallion, York and LancasterRegiment
Died on the 26th September 1916, aged 25
Service no. 10/16821
Son of George and Sarah K Goodall, of Lower Oxford Street, Castleford
Grave: I. A. 16., FOSSE No.10 COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, SAINS-EN-GOHELLE

Therefore less than one year after the triumphant news article in the local Castleford 'paper annou- ncing that three patriotic brothers had enlisted JR Goodall had died in France. It appears as if John Richard received a promotion prior to his death as he is recorded as being a Corporal.

He is buried in the Sains-en-Gohelle cemetery based in an old mining settlement (just like Castleford). It is 20km North of Arras and 10km West of Lens. It was started in April 1916 and men continued to be burried there until 1918. A total of 472 casualties are laid to rest, 257 from the UK, 214 from Canada, and 1 Australian.

The 10th batallion of the York & Lancaster regiment was formed in September 1914 in Pontrefract, West Yorkshire. I presume JR Goodall must have joined soon after this date if he was already in action in France in 1915. I have tried to find out information about which battle this batallion was fighting on the 26/9/1916 but have been unable to so far. It could well be the Battle of the Somme which lasted from June to November 1916.

The Commonwealth War Graves database is an excellent resource. In my family history I think I am unusual in having so few solider ancestors. Most of my relatives were in reserved occupations so did not serve overseas. Of those brothers and cousins who did serve, most came back. Nevertheless, the Commonwealth War Graves website is certainly deserving of our support for their excellent work.

Castleford Patriots - For King and Country

2007-02-01T18:08:00.002-05:00

Introduction
Over the next few posts I plan to write about my mother's father's paternal ancestry - the HUGHES family of Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Wales. I thought I would start this area by showing this news cutting from a local Castleford newspaper in 1915. This is an excellent piece of wartime propaganda cum celebration journalism about the local lads going off to war.

My 2xgreat grandfather was called David Hughes and he was born in 1882 in Whitwood, West Yorkshire. He was the eldest of 9 children, with one of his middle siblings being Charles Hughes who was born in 1888 also in Castleford. In 1910, Charles Hughes married Rachel Ann Goodall in the Pontefract district of Yorkshire - of which Castleford was a part (GRO: Jun 1910, Pontefract, 9c, 152). Rachel Ann Goodall was from a very large family.

In the 1901 census (pictured) she is aged 10 and is living with 7 brothers, 3 sisters and her parents George Goodall and Sarah C. Goodall. The family lived at 13 Mill Lane, Allerton Bywater, where George was a grocer shopkeeper. Fourteen years after this census was taken, England was a very different place as many family members had to go to war:

1915
"FOR KING AND COUNTRY"
Another patriotic Castleford family is that of Mrs Sarah C Goodall of 19 Beaucroft Road Castleford who has three sons and two sons-in-law in the Army. Lance-Corporal John Richard Goodall, of the Yorks and Lancashire Regt. is now at the front. Private Wilfred L. Goodall 12th Batt. K.O.Y.L.I. is still in England. Private Percy Goodall, K.O.Y.L.I., is also in training in England. Pte. J. B. Waring (son-in-law) of the R.A.M.C., has been in France for over 12 months; Sert. Charles Hughes another son-in-law is with the K.O.Y.L.I. still in England."

Click on the image for a higher resolution:

I know very little about Charles' time in the war, but I aim to follow up this research to find out more. I have been able to get his army draft registration card from the National Archives pictured here. He was a Sergeant in the K.O.Y.L.I. (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantrymen). Please see this webpage for more information about this regiment. It appears as if the 12th battallion which Wilfred Goodall joined was formed in Leeds on the 5th September 1914 by the Yorkshire Coalowners Association. This battallion was known as the Miners Batt. It may also have been the one to which Charles belonged. Finally, I do not know anything about what happened to the Goodall brothers or their brother-in-law JB Waring. I really would like to find this out. (See here for update). I do know, however, that Charles died on the 11th May 1935. We believe that it was as a result of the accumulating effect of residual injuries that he sustained during the war.

Picture of Ada Smith

2007-01-31T13:46:00.001-05:00

Ada Smith b.1871

Ada Smith was born in Kirkby Malzeard in North Yorkshire in 1871. I posted about her ancestry and life here. This postcard is of Ada Smith (on the right) with, we believe, her eldest son Henry Cecil Wright and perhaps his son whose name we do not know. My great-grandfather, Harold Wright, was the younger son of Ada Smith. Although most of the family remained in Acomb, we think that Henry Cecil moved to Wolverhampton after serving in the Air Force in WW2. We do not know exactly where or when the picture was taken. On the reverse of the postcard is written in handwriting "Bishop's Castle". There is a small market town by the same name in Shropshire, it is possible that Henry Cecil moved here after the war and was visited by Ada.

The Garbetts of Stourbridge

2007-01-28T21:02:00.001-05:00

Introduction
Those ancestors of mine who by far were the most mobile are my coal mining ancestors. These families seemed to have moved great distances in order to find work. Some, like my Hughes ancestors, seem to have moved from Wales through the Midlands and into Yorkshire. Others, like my other Hughes ancestors, from Wales into the North-West and then the North-East of England. My family had always thought that my Garbutt ancestors would be Yorkshire folk through and through. Garbutt is a fairly common name in Yorkshire, indeed I have Garbutt ancestors along another line going back into the eighteenth century in Kilburn, North Yorkshire. So we had no reason to believe that this Garbutt branch would be any different. As it turns out, Joseph Garbutt, my 3xgreat-grandfather was actually from Brockmoor in Staffordshire (this information came from the 1891 and 1901 censuses of Whitwood). This entry is about his family - I hope you are able to follow the following, there are three generations of Joseph Garbetts!

Joseph Garbutt III
Joseph Garbutt married Charlotte Ann Schofield in Castleford, West Yorkshire, in 1881. From the marriage certificate I knew the name of Joseph's father - also Joseph - who I found out was a coal miner like Joseph. Given that Joseph married in 1881, I thought it would make sense to see if he was living in West Yorkshire just prior to his marriage - after all, he would have to have met Charlotte somehow. I found him boarding with a George Homer and family in Whitwood. The Homer family and Joseph were all born in Brierly Hill in Staffordshire, near to Stourbridge - a place famous for its glass works and hence coal production. From the later 1891 and 1901 censuses I knew that this birthplace was slightly off as these state that Joseph Garbutt was born in Brockmoor, Staffordshire, another village near to Stourbridge. It is likely that the information given to the enumerator was more accurate in the later censuses.

I also wanted to see if Joseph travelled to Yorkshire alone. It was common for families to move, so it made sense that other relatives may have also made the trip. I therefore searched for Garbutt's (or Garbett's - the spelling with the 'e' is more common in the Midlands) born in Brockmoor who were living in Whitwood, West Yorkshire. I found Jeremiah Garbutt living with his wife Fanny and children.

Joseph Garbett II
Armed with Joseph's place of birth, age, father's name, and the name of a possible brother, I then searched the 1871 and 1861 censuses for the young Joseph Garbett. It turned out to be relatively easy to find him. In 1861 he is living with his father Joseph (a coal miner) and mother Ann and elder brothers and sisters (Joseph being born in 1861) at Hulland Brockmoor. In 1871, the same family are living at Spoon Lane, Brockmoor, and there is Joseph's younger brother Jeremiah. In both of these censuses, Joseph Garbett Snr's widowed mother Susannah is also living with them.

Moving forward in time to 1881, Joseph and Ann Garbett are living on Campbell Street, Brockmoor, and Jeremiah Garbett is still living at home. He is a puddler in the iron works, but he must have moved within the year or two to West Yorkshire to meet up with his elder brother.

Joseph Garbett I
Joseph Garbett married Ann in around 1852 - I have found a GRO index which I think is the reference to their marriage certificate - Joseph Garbet & Ann Knowles, December 1852, Stourbridge, Vol 6c Page 241. To confirm that this is the right marriage, then I could also obtain one of the birth certificates of either Joseph or Jeremiah Garbett which I have found:
Joseph Garbett - Mar 1861, Stourbridge, 6c, 222 Jeremiah Garbett - Mar 1864, Stourbridge, 6c, 234

But what about the earlier life of the father of Joseph Garbett? From the census I knew that Joseph Garbett's mother was called Susannah, and I knew their birthplaces. Using the census information from 1841 and 1851 and the IGI, I have been able to piece together the following. My ancestor, Joseph Garbett who was the grandfather of my grandfather's grandmother Mary Garbutt was baptised in Stourbridge on the 25th October 1829 in Stourbridge. On the same day a twin brother John Garbett was also baptised, but John died 3 years later. Joseph and John were the youngest children of at least 6 children. There were three girls - Mary Ann (the eldest), Jane and Elizabeth Matilda. There was also an elder brother named Charles Henry Garbett. All of the older children were born in Old Swinford, the name for the ancient parish that comprised part of Stourbridge. The parents of these children were another Joseph Garbett! (born c.1783, Stourbridge) and Susannah Hill (born c.1795, Stourbridge), who were married in Kingswinford (just outside Stourbridge) on 31st December 1816.

In 1841, the family are living in Kingswinford. In 1851 they are living at Chappel Hill, Brierley Hill. The younger Joseph is described as a miner, whereas his father's occupation is given as a 'worker on the roads'. The father Joseph Garbett died at some point between 1851 and 1861 as Susannah is a widow in the 1861 census. Susannah herself continued to live with her son Joseph until her death aged 82 in 1875 (Mar 1875, Stourbridge, 6c, 166).

Charles Henry Garbett
When researching one's family history, I always like to find out about the history of the cousins of my direct ancestors as much as possible. I decided to examine what happened to Joseph Garbett's elder brother Charles Henry Garbett. Charles Henry and his wife Sarah had seven children and lived the majority of their lives in Old Swindford. Charles Henry originally worked as a tanner and skinner (a manufacturer of animal hides for leather work) in Old Swinford, living in Queen Street in 1851 and Angel Street in 1861. However, times became hard for Charles Henry and by 1871 he was living in the workhouse of Kingswinford. Charles Henry died one year later than his mother in 1876 in Stourbridge - Charles Garbett, Stourbridge, Dec 1876, 6c, 116.

Mary Harker is revealed

2007-01-23T16:27:00.002-05:00

Introduction
Recently I received the marriage certificate of my 2xgreat-grandmother (Charlotte b.1864, Knottingley) and also that of my 3xgreat-grandmother (Mary b.1834, Knottingley). Whilst I knew their first names I had been quite confused as to what their maiden names were as their census entries had been a bit of a muddle. This is a summary of what I knew for each time point - the originals can be viewed on this page:

1871 census: Charlotte Nichols - stepdaughter of William and Sarah (or Mary) Pascoe
1881 census: Charlotte Pascoe - daughter of William & Mary Pascoe
1881 marriage index: Charlotte Ann Schofield
1891 census: Charlotte Garbutt - daughter of William & Mary Pascoe
1891 census: Charlotte Garbutt - wife of Joseph Garbutt

The marriage certificates
Charlotte's marriage:

On 2nd October 1881 at the parish Church of Castleford after banns.

Joseph Garbutt, 20, bachelor, occupation - collier, abode - Castleford, father - Joseph Garbutt, father's occupation - collier.

Charlotte Ann Schofield, 18, spinster, abode - Castleford, father - John Schofield, father's occupation painter.

The witnesses were John Bennett and Joseph Robshaw.

Mary's marriage:

On 11th February 1866 at the parish church of Pontefract, Yorkshire

William Pascoe, 30, bachelor, occupation - potter, abode - Knottingley, father - John Pascoe, father's occupation - potter

Mary Schofield, 32, widow, abode - Knottingley, father - William Harker, father's occupation - labourer

The witnesses were William Harker and James Goddard.

How has this helped?
It appears that Charlotte Ann Schofield (see here for a picture) was born in Knottingley in 1864 to John Schofield, a painter, and Mary Schofield (nee Harker). From the GRO index I found that John Schofield and Mary Harker were married in the June Quarter of 1859 (Jun Qtr 1859, 9c 111 Pontefract), with Charlotte being born 5 years later. I do not know if John and Mary had any other children during this period. By 11th February 1866 John Schofield had died and Mary Schofield re-married to William Pascoe, a potter. William Pascoe was the son of John Pascoe, both of whom were born in Bovey Tracey in Devon. From the censuses, I can find that William and Mary Pascoe had at least two children - Sarah and Mary Jane Pascoe - the step-sisters to Charlotte Ann Schofield. Charlotte Ann Schofield then later married Joseph Garbutt on 2nd October 1881 in Castleford. The only thing that does not fit with this is the 1871 census (see here) where Charlotte Ann is called Charlotte Nichols, the step-daughter of William Pascoe. However, looking at that census entry, it seems as if the enumerator may have been a little confused as he also gets the names of Mary and her daughter Sarah mixed up.

What are the next steps?
The priority is to obtain the birth certificate of Charlotte Ann Schofield, and the marriage of John Schofield to Mary Harker. These should confirm the pedigree that I have outlined above and my belief that the information in the 1871 census was somewhat inaccurate.

Following this I will try to find out more about John Schofield as I do not know very much about him currently. His marriage certificate will let me know his father's name which may help me to find him in the census. As John Schofield married Mary Harker in 1859, I should be able to find them in the 1861 census but this has thus far not been possible. John Schofield's death certificate may also be helpful but I have not yet found the GRO certificate. Schofield is a very common name in Yorkshire so it might be hard to isolate the right John Schofield.

I would also like to find out more about Mary Harker (or Schofield & Pascoe as she became). I know that she was born in 1834 in Knottingley to William Harker, a labourer. In the 1841 census, I find a Mary Harker of the right age living in a place called 'Holes' in Knottingley with a father William who is a labourer. As this is the only Mary Harker in Knottingley, I think this is the right entry. I cannot yet find William and Jane in the 1851 census.

Wedding Pictures!

2007-01-22T19:41:00.001-05:00

A Garbutt Wedding - 1907

This image is a scan from a photocopy of the original photograph - I'm sorry it is poor in quality, I hope that I will be able to scan the original directly one day to improve the detail.

This is a wedding photograph taken at a church in Castleford, West Yorkshire in 1907. Although "Redhill Church" is written on the picture, I think the church is All Saints which is near to Redhill Road. From the scribbled notes written around the edges and on the back of the picture, the groom is Joseph Garbutt and the bride is Elizabeth Ann Day. Joseph Garbutt was the younger brother of my 2xgreat-grandmother Mary Garbutt. The image contains a large number of the Garbutt family and the Hughes family, as Mary Garbutt married David Hughes. I shall be discussing the Hughes family in several forthcoming posts. I have previously described the difficulties I have had in tracing the mother and grandmother of Mary Garbutt. I have recently obtained some marriage certificates that have helped enormously with this and will post about them next. The image below is a schematic of what is known about who is who in the picture. As I describe each individual's genealogy, I shall try and blow up their pictures. For now, however, I shall just point out my 3xgreat-grandmother, the mother of the groom - Charlotte Garbutt - she is the third person from the left on the second row from the back. Also, my 2xgreat-grandmother Mary Garbutt is immediately to Charlotte's left. I shall be descrbing what I have recently learned about her in the next post.

Matthew Carr & Ann Padley

2007-01-19T20:20:00.001-05:00

Introduction
I previously posted about my search for my Carr and Padley ancestors on my mother's mother's mother's mother's side of my family! My great-great-grandmother was Margaret Ann Carr, the eldest daughter of Matthew and Ann Carr. Through looking at the census I had managed to find that Ann's maiden name was Padley (her mother was living with the family in the 1881 census). This enabled me to search the Padley family back a couple more generations. I had also research Matthew Carr's family back another generation as I had only found in earlier censuses one Matthew Carr of the right age and born in the right place. However, in order to confirm these relationships (discussed in this post in further detail) I still needed to find the marriage certificate of Matthew Carr and Ann Padley. This week I received the following:

The marriage of Matthew Carr and Ann Padley

On 11th February 1871, at the Register Office in Sunderland

Matthew Carr, 20 years, bachelor, coal miner, 41 Queen Street Ryhope Colliery, father - Joseph Carr, coal miner

Ann Padley, 18 years, spinster, 58 Queen Street Ryhope Colliery, father - Joseph Padley, coal miner

The witnesses were James Carr and Ann Cope?

This is certainly the right certificate and confirms the relationships that I had previously believed. One interesting facet of this marriage is that it was registered in a register office, suggesting that the couple may have married in a non-conformist church such as a Methodist church.

Whilst researching this family I have come across a cousin who is also researching this family. They are descended from Sarah Carr, the eighth child of Matthew Carr and Ann Padley; I am descended from Margaret Ann Carr, the first child of the same couple. In an earlier post I mentioned that in the 1891 census when only a few days old she was called Isabella, but when she came to be christened she was named Sarah. Looking at their website, I have found out a few more details about the Carr and Padley families:

Sarah Carr married Alexander George Bouas on 1st Jan 1909 and had 5 children. She died on 21 Nov 1951 in Gosforth.

Ann Padley was baptised on 1st Jan 1854 in West Rainton, Durham and died around 1928.

The marriage of Ann Padley's parents may have occurred in the September quarter of 1849 in Houghton-le-Spring, with the names Joseph Paddy and Ann Youn - the index was handwritten, the names should read Joseph Padley and Ann Young.

The mother of Matthew Carr was Margaret McCartney - I had not previously known her maiden name. The reference for this was the GRO indexVol.25, p.150, Dec 1839.
Whitehaven district, Cumberland. I shall get the certificate to find out the names of Matthew Carr's parents, Margaret McCartney and Joseph Carr.

Zachariah Hughes - still elusive

2007-01-18T16:03:00.002-05:00

Introduction
I have been looking for information about Zachariah Hughes for a long time.

I know that my great-great-grandfather John William Hughes' father was called Zacahariah Hughes from JWH's marriage certificate. JWH married on 22 May 1893 in Sunderland, where his father was described as a deceased iron worker. However, as John William did not know his birthplace and Zachariah died young, I've been unable to find a definitive association between John William and Zachariah in very many documents. Nevertheless, I have found one Zachariah Hughes after searching the entire of the North-East of England, whom I believe with a high degree of certainty to be the father of JWH. I have just received the marriage certificate of this Zachariah Hughes.

Zachariah Hughes' Marriage

On Christmas Day 25th December 1873 at the parish church of St. Paul's, Darlington

Zachariah Hughes, 20 years, bachelor, mill furnaceman, of Lansdowne St, father Joseph Hughes occupation mill furnaceman

Catharine Close, 24 years, spinster, of Zetland St, father William Close, occupation publican

The witnesses were Gomer Hughes & Elizabeth Jones

What do we learn from this?
1. This marriage is certainly that of the Zachariah Hughes whom I have found previously in the 1861 and 1871 census. Both Gomer and Zachariah Hughes are such unusual names that these must be the same people.

2. This Zachariah Hughes is likely to be the father of John William Hughes. JWH was born in about 1873/4, so this marriage is about the right date. Given this date, the unusual (almost unique) name and that the occupations of JWH's father and this Zachariah match, the balance of probabilities is that this is the right man. However, I still lack that clinching piece of documentary evidence.

3. We learn that Zachariah married Catharine Close and that her father was called William Close.

4. The circumstancial evidence: John William Hughes' children were called Matthew, Catharine and Zachariah. Matthew was the name of John William Hughes' wife's father. It is interesting that Catharine and Zachariah are also the names of who we now believe are his father and mother. Also, John William Hughes' middle name is the same as Catharine Close's father. This is more tantalising evidence that this Zachariah could be the father of John William.

What we still do not know is where Zachariah and Catharine were in 1881, or indeed, whether they lived beyond this. Given that JWH did not know his birthplace it is possible that both of his parents died when he was very young. In which case, who brought him up? and where is he in the 1881 or 1891 censuses? There are still very many unknowns with this family, but we have learned a little bit more about where Zachariah was living in 1873. Darlington would now be a good place to try and find JWH's birth certificate or birth.

Gomer Hughes
It is also very interesting to see Gomer Hughes as a witness to Zachariah's marriage - this would suggest that Zachariah was close to his elder brother, which may be important when trying to find family members who may have raised John William. Unfortunately, I have attempted to trace where Gomer is in the later censuses but have been unable to find him.

Gomer is another unusual first name. In Genesis, Gomer was the eldest son of Japheth one of the three sons of Noah.

According to the genealogies of Genesis, one branch of the descendants of Gomer became the Welsh people. Gomer and Zachariah Hughes were the sons of Josiah/Joseph Hughes who was from Wales - though there are still quite a number of links I need to make to tie-in this family with the pedigree above! Nevertheless, these unusual names could also be helpful in finding out what happened to Zachariah. Given their Old Testament nature, it is possible that the family was very religious and potentially Methodist like a lot of Welsh working class migrants of this period. Methodist records may be somewhere to look for evidence of Gomer, Zachariah and John William.

For the future
This marriage certificate has now enabled me to start searching the family of William Close. It has also confirmed that Zachariah Hughes is the son of Josiah/Joseph Hughes and the brother of Gomer. What I still do not have is the definitive proof that this is the Zachariah Hughes who is the father of John William Hughes - hopefully this will come one day.

The original Curley

2007-01-16T17:41:00.001-05:00

Introduction
In three previous posts - here, here, and here - I have discussed my Birmingham Irish ancestry along my Curley and Hennigan lines. To recap, my grandfather was Cornelius Curley, whose father was Thomas Curley, whose father was also called Thomas Curley. This Thomas Curley was married (according to family sources and some documentary evidence) to Jane Hennigan. It has not been easy to piece together the lives of either Thomas Curley or Jane Hennigan. One piece of evidence which until now had evaded my grasp was the marriage certificate of Thomas and Jane - well today I was delighted to receive through the post the following:

14th February 1888, at St. Catherine's Roman Catholic Church, Birmingham

Thomas Curley, 28 years, batchelor, spoon polisher, of 9 Beak Street, father Michael Curley, labourer.

Jane Hanigan, 25 years, spinster, of 9 Beak Street, father Michael Hanigan (deceased), labourer.

Witnesses - William Curley & Annie Underhill

How does this help?
1. Michael Hanigan is confirmed as the father of Jane Hanigan. As posted earlier, Michael Hennigan was born in Ireland in 1832 and died in Birmingham in 1885. He was a bricklayer's labourer and the latter part of his life was spent in the workhouse. He is confirmed as deceased on this marriage certificate.

2. One of the witnesses is Annie Underhill (a French polisher), who in 1881 was living as a boarder in the house of Jane's mother Catharine. This is good confirmation that I have the correct Hennigan family. Further confirmation is that Jane Hanigan's address is given as Beak Street where she and her family had been living in the 1881 census.

3. Jane Hanigan is named a spinster. This is important as it shows that she was not previously married and widowed. Therefore the children that she may have had before she married Thomas Curley will have been illigetimate. The added fact from the certificate that both Jane and Thomas lived at the same address - 9 Beak Street - suggests that Thomas and Jane had been living together and having children before they married. I have no idea currently why they delayed in getting married.

4. Thomas Curley's father is given as Michael Curley, which is new information to me! William Curley is another of the witnesses - he may be a brother, uncle or cousin to Thomas.

Michael Curley - the first 'English' Curley
Knowing Thomas' father's name I have been able to find out further information about the Curleys in the census. In the 1871 census I found Michael Curley with his wife Margaret and children Thomas, Mary Ann, Jane and William. They were living in a room in a house at 100 1/2 Bath Row, Birmingham, in the next house to the 'Trees Inn' public house. The licensed victualler in 1871 was William Hicken who was born in Shustoke. The pub is pictured (available online at digital Ladywood) - it survived until the mid 1960s before it was demolished. Wheeleys Lane runs off to the left in this picture. I believe that Michael Curley and family would have lived behind and to the right of the pub.

Michael and Margaret were born in Ireland, but all their children were born in Birmingham. I have yet to find a reference to when they came from Ireland, but it must have been prior to 1859 when Thomas was born. Soon after they arrived, in 1861, they are living in the heavily Irish area - Greens Village. Michael is working as a castor and Margaret is working as a nail cutter. In addition to Thomas, they also have a son called John. They may have had several other children who died in infancy - I would have to look at the Roman Catholic Church records to find this out.

It appears as if Michael Curley died at some point between 1873 and 1881. In the 1881 census, Margaret Curley is living at Myrtles Row in Birmingham and is said to be a widow. Her youngest child is John Curley who was born in 1873, therefore it is likely that Michael Curley died between these dates. According to the GRO index, there are two possible matches for the death certificate which I shall obtain in time.

In 1891, the widowed Margaret is now living at Suffolk St. 6 Court House 2 with her youngest sons William, Michael and John, as well as a grand-daughter Mary Ann Curley and a boarder Mary Caston and her child. I cannot find Margaret Curley in the 1901 census, so she may have re-married or passed away.

Summary
I have therefore managed to get back my Curley ancestry to the Curley who came over from Ireland. Michael Curley was born in 1837 in Ireland and came to live in Birmingham. I do not know if he came by himself or with his parents. Nevertheless, he is, in my family, the original Curley - I am therfore a sixth generation English Curley! Unfortunately I do not have any idea whereabouts in Ireland he came from. The Curley name is most common on the West coast of Ireland in Galway and Roscommon, but until I can find some other records I will not know for sure.

Hennigan, Henigan, Hanigan, Shenanigans

2007-01-14T11:46:00.001-05:00

Introduction
The word 'shenaningan' sounds like it should be of Irish origin. Some think it comes from the Irish gaelic sionnachuighim meaning 'I play the fox'. In researching my Hennigan- Henigan-Hanigan ancestry I have already come across some funny shenanigans which are certainly of Birmingham Irish origin.

My great-great-grandfather Thomas Curley married Jane Hennigan in 1888, which was about four years after their son my great-grandfather, also called Thomas Curley, was born. I posted previously about how I have found it hard to confirm documentarily my family's view that Jane Hennigan was the mother of my great-grandfather as I haven't been able to find Thomas Curley jnr's birth certificate. Things may change soon as I have ordered Thomas & Jane's marriage certificate and am in the process of hiring a researcher to search the Birmingham Roman Catholic registers. (update here).

Nevertheless, I have started to follow Jane Hennigan's family history, and indeed studying the history of the Hennigan-Henigan-Hanigan name (in its various spellings) in Birmingham. This was prompted by a helpful email from someone who had seen me post about the Hennigan name on the Birmingham Rootsweb list. The correspondent is also descendend from one of the Birmingham Hennigans. The below is the product of her research, of which I am very thankful, and some extra findings by myself. Needless to say, I have to prove a lot of the relationships with some extra documentary evidence, but I am confident the following is accurate. Throughout this article I will spell the Hennigan name how it appears in the individual record.

The Birmingham Hennigans
The Irish have a long history in Birmingham. Although the Irish had been coming to Birmingham for centuries, large scale immigration did not occur until the early 1800s, with the largest influx occurring around the time of the Irish potato famine of the 1840s.

Looking at the 1871 census for Birmingham, I can find only a few families with the Hanagan surname. The first is Fergus Hanagan, b.1811, Roscommon, Ireland, with his wife and son. Two houses away is a Martin Hanigan, b.1809, Roscommon, Ireland. It is very probable that Fergus and Martin are brothers. Fergus is listed as a labourer while Martin was a rag gatherer. They are both living on London Prentice Street, a street that is particularly renowned for being 'Irish'. According to one poster on a rootsweb mailing list, it was apparently a very hard place to live; it was so rough that policeman were forced to go around in twos, and several gangs roamed the street. Among these were a gang known as 'cappies' who carried razor blades sewn into the front of their caps. This article by Carl Chinn describes more about the history of the Irish Birmingham. In it, Chinn recalls how:

"...over in Birmingham one author welcomed the disappearance of London Prentice Street in the late 19th Century as the sweeping away of a "nasty, dirty, stinking street" in which children could learn lessons of depravity; and in 1863, a reporter from the Birmingham Gazette damned the people of the street as a mixture of the worst class of Irish and regular thieves. In a unique voice from the Irish poor of this period, J Goffey responded to this slur. He was resident at 13 London Prentice Street and explained there was no more than one house harbouring thieves. J Goffey went on to object to the condemnation of 700 Irish for the evil doings of a few."

Elsewhere in 1871, at Water Street there is a James Hannagan (b. Ireland, 1843) living with his wife and son. Living at Cottage Yard in the St. George district is a William Hinighan (b. Birmingham, 1855) is living in lodgings. Both of these 'Hennigan's are bricklayer's labourers.

The final family found in the 1871 census is a Michael Hanigan (b.1832, Ireland) and his wife Catherine (b.1840, Ireland). Their children are called Mary A (b.1862), Jane (b.1863), John (b.1865), Catherine (b.1867) & Margaret (b.1869). Michael is working as a bricklayer's labourer and the family is living in one room at 4 C 2 H Windmill St. in the St. Thomas part of Birmingham.

Michael & Catherine Hennigan
It is highly likely that Jane Hennigan, the daughter of Micahel & Catherine, is the Jane Hanigan who eventually marries Thomas Curley. (update here). The couple had two more children, Ellen and James. In 1881, times have been hard for Michael and he appears in the Birmingham Workhouse at Western Road. Catherine Hennigon is living at Beak St. with her children John, Jane and Catherine. Catherine is working as a laundress, Jane is a spoon polisher, Catherine jnr is a wire drawer, and John is a filer of brass casts. Their is also a grandchild also called John, who may be an illigetimate child of Jane - see below and this post. In what may be described as a shenanigan, Catherine Hennigan says that she is a widow even though Michael is still alive.

The four youngest children - Margaret, Ellen, James and Michael are all inmates at the newly opened Marston Green Cottage Homes (part of the Birmingham Workhouse system - see link for pictures). These cottage homes had been established the previous year to house pauper children over the age of three years. It was organised as a "village" located away from the workhouse in an airy rural setting.

Michael Hannigan died four years later in 1885, aged 51 according to this GRO reference -
"Michael Hannigan - MAR 1885 Birmingham 6d 121".

Catherine Hennighan was still alive and working as a laundress in 1891, living at Beak St. with her children Ellen and James, who were obviously now out of the workhouse. By this time, of course, Jane had married Thomas Curley - In the census entry Thomas is called William see this post
- the illigetimate son from the 1881 census, John Hennigan, is now known as John Curley. Thomas and Jane are both spoon polishers.

By 1901 Catherine Hennigan was unemployed and still living at Beak St, with her unmarried daughter Mary who was working as a spoon polisher. Two doors away another daughter Ellen, was living with her husband Thomas Moore.

The earlier life of Michael & Catherine Hennigan
Where were Michael and Catherine Hennigan living prior to 1871? And when did they arrive in England? In 1861 we find them married and living in Birmingham in a room on Tindal St. and Michael is working as a paper maker. Catherine is only 21 while Michael is 28 - given how young Catherine is the marriage may have occurred in England, but I have not found the GRO index. Also in 1861 living next door to Michael and Catherine is a John Hennigan who is lodging with Timothy Ward and is six years younger than Michael - It is highly likely that they are related and probably even brothers. I cannot find Michael Hennigan earlier than 1861. It will be tough to know where in Ireland my Hennigans came from, but given that many other Hennigans in 1871 came from Roscommon, Michael Hennigan may have also. As with my other Birmingham-Irish ancestors, I am going to have to search through the Roman Catholic registers.

If you are interested in the Hennigan name itself, please visit the Heneghan information pages which contain much information about Hennigans everywhere!

The earlier Smiths

2007-01-10T12:49:00.001-05:00

Robert & Ann Smith of Alne

So far I have described how I traced back the ancestry of my great-great-grandmother Ada Smith to her grandfather Christopher Smith (b.1815) of Alne. Christopher Smith's gravestone is the weathered one in the middle of this picture of Alne Churchyard.

In order to find out about Christopher's family I searched the parish registers of Alne from 1781 onwards. Here I found that Christopher Smith was born on the 5th February 1815 to Robert and Ann Smith of Alne. In all, Robert had 13 children being named as a labourer each time. I am sure that all of these children belong to the same Robert and Ann, rather than there being two couples in Alne named Robert and Ann Smith bearing children at exactly the same time. The interval between each baptism is appropriate for one couple and no child is ever given the same name as another. What is more, from my work on the census in Alne I have only ever seen one couple named Robert and Ann Smith.

As an aside, I think it is rather sweet that the last two boys, who were twins, were named Joseph and Benjamin - the biblical Benjamin being the youngest and twelfth son of Jacob and Rachel and full blood brother to Joseph the 11th child of Jacob and Rachel. Perhaps, the family were quite religous! This Joseph and Benjamin Smith were the 12th and 13th sons of Robert and Ann, though sadly Joseph died in infancy. Pictured above is the 1841 census when Benjamin is 5 years old. By this time the elder four boys, James, Christopher, William and Robert had all left home.

In 1841, the Smith family is living at Hill Top in Alne. By 1851, they are living at Crankley Lane with their youngest son (Benjamin), an unmarried daughter (Ann) and widowed son (Robert). Robert Smith is an agricultural labourer as he was for all his life. He died in 1857, but his wife Ann survived him until 1866. In 1861 she was still living with Benjamin, and a different unmarried daughter Grace, and a grand-daughter Eliza. This census also gives us the interesting information that Ann Smith is living at Crankley House and is a farmer of 14 acres with no labourers.

The parents of Robert & Ann Smith
So who were the parents of Robert and Ann Smith - my greatX5 grandparents? Well, to find this out I need to know where and when they were born. The best evidence for this is from the census - I like to use the earliest possible census for estimating birth years, as the older people get the wilder they become in their own estimates of their birth year! From the 1851 census we can find that Robert Smith was born in West Burton in around 1795 and Ann in Tholthorpe in the same year. This would make them just 18 when they had their first child, James. Tholthorpe is a small village in the parish of Alne, so I searched the Alne marriage registers and found the following entry:

7/9/1812 - Robert Smith, 21, & Ann Humphrey, spinster, 19, Alne, witnesses - William Dunnington & Mary Flawith.

This marriage is a good candidate for Robert and Ann, though the ages are slightly off. However, given that James was born only 5 months later it seems as if this wedding may have been somewhat rushed and hence Robert and Ann may have slightly inflated their own ages. Looking back through the Alne registers I then found the following entry. I wish I had been able to take a photocopy of it when I first went to the record office, hopefully I will in the future:

Sun 2/3/1794, Baptism Sun 9/3/1794, - Ann Humphreys, spurious daughter of Margaret Humphreys, a poor woman of Tholthorpe, (did not pay for baptism - a pauper).

Looking for Robert Smith's baptism, I have not been able to search the West Burton registers which is in the parish of Aysgarth in the North Riding of Yorkshire, a little distance from Alne. However, from the IGI I found the following member's entry which seems to be from the same member who submitted a large amount of information about the Smiths of Alne about 15 years ago. Although the birth date is slightly off, the other data is very specific and so I am inclined to believe the parentage of Robert Smith, though I'd love to know how the submitter found out the information:

b.1798, Robert Smith, son of Thomas Smith & Elizabeth Lambert. Married Ann Humphrey in 1812 in Alne.

Summary
There is therefore still much to find out about the Smith family, though I am pleased with how far I've been able to get. I am particularly interested in finding out some more specific details of the lives of my Smith 'ag-lab' ancestors. Although I had to wait 4 years from when I knew about Ada Smith until the release of the 1901 census to really breakthrough and discover her ancestry, it has been worth the wait.

The marriage of Christopher Smith and Hannah Farmery

2007-01-06T18:36:00.001-05:00

In this previous post I had mentioned that I had had some trouble with finding the marriage record of my ancestors Christopher Smith and Hannah Farmery. Christopher was from Alne and Hannah was from Huby, both of which are parishes in the North Riding of Yorkshire. I had been unable to find the marriage record in the Alne parish records and had not had time to look at the Huby records. However, a kind person on the Yorksgen genealogy mailing list saw my problem and drew my attention to an IGI entry which I had foolishly overlooked. This appears to be the right marriage record:

Christopher Smith & Hannah Farmery - 19 MAY 1836 - at Saint Michael-Le-Belfrey, York.

This marriage took place one year before the birth of their eldest child, William, and therefore I'm pretty sure that it is the right record. What is intriguing is that they married at St. Michael-le-Belfrey, a church (pictured) which stands adjacent to York Minster.

The question remains, why did they marry here? I have seen in some articles that describe the ancient parish of St. Michael-le-Belfrey that this parish included some extra (or 'peculiar') areas of the North Riding of Yorkshire - I'm still uncertain whether Huby was amongst those. If so, this church may have been their usual (or at least Hannah's family's) place of worship. Another reason why they may have married there is that they may have frequented York often to sell produce - I know that several other of my ancestors who were agricultural labourers in parishes up to 30 miles North of York sold produce regularly in York. Finally, I have heard that in the early 1800s many people were drawn to worshiping at St. Michael-le-Belfrey as there was a particularly inspiring preacher there by the name of William Richardson. It is unlikely, however, that he brough Christopher and Hannah to this church as the rest of their church 'footprints' are in the Alne registers. I would like to find out more about why Christopher and Hannah got married at this church - perhaps one of the best ways forward will be to find out whether they married by license or banns, and also I must obviously find the original entry.

Nevertheless, it is fascinating to know that one's ancestors got married at such a prominent church in the history of York. Indeed, 166 years before their marriage in the very same church on April 16, 1570 there was the baptism of a certain Guy Fawkes.

Christopher Smith of Alne 1815-1890

2007-01-05T10:42:00.001-05:00

Introduction

I previously described how I traced back my great-great-grandmother Ada Smith's parentage to a Richard (b.1843) and Elizabeth (b.1847) Smith, from Alne in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Above is a recent picture I took of the Alne Church. Below is a street scene from an Alne postcard which is un-dated. See here for a brief history of Alne.

Following this, I was able to go back another two generations of the Smith family in relatively quick time - I was able to spend a day at the North Yorkshire Record Office where I transcribed all of the Smith records in the parish registers. Adding this data to the original census records that I was also able to transcribe I could build up a picture of all of the Smiths in the parish of Alne. Subsequently, I visited the parish church of Alne and found the gravestones of several of the Smith family. Unfoturnately, the Alne Church is quite exposed to the elements which made reading the tombstones quite difficult, but nevertheless some good information was gleaned. Finally, I was also able to gain some information about the Smith family from online and libary-based trade directories. I had thought that researching Smith family history and genealogy may be quite arduous, but as this family were contained for such a long period in one place my task was quite easy.

Putting the details together
Christopher Smith was baptised in Alne on 5th February 1815 to Robert Smith (a labourer) and Ann. I then have little information on Christopher until he marries a Hannah in about 1836-7. I have calculated this marriage date as their first child William Smith was baptised in Alne on the 26th April 1838. The next children were Jane (1841), Richard (13/1/1843 - my direct ancestor), Robert (1849) and Elizabeth Ann (1856). According to the census, Hannah was born in Huby, near to Alne. I have not yet found the marriage of Christopher in the Alne parish records, but a member's entry in the IGI says that a Christopher Smith b.1814 in Alne married a Hannah Farmery in Yorkshire in 1836. This rather vague entry appears to fit with the evidence that I have as Christopher was baptised in February 1815 in Alne, and the Farmery name is a very unusual surname in Yorkshire - except in Huby. I need to spend another visit to the Borthwick Institute to see if the marriage is in the Huby parish records. I could also find out Hannah's maiden name by purchasing the birth certificate of one of Christopher and Hannah's children. - see this post for an update on this marriage record.

After marriage, Christopher and Hannah lived their entire lives in Alne, living at the following places:

1841 - John Street

1851 - Alne Street

1861 - 'Poorfact?' House

1871 - Town St

1881 - 'Alne Village'.

From 1838 to 1881 in the parish and census records Christopher is described as being an agricultural labourer or just labourer. By 1881 his wife Hannah is 'deaf and lame' at the age of 67. She died two years later, being buried on the 17th September 1883 two days after she died (as mentioned on his picture). Christopher was buried seven years later in Alne on 24th July 1890. He died on the 22nd July as mentioned on his headstone in Alne parish church (also see picture). As you can see I took the image just as it was getting dark which has made the image difficult to read. Even when I was there it was extremely difficult to read as it was heavily weathered. Nevertheless, it is always pleasurable to find the gravestone of one of your ancestors.