Are you from around Kilnhurst/Mexborough/Rawmarsh/Swinton and is your surname Oliver? Here is one family history...
This was written by my previously unknown to me cousin Alec. It was originally published on Mexborough heritage site, but I cannot find it. So here it is...
George Oliver (b 1842) by a local artist. 18 of the children he and Jane Nettleton sired survived. They saw deadly floods, colliery explosions, got done poaching - which fed their family and others from a pot at Pottery Cottages. There were transferers and painters for Rockingham, scrap dealers and some of those trades and traits continue on. Sadly there is a lack of musical info here, but local history is abundant…
The Oliver Story - South Yorkshire
Foreword
It is less peculiar how much music is in our family once one becomes aware of historical facts. Musicality, literature and art figure strongly among us, not least from the Oliver blood line - but in this editor’s case also from the introduction of Welsh (Thomas) and Irish (Clarke) blood. There is sadly an as yet undiscovered line due to a well kept secret of bastardy.
Introduction
This document was originally authored by Alec and Mary Oliver, of Swinton. I have edited the grammar and shortened a few turns of phrase for fluency’s sake - and to make certain points clearer. Alec’s nephew in Mexborough, Graham Oliver, is an avid student and collector of local pottery. He had come across a reference to a potter named George Oliver working at Kilnhurst Pottery. He asked Alec if this person was family and it grew from there. Alec has lifted quotes/paraphrases from local documents and histories. They set the societal, geographic and familial conditions our line passes through. They also explain much about certain instinctive tendencies among latter-day Olivers, as if to suggest there is perhaps genetic memory at work. It is probably just passed as accidentally as a mannerism or turn of phrase; however it does question the how and why of, for want of a better term, destiny. I hand you over to the voice of (my) cousin Alec, whom I’d not known of until I indulged in genealogy:
SWINTON 1750 to 1850
Swinton was a small township between Rotherham and Doncaster on the River Dun and according to the census of 1801 a total of 653 people lived and worked there. From the information Alec and Mary (known hereon as ‘they’) gathered we have a good idea of how Swinton was run at this time.
A committee, made up from Swinton Ratepayers, met each month. At the start of each financial year, at the Easter Vestry, selected members from this committee were elected to carry out specific duties.
An Assessor was elected to calculate the rates. Initially the Assessor fixed the poor rate at so much per acre of land worked, then after 1797 it was calculated on so much per pound (£) of property valuation. A two tier rate was fixed depending on income.
A Surveyor was elected to be responsible for the Township roads. Each family of the Township was required to do so much work per year to keep the town roads in good order or pay a composition fee; it was the Surveyors job to administer this work and collect the fees.
A Constable was also elected; as well as law and order his duties included organising “the killing of sparrows and larks in the fields, and the ridding of the Township of moles, and organising the maintenance of the Townships nine Gates”.
The Constables account books, which have survived; covering the period from 1800 to 1832, give details of payments made to people he employed to carry out these jobs. He also employed a person to take care of the pinfold, an enclosure where stray animals were ‘pinned’, the owners of these stray animals were fined and charged for any fodder eaten before the animals were released, the Pinder was usually an infirm or old man or woman.
Another of the Constables tasks was to complete the Militia List, an annual list of all able bodied males between the ages of eighteen and fifty years living in the Township. This was brought about by parliament to cover any contingencies at home while the regular soldiers were away fighting wars in Europe, every city, town and village had to have their own list. The newly listed men were graded First Class to Fourth Class depending on age, fitness and the number of children in their family. This list contributed toward an emergency reserve of men, much like the Territorial Army of today, but this was compulsory. A serving soldier’s family were paid from government funds. This payment included a sum for his wife and a sum for each child. Men with large families proved to be too costly for the government so were therefore classed exempt on the Militia List. One way out of this compulsory duty, if you were rich enough, was to pay a substitute to do the duty for you, but he would have to be someone exempt from duty, perhaps a man with lots of children as he would be least likely to be called upon. If your substitute was ever called into action in your place you would then have to pay his family the equivalent rate while he was away doing your duty. If any man considered himself to be exempt, for whatever reasons, from militia duties, he would have to appear before the courts and plead his case.
A notice published by the Constable stated: ‘Take notice that on Monday the 28th February next at the Court House Rotherham the hour 11 in the forenoon is appointed for hearing appeals within the sub division by persons claiming to be exempt from the Militia. No appeals will afterwards be received.’ John Wood Constable Swinton.
The Constables other jobs included organising people for juries and two ‘hue and cries’ a year. For a hue and cry the constable would need help as it consisted of going through the town at night rounding up any tramps and vagabonds and taking them before the magistrate the next day.
There exists a bill for 11 shillings in the Constables Accounts Book to cover the cost of 200 printed papers ‘To prohibit gleaning of fields before the owners allowed it’. These were to be distributed around the Swinton Township.
Two Overseers of the Poor were elected; usually the Overseers were also Churchwardens. The Overseers would pay the wives of the serving Militia men a weekly sum, with an additional amount for each child, this money was then recovered annually from the government through the Register General.
The Overseers also paid relief, on request, to labourers and the poor, and people who could not work due to ill health, old age or infirmity; it seems that they invariably refused the first request. The applicant then applied to the local J.P. and swore on oath that he and his family were in need of help, the J.P. then summoned the Overseer, and the applicant concerned to his office, to deliberate and instruct the Overseer by a Warrant on a course of action. This relief could be for rent, medical bills, coal, clothes, or shoes. If anyone requiring aid was not a proven member of the Township either by birth or settlement rules, the town of their origin must cover the relief. If this payment was not forthcoming the person and their family were transported back to their town of origin on the orders of the magistrates and that town was then billed for the cost of the journey, or they could just wander off with the magistrates pass to get them through towns and villages making their own way back.
At this particular time Swinton preferred to look after the Township poor in their own homes. The Township had a number of poor houses rented from the Earl Fitzwilliam Estate; the rent for these poor houses was paid from the poor rate annually. Numerous other people of the town let houses to the poor, the rents for these varied between one and two guineas per year, this was also paid annually from the poor rate. Some of this money was reclaimed weekly from the tenants. If a Township working man had no employment or only part time work with insufficient money to keep his family the Overseers could find him work, this was mainly on the roads and the river.
Another job the Overseers paid for was ‘the killing of sparrows’, the pay for this was from the Constable’s account. In July and August of 1827 the bill for sparrows was five shillings and four pence each month. Before payment was made the heads of the demised sparrows had to be produced and a price of six pence per dozen was paid.
In Feb1795 the price of barley and corn became so high that a committee of twelve was formed in Swinton and collectors appointed to form a fund to buy oats or oatmeal and potatoes to be sold on at a subsidised rate ‘to the poor and labourers of Swinton or great hardship and suffering will fall upon them’. The highest subscriber was Earl Fitzwilliam’s agent who donated ten guineas, John Cooke gave seven guineas and Joseph Wood gave three guineas, the amounts then varied down to Widow Jackson who gave two and sixpence. A good sum was collected and ninety eight families were assisted with varying amounts depending on each family size. William and Mary Oliver had four children at this time and bought at least two stones of oatmeal at the reduced price. The main supplier of the oatmeal made a further gesture by only charging the committee half price for the oatmeal supplied. This supplier was also one of the biggest employers in Swinton Town and starving workmen would be no good to him, it also saved him paying higher wages on a regular basis to cover the increased cost of the oatmeal.
In Swinton the people who checked the books monthly were the higher rate payers, they kept a tight reign on the Overseers spending in order to keep down the rates for the following year.
All the above events in the township of Swinton were presided over by two Justices of the Peace, they themselves being appointed by the West Riding of Yorkshire, these Justices had the final say on appointments of the above positions which when made could not be refused. The well off appointees sometimes employed an agent to do the work for them.
The township of Swinton had a Chapel of Ease and was served by the parish church of All Saints at Wath Upon Dearne until Swinton had their own church, St Margaret’s built in the early 1800’s. John Lowe was the Curate at the Chapel of Ease (before St Margaret’s was built) he was also a local Justice of the Peace, an important man on both counts. It was the records that he kept through his work as a J.P. that has gives an insight into the way the people lived and worked from about 1795 until 1836.
Such information enabled Alec and Mary to discover another generation of Olivers. The Curates son, also named John Lowe, followed his father into the same job. The Lowe family must have been quite well off; twice they gave large sums of money to Swinton Church and also a gift of land, the income from which was used to increase the Curates Stipend.
Most of the above information they obtained through reading the surviving Overseers Account Books and Constables Account Book. The affairs of Swinton seemed to be well ordered. The Overseers were very careful but they were fair. Accounts from other small towns during this same period also seemed reasonable but after reading showed the poor and labourers of Doncaster and Sheffield were treated Alec stated he is proud that his father was a founder of the area branch of a Trade Union helping to improve working conditions. Overseers of some towns penalised families who would not allow them to send unlimited pauper apprentices to the Mill owners of West Yorkshire, where they were used as little more than slaves. Often having no homes to live in they slept in the mills where they worked, tied by magistrate’s orders until they were twenty one.
One statement by a Mill Owner reads: “due to a shortage of work the daily hours will be reduced to twelve from fourteen and wages reduced accordingly”.
The overseers were paid a lump sum by the Mill Owners for each apprentice sent. The J.P.s from these towns must have been in collusion as they were required to authorize the Apprentice Indentures.
The following is an extract from an article on the Poor Laws:
The Relief of Poverty after 1834 by Marjie Bloy
19th-century society was poor by modern standards. Most members of the working classes were likely to be in poverty at some point in their lives because of unemployment, sickness, old age and so on. They had to rely on their children, friends or credit for support in times of hardship. The contemporary attitude was that this was right and proper, because it encouraged the poor to work.
Poverty was not seen as a social problem: destitution was felt to be the result of character weakness. This attitude led to the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. It was believed that those in dire need would accept the workhouse. However, the alleged demoralising effects of the old Poor Law were not as bad as they were made out to be.
The new Poor Law was seen as the final solution to the problem of pauperism, which would work wonders for the moral character of the working man, but it did not provide any such solution. It improved neither the material nor moral condition of the working class. The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act was ruthlessly and efficiently enforced in rural southern England as soon as it was passed, and was exceedingly unpopular. It was not implemented in the north until later and then only after much opposition.
It seems to be a law of nature," wrote Joseph Townshend, "that there may always be some to fulfil the most servile, the most wretched and the most ignoble work in the community. ... When hunger is either felt or feared the desire of obtaining bread will quickly dispose the mind to undergo the greatest hardships and will sweeten the severest labours." Poor workers were thus highly valued on the condition that their poverty could be converted into profitable employment.
Swinton was later compelled by Law to use the Workhouse System.
The Early Census Years
Fortunately for Alec and Mary, when looking at the early census returns for 1801, 1821 and 1831 the Overseers of the Township of Swinton went further than requested. They drew up their census lists with the head of each household named, perhaps to help them in their calculations, and from this information they discovered Oliver family members.
They wish to note that most of the ancestors signed their name with a mark, usually a cross. Because of this illiteracy when the census enumerator or the priest or Constable requested their name it is the requesters interpretation of the name that is written and we see that one vicar spells Oliver as Olive and sometimes as Olliver while another might spell a member of the same family Olivar so don’t think variations of the name are different families. Other means have to be used to prove members of a family.
Below is an example of a Settlement Certificate for William Oliver (1757 - 1842)
WILLIAM OLIVER was born around 1757 although the exact place or exact date of his birth or baptism are not given. They were calculated according to records and lists bearing his age. His parents are not known and it is not known if he had any siblings. Nothing is known of his life before he married Mary Turner at Wickersley Church on the 16th of September 1782. To the generation of Olivers in this document, he is their great great great grandfather. My nephews and niece Simon, Ruth, Martin and Robin can add another great.
The Wickersley Parish Church Record for the marriage of William Oliver and Mary Turner shows both William and Mary signed with a mark. It is thus far established that William and Mary had seven children:
William baptised at Wickersley Church on 10th August 1784
John baptised at Wickersley Church on 11th April 1787
Christopher born about 1791 or 1792 (militia list evidence of approximate year of birth)
George buried, aged one month, at Wath upon Dearne on 10 February 1793
Mary Ann baptised at Wath upon Dearne on 25 September 1795,
George A boy born about March 1800, evidence from J.P. notes (our direct line ancestor)
Elizabeth born on or about the 5 January 1804, evidence from Mary Kemp’s bill.
No baptism or date of birth for some of the children is found however their existence is evident in relief bills and statements written in the Swinton Overseers Accounts Books.
Throughout his life William stated that he was a tailor by trade; this obviously did not always fully occupy him as we see that in the winter of 1798 - 99 he is paid one shilling a day for work done for the Highway Overseer. William’s father-in-law, Edward Turner, was also a tailor and could have been his tutor. William had periods when he did not appear on the town books, probably because he was fully employed tailoring. Neither he nor his son John appeared on the books around harvest times because there would have been plenty of work available for everyone. At one time William was paid for guarding a ‘William Cliffe’ but no reason was given as to why he had to guard him.
There is a copy of a receipt dated 28 June 1805 for 2s.4d ‘Payment for a Waist Coat made by William and supplied to Stones Store’.
The eldest son, young William (1784), gave his job as cordwainer (a leather worker) on the Militia list of 1803, the only list with him on so far. He must therefore have left Swinton before the 1804 Militia List was taken. It is known that he moved to Wombwell where he married Elizabeth Foulstone in 1807 and started his family. He had nine children. Alec and Mary tried to pursue every last living relative - and I have found Foulstones in America who are related. Their searching is quite thorough and exhaustive, and indeed no other branch seem to get any further back than the older William.
The second son, John (1787) gave his job as a labourer; he was described by Joseph Wood, an Overseer in 1799, as ‘Wm. Olive’s Blind boy’ (see below) and was in receipt of two shillings a week relief which he would earn by doing work for the Township. John was maintained by his father but often there seemed to be little or no tailoring work available because both William and his son John were employed and paid by the Overseers on many occasions. First John would appear on the Town accounts then a day or so later Williams name would appear. For a full days work during the 1820s William was paid one shilling and eight pence and John was paid two shillings. John was always paired with someone when working, probably because of his poor sight. We are unable to establish whether John was totally blind or just partially sighted. Some Overseers marked the pay down as relief some marked it as work done. Occasionally we saw accounts where a contractor had done work on the highway and William and John were then employed by the contractor. William was also employed as a ‘banker’, a term referring to one who worked on hedging and ditching. Sometimes William and John were provided with a shirt or shoes or coals as part of their wages.
John married Elizabeth England at Wath on Dearne Parish Church the 21st of November 1809 and continued to live in Swinton. Elizabeth England wrote her name on their marriage record John put his mark. After the birth of their daughter Ann they had a period living in Mexborough where they had four more children. Parish Records are not found for the birth or baptism of all their children thus far. John was marked as exempt on the militia lists because of his sight and because he had children. When he could not work, due to illness, John had periods on relief. On one occasion in 1820 when he contracted a debt during illness, this was ordered to be paid for him by the Vestry Committee. On another occasion it would appear that the Overseer had turned down John for relief because soon afterwards the Overseer wrote in his account book that he had to give John work ‘on the orders of Mr Lowe the J.P’. After this order and until the illness leading to his death John had fairly regular employment on the roads with the Township. This would mainly be consolidating hardcore by means of a tool consisting of a piece of heavy flat iron on the end of a pole. A job a blind man would be able to do. After John’s death in 1823 at the age of thirty six, his wife Elizabeth was paid relief from the poor rates. We saw occasional bills for payments made to Elizabeth and William’s wife Mary for duties done for the town, such as sitting in with expecting mothers or attending old people. Elizabeth was known as Betty Oliver on many of the documents after her husband’s death.
Wives were not normally named and were always referred to as ‘the wife of…………………………’ and their children were usually listed as ‘the son or daughter of…………………………’ it was only after their husbands death that women were referred to by name.
Christopher (1792) and Mary Ann (1795) were indentured as pauper apprentices to the Foster and Scorah families in 1801 and 1800 respectively, to live with and work for them. A copy of Christopher’s Apprentice Indenture which was authorised in 1801 by the J.P.s. is included here edit.
On the Militia list of 1817 Christopher was described as aged twenty four years with one child. As yet there is no record of his baptism ; he is on the Militia list again in 1818, still with one child, we know he left Swinton. He was later found on the 1841 census living in Sheffield with his family who can be followed to 1911. He describes himself a Warehouse Man and has his own business dealing in scrap iron and rags, he has two houses at Barkers Pool and appears in Whites Trade Directories.
Christopher married Mary Ann Lewis Marshman at Bath St James in 1815. His first child William was baptised at Sheffield when aged 20 just before he married.
Mary terminated her apprenticeship by marrying Lawrence Bullough in 1812; Lawrence was born at Oulton, near Woodlesford, in the Leeds area. They had two children, a son called Benjamin born in 1814 and a second child (name unknown) around about the time Lawrence died in 1819. Lawrence was unable to work due to poor health a few times during their married life and his relief was paid by Oulton Overseers but only after a few wrangling`s between the Oulton and Swinton Overseers, he was about thirty when he died. Mary Ann, now a widow, had to work to bring up her children. Once, when she was not fully employed, Swinton asked the Oulton Overseers for extra relief for her children and Oulton awarded her three shillings a week. This was later increased to four shillings, again at the request of the Swinton Overseer.
There were two other Bullough families living in Swinton at this time, employed as pottery painters, Joseph mentioned in 1796 at Swinton Pottery and James in 1809 in The Rockingham Pottery History. Alec and Mary suspect that these Bulloughs were related to Lawrence, who also came from Oulton near Leeds.
George Oliver was born in the early months of 1800. Our direct blood line, he is a bit of an enigma. His existence is ascertained from reading the Overseers account books and the various lists, bills and receipts that were left by the J.P. John Lowe, but it took Alec and Mary quite some time to conclusively prove that he was actually William’s son. A more detailed account of his life is included later.
Evidence was found for William and Mary’s youngest daughter Elizabeth, or at least her probable birth, whilst Alec and Mary were researching at Doncaster Archives. They did not find her baptism but did find a bill that was presented for payment by Mary Kemp to the Overseers of Swinton, it concerned Mary Kemps ‘attendance’ on some of the women of Swinton at varying dates in the year and on the bill was a request for seven shillings ‘for attending William Oliver’s wife on 5 January 1804’. Mary Kemp’s father was a local Swinton Publican and Mary was the attendant at many of the townships childbirths; Swinton’s midwife at that time.
In Mary Kemps bill for 1804, the second line reads ‘January 5th for attendance on William Olive wife’. This is the approximate date of Elizabeth’s birth. Williams’s wife Mary was now forty seven years of age.
When she was 19 years old Elizabeth had an illegitimate son. In the Parish records of St Margaret’s Church Swinton it states that a child named Henry Oliver was baptised on the 27th of July 1823 and that the mother’s name was Elizabeth Oliver (of Swinton); Elizabeth took out a Bastardy Order against the father, who lived in Wath. She probably had to do this to obtain relief and to enable the Swinton Overseers to recover the costs of the child’s birth, and her keep while “lying in”. This would also ensure that Henry Oliver was a responsibility of Wath on Dearne and not Swinton.
The following is an extract from the court hearing of the Order
... Elizabeth……. “took oath in the presence of the J.P. on the 5th day of May in the year of our Lord 1823 that William Mawson of Wath did beget the bastard child on the body of her, the said Elizabeth Oliver”. William Mawson was ordered ………….“ to pay 30 shillings to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of Swinton for and towards the lying in of the said Elizabeth Oliver and the maintenance of the bastard child and shall likewise pay the Overseers the sum of two shillings weekly and every week from the present time so long as the child is chargeable to the Township and also William Mawson do pay to the Overseers of Swinton ten shillings and sixpence to the costs of making this order and also the said Elizabeth Oliver shall pay to the Overseers for the time being one shilling weekly and every week while ever the child is chargeable”.
Elizabeth brought up her child without further claim on the Parish. The child died aged ten in 1834. The bill for his coffin, made by William Shaw, was twelve shillings; the funeral costs were four shillings after discount. This was paid to John Mann who was Sexton as well as Parish Clerk. Incidentally John Mann fell from the Church roof while doing repairs and died, he was the first person to be buried in the new Swinton Parish Churchyard.
The funeral expenses for Elizabeth’s son Henry edit
Alec and Mary’s conclusion that William (1757) is George’s father and my ancestor is based on a number of facts. Firstly - in three of the first four censuses of Swinton (1801, 1821 and 1831) the family surnames were recorded - not just the number of persons in each township, which was at that time which had been the only civil requirement. Only one Oliver family is recorded as living in Swinton in 1801 and the head of the family was named as William Oliver. Secondly - medical bills exist for some of William Oliver’s children and one specifically mentions a child named George.
Thirdly - there is a J.P.s order dated 24th March 1800, on the back of which the J.P. writes his deliberations. This lists William’s family , the last member being a boy one week old. Census evidence already existed pointing to the birth year of George as being 1800.
Finally – the deciding factor is a J.P.s order to give a relief payment to the Oliver family. Here. the J.P. has written that the Overseers must ……. “pay William Oliver of Swinton, his son George being now ill”. George was living at home and would have been helping to maintain his parents, who were now both over 60years old. George was taken ill and could not work so the elderly couple asked the overseers for help until George could get back to work. Written evidence shows that William lived in Brookfield Cottage Swinton and when his son George married Ann Gregson around 1826 they also lived in the cottage with William and Mary.
William’s wife Mary died in 1840 aged eighty three, cause of death, old age; she was buried on the 10th of June 1840 in Swinton churchyard. The informant of her death was Joseph Oliver who was George and Ann’s eldest son. Joseph is termed an inmate, which can mislead with the impression of someone in prison or the workhouse. However the term inmate used on official documents at these times means a person living in the house of the same family.
An example is shown here:-
A Militia List made out by John Brameld of the males in his household;
Names Description Age Children Exempt Grounds for
Wm. Brameld Inmate 34 none exempt volunteer
Th. Brameld Inmate 22 ditto ditto ditto
F. Garfit servant 26 ditto ditto ditto
W. Shaw apprentice 18 ditto ditto ditto.
On the 1841 census, in the year after his wife’s death, William, the tailor, is living in the house of Thomas Shaw. Thomas Shaw’s house was next door to the Sportsman Inn at Swinton. Just a few hundred yards down the road son George now lived in William’s old cottage. Alec fancifully notes that perhaps William sometimes popped home for his dinner. Also that William probably moved into Thomas Shaw’s house due to the increase in George’s family or for a bit of piece and quiet away from the grandchildren; or was it because it was handy next to the pub. He would still be totally dependant on his children. It is here in the home of Thomas Shaw that William died aged eighty five years he was buried in Swinton Churchyard on the 13 July 1842.
N.B. The Swinton rate book in 1852 (see below) edit gives William Oliver’s name as the occupier of Brookfield Cottage but we know that William is dead and that George is living there with his wife Ann and their children.
Copies of William and Mary Oliver’s death certificates edit
below needs editing
Wickersley Parish Register for 1874
Showing young Williams Baptism on August 10th, halfway down the page 14
Wickersley Parish Register for 1787
Showing Johns Baptism on April 11th at the top of the page
Wickersley was Mary Turners’ home town and had its own parish church; We do not know where William and Mary were living when they were married in 1782 or at the time the two eldest children 15
were baptised and the above register evidence does not mean that they were living in Wickersley, but they could have been, many newly weds lived with in-laws during the early years of their marriage.
In 1801 Wickersley contained fifty seven houses with sixty three families; its total population was 270 persons of whom 136 were male and 134 were female. Fifty persons were employed in agriculture and forty seven were employed as stone masons or mechanics.
Wickersley masons quarried soft stone to make grinding wheels up to eight feet in diameter (2.5 meters) for tool sharpening, many of these were sold for overseas use and of course many more were used in the Sheffield Cutlery industry.
There were two Turner families living in Wickersley at this time and two Mary Turners, Mary’s ancestors can be traced back to the early 1600s using Bishops Transcripts of the town registers. We also noted recently in a copy of these registers that Mary Turner had an illegitimate son christened Samuel on the 22nd of July 1782 two months before she married William. Samuel is not mentioned again in the records of William and Mary’s family. He may have been brought up as Samuel Turner or could have died in infancy.
N.B. Much later we discovered a Christopher Oliver aged 50, his wife Mary Ann, who was born in London, they were living in Sheffield in 1841 with their sons William, Christopher, John, Robert and daughter Mary. William was born at Swinton in 1817, noted by a later census; we also proved he was Christopher’s son by obtaining his marriage certificate. William and Brother Robert later became Blade factory Managers. William married Caroline Green in 1839 they had a son called William, Caroline died in 1861 and William remarried a widow called Jane Birks and had another son, with the unusual name of Marshman as a Christian name, who initially was a silversmith but later became the Sheffield Empire Hall and Billiard Saloon Proprietor.
Williams son John, Christopher’s grandson married Maria Marshal Taylor from Cadeby and initially lived in Sheffield where their first three children were born, later they moved to Swinton and had a son named Francis Robert who became an Optician and Herbalist, he married Myra a girl from Tipton Staffs, his first business was in Queen Street they then moved to Lancashire, their first son Francis Robert was born in Accrington, in 1901(census) they had a business and lived at 11 Lady Street Coldhurst near Oldham with sons Francis Robert aged four and Gordon aged two. They returned to Swinton living at thirty six Brookfield Avenue. Myra died aged thirty one in August 1901, Francis moved to eight Broomville Street to live near his widowed mother moving into her house when she died. Francis died aged seventy in Rotherham hospital in 1937.
After Christopher died his widow Mary Ann was named in the 1852 Sheffield Whites Directory as a Rag and Scrap Dealer living at 100 Barkers Pool. Previous to his death Christopher had been described as an Ironmonger and a Warehouseman working for himself.
Blind Johns’ daughter Anne married Henry Grayson and had five children Tom 1841, John H 1842, Sarah A 1845, William 1846 and Lucy 1861 all born in Sheffield and in 1851 lived at Two Court Headfoot Street with her sister Sarah.
We found Johns child Thomas on the 1841 Census, working in Sheffield as a blade cutter, lodging with Thomas Barnes at Broom Spring Lane, in 1851 he was married to Sarah and lived at 182 Eyre Street Sheffield.
This concludes for now the story of William and Mary. Next up Great Great Grandfather George.
Thanks to the girls at Doncaster Archives for cheerfully helping with our requests and instructing us on the systems in use.
At the Palgrave DFHS
Thanks to the volunteer helpers, the friendly chats over numerous cups of coffee and to Kay for her smile of greeting and a cuddle to keep me going.
Thanks to Peter Mosley my mate (sadly passed away Nov 2007) a mine of information on all aspects of family history, he had the knack of pointing us in the correct direction and a joke for all occasions.
Thanks to Les, John, Carol, Pat, Ann and all the rest of the Wednesday crew, a lovely bunch.
Alec Oliver
Yes there are loads of frustrations and pitfalls doing own genealogical research and iI agree its sooh annoying to look at an ancestry family tree and then realise, after you've investigated it that it was, hopefully unintentionally completely or partially wrong
I don't think you,ll have seen my name on a poetry forum, as I've never posted any poetry
My surname is originally from East Yorkshire and not many of us about, but there are other variations of it, with slightly different spelling.So we Wastlings are either from East Yorkshire or Wastlings from elsewhere are usually cousins The surname is supposed to have been Wazo or Wascelinus originally and was said to mean Little dragon in Anglo Saxon or Norman Much as I adore being a little dragon I presume the original name was altered as dragon in Anglo-Saxon is Draca and Dragoun in Norman I think
My dad had a cousin Richard Wastling who was heavily involved in local folk music and his wife Jean is in the White horse ceilidh band and had written a memoir about her childhood, I believe
Also I have a distant cousin, though he like Richard is sadly deceased, called Clint Wastling and he wrote stories and poetry,so you may have come across one of them.
Thank you for this.
I very much appreciate you sharing this part of your family history in this post. There was lots of interesting information in it. I have been interested in Genealogy for years ,not just my own but other peoples because there are 1000s of people to meet all with their stories to tell and I love how people are so interconnected.
However, I don't know if exposure to the past requires you to be a little emotionally detached .The hope is your investigations will find your ancestors healthy and hearty, jolly yeomen or pearly kings or even the Lord of the Manor.
Unfortunately you often find poverty or illness and then the sheer heartbreak of the entries in the parish registers of the many deaths of babies and little ones . Even though you try not to get upset, even if they lived many years ago you've got to know them,. They are your family and you want them to have had the best of lives.
However painful it might be you get drawn in Family history like a drug, you want to find out more and more, go back further and further. to ancient times ,to the Stone age. You know this isn't possible but now nothing can stop you .
After that I will once again say thank you for this. I'm not sure if you are interested but a cordwainer not just works with leather but makes shoes,as opposed to a cobbler who mends them.Its quite a common occupation to come across in the census and even warranted its own Worshipful Guild.
I don't know about anyone else but have always found something rather thrilling about Medieval Worshipful Guilds ,but I digress
By the way I live near Hull and my parents friends who have lived at a farm nearby for many years are called Oliver.