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Carly's great great grandparents
are mine, too!
I WRITE concerning a letter from Mrs
Carly McLure-Murray in February of this year,
"The canal boatman who became a grocer".
She begins with a
reference to her great-great-grandparents by the names of George
and Elizabeth Jacks (or Jacques). I read on with growing
excitement and astonishment (a) because they are MY
great-great-grandparents, too and (b) I had only identified
these names, possibly on the same census you referred to in your
reply, this very evening at our library in Torquay!
My paternal
grandfather, deceased long before I was born, was one Clement
Edgar Clarke who lived in Bunbury as a boy with younger brother
Cyril (another sibling or two may have followed) and their
parents John and Annie Clarke. As you observed, on at least one
census, mother-in-law Elizabeth Jacques is residing with them.
From this detail I assume that Annie's maiden name was Jacques
(or Jacks, as Carly gives as the earlier version).
As you say, grocer is
given as the head of house's occupation. I only came to be
dipping a toe into my paternal grandfather's family because I
took out of storage just yesterday a Complete Works of
Shakespeare with a dedication at the front and it got me
wondering about his early life and surroundings. (I only really
knew the place name Bunbury and where it was.)
It reads that the book was
given to my granddad by Lady Tollemache (would she have been at Peckforton Castle in those days?) for services as a pupil
teacher at "Tilstone School" - which I believe no longer exists
or, maybe, the building is a private residence? - at Christmas
1890.
His occupation ties in
with that given on the census when he was 16: teacher. He went
on to be a railwayman, working for some time at Crewe station,
alongside Jerome K. Jerome at one stage, I was told.
Later, Clement Edgar
worked as a clerk (true to his surname!) at Prestwich
(psychiatric) Asylum north of Manchester, and my own father,
John Kenneth Clarke, now deceased, grew up around Prestwich and
Whitefield. His father, Clement, was an accomplished organist,
playing for the asylum chapel and also the Freemasons. He
married another Jesse - Jesse or Jessica Rebecca Foulkes, my
paternal grandmother.
I feel sure this will
be of interest to Carly (Mrs McLure-Murray), just as I am
fascinated to read her letter on the site, especially with the
first 'hit' upon rather randomly Googling the name Annie
Jacques. Quite some coincidence. These things make life
interesting.
Heather Clemans, Torquay, Devon.
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The following question started with a letter to
Andrew Lamberton's Ask Andrew feature - after
the writer consulted
staff at Nantwich Library.
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Footballer Frank in my family record
Dear Andrew,
I
came up to Nantwich from Suffolk to investigate family connections.
From Census material I knew that Charles Chesworth lived at 7 King's
Lane around 1871. In 1891 he moved to 8 King's Lane! His son, Frank,
who played for Nantwich and later Stockport County, lived at 62 Beam
Street. Alas, both properties no longer exist.
I moved on to Acton where several Chesworths seem to have been born,
and I found two graves in the churchyard. They were those of George
Chesworth, born in Burland and died in 1857, and a John Chesworth,
son of George, who died 1855. I think both could be related to me.
This George seems to have a wife Maria, whereas the George I've been
tracing had a wife called Mary.
Confusion or a bureaucratic error?
The Nantwich Library staff were helpful, and in fact gave me your
details.
I
shall press on with my research and check my results from today
backwards rather than from the past to today.
John Chesworth (aged 80).
JULY 2010
The letter was passed to Paul, who was
able to help John. His detailed replies have been edited for space
reasons but John has received the full text:
John,
I have had a look
into some census records for you and come up with the following:
Frank Chesworth, born 1874, son of Charles, born 1840, and Mary
Blakemore, born 1840, married at St Mary's, Acton, between 1856 and
1860. I found a lot of siblings including Mary, born 1866.
In 1891, Mary has a daughter called Grace E, aged one, and is living
with her parents but the surname is Townsend for both of them. Grace
E Townsend married James D Clarke at St Mary's, Nantwich, in 1914.
Charles, born 1840, has a father George, born 1786, and a mother,
Elizabeth (possibly Fisher), born 1798, along with two brothers,
Henry, born 1821, and Samuel, born 1839. There's a bit of a gap in
the age of the children so it could be a second marriage. That, I
think, was Maria Johnson, born 1780 and died 1837, so she would be
the mother of Henry.
I think
George's parents may be George and Martha, but that is from another
researcher's records so it is only a guess.
As for
Frank, it looks like he married Selina Coventry between 1896 and
1899 at St Mary's, Acton.
From
1838
onwards, birth, marriage and death certificates can be searched on
www.cheshirebmd.org.uk.
About 1880 backwards, baptisms, marriage and burials from some
Cheshire parish churches can be found at
http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~cprdb/
l
Paul also looked in the
monumental
inscriptions book for Acton and was able to give John some further
information.
John replied:
Dear Paul
Many thanks for all your research
efforts. You are right, George does appear to have remarried. In
fact, I discovered the Maria Johnson side on a gravestone at St.
Mary's, Acton. Then, through Cheshire Tithe maps, George's
cottage in Burland was mentioned, and it appears to be still
there today, called Raven's Cottage.
So many people have
helped, and it was great to have come up to Cheshire for a few
days and get a feeling of one's past.
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I've come to
a standstill with my family tree
I'M trying to
get going on my family tree but have come to a standstill at a
certain stage. My mother, nee Ellen Woodcock, was born on June
12, 1907, at Stapeley. Her father, John Henry Woodcock,
and her mother, Agnes Woodcock, nee Hodgkinson, lived in London
Road. He worked at Newcastle Crossings on the railway.
I
do not know which Census to find them in, nor what birth
certificate to find, as I do not know their ages. I know my
mother had two or three brothers and sisters older than her.
I
hope you don't mind me asking for help as I'm trying to get
started and I saw your name on the "A Dabber's Nantwich"
website.
Thank you,
Ernie Edgley
MAY 2010
Paul replies:
OK, I have had a
look around at what is available for you.
As
far as birth, marriage and death certificates are concerned, you
can look on
www.cheshirebmd.org.uk.
This will only give you limited information because of the
100-year protection rule but you can apply for a copy of any
certificates you think may be correct. If you print off the
forms and fill in what you can, it can limit the incorrect ones
by saying such as “father must be Fred Bloggs”.
I
found the following:
Ellen Woodcock,
born 1907, Crewe registration district. Parents of Ellen: John
Henry Woodcock, born Nantwich 1879. Married Agnes Hodgkinson (on
the marriage certificate she is listed as Hodgkison) 1896-99 at
Wybunbury, St. Chad’s. Agnes Hodgkinson, born 1874/5. Henry died
1939; Agnes died 1949, aged 75.
There are four possible other children, if the above is correct,
born in Tarporley between 1877 and 1895.
Also in the
records is a
woman born in 1827 in Tiverton. In 1891, she is
recorded as a widow, aged 65, living with her brother in
Tiverton. She is listed as a pauper. It would be very easy for a
woman to fall into the pauper trap when she had lost her
husband.
If
I were you, I
would consider getting copies of Ellen’s and her parents' birth
and marriage certificates as some of this is a bit of guess work
on my part.
Certificates of marriage show
parents so that is a big help. Once you have this it would be a
good idea to go to the family history unit on a Monday, Tuesday,
or some Saturdays, at Crewe Library so that you can look at the
microfilms if they have them for the older records and you can
get other help there.
The Family
History Unit is run by the Crewe group of the Family History
Society of Cheshire and not Cheshire Libraries.
Details can be found at
www.fhsc.org.uk.
Look under FHSC Groups > Crewe group.
A
good on-line source where the parish has been done is the
Cheshire Parish Records at
http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~cprdb/. This
has the same details as you would find on a certificate and
covers the late 1800s back to the 1500s in some cases.
I
hope this is of help to you.
lFOOTNOTE:
Some of the family details Paul found have been omitted from his
reply here, but Ernie has received the full reply - Dabber.
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One of the blocks
of the former Barony Hospital
Was my relative born in
Alvaston
Hall?
JUST wondering if you can help? I've
been "doing the family tree" and would love to know the exact
birth place of a relative.
The birth
certificate shows: Reg Dist. Crewe; sub-dist, Nantwich. In the
"Where Born" column it says Alvaston 200 (1951).
We do know the
parents were travelling to RAF Cranage at the time. Do you think
this Alvaston 200 could be Alvaston Hall as I can't find any
other Alvaston in the area?
Many thanks,
Elaine Underhill
MAY 2010
Paul replies:
WELL, this is an
easy one for me. A birth in 1951 with that address would have
been in the maternity unit of the Barony Hospital.
"200 Alvaston" was at one time the Nantwich Poor Law Union
Workhouse, and the address
referred to
the complex as a whole. The workhouse itself was built
around 1780 with additions following later.
In
1879-80, to the west, a school and home for children was built
with a school and day rooms on the ground floor and dormitories
on the top floor (above). 1890-91 saw the addition of an infirmary to
the east of the workhouse (now Frederick House) and in 1903 a
women’s hospital was built, along with a Matron and Nurses'
Home.
So
in 1951, your relative would have been born in the former
children’s home and school or - if it was a difficult birth - in
the Matron and Nurses' Home.
More information and pictures can be found at
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Nantwich/Nantwich.shtml.
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The canal boatman who became a grocer
I
HAVE, for the past few months, enjoyed looking at the wonderful
"A Dabber's Nantwich" website and wonder if you could help me
with some research I am doing for my family tree?
My great, great grandparents, George and Elizabeth Jacks
(spelling changed to Jacques sometime between 1851 and
1861) lived in Nantwich for a number of years.
George was originally a canal boatman. He and Elizabeth
married on June 13th, 1843, at the Church of St John, Chester.
He was listed as being a Flatman, and their residence at the
time of their marriage was Canal Side, Chester.
The first indication I have of them living in Nantwich is in the
1851 Census when their residence appears to be Copthorne(?),
Audlem. Occupation, boatman. In 1861, their children Annie,
Thomas, Jessie, Reuben and George are listed.
In 1871, they are living in Barbridge, Nantwich. George is a
canal boatman with Reuben working on the canal telegraph. Annie
is a shopkeeper in the grocer's.
In the 1881 Census, George himself is listed as being a
grocer. I am presuming that being a small village that it is the
same shop his daughter worked in. He also appears in Kelly's
directory under the same profession.
However, neither the census nor the directory lists his address.
On his death certificate he was listed as a master grocer but,
again, there is no address! He died in 1890 so I'm assuming he
must have run the same shop for a number of years. I would love
to know where in Barbridge it was and if the dwelling still
exists.
The only clue I have is that on the census the dwelling above
the grocers is called Stoke Cottage. I have tried searching
Google and Cheshire tithe maps but, as there seem to be a number
of small dwellings around the Stoke Cottage area, I can't be
sure which, if any, would be the grocer's.
I have managed to obtain a copy of George's will dated July
1868. He leaves his wife and five children and a number of
cottages. Again, no addresses are shown but I presume they are
in the Nantwich area.
Would a man working on the canal, as he was in 1868, be able to
afford such a large property portfolio?
I am sorry for the rather lengthy email but wanted to give as
much information as I could. I would be thrilled if you could
help me fill in the blanks on this family.
Mrs Carly McLure-Murray, Wirral. FEBRUARY 2010
Paul replies:
IF you pass up
and down the census for 1881, you will see Stoke Manor, Mill
House and Stoke Bank.
Going on this I
would say it would have been in what is now the old Chester
Road, Barbridge.
The
1891 Census has Elizabeth living with her daughter, Annie
Clarke, and her husband, John, who is listed
as a grocer.
This address is
at the Wardle end of Barbridge.
Go
on to Google maps and look up Barbridge and then, on the
Nantwich Road, find the junction with Green Lane on the
left-hand side. Now look to the canal side of the road and you
will see a row of buildings (Google puts the marker for The
Jolly Tar pub over it). I think this is where the dwelling was.
In
total, the village had three shops so the above was one, and the
next one was on the other side of the road. If you move down to
the junction with Wardle Avenue, pass it, and the first one of
the row of cottages was a shop known as Ma’s in the 1940s.
The third was further down, on what is now the old Chester road,
where the bump in the canal is, with a red-topped boat on the
far side. Come back to the road and it was around there.
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