#1 Charles Sheaf - Miller to Madness

The fascination of family research is not in the names and dates, but for me, the stories behind the facts. The story of Charles Sheaf, my 4x great-uncle is a perfect example.

Charles was the youngest son of my 4 x great grandparents Samuel Sheaf and Sarah Harbidge. He was baptised at Bidford on Avon in 1801. Curiously, his baptism is also recorded in the register, on the same date, in the church at Wolston in Warwickshire. The two parishes appear to have been sharing a clergyman who wanted to make sure he didn't miss a soul!

In 1825 Charles married a young woman called Mary Lunn. They were married in the parish of Norton and Lenchwick. In the next year, 1826, their first son Charles was born and baptised at Norton and Lenchwick. Charles senior was described as 'miller of Harvington Mill' in the baptism entry but sadly this same year, he was also declared a bankrupt ' dealer and chapman'. The business and all the families associated goods and chattels were put up for auction. How difficult this must have been for a young family embarking on their new life together, with the added pressure of a child to take care of.

By 1827, the family had moved to Hanley in Staffordshire, where 4 more boys were born, only one of whom survived past the age of 5. How Charles was supporting his growing family, I have not been able to find out; but in about 1834 the family moved again, this time to Birmingham where the family grew in size to include another son Robert and two daughters. The 1841 census has the family residing in Christ Church Passage in Birmingham and Charles is employed as a 'commercial agent.' Presumably this is some kind of salesman.
Between 1842 and 1846 four more children were added to the family, but then disaster struck.

Just a couple of months before the baptism of the last baby, Stephen Peter, Charles was admitted to a provincial lunatic asylum somewhere in Warwickshire, as a pauper. To compound the tragedy poor Mary died in 1849 and this young family was left effectively orphaned. In 1850 Charles was again admitted to an asylum, this time at Haydock Lodge in Lancashire and by the 1851 census, he had been moved to an asylum in Birmingham where he appears to stay until April 1855.

The children by this stage were scattered. Eldest son Charles had married in 1847 and by 1851 had established himself as a printer with a business in New St, Birmingham. In the 1851 census his younger brother Robert was living with him as an errand boy and his younger sister Sarah, who was about 12, was also living with him and was attending school. Samuel (born in Hanley abt 1829) was living with his uncle George Lunn at Fladbury and working with him as Assistant Miller. Margaret Mary was attending the Blue Coat School in Birmingham as a charity student and baby of the family Kezia was housed at the Wanstead Infants Orphan Asylum.

 By 1861 Charles, who must have somewhat recovered from his mental illness, was living in Birmingham where he was described as a 'visitor' in the home of Catherine Bishop a retired Laundress. Charles was listed a 'printer' but he was not working with his son Charles, who had by this time, moved back to Hanley in Staffordshire and was working as a printer there. Maybe Charles senior took over the Birmingham business, but it may also have been wishful thinking as the census shows his age as being dramatically understated by about 20 years! Margaret Mary and Kezia both joined their brother Samuel with Uncle George Lunn at Fladbury. Margaret worked as a dressmaker and Kezia as a nurserymaid.

In 1868 there are further signs of Charles' mental deterioration. He posts odd advertisements in Birmingham papers for a pamphlet called "Trial Trip or The Way to Heaven". He also posts a poignant request for tidings of his son Charles the printer and Samuel 'believed to be in distant lands. Samuel was actually very distant by this stage, having died in 1865. Charles senior calls himself the proprietor of the 'Birmingham Medicated Dispensary and physician to the Press". In 1869, he was remanded for causing a public nuisance in New St, Birmingham. This was near where his son Charles had once had his printing business. The Ari's Birmingham Gazette printed an article about his court hearing, with a partial transcript. It appears from this that the police and the courts in Birmingham were very familiar with Charles and his ramblings. He was remanded for several days until he was less "excited' and then released.

By the time the 1871 census came around, Charles had moved to Aston, where he described himself as a 'dealer in pens and pencils'. The last information I have managed to find about Charles is a death record for a Charles Sheaf in 1879 at Macclesfield in Cheshire. I have sent away for his death certificate to confirm my theory, but I suspect his death to have occurred at the Cheshire County Asylum; a not surprising end to this sad life.

Edited 16 Jan 2016:
I have now received the death certificate for poor Charles and he did indeed die at the County Lunatic Asylum, Parkside, Macclesfield on 12th July 1879. His cause of death is recorded as general senile decay and congestion of the lungs.