I have been trying to round out the family of my 3 x great grandparents William Harbidge Sheaf and Mary Tomes Holland but have for a long time been unable to track down one of their younger daughters, Elizabeth. I have already written about her brothers Charles Holland Sheaf and Jamaica George and of course the youngest family member Great Aunt Lou. I find this family particularly interesting as I am descended from two of the siblings, Jamaica George and Thomas Holland Sheaf. In the last week I have discovered the whereabouts of Elizabeth and found that her story is inextricably entwined with that of her slightly older sister Mary Temperance Sheaf.
Mary Temperance was born in 1819 and christened at Bidford on Avon. Elizabeth was born about 1825 but I have not been able to find any baptism records for her. At the time of the 1841 census both girls were still living at home, on the family farm at Bickmarsh, no doubt helping out in the house and looking after their younger siblings. By this stage their father had tragically drowned so their mother was managing quite a substantial farming enterprise.
In October 1841 Mary married a young fellow called James Price who hailed from Bushley about 20 miles away. For the first few years of their married life they were in the Welford on Avon district where they had 4 children; William Henry, Emily Martha, Timothy and Mary Jane. Some time between 1846 and 1851 they moved to Birmingham where James worked as a Corn Factor - a trader in grains. In about October 1852 another daughter was born, Fanny Elizabeth however Mary died shortly afterwards. Fanny's birth was registered in 1852 but she wasn't christened until 1854.
During this time, Elizabeth seems to have been working away from home in Cold Overton, Leicestershire as a matron in a girls orphanage. Certainly this is the most likely entry in the 1851 census.
What happened in the next couple of years is unsure, but in 1858 Elizabeth and James Price registered their marriage in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. Elizabeth's next younger sibling Samuel was also in Wales working as a banker, so he may have been the reason they ended up there. I can only assume that at some stage Elizabeth had been called upon to help James with his young family of five following the death of their mother.
In 1861 the family are still in Wales, at Llanfoist also in Monmouthshire. James is a farm agent and has a farm of about 148 acres. Young Timothy and Fanny Elizabeth are still living with them. Sometime during the next 10 years James dies as he does not appear to be in the 1871 census and Elizabeth has moved back to her home territory and is living in Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire. Emily and Fanny are living with her and they are running a small Governess School with at least 5 children boarding with them. Elizabeth describes herself as widowed.
Elizabeth and Fanny are still living there in 1881 but Elizabeth appears to have retired and calls herself a "superannuated governess." The entry for Fanny is not so easy to read but it appears to be "invalided governess" so presumably her health was not good. They are the only househoulders - there are no boarding children and no other staff.
I am sure that Elizabeth died sometime between the 1881 and 1891 census although I have not yet confirmed this through the records other than by her absence in the census. By 1891 Fanny has moved back to Wales and was living in Blaenevon with her older sister Mary Jane and her husband Edward Saunders.
Goodness knows whether Elizabeth found happiness in her marriage to James but I like to believe she found happiness and satisfaction in raising her sister's children. In every census during the time they are together she is described as their mother, not their step-mother and their relationships continued long into their adult lives. From a very young age she had responsibility for nurturing children who were not her own - her younger siblings, the orphanage girls, her sister's children and finally her young pupils. She accepted these challenges and ended up molding an independent life for herself.
Showing posts with label Bidford on Avon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bidford on Avon. Show all posts
Friday, 7 October 2016
Friday, 5 February 2016
#5 William Harbidge Sheaf - A Melancholy Accident.
Melancholy Accident...so reads a small headline in an 1837 issue of an English newspaper. When I first started investigating the Sheaf family history I came across a small footnote on a family tree sent to me by Ian Tomes in England that simply said "drowned in Weston Lock". Although I looked long and hard for some evidence of this, I was unable to find out what had precipitated the sudden death of William Harbidge Sheaf, my 3x great grandfather, in 1837. Thanks to the wonders of the internet and the intervention of a lovely lady in Wales I finally have access to a contemporary account of what happened to him and have been able to solve several small research mysteries in the process.
William was born in Bidford on Avon in about 1790 and baptised on the 7th of April of that year. In 1813 he married Mary Tomes Holland of Mickleton and they embarked on making a family of 11 children, at least 8 of whom were still alive at the time of their father's death. If you have been following the blog to date you might remember that William and Mary were the parents of 'Great Aunt Lou' and the young Charles Holland Sheaf of previous posts.
William and Mary were farming in the Bickmarsh area near Bidford on Avon. As well as their farming and family responsibilities, William had other community roles. In 1827 for instance he was Surveyor of the Highways for Bickmarsh. A 1691 Parliamentary Act legislated for each parish to appoint a Surveyor of Highways or 'Waywarden', under the jurisdiction of the Justices and County Quarter Sessions. The person nominated would be served with a warrant by the Parish Constable confirming his appointment for the coming year. Acceptance was compulsory!
According to one website, his first task would have been to take over any balance of money from his predecessor and become acquainted with on-going works. Three times a year, at least, "he had to view all the roads, byways, water courses and pavements within his precinct and make presentation upon oath in what condition he finds same, to the next Justices".
It was a requirement that owners of land adjacent to the highway clear their ways of any timber, stones or other obstructions and cleanse and scour the adjoining gutters and drains. Overhanging growth and hedges had to be cleared in order that "from one end of the parish to the other there might be a clear passage for travellers and carriages" and "that the sun may shine onto the ways to dry same".
At all times he had to look out for "and waylay any waggons, wains or carts etc. that are not drawn by the statutory number of oxen or horses". The very next Sunday after discovering any default or annoyance, he was required to stand up in the parish church, after the sermon, and proclaim any offender in order that they may be prosecuted. Now that would add a little something to the Sunday worship!
There was also the organising of six days of the year when parishioners were 'recruited' to provide Statute Labour, with horses, carts and all necessary tools, to undertake highway repair. Statute Labour Duty is defined as the amount of labour or works of public utility formerly required by Statute to be perfomed by residents of the district. In addition there was the disagreeable duty of reporting any defaulter to the justices.
If all this was not enough, the person nominated as Surveyor, who could be fined for refusing to accept office, might himself be penalised a sum of forty shillings for any default or neglect of his duty.
It would perhaps have been a fitting irony if William had met his accidental death on the highways. It was however the river Avon that was to be his nemesis. According to a newspaper of the time he was returning home on the evening of February 17th, on foot, from Stratford market. When he got to the river crossing near Luddington the boatman was nowhere to be found, so William rowed himself across the river to the other side. It is supposed that in endeavouring to step out of the boat at the far side a jolt or bump threw him backwards out of the boat and into the water. His hat and stick were found in the boat and his body was found the next day very near to the boat crossing place.
According to the newspaper he left "a wife and nine children, together with a large circle of relatives and friends to mourn the irreparable loss of a good husband, an affectionate father and a strictly honest man."
William was buried in the churchyard at Dorsington where his memorial stone simply proclaims "Sacred to the memory of William Sheaf, late of Bickmarsh, who departed this life February 17th 1837 aged 48 years".
William was born in Bidford on Avon in about 1790 and baptised on the 7th of April of that year. In 1813 he married Mary Tomes Holland of Mickleton and they embarked on making a family of 11 children, at least 8 of whom were still alive at the time of their father's death. If you have been following the blog to date you might remember that William and Mary were the parents of 'Great Aunt Lou' and the young Charles Holland Sheaf of previous posts.
William and Mary were farming in the Bickmarsh area near Bidford on Avon. As well as their farming and family responsibilities, William had other community roles. In 1827 for instance he was Surveyor of the Highways for Bickmarsh. A 1691 Parliamentary Act legislated for each parish to appoint a Surveyor of Highways or 'Waywarden', under the jurisdiction of the Justices and County Quarter Sessions. The person nominated would be served with a warrant by the Parish Constable confirming his appointment for the coming year. Acceptance was compulsory!
According to one website, his first task would have been to take over any balance of money from his predecessor and become acquainted with on-going works. Three times a year, at least, "he had to view all the roads, byways, water courses and pavements within his precinct and make presentation upon oath in what condition he finds same, to the next Justices".
It was a requirement that owners of land adjacent to the highway clear their ways of any timber, stones or other obstructions and cleanse and scour the adjoining gutters and drains. Overhanging growth and hedges had to be cleared in order that "from one end of the parish to the other there might be a clear passage for travellers and carriages" and "that the sun may shine onto the ways to dry same".
At all times he had to look out for "and waylay any waggons, wains or carts etc. that are not drawn by the statutory number of oxen or horses". The very next Sunday after discovering any default or annoyance, he was required to stand up in the parish church, after the sermon, and proclaim any offender in order that they may be prosecuted. Now that would add a little something to the Sunday worship!
There was also the organising of six days of the year when parishioners were 'recruited' to provide Statute Labour, with horses, carts and all necessary tools, to undertake highway repair. Statute Labour Duty is defined as the amount of labour or works of public utility formerly required by Statute to be perfomed by residents of the district. In addition there was the disagreeable duty of reporting any defaulter to the justices.
If all this was not enough, the person nominated as Surveyor, who could be fined for refusing to accept office, might himself be penalised a sum of forty shillings for any default or neglect of his duty.
It would perhaps have been a fitting irony if William had met his accidental death on the highways. It was however the river Avon that was to be his nemesis. According to a newspaper of the time he was returning home on the evening of February 17th, on foot, from Stratford market. When he got to the river crossing near Luddington the boatman was nowhere to be found, so William rowed himself across the river to the other side. It is supposed that in endeavouring to step out of the boat at the far side a jolt or bump threw him backwards out of the boat and into the water. His hat and stick were found in the boat and his body was found the next day very near to the boat crossing place.
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| The river Avon at Luddington © Copyright David P Howard and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence |
William was buried in the churchyard at Dorsington where his memorial stone simply proclaims "Sacred to the memory of William Sheaf, late of Bickmarsh, who departed this life February 17th 1837 aged 48 years".
Thursday, 7 January 2016
#2 Emlin Holland - A Name for All Time.
When I first started looking at the family tree, this was a name that jumped out at me. I love the name Emlin - it seems romantic and slightly other worldly. I have never known anyone named Emlin and one of my research goals was to look at where this name might have come into the family.
Emlin Holland was baptised on 3rd June 1800 in the parish church of Mickleton in Gloucestershire. Her parents were Thomas Kemble Holland and Mary Tomes (my 4 x great-grandparents). She was one of 10 children and fell right in the middle of the family.
In 1816, she married Cotterell Corbett a tanner, at Church Honeybourne. They settled at Lichfield in Staffordshire where, in 1822, they began their own family. Their first child, named Emlin for her mother, only lived a few days but between 1823 and 1829, another five children were born; the last being another Emlin Holland to carry on the name.
In 1830 Cotterell Corbett died in Lichfield and was buried back at Lower Quinton where his branch of the family originated from. How Emlin managed for the next few years I am not sure, but in 1835 she married again, this time to a distant relative of Cotterell's; a farmer by the name of George Sheaf. George was a son of Samuel Sheaf and Sarah Harbidge and the older brother of Charles Sheaf from last week's post.
Between 1836 and 1842 Emlin and George had four sons, William, George, John Holland and Samuel. Along with some of the children from Emlin's first marriage, the family lived and worked on a farm at Marlcliff, near Bidford on Avon.
Emlin Holland was baptised on 3rd June 1800 in the parish church of Mickleton in Gloucestershire. Her parents were Thomas Kemble Holland and Mary Tomes (my 4 x great-grandparents). She was one of 10 children and fell right in the middle of the family.
In 1816, she married Cotterell Corbett a tanner, at Church Honeybourne. They settled at Lichfield in Staffordshire where, in 1822, they began their own family. Their first child, named Emlin for her mother, only lived a few days but between 1823 and 1829, another five children were born; the last being another Emlin Holland to carry on the name.
In 1830 Cotterell Corbett died in Lichfield and was buried back at Lower Quinton where his branch of the family originated from. How Emlin managed for the next few years I am not sure, but in 1835 she married again, this time to a distant relative of Cotterell's; a farmer by the name of George Sheaf. George was a son of Samuel Sheaf and Sarah Harbidge and the older brother of Charles Sheaf from last week's post.
Between 1836 and 1842 Emlin and George had four sons, William, George, John Holland and Samuel. Along with some of the children from Emlin's first marriage, the family lived and worked on a farm at Marlcliff, near Bidford on Avon.
In 1852, just before her death, this very early Ambrotype was made of Emlin. According to a distant family connection in England, in a letter to my Aunty Thea, it was taken in the front doorway of the farmhouse at Marlcliff.
He says " one can just see her key ring, which we still have, with her name on it - Emeline Corbett - Lichfield"
And as for the name Emlin, I have traced it back through her family line to Emlin Winchester, born abt 1612 in Ascott-Under-Wychwood in Oxfordshire; the sister of our direct ancestor Anne Winchester. It appears in various spellings as Emlin, Emlyn, Emeline, Emmaline and survived in the family naming traditions for 400 years!
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