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The ‘Lost Hamlets’ of Rowley Regis

Rowley Regis was once a small ancient village on the top of a very high hill in South Staffordshire, now apparently absorbed seamlessly into the enveloping sprawl of the West Midlands conurbation. It has had several other municipal designations due to local Government re-organisations in the last century but historically, it was in South Staffordshire – that’s what it said on my school exercise books, so I know! The other, less defined, description is that Rowley Regis was in the Black Country, that nebulous area of industry, metal working, mining, quarrying and sheer hard work and where probably most of the population lived in what we would think of now as poverty.

Although Rowley Regis is an interesting name – yes, at one time, part of it was held by the King, possibly as a hunting area – by the 19^th century the village was of no particular note, the main industries in and around the village were quarrying the very hard ‘Rowley Rag’ stone from various quarries on the hill, mining and, above all, in Rowley itself, wrought iron hand nail making which was mostly carried out in small ‘shops’ at the back of houses, and involved whole families, men, women and children from about the age of six. The metal working skills of the local people and the plentiful supplies of the raw materials required meant that, as the Industrial Revolution progressed, hand nail and chain making fell into history and the metal working and myriad engineering skills gave rise to a vast landscape of heavy and polluting industry, canals, mines and brickworks.

I am a Rowley girl. I was born there, grew up and was educated there and lived there until I was eighteen. My parents and grandparents and many of their forebears were born there too and lived out their lives there. My mother told me stories about the area when I was growing up and I started my family history research in about 1980 and have been working on it ever since.

Retired after many years working in local government and now living in the West Country, during the first Covid lockdown I volunteered to transcribe parish registers at home from photographs for FreeREG, for Rowley Regis and Blackheath, the adjacent town which developed just down the road in the mid 19th Century, after the glebe lands belonging to the church were sold. This has included many non-conformist registers, which have never been available online previously.

Very quickly I noticed that many of the family names in those registers were familiar although some of them I had not come across for many years, since I moved away. But I had been at chapel and school with those names! It was also apparent from the Registers and from the various censuses that as well as the village proper, there were a number of hamlets on the edge of the village, some large and some small, and that families tended to stay within these hamlets or nearby. They appear to have been close-knit little communities. Some of my ancestors seemed to stay very firmly in and around the hamlets of Perry’s Lake, Gadds Green, Tipperty Green and Turners Hill, for example, which were very small settlements barely a mile from the village church and within half a mile of each other. Gradually as houses were built, new roads opened, transport improved and development spread, addresses were formalised and house numbers began to appear in the parish registers and censuses and some of the old names for the hamlets became less significant.

There is a very active and informative Facebook page about memories of Rowley Regis and Blackheath, the town. Recently one person asked on the Facebook page where Gadds Green was, because Poppy memorials were being placed near the homes of soldiers who had died in the First World War and one of those had come from Gadds Green. She couldn’t find any trace of it. I had not realised until then that quarrying had completely obliterated Gadds Green, and much of Perry’s Lake and the houses on Turners Hill – they only existed now on old maps. Other local names do not even appear on maps – there has been some animated discussion on the page about where a place called ‘Finger-i-the-hole’ was and most local people will never have heard of Blackberry Town, which appears in the 1841 census.

Several of the local historians using the page were able to tell the Facebook enquirer where Gadds Green had been. But it seemed a pity to me that these lost hamlets, home to so many of my ancestors, have not only physically disappeared but are now fading from local memory. Through my various researches and transcribing church registers and censuses, I have gathered quite a lot of information about these places, who lived there, who ran the shops and pubs, where people worked and worshipped and who married who.

So I have decided to create a One Place Study about these ‘lost hamlets’. My study will initially concentrate on the hamlets of Perry’s Lake, Gadd’s Green and Turner’s Hill, clustered to the North-West of the village centre, during the period 1840-1921, principally looking initially at censuses, parish registers , maps and what these can tell us about the people who lived there. The people and their lives are my main interest. I suspect that it will expand both geographically and in time period as particular information and resources come to hand. I will be posting to this site with new posts about aspects of life in the hamlets and will add maps and photographs in due course.

And by starting a One Place Study, now registered with the Society for One Place Studies, hopefully information about the people who lived in those ‘lost hamlets’ and in due course, others of the ‘lost hamlets’ can be preserved in a study where other people can also contribute their knowledge to it and where later researchers can find the answer to ‘Where was Gadd’s Green?’.

Families of the Lost Hamlets – The Alsops 7 – Mary Ann Alsop’s children Part 2 – Charles, Richard Henry, Thomas and Amelia Page Vaughan

This piece looks at the next four children of Mary Ann Alsop and William Vaughan, the remaining four will be in the next piece.

Charles Vaughan 1849-1912

The birth of Charles was registered in 1849 in West Bromwich Registration District, and later in life he gives his place of birth as Oldbury or Rounds Green. But he does not appear in the 1851 Census with the rest of the family and nor does Joseph Edward, the eldest child.

By 1851 the rest of the family were living at Handley Street, in Aston, Birmingham. With William aged 31 (shown as a garden tool maker, employing 11 men) and Mary Ann, in addition to their two younger sons William and Richard, is Richard Vaughan, aged 24, listed as Partner and brother of William. Only William James, aged 3 and Richard Henry, aged 3 weeks were with their parents who must recently have moved to Birmingham. I think that the two older children must have been staying with other family members to help Mary Ann, certainly Joseph Edward was staying in Tipton in 1851 with two of his Vaughan aunts but Charles is not listed with them.

But Charles who would only have been two in 1851 is nowhere to be found, either in 1851 or 1861. He is not with his family in those censuses. I cannot find him with any of his numerous aunts and uncles nor on a general search of the censuses. I cannot find a death for him in those early years, the rest of his siblings grow up in the family home but it seems not Charles.

I have gone through all the Charles Vaughans who were born within two years of 1851 in England and all the Charles Vaughans of that age who appear in the censuses and accounted for all the others, except him. Very frustrating and puzzling because the Vaughans at least were a pretty close family and I would have expected a baby and child of that age to be looked after within the family.

But then, just when I had concluded that he might have died in infancy, in the 1871 Census, a Charles Vaughan of the correct age appears, living at 1 Shut Lane which was near Moor Street, Birmingham. He was living with a widow Jemima Cooper, aged 52 who was head of the household but described herself as a House Keeper, and her daughter Sarah H Cooper, aged 22 who was apparently a Professor of Music. There was also a female general servant aged 25. And Charles and two other young men of a similar age (20, 23 and 23) all described as Assistants, though it is not clear to whom they were assistants. The House Keeper? The Professor of Music? Why would such a youthful Professor of Music require three young male assistants? I confess my mind boggles slightly… but nonetheless, it does appear that this might be the missing Charles.

And only three years later, this Charles married Emmeline Mary Lucinda Jeyes at St. Philip’s – Birmingham Cathedral now – but the parish church for part of the city – on 10 June 1874, giving his occupation as a hosier, (a dealer in knitted goods particularly stockings), his address as Aston Street and his father’s name as William James Vaughan, a Garden Tool Maker. No doubt then, this is the right Charles and what is more, William James Vaughan was one of the witnesses, so this implies at the very least that there was some positive contact between them. On 23 March 1875, a first daughter Adelaide Amelia was born to Charles and Emmeline, followed by Clara Emmeline in 1877.

By 1881 Charles and his family were living in Upper Sutton Street, Aston where he was described again as a hosier but out of business and Emmeline was still a milliner. With them also was his brother Lewis, aged 19, a clerk, a Caroline Radenhurst, 56, described as an aunt (perhaps Emmeline’s aunt as the name is unfamiliar), Esther J Vaughan, a cousin and domestic servant and a Henry Strange, a commercial traveller who was a Boarder. Again, the presence of a brother and a cousin in Charles’s household, seems to imply a familiarity and goodwill within the family.

By 1891, Charles, now 42 and his family were living at 123 Bloomsbury Street, Aston and he was still giving his occupation as a hosier, and Caroline Radenhurst (now 66 and identified as ‘wife’s aunt’, living on her own means) and Esther J Vaughan, cousin, aged 43 and a domestic servant – it is not clear whether Esther is a domestic servant to Charles’s family – are still living with the family. Emmeline is still a milliner, Adelaide at 16 has become a School Teacher’s Assistant while Clara, 14, is still at school.

But by 1901, things have changed. Now aged 52, Charles’s occupation is shown as Iron Caster (malleable). The parents, daughters and Esther Vaughan are now living in Pritchett Street, Aston and both daughters are now teachers, although there is no mention of any occupation for Emmeline nor Esther. So at last Charles appears to have moved into the metal working industry, like so many of his family. Caroline Radenhurst had died in Aston in 1899, aged 75 so it seems likely that she had stayed with Charles and his family until she died.

The 1911 Census finds Charles, Emmeline, Clara and Esther living in Legge Street, Birmingham . Charles now describes himself as a Malleable Iron Founder, Clara is teaching in a Council School and Esther is a General Servant.

Copyright unknown. However this 1957 photograph shows that some parts of Legge Street survived in good condition for some time. The 1911 census shows that the house that Charles and his family were living in had eight rooms which was an unusually large house for that area, so it seems he had room for various relatives to live with the family.

Charles died on 22 Nov 1912, aged 63, his probate record shows, and he was buried in Witton Cemetery, as was Emmeline when she died in 1922. The 1921 Census shows Emmeline and Clara living in Rotton Park with Adelaide and her husband Alfred Loach who was a manufacturer of Gold Gem Rings, and their three children.

Esther Jane Vaughan, who lived with Charles and his family for upwards of fifty years, died in Rotton Park in December 1929, leaving her estate to Adelaide and Clara, and was buried – like so many of the Vaughans – in Witton Cemetery.

Esther was indeed a cousin to Charles Vaughan, a cousin once removed – her parents were James Vaughan and Rebecca (nee Barnsley).

James was the considerably younger brother of Joseph Vaughan, the grandfather of Charles. He had not followed Joseph and his family to Aston but had stayed in Rounds Green where he and his wife Rebecca had seven daughters and two sons, including a Charles Vaughan who had been born and died in August 1845. Charles, the son of William and Mary Ann, and Esther, daughter of James and Rebecca, were born only a year apart, both in Oldbury and it seems slightly unusual for there to be this close relationship over a long period. Although he does not appear in any censuses with James and his family, I wonder whether Charles did spend time with this part of the family as he was growing up, which might account for a closer connection. But there is no way to know for sure.

But the decade or more that Charles is missing from the censuses continues to irritate me! I suspect that he was staying with a married female of the family somewhere and that possibly his surname may have been wrongly transcribed or entered in error as that of her husband. For now, I can only keep an eye out for a Charles of the right age with some part of the (very prolific!) family, as my research continues.

Richard Henry Vaughan 1851-1928

Richard Henry Vaughan had been born on 13 March 1851 – the census was taken on 30^th March so he was quite a new baby. He was with the family in 1851 and 1861 but by 1871, he was living at 78 Bull Street, Birmingham, where he was a Draper’s Clerk.

Bull Street, Birmingham, for those who are not familiar with it, is an old street in the centre of the town, only a few yards from the cathedral. It runs from the old Snow Hill Station down to the High Street, crossing where Corporation Street was later built. In my days living in Birmingham in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was home to Grey’s Department Store and Lewis’s was on the other side of the road. I have been able to ascertain that 78 Bull Street was on the corner of Temple Row and Bull Street, not far from the Cathedral.

The census, unfortunately, does not give the name of his employer but it was clearly no small establishment as there were thirty seven members of staff, living on site, which was not unusual for larger or department type stores then. There were seven porters, five clerks and twenty-seven draper’s salesmen, almost all of them in their early twenties or younger. Although a few were local others came from a very wide area, as far away as Hackney, Cambridge and Devon. What an interesting place it must have been to work, for a lad from a family of metal workers in Aston, how much he must have learned from those strangers from other parts of the country.

Whilst I was checking out 78 Bull Street, I was able to find some old photographs of that corner and was interested to see that in later years it was occupied by Rackhams, before they built their large new store. I wondered when they opened and an enquiry on the Midland Memories and More page on Facebook brought me almost instantly the information that Rackhams had opened on that site in 1881, so ten years after Richard Vaughan was there. How interesting! And yet, the two shops must have been in a very similar trade – I wonder whether they changed their name?

Copyright: Paul M Hayes. Looking down Bull Street, towards High Street, with Temple Row coming in on the right. The Rackhams shop on the corner was at 78 Bull Street, where Richard worked and lived in 1871. I think this would be in the 1950s or thereabouts.

In the 1881 Census, Richard was in Hulme, Lancashire where he was still a clerk to some sort of trader. In 1886, Richard was the executor to the Will of his younger brother Thomas so was in the country then. Perhaps the death of Thomas, at such a young age, unsettled him. Whatever motivated him, Richard was to be one of the few Vaughans who ventured abroad. In 1888 he arrived in New York, USA and it appears that he married Anne Maria Wray in Colorado in 1889. They settled in Denver and he was a bookkeeper there, becoming a naturalised citizen in 1921. Although he and Anne Maria were married in Colorado, Anne was a Birmingham girl, born in 1858 in Aston. Their son Harry Wray Vaughan was born in Denver, Colorado in February 1890, their daughter Doris was born in West Bromwich, England in February 1893 and was baptised at St John, Perry Barr in March of that year. Both Harry and Doris were still in Denver in 1940, both unmarried and living together.

Richard died in Denver, Colorado in 1928 and Anne Maria in 1938, also in Colorado. Doris died in 1967 and Harry in 1969, both in Colorado.

So Richard and his family appear to have made a complete break with the metal-working traditions of the Vaughans and with the Midlands and England.

Thomas Vaughan 1853-1886

Thomas Vaughan was born in 1853 in Birmingham and was with his family in the 1861 and 1871 censuses, in the latter he was a Jeweller’s Assistant, another slight variation in the metal working tradition! By 1881, however, he was in Newhall Hill, Birmingham as a visitor in the household of Sarah Howling, a confectioner as was her daughter Emily, 26. His occupation was a toolmaker but I note that one neighbour was a Jeweller’s Toolmaker and this area was in or adjoining the Jewellery Quarter so it is possible that Thomas was still associated with the jewellery trade.

Thomas died young, however, in Rhyl, Flintshire, Wales, on 19 August 1886, aged 33 and his Will states that he was a bachelor, of Newhall Hill, Birmingham. His death certificate shows that he was a fitter and that he died at 11 Queen Street, Rhyl and that he died of ‘Diarrhoea Syncope’ His brother William James registered the death and was present when his brother died, although his own address was given as Victoria Road, Aston so he must have travelled to Rhyl, for holiday or because of Thomas’s illness, unless he was also on holiday there. I cannot find a definition now which quite matches this cause of death but it was certified by a doctor so it was clearly an acceptable cause of death to the Registrar and it may be that dehydration led to physical collapse.

It is possible that Rhyl was a favoured holiday destination for the family, many Midlanders holidayed there and along that coast and it was the height of the holiday season. There were also a considerable number of Vaughans living in Wales, too who may have had family connections in the past.

Thomas was buried in the family grave at Witton Cemetery.

Amelia Page Vaughan 1855-1939

Amelia Page Vaughan was born on 15 February 1856 in Aston and was with her family in 1861, 1871 and 1881. She never married and her Will refers to her as a spinster. In 1891, she was living, described as Housekeeper, with her widowed eldest brother William James in Victoria Road, Aston. After that she seemed to move around the family.

I cannot find Amelia in the 1901 census but in 1911 she was a visitor in Clifton, Bristol with her niece Mary Catherine Fleming, nee Vaughan, (the daughter of Amelia’s oldest brother Joseph Edward and Marian), and her husband John Fleming and their four children.

By 1921, Amelia was living in 6 Twyning Road, Birmingham with her married niece Adelaide Amelia Loach, daughter of Amelia’s brother Charles who had died in 1912. Also living with Adelaide, in addition to her husband Alfred and their three children, were her mother Emmeline and sister Clara. From google street view, it appears that 6 Twyning Road is a Victorian Terraced house of no great size so it must have been fairly crowded!

It appears that Amelia continued to live with or near her two nieces as she appears in the 1936-1937 Electoral Roll at the same address in Rotton Park, Birmingham as Adelaide and Clara, although alas, Amelia died on 28 June 1939 at her niece Clara’s house, just a few months before the 1939 Register was taken. As with her cousin once removed Esther Jane Vaughan, her nieces Adelaide and Clara were named as executors in her Will. She was buried at Witton Cemetery.

Summary

So these were the next four children of William Vaughan and Mary Ann Alsop, all with something of interest about them and most of them showing a close association with the Vaughan family and their businesses, although some were further afield, in Bristol or the USA. Spinster daughters seem to have remained mostly with their brothers or with nephews and nieces, looking after or being looked after and still clearly cherished members of the family. But again, few links lead back to Rowley Regis and the Alsops, although the Vaughan links to Rounds Green and Oldbury seem to have persisted for some years.

The next piece will look at the remaining Vaughan children – Mary Ann, Emma Eugenie, Lewis Ralph and Septimus and should follow shortly.

Families of the Lost Hamlets – The Alsops 6 – Mary Ann Part 1

Mary Ann Alsop

Mary Ann Alsop was born in 1820, fourth and youngest but one of the daughters of Edward Alsop and Betty nee Hodgetts, she was baptised at St Giles, Rowley Regis on 21 May 1820. The next time there is any record of her is in the 1841 Census when she is living at the Windmill Farm, with her siblings Sarah, Thomas and Rhoda.

But she was not there for very much longer. On 6 May 1844 Mary Ann married William James Vaughan at Tipton, St Martin. William was baptised in Oldbury and it seems very likely that his family were living in Rounds Green. His occupation at the marriage was shown as a ‘jobbing smith’ and his father Joseph Vaughan was also a jobbing smith. The witnesses were Mary Ann’s brother-in-law Isaac Mallin and her sister Rhoda.

The Vaughan family

The Vaughan family into which Mary Ann married were a large and industrious family, this particular branch living in Rounds Green, Oldbury but with Birmingham connections. I suspect also that they were connected with a large family of Vaughans in Wales as many of the distinctive Vaughan Christian names also appear in that family and they were also very extensively involved in the iron and metal working industries.

Mary’s new husband William James (1820-1869) was the third son of Joseph Vaughan (1795-1851) and Amelia (nee Page) Vaughan (1797-1843) of Rounds Green, Langley. Joseph, at least some of his brothers and several of his sons were originally described as ‘smiths’ but they had an early association with edged and garden tools, an occupation which was very common in that area, particularly in Brades village.

‘The Brades Works’

I confess that despite growing up barely a mile from Rounds Green, until recently I knew nothing about Brades village or the Brades works. But it is not difficult to find out. Not least, there is a most interesting website called https://madeinoldbury.co.uk/articles/brades-works/ which has a wide range of articles and information likely to be of interest to anyone who has lived locally.

As can be seen from this 1902 map, Rounds Green was immediately adjacent to the Brades works (Brades village is top right on the other side of the canal) and I think it is highly likely that the jobbing smiths in the Vaughan family, living in Rounds Green, worked there.

A William Hunt, the Oldbury website tells me, set up a series of small forges and furnaces alongside the Birmingham to Wolverhampton canal in 1782 to manufacture edge tools, and there are accounts for as early as 1796, which list several different departments at work. By 1805 they were also manufacturing steel on site, digging the coal required around the site. Other materials could be brought in and taken out on the canal, a huge advantage at a time when roads were generally very poor. On the site a large number of knives, trowels, spades, hoes and edging knives, axeheads, hatchets, garden shears, wood chisels and scythes were made, as well as supplying the steel for ramrods used during the Napoleonic wars. There was also a ‘jobbing forge’ which is probably where the Vaughan men worked until they set up their own company. Tools from the Brades factory were sent all over the world and also supplied to the military, including bayonets. One particular design of Brades trowel, apparently, became highly prized amongst archaeologists as being the best trowel for excavating.

Elihu Burritt, the American diplomat based in Birmingham, wrote about a visit to the site in his book ‘Walks in the Black Country’, published in 1869, extracts from which are on the Oldbury website and worth reading, he called these works ‘one of the chief lions of The Black Country’.

After various amalgamations with other companies, Brades Tools has gone now but it is fascinating to look on ebay and see how many vintage Brades tools still fetch good prices! One axe was listed at £285, another at £350!

Back to the Vaughan family and William James’s parents:

Between 1816 and 1840, Joseph, the jobbing smith and Amelia Vaughan had eight sons and five daughters.

Connections to the Page family

After Amelia’s death on 6 August 1843 (buried at St Giles, Rowley Regis) Joseph was left with several young children and he married again very quickly in October 1843 in Birmingham to Lucy Page. I was interested to see the name Page as that was Amelia’s maiden name, so I wondered whether they were sisters. No, they weren’t, I found. But they were sisters-in-law! Lucy’s previous husband was the wonderfully named Fairbrother Page, one of Amelia’s brothers. And the Page family were all in the metal working trades, too in one way or another. And Page was not exactly an unknown name in Rowley Regis, either. Fairbrother and Lucy Page had nine children and he had died, aged only 40 in 1840, and his family were all in the Aston/Duddeston area of Birmingham. Some of the Page family were quite well off, too. Fairbrother was a steel toy maker and his brother William, who was his executor and trustee under his Will, was a spoon manufacturer employing 6 men and 2 boys in 1851. After William’s death in 1857, his widow Rebecca, nee Mucklow, married a Joseph Needham , who was also a spoon maker, in 1860, continuing to live in the Duddeston area during his lifetime. At the time of his death in 1880, he left an estate valued at under £5,000. But when Rebecca, who had moved from industrial Aston to rural Sutton Coldfield, died in 1889, she left an estate worth £35,290/12/9d! Serious money and so much more than her husband had left less than ten years earlier. Perhaps she was a good investor.

The Vaughans were also apparently a successful family. A trade directory dated 1858 shows brothers Charles, John, William, Richard, Septimus and Joseph Vaughan as ‘edge tool makers’ as individuals and as companies in Dartmouth Street, Summer Lane and Milton Street, Aston. By 1861 Charles, the eldest brother is shown in the census as a ‘garden tool manufacturer’ in partnership with his brothers. An 1858 Trade Directory lists the brothers as manufacturers of ‘garden trowels, hoes, rakes, forks, ladies’ garden tools in sets, ship scrapers, connecting links, flat and convex washers, etc, etc. It appears from other entries in the same page that each of the brothers in the partnership was managing a separate factory producing particular items from the list. Their Dartmouth Street works backed onto the canal and had a canal basin alongside, with a glass works on the other side of the basin and a coal wharf over the canal, the whole area was heavily industrialised.

On this extract from the 1902 OS Map, a garden tools works can be seen which has the canal on one side and Dartmouth Street on the other, very likely to have been the Vaughan Brother’s works. Note the number of other industrial premise around them, interspersed with housing and back-to-back courtyards.

Looking at the 1902 OS Map of the area, I couldn’t see any industrial premises in Milton Street but there was a ‘Hatchet and Hoe Works’ and a ‘sheep shears works’, both in the Milton Street/Summer Lane area which may well have been connected with the Vaughans.

Copyright: Alan Godfrey maps. Alma Street, Aston showing the sheep shears works and, just below it the Hatchet and Hoe works – these are the sort of products the Vaughan Brothers would have been making. Again, surrounded by poor quality and crammed housing and no green space.

In 1871 the company was employing 57 men, 9 women and 27 boys. The 1881 census shows that this had increased to 72 men, 12 women and 21 boys. When Charles died in 1892, his estate alone was valued at £15,022/3s/9d, equivalent to between £2.4-£2.6million today.

Mary Ann and William James’s family

On 15 May 1845, the first child of Mary and William – Joseph Edward Vaughan – was born at Wall Heath, Kingswinford. It is not clear why the couple were at Wall Heath but their second son was also born there. It seems likely that they were there for William’s work in some way. Wall Heath was not a big place but there was a windmill there at this time and there is still a Foundry Road, either of which may be a clue. Joseph was followed by his brother William James, born on 11 October 1846, also at Kingswinford. (Well, that takes care of the paternal Christian names of both grandfathers – the Vaughans were a great family for repeating the same names through the generations, makes for interesting and at times frustrating research).

Another son Charles was born in 1849 in West Bromwich Registration District, probably the Oldbury or Rounds Green area but he does not appear in the 1851 Census with the rest of the family and nor does Joseph Edward, the eldest child. Only William James, aged 3 and Richard Henry, aged 3 weeks were with their parents who must recently have moved to Birmingham, are with their parents and also William’s brother Richard. I think that the two older children must have been staying with other family members to help Mary Ann, certainly Joseph was staying in Tipton in 1851 with two of his Vaughan aunts, although Charles is still proving elusive. So by 1851 most of the rest of the family were living at Handley Street, in Aston, Birmingham. With William aged 31 (shown as a garden tool maker, employing 11 men) and Mary Ann, in addition to their two young sons William and Richard, is Richard Vaughan, aged 24, listed as Partner and brother of William. Richard Henry Vaughan had been born on 13 March 1851 – the census was on 30^th March so he was quite a new baby. He was followed in 1853 by Thomas, in 1855 by Amelia, in 1856 by Mary Ann, all born in Birmingham and in 1858 by Emma Eugenie. Two more sons followed – Lewis Ralph in 1861 and Septimus in 1863, these latter all born in Aston. And yes, Septimus was the seventh son! But he was not the first Septimus Vaughan, his father William James had brothers Septimus and Octavius who were – yes, the seventh and eighth sons of the family. So by this time most of the Vaughan brothers were living in the Aston/Handsworth area where their factories were.

By 1861, the family had moved to Poole Street, Aston. William James Vaughan Snr died in June 1869, when his youngest child was only 5 and was buried at Witton Cemetery, Birmingham. His Probate record showed that his estate was valued at under £2,000 (less than his older brother twenty years later but still a substantial amount).

The widowed Mary Ann Vaughan was still in Poole Street in 1871 with her son Joseph (25) described as an ‘edge tool maker’ and next son Thomas as a Jeweller’s Assistant, the other children still being at school.

By 1881, when Mary Ann was 61 and an ‘annuitant’ the family were living in Albert Road, Aston, with four of her younger children and one granddaughter Clara, aged 4. The only son remaining at home by then was Septimus who was 13 and already a toolmaker, in the family tradition. His sister Emma who was 21 was shown as a milliner, another potentially profitable, like shoemaking, as every woman wore a bonnet and fashionable (and well-off) ladies would have numerous bonnets which would require replacements as fashions changed. Another example of the Alsop/Vaughan families identifying local needs and meeting them, using their dexterous skills – these families were not afraid of hard work or being ‘in trade’.

Mary Ann Vaughan, nee Alsop, died, aged 62, on the 4 March 1882 in Aston and was buried at Witton Cemetery with her late husband, there was a fine memorial for them, alas last seen laid flat.

Mary Ann and William James Vaughan’s children

Joseph Edward 1845-1909

Joseph was born on 15 May 1845 in Wall Heath and baptised on 24 Aug 1845 at Kingswinford. However, in the 1851 Census he is not listed with his family in Handley Street, Aston. Instead he is staying, aged 6, described as a lodger, in Church Street, Tipton, along with his aunt Selina Vaughan, then aged 21, They are with Cornelius and Mary Ann Guest, (nee Vaughan) – Mary Ann is Selina’s sister and therefore also Joseph’s paternal aunt. By 1861, Joseph is back with his family, in Poole Street, Aston, now aged 15 and, like his two next brothers William and Richard, they are all, like their father, Garden Tool Makers – in the family business, almost certainly.

In 1871, Joseph was living with his widowed mother and younger siblings in Poole Street, Aston but in 1873 he married Marian O’Donellan in Birmingham, it appears that this was a Roman Catholic ceremony as the details are in Latin. They had three children – Mary Catherine in 1875, George Edward in 1877 and Norman John Donellan in 1880.

In 1881, living in Albert Road, Aston, Joseph was described as a Manager, and in 1891, by now living in 40 Cromwell Street, Aston, he was once more an Edge Tool Maker. But in this census only George of their children is also listed. The other two children were staying with their O’Donellan grandparents in College Green, Bristol.

His wife Marian, however, also has an occupation in this 1891 census – she was a pawnbroker. Interestingly I have also found a trade directory reference to a pawnbroker called Michael O’Donnellan who was Marian’s father, in Sherlock Street, Birmingham in 1868 so perhaps this was a family trade. Later census entries for both Michael and Marian O’Donellan record them both as chiropodists but perhaps they were pawnbrokers first! And trade directories dated 1888, 1890 and 1892 show Joseph Edward Vaughan as a pawnbroker at 40, Cromwell Street, Duddeston, Birmingham. The Register of voters for 1885-86 1890 shows Joseph Edward Vaughan at 40 Cromwell Street, but still owning a house at 131 Albert Road, which was where they had been living in the 1881 Census. But the 1891 Census has Joseph, as an Edge Tool Maker, Marian and George living at 40 Cromwell Street, where Marian was a Pawnbroker. So perhaps Joseph continued his work as an edge tool maker but his wife ran the pawnbroking business. Cromwell Street was not by any means as affluent an area as where most of Joseph’s family ended up living but undoubtedly it would have been a good catchment area for a pawnbroker.

Copyright unknown. A view of Cromwell Street in the 1950s. Other than the cars, it would probably have looked much the same when Joseph and Marian had their pawnbroking business there.

I cannot find either Joseph or Marian in the 1901 Census, so perhaps they were travelling. Joseph died, aged 63, on 17 February 1909 and was buried at Witton Cemetery as were most of his siblings and his parents. By 1911 Marian had moved to Bristol where her parents had lived for many years and was listed as a chiropodist, like her father. She died there in January 1920.

Joseph Edward and Marianne’s children

Mary Catherine married and settled in Bedminster, Bristol and it may be that she had lived in Bristol most of her life with her grandparents. Her husband John Fleming who was 20 years her senior, died in 1915, they had one son and three daughters. She died in Bristol in 1958, her Probate Record interestingly gives her name as Vaughan or Fleming so perhaps she had gone back to using her maiden name for some reason. In 1989 there was a George Edward Vaughan living in a tenement in Chancery Lane, London and in 1901 George Edward was in Poplar, London where he was shown as a Merchant Seaman, and he received his UK Second Mate’s Certificate also in 1901. He emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1914 and enlisted in the Australian Navy there in 1915, giving his mother Marianne’s name and address in Bristol as his next of kin. George travelled at least once to the USA, probably to visit his brother. He died in Australia in September 1970, aged 93. Norman John Donellan Vaughan also became a seaman and also emigrated, in 1905 he went to Vancouver and then San Francisco where he became a naturalised citizen in 1925, his address on the Registration card given as Golden Gate Bridge! He was an auto-mechanic and had married in England in Middlesborough where his only daughter Catherine had been born. A possible death is in Nevada in 1963.

So this little branch of the Vaughans uncharacteristically settled far from the place of their birth, as had their Irish O’Donellan grandparents, or perhaps raised mostly many miles from the larger Vaughan and Alsop families in the Midlands, they did not feel part of that larger clan nor to have been in the metal trades, both boys becoming seaman which would have been much easier, living in the Port City of Bristol.

William James Vaughan 1846-1928

William was born in 1847 in Wall Heath and baptised on 3 January 1847 at Kingswinford. He was with his family in Handley Street, Aston in the 1851 Census, and in 1861, he was with them in Poole Street, with his three brothers and three sisters. The census in 1871 was taken on 2 Apr but William had been married just a few days earlier on 21 March to Elizabeth Prudence Sturges whose father Robert Sturges was a partner in an electro-plating company. William was listed, with Elizabeth at Penzance Place, Victoria Road, Aston where he gave his occupation as a metal worker.

By the time of the 1881 Census, their family had grown with the births of Robert Edward on 30 January 1872, William James in 1874, Ernest Charles in 1875, and Elizabeth Sturges Vaughan in 1877. In 1881 they were living in Yardley, Birmingham and their next children were Lawrence Sturges Vaughan born in 1882 and Thomas Ralph born in 1886, (who died in 1887). Elizabeth Vaughan died in 1889 in Aston and was buried in the family plot at Witton Cemetery.

It seems likely that William had been working for his father-in-law’s company – Sturges, Bladon and Middleton since at least the time of his marriage if not before. Trade directories for the company which was originally founded by an Elizabeth Sturges, who had been active in the industry since 1829 at Suffolk Street, Birmingham, with her son Richard Ford Sturges between 1833 and 1841 as Sturges & Son, making Platina, British Plate and Britannia Metal wares. He continued the business on his own account from 1841 to about 1863 at 46 Broad Street, Birmingham. It was perhaps the next generation who were in partnership with Bladon and Middleton who made tea and coffee sets, trays, tankards, condiment sets, casserole dishes, Fruit and Cake Baskets and Old English Pewterware.

William was at 156 Victoria Road, Aston in 1891, along with his four sons and one daughter and his sister Amelia was also living there as his housekeeper. By now his occupation was shown as an Electro-plate Manufacturer, as were his sons Robert (19) and Ernest then 16, while William at 17 was a Clerk.

In the first quarter of 1893 William re-married to Mary Ann Pagett, and they continued to live at 156 Victoria Road where their children Madeline Lilian (1897), Edgar (1898), Horace (1903) and Frank (1905) were born. By the time of the 1911 Census, the family had moved out to Acocks Green, where Frank was born.

Mary Ann died on 28 February 1917, aged 52 and was buried in Yardley Cemetery where her son Edgar was also interred in 1918, aged 20, who had served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry and died on 13 June 1918 of wounds, at Whalley Military Hospital, Lancashire.

In the 1921 Census, William was at Lincoln Road, Olton, near Solihull with his son Horace who was now 18 and a Clerk at the Britannic Assurance Company. William died on 6 May 1828, aged 81 and was buried at Witton Cemetery with his first wife Elizabeth and their son Thomas who had died in infancy. His estate was valued at just over £3,000.

William and Elizabeth’s children

Robert Edward Vaughan was born on 30 January 1872 in Aston. He married May Pottle Chinn in December 1901 and they had two sons Edward Winston (1903) and Clifford Sturges (1907, followed by a daughter Kathleen in 1909. They lived for many years in Grove Road, Sparkhill and Robert worked for Sturges, Bladon and Middleton, as it appears his sons also did. Robert later moved to Stratford-on-Avon where he became a farmer – a greater contrast to the metal plating industry is hard to imagine – and he died in 1950 in Earlswood, another rural area. His widow May died in 1958.

William James Vaughan was born in 1874 in Aston and remained there, living with his family and working as a Clerk until his marriage in 1900 in Solihull when he married Annie Elizabeth Smith. Unlike most of his brothers, William did not go into the metal industry and became a Clerk for a Timber Merchant so that he and his family lived in Knowle, Solihull, rather than Aston. Although William gives his occupation as a Clerk up to 1911, by 1921 he had become Managing Director of the timber company, living in Marshall Lake Road, Shirley and his eldest son was also working for the same company as a Clerk to the Timber Merchant. William and Annie had two sons Charles Smith (1900) and William James (1906, and three daughters Dorothy Beatrice (1910), Mildred May (1912) and Olive Margaret (1916). William James died in August 1932 in Shirley, aged 58 but Annie lived on in Solihull until 1962, when she died aged 82.

Ernest Charles Vaughan was born on 18 February 1875 in Aston and was with his family until his marriage in 1903, when he married Florence Eugenie Salvey in Aston. They had two children Eric in 1906 and Dorothy in 1907, both born in Handsworth. At that time it seems that Ernest was working in the electro-plating business, probably in the family business. By 1911, although Ernest was still listing his occupation as an Electro Plate Manufacturer, the family had moved to Suttton Coldfield and in 1921 they had moved on to Wylde Green, Sutton Coldfield where he had the same occupation. By 1939, however, they were living at ‘Garage House’, Kingsbury Road, Minworth, Sutton Coldfield where Ernest had become a garage owner. He died in Sutton Coldfield in 1948. His wife Florence died, still at Garage House, in 1963 and both Ernest and Florence were buried at Witton Cemetery, the resting place of so many members of the Vaughan family.

Elizabeth Sturges Vaughan was born on 22 December 1876 in Aston and was with her family until her marriage in 1906, when she married Thomas Henry Salvey in Solihull. Thomas was the younger brother of Florence Eugenie Salvey who had married Elizabeth’s older brother Ernest in 1903. Like his father Thomas was a dentist. Thomas and Elizabeth lived in Cheshire for a time. Their daughter Hilda was born in Nantwich in 1907, their son Vaughan was born in Crewe in 1911 and they were in Crewe in the 1911 Census. But by 1921, the family were back in Birmingham, living in Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham where Thomas and Elizabeth still lived when the 1939 Register was drawn up. Elizabeth died in 1953 and is buried in Yardley Cemetery, Thomas Selvey lived to the age of 90 and died at Arreton Manor on the Isle of Wight in 1968, his daughter Hilda also died in Newport, Isle of Wight, in 1994 so he had perhaps moved to be near her.

Lawrence Sturges Vaughan was born in 1882 in the Solihull Registration District. His mother died in 1889 when he was only 7 and in 1891, when the remaining family were living in Victoria Road, Aston, his aunt Amelia Vaughan was living with the family, acting as her brother’s housekeeper. By 1901, his father had married again and a halfsister and half brother had been added to the family. Lawrence was listed as a Tool Maker, although whether this was with the Vaughan family and their numerous companies making garden and edge tools, it is not possible to know. Lawrence married Ada Williams, nee Bartlett, a widow and business woman, in September 1910 in St James’s, Aston Park and in 1911, they were living at 112 Ettington Road, Aston, along with his stepson Francis Williams who was 11.

By 1921, they were still living there but now Lawrence gave his occupation as collecting and delivering laundry and Ada gave her occupation as superintending the Laundry. Her son Francis, by now 21 was working in Electro-plating. Lawrence and Ada appear not to have had any children together. Lawrence died, aged only 47, in 1929 and was buried at Witton Cemetery. His wife Ada Vaughan is listed among those killed in ‘World War II Civilian Deaths’, she died at 112 Ettington Road, on 12 December 1941, aged 64, presumably in a bombing raid and was also buried at Witton Cemetery. Ada left an estate valued at £7,685, a substantial sum in those days. Her executor was her son by her first marriage Francis Williams who was described as a laundry manager, so presumably he had taken over the laundry business which had originally been owned by his father.

Thomas Ralph Vaughan was born in 1886 in Aston and died in 1887, aged 9 months, buried in Witton Cemetery, his parents were both interred in the same grave when they died in 11889 and 1928 respectively.

William and Mary Ann’s children

Madeline Lilian was the first of William’s children with his second wife Mary Ann Pagett. She was born on 24 May 1896 in Aston. She was baptised at St Mary Aston Brook, on 12 August 1896. Madeline was at home with the family in 1901 and 1911 but visiting friends in Cardiff in 1921. Her occupation was shown as a shorthand typist to Alldays & Onions, Sparkbrook, Birmingham . It appears that Madeline did not marry, she was living alone at 14 Hazelwood Road, Acocks Green in 1929, according to Voter’s records. She was at a Riding School in Brackley Northamptonshire in the 1939 Register and her occupation there was recorded as a shorthand typist to a Chartered Accountant. Madeline appears to have remained in Birmingham until at least 1955 but by 1960 she had moved to Laughton, near Eastbourne, West Sussex where she died in 1968. I have been unable to find any record of her burial.

Edgar was born in Aston on 11 June 1898, and was at home with his family in 1901 and in 1911, when he was still at school. However, on 12 February 1917, aged 18 years and 8 months, he was called up and enlisted into the Royal Marines Light Infantry , giving his occupation as a Polisher, presumably in the family business. He was posted to the 2^nd Royal Marines Battalion on 18^th March and wounded on the 27 March. Edgar was brought back to England and died in Whalley Military Hospital, Lancashire on 13 June 1918. He was buried with his late mother at Yardley Cemetery.

Horace was born in 1903 in Aston and was with his family in 1911 and in 1921 when his occupation was given as a Clerk. I cannot find him in the 1939 Register and it is possible that he was either in the services or that he was abroad for a time. It appears that Horace married Kathleen Waters in 1945 in Birmingham. Three children appear to have been born to this marriage in Birmingham but as they may well be living, I am not giving their names. There are some indications that he may have worked in aircraft production during WWII but nothing definite. Horace died in 1986, aged 83 and was buried at the church of St Laurence, Birmingham with his address given as 75 Woodland Road, Northfield. Kathleen died in 1988.

Frank was born in 1906 inAcocks Green, baptised on 26 October 1906 at Aston-juxta-Birmingham and appears with his family in the 1911 Census, aged 6. And then – nothing definite. It is rather odd – when his father died in 1928, his Will named two of his sons, – Robert Edward, from his first marriage- a farmer, Horace from his second marriage- an Insurance Clerk and his son-in-law Thomas Selvey, a dentist. But there is no mention of Frank, nor can I find a death registration nor a burial for Frank. Looking for a Frank Vaughan of the correct age and birthplace in the 1921 Census, there is only one. And he is an ‘Inmate’ in a ‘Home for Feeble-Minded Lads’ in Monkton, Jarrow, South Shields – a long way from home but his birthplace is shown as Birmingham, Warwickshire so it is possible that this is the correct Frank – there were about 50 boys in the home and they were from all over the country. Many of the inmates were in their twenties and thirties, this Frank would have been amongst the youngest there. Knowing of accepted practice around such institutions in those days it is entirely possible that most of the inmates remained there for many years.

And yet, there is a Frank Vaughan in Birmingham in the 1939 Register who was married and a storekeeper at the Austin Works in Longbridge. He was married in 1934 to an Olive Blake but I note that at their marriage he gave his father’s name as John Vaughan so perhaps this was not him. I can see that other researchers who have worked on this record have also been unable to find Frank after 1911 so he must remain a mystery. I have been unable to find out when Frank died.

So there we have the ten children of William James Vaughan II and his two wives, the grandchildren of William James Vaughan I and Mary Ann Alsop. Again, most of the family were involved in working in the metal industries, both through their own company and through the families they married into, such as the Sturges family. None moved very far from Birmingham, although they gradually migrated out from Aston to the leafier suburbs (though it’s difficult to criticise them for that!) but none of them either seem to have moved back towards the Vaughan home ground in Oldbury and Rounds Green. They did, mostly, appear to stick quite closely together, especially the Vaughans and there are numerous Vaughan burials over at least three generations in Witton cemetery.

Summary

So yet again, one of the the Alsop children – Mary Ann had married into another prosperous local business family and was associating, through them, with other families involved in the works and factories of the ‘City of a Thousand Trades’ and far removed, in material terms, from your average Rowley nail maker, as you can imagine. And again, the close association with Rowley village was lost within one or two generations, although the family members appear mostly to have remained close.

I have written in this piece about Mary Ann Alsop and William James Vaughan’s first two children and fourteen grandchildren. I begin to think that the Alsops may end up with as many grandchildren as the Hill family but spread further afield!

As this piece has got so lengthy and there are still eight more of the children of William James Vaughan I and Mary Ann Alsop to look at, I will finish this piece here and continue in another piece!

A little diversion from the Alsops – but not completely!

A cobbler in the family – my granddad Rose

It gives me particular pleasure when my research for my One Place Study throws an unexpected light on another part of my family. And that has happened recently when I was looking at part of the Alsop family.

The Bootmaker

I had discovered that Edward Alsop Jnr’s branch of the family had moved from the bottom of the village to the expanding new town of Blackheath, which was, admittedly, not very far – barely half a mile, and had set up a boot and shoe making business next to the Shoulder of Mutton on the corner of the Birmingham Road and the Market Place.

Boot and shoe making and mending must have been a pretty secure job in those days gone by. Working men – especially in quarries, mines, furnaces – needed sturdy boots – no safety wear was provided by employers in those days as can be seen from photographs of quarrymen and men often had to walk quite long distances to work before public transport was developed. And no doubt people would also have had their footwear repaired as long as possible, no ‘throw-away society’ then. Though undoubtedly often people would have mended their shoes themselves if they could. But it seems quite likely that even a small town would support several of these shops, some perhaps concentrating on mending and others on making and selling new boots and shoes.

I had noticed that, in the course of his working life, Edward Alsop, who I was looking at as part of the Alsop Family Study, changed from being a cordwainer in the Bell End area to a ‘Boot and Shoe manufacturer’ by 1881, a step up from being a simple shoe maker. I have, since starting to look at this branch of the family, learned from Dennis Allsopp, who manages the Allsopp Genealogy website and One Name Study, that many Allsops were cordwainers or shoemakers so Edward was not starting in an unknown trade but picking up one of the family trades. Possibly he was even apprenticed to another part of the family to learn his trade, perhaps in the Walsall area where there were many Allsops and also a vigorous leather trade.

I was also interested to note from census returns that at one time the Alsop family had a bootmaker’s (or cobbler’s shop) in Oldbury Road, Blackheath, in addition to their main business. From the census return it appears that it was in a row of other shops, probably on the same side as the Handel hotel which was on the corner of Oldbury Road and Birmingham Road, on the Oldbury side, opposite the Shoulder of Mutton. There were several other shops in the same row – a tailor, a harness maker, a grocer, a shoe shop and a corndealer and beerhouse –day to day necessities of life. I also noted, looking at several censuses that there were several other shoe makers living in the immediate area, a load of cobblers in fact…. Were they all working for the Alsops? Possibly.

The cobbler in my family

The reason for my particular interest is that my maternal grandfather William Rose (1886-1966) was a cobbler, a shoe maker and mender and I can clearly remember visiting him where he lived behind his shop in Birmingham Road, next to the Handel Hotel. Even after he retired, his machinery and lasts, tools etc were still in the spare bedroom many years later.

My mother’s memories of her father’s cobblers shop

My mother’s memoir says, of her childhood:

“My earliest memories are of about 1921 or 1922 [my mother was born on Christmas Day 1919 so I suspect it might have been a year or two later – it is unusual for people to have memories from barely two years of age] when dad had a lock-up shop at the top of Oldbury Road, Blackheath. We lived in a slightly larger house in a block of four , near to Station Road, half a mile from the lock-up shop.

Our home near Station Road was one of a row of four houses, each with a ‘brewhouse’ across a blue brick yard. Here family laundry was done and the main and only water supply was for each house. [At one time, of course, many families brewed their own beer, too – hence the brew house. And such brewed ale was considerably safer to drink than water, because the water would have been heated for the brew which would have killed off a lot of the bacteria which was a common source of poisoning from contaminated sources.] The boiler had a fire underneath. It was a nice place for children to play in on cold and wet days. Opposite the house were hedgerows all the way to Whiteheath, above a mile away. The fields stretched from my home a long way up the slopes to Rowley Hill.

Bell End was a curving road, reputedly called this after the bell on a hunting lodge at the Rowley end of the road, supposedly owned by King John.

This was all a mining area when I was a child. There were many pits, giving work for local men – Bell End Pit, Ram Rod Pit was near where I live now. All were eventually worked out [in fact most were flooded during the General strike and never re-opened but mum didn’t realise this] but leaving slag heaps and debris piled high in banks for a long way. But, as we found out later these banks were playgrounds for us children where celandine and coltsfoot and bluebells grew and we could run and climb up high above the fields. Small streams, after rain, – marshy places where we found Marsh Marigolds. Banks of Rose Bay Willow Herb growing tall and straight. There are no banks now in the whole of this area, from Uplands Avenue and Rowley Hill down to the Oldbury Road is one great housing estate, with a senior school and grounds [now also gone]. The outer edges are private estates.

At the bottom of Rowley Hill, my friend Amy Jones lived in a very old dilapidated farmhouse. We used play and wander from her house right up to Bell End and down to Oldbury Road. We wandered over the banks of pit waste, we paddled little streams and roamed the fields picking wild flowers – coltsfoot, buttercups and daisies, Ladies Smock. With the older leaves of coltsfoot we rubbed away the woolly coat and made ‘picture frames’. We often came home with muddy or very wet shoes and feet. We used to eat sorrel leaves and hawthorn leaves which we called Bread and Cheese – I wonder how we lived to tell the tale!

[The paragraphs above are not strictly relevant to this piece but I have included them because I simply find it lyrical and it paints a picture of a Blackheath and Rowley long gone, almost exactly a century ago. My mother goes on:- ]

The Cobblers Shop [in Oldbury Road]

Our shop was long and narrow and ‘barny’, all the shoe repairing machines, shop window, counter and bench were at the front end – at the back there was stock, bends of leather stacked, boxes of rubber heels and soles. Even now I can smell that leather! Dad made me a swing there hanging from the exposed rafters – I spent a lot of time with him and how I loved that swing – how high I went! There was also a black iron fireplace in the shop. Dad used to make me roast (baked) potatoes and all black and dusty chestnuts which cracked open at a touch.

I realised at this early age that cobblers shops were ‘canting’ shops as mom used to say. But later on when our shop and house were in one premises, mother indulged just as happily as dad! I do remember one middle-aged man who wore a cap with a shiny peak; another, Dick Bird, a fruiterer, was a daily visitor, as did some others, especially in winter. A good coal fire was a great attraction. I remember arguments about football – Dad and Bill were loyal West Bromwich Albion supporters and some customers favoured Aston Villa.”

In about 1923, yet again my parents moved house, having bought a detached house and shop in Birmingham Road. It was an old property, I believe an old iron warehouse, with some red and blue quarried floors – which I sometimes had to scrub as I grew older. The rugs I remember as a child were ‘podged’. All the old coats and skirts and trousers were cut up into ‘thrums’ and, with a special hook, attached to sacking – they were very thick and warm.

The house [Later known as 59 Birmingham Road] had six large rooms. Dad’s shop was at the front obviously and it was a long house, with rooms behind each other.”

Copyright unknown. This was the house and shop bought by my grandfather, where he had his shoemender’s shop and where my mother grew up, just prior to demolition. I remember as a child in the 1950s visiting and we went in through the tall gate at the right hand side of the shop and walked down an entry paved with blue bricks, past the front door which like many Black Country front doors, was never used and in through the lean-to kitchen/scullery which still had the upright water pump, later superseded by a cold water tap!

My mother’s memories continue:

“We had a cellar. Our pantry shelves topped ten brick steps down to a full room sized cellar with a blue brick floor and a yard wide brick sill all the way round. There was a small well in the cellar floor which got troublesome in times of heavy rainfall. Later Dad invested in a pump.

Our garden was quite small, made smaller by the added building of a downstairs bathroom and adjoining coalhouse which Dad and Bill (my uncle) built. But flowers we had. And I would still love a root of Solomon’s Seal which dad used to grow so well.

Mother and Dad had friends in the road. Mrs Bertha Adams had a shop almost opposite and was Mom’s very good friend. The Adams family were all members of our church [Birmingham Road Methodist]. Emily Ingram and Lily Hancox are the surviving members of the family. Mr Adams had a forge where he made nails and rivets – in the Nail Shop for Thomas Gadd’s factory.”

So these were my mum’s memories of the time the family lived in Oldbury Road and Birmingham Road. This was written during the late 1970s, I am hugely grateful that my mother did this before she succumbed to dementia, as there are so many precious glimpses of my mother’s life here. My mother noted that at one time they lived in High Street in a shop which later became Lloyd’s Bank. At the time of writing she still bought her vegetables and fruit from Birds who were, as she put it “an old Blackheath family who my people knew very well.” Even in the 1970s, descendants of that family were still trading in fruit and vegetables under the same name.

Why did my granddad become a cobbler?

I have often wondered how my grandfather came to go into the cobbling business, as he was the first to do so in a family of rivet makers. It was relatively unusual until then for boys not to follow their fathers into the nail or rivet making trade, and many of the Rose men were rivet makers. But the hand made trade was drastically reduced by then as mechanisation took the trade from more expensive hand made nails and rivets and William didn’t become a rivet maker. His father Absalom Rose was a rivet maker, working for Thomas Gadd’s, but William was not. And this is where the two threads begin to come together!

In 1881 Edward Alsop, aged 42, was living at No.42 Birmingham Road which is listed next to the Shoulder of Mutton. And in 1885 my grandfather was born at 45 Birmingham Road, three doors away. The two families, although with no direct connections that I have been able to discover, remained close neighbours for many years. What a coincidence, isn’t it? Edward Alsop was expanding his business and there were several boot and shoe making workers living very close. Did the Alsop family take my grandfather as an apprentice. I noted also that the Alsops had had a cobblers shop in Oldbury Road, was this shop the one that my grandfather took over at some point before he moved to premises of his own? I have no way of knowing but it does seem possible.

The ‘Rose and Adams families and shops’

Now in Anthony Page’s first book of Blackheath photographs there is a picture of a family outside two shops in Birmingham Road, which the caption says, is of the Rose and Adams families. Since the photograph came from my second cousin on that line, I have no reason to doubt that is accurate and that this group connects in some way to my family. The caption continues ‘These two shops stood a few doors away from the Shoulder of Mutton, and belonged at various times to the Rose and Adams families. Behind the shops, through the archway, was the original mill belonging to the Sturman family (part of which remains today as a food outlet, behind Barclays Bank). The goods on display in the windows included fresh fruit and vegetables and home-made lemonade.”

Hmm. My mother remembered Mrs Adams as a friend of her mother but does not mention her being related. So can I find a connection through my family tree? And how long were the Rose family and the Adams family associated with that little group of houses on the corner of Birmingham Road and the Market Place?

Looking at the censuses

1841: The 1841 has very little detail or indication as to where people actually lived so I have not been able to identify who was living in the Birmingham Road area and the same has proved ture of the 1851 Census.

The 1861 Census is not a great deal more helpful, except that by now James Payne is listed as a ‘Butcher and Beer Shop’. Yet again, we have a butcher combining his trade with that of the publican, just as Joseph Bowater was doing at the Bulls Head in Tippity Green, at this time and both pubs derive their name from the butchery trade. Next to the beer shop in Birmingham Road was John Homer, a breech pin maker who was also there in 1871 and then James Bissell, a gun barrel grinder and his family, next along was Thomas Jennings, a bricklayer – plenty of work in Blackheath for him, at this time – and then William Adams the butcher. Not very different to the line-up in 1871.

But looking at the premises on the other side of the beer shop, there were two households of nailers – Jesse Robinson and Mary Adams – that Adams name cropping up again. And then there is a draper – an incomer, too – from Somerset, by the name of William Collard and his wife Mary. That Collard name will come up again before long. So it appears that there was already a draper’s shop facing on to the market place, almost next to what would be the Shoulder of Mutton, as can be found in later censuses.

1871: The development of shops in Blackheath town centre must have followed the sale of the church glebe lands and the huge number of new houses built on the old glebe lands. James Payne was a licensed victualler at the Shoulder of Mutton which was, according to Hitchmough, first licensed in about 1854. Next to that in Birmingham Road is Edward Alsop, listed as a cordwainer with his family. Then there is John Homer who is a (former) gun breech forger, aged 59, and then Ezra Homer, aged 35, also a gun breech forger, with his family, all of whom are either rivet or nailmakers or still at school. Next there is the first time I can find the Roses in that area with Joseph Rose with his mother Ann and siblings Agatha and Absalom. Absalom, a nail maker was my great-grandfather. Ann Rose’s maiden name was Adams so perhaps that was the Adams connection mentioned by my cousin and Anthony in the book. Next door was William Adams, a butcher. However, I have not yet found a connection between Ann Rose, nee Adams and William Adams the butcher. After William Adams is a Noah Barnsley, who was a Blacking manufacturer – I wonder whether this was the premises with a large yard and a wide opening from Birmingham Road?

1881: By the time of the 1881 Census, the Alsop family are at No.42, next to the Shoulder of Mutton. There is a Hannah Preece, a widow at Number 43 and Ezra Homer and his family still at number 44. Joseph Rose has married and moved away to Malt Mill Lane. Absalom Rose, a rivet maker, has also married but is still living there at 45 Birmingham Road (the first time house numbers are shown in the census) with his widowed mother Ann who is shown as the Head of the household, his wife Betsy and eldest daughter. Also at 45 Birmingham Road is William Daniels, son-in-law of Absalom, the widower of Absalom’s eldest sister Matilda or Tilda Rose and with their four children. Next door at 46 is Henry Sturman who at that time was a General Labourer. No shops are mentioned at this time. There are no Adamses in the row. But, if you remember, the caption on the Adams/Rose family photograph noted that ‘the original mill belonging to the Sturman family’ was behind these houses so obviously they held at least some land there.

1891: In 1891, the Alsop family have moved round the corner to what is called 122 Halesowen Street in the census but which is later called 2 Market Place, the shop shown on later photographs. Next door to them, at 123, between the Alsop’s shop and the Shoulder of Mutton is Henry Bennett who is a General outfitterwith his family (although I have been interested to note from censuses that many members of his Bennett family around the Rowley area were cordwainers or shoemakers). Absalom, still a rivet maker, is to be found at 43 Birmingham Road, with his wife and three children, plus his wife’s niece Clara Harvey who is described as a servant , (relative has been crossed out). At 44 is a John Priest with his family, at 45 James Chatwin who was a Journeyman Boot maker and at 46, Henry Sturman. So it looks as though the Roses moved two doors along. Still no sign of any Adamses living there.

1901: In 1901, which is close to the time the photograph of the shops was taken, Absalom, with his wife and two of his children, is still at 43, Birmingham Road, still a rivet maker. No occupation is shown for his wife Betsy, there is no mention of a shop. His son William, my grandfather is a Boot and Shoe finisher. At No.42, previously occupied by the Alsops, there is a note that the occupier slept away so we do not know who was usually there. Next door to Absalom at 44 are Jesse and Mary Ann Law, Mary Ann is Absalom and Betsy’s daughter. No 45 is empty. James Chatwin is still at No.46. But there has been a change at No.47, it is now occupied by Thomas (a carpenter) and Elizabeth Hadley, there is a note that there is a Fried Fish Shambles between 47 and 48.

1911: In 1911 – aha! At number 42 is Bertha Adams, a widow with her two daughters and one son, there is no mention of any occupation. At number 43 are Absalom and Betsy Rose, at 44 is a John Horton who was a waggoner, and at 45 is Matilda Sturman, aged 36 and single, who is described as a ‘sweets and general dealer’ and her brother Edward Sturman, 21 who was a ‘fish, fruit and potato salesman’, both said to be ‘working in own account’, ie self-employed.

And next along at 46 is William Bird, with his family of seven children. William, who was then 40, is also a Fish Salesman, again working on his own account and his son William Walter Bird, aged 17 is assisting in the business, and working from home. The next son Leonard at 15 is a grocer’s assistant but not working from home and with a different occupation code so presumably working elsewhere. Since both Edward Sturman and William Bird are fish salesman, does this relate to the ‘Fried Fish Shambles’ mentioned which was situated between numbers 47 and 48 in the 1901 Census?

At No. 47 is James Wharton, aged 65 and a labourer at a colliery with his three sons who are an Insurance Agent, a boilermaker and an Electrical Engineer so all working in better jobs than labouring and all requiring literacy which was probably not available to their father. And at 48 is a John Johnson, chainmaker working at home.

1921: In 1921, the last of the historic censuses available, the census form for number 42 is labelled on the cover sheet as being the home of Lucy Bennett, widow of Henry Bennett who had until very recently been the draper at 123 Market Place, next door to the Alsop’s shop on the other side of the Shoulder of Mutton. But she does not appear on the actual census page. The head of the household listed as head of the household is Bertha Adams, aged 40, with her sister Dorothy Violet Bennett and Bertha’s three children also listed. Bertha has no occupation shown other than household duties and Dorothy, aged 27, is a Pen worker. Both Bertha and Dorothy give their place of birth as 123 Market Place. Bennett – I checked for Bertha’s marriage, Bertha was a Bennett, she and Dorothy are two of the daughters of Henry Bennett who had died in 1897 – Lucy Bennett was Henry’s widow and presumably owned or rented number 42. But in 1921 Lucy herself was living with her other daughter Florence Bennett who was a pawnbroker in Halesowen Road, Netherton, Florence again working on her own account.

Absalom is still at 43 Birmingham Road with his wife Betsy, in 1921, still described as a rivet maker, for Thomas Gadd at the Ross Rivet Works, although also marked out of work. Perhaps he still hoped to return to work there at some point although he was now 65. Also in the house were two lodgers who were unrelated to them (I think!).

At number 44, is Benjamin Billingham, aged 64 who was a roadman, with his wife Maria and step-daughter Sarah Aston, aged 41. Sarah, who was unmarried, was born in Lye (incomers!) and was a Stationery and Fancy Goods dealer, working on her own account and presumably from home though the place of work is only shown as Blackheath.

At 45 is William Tromans, who was 56 and an Out Porter at the GWR Rowley Regis Station. His wife Matilda, aged 46, is shown as a General and Hardware Dealer. Also listed is their daughter Alice Bertha Kathleen Tromans, aged 4 years and 8 months. Is this Matilda the same Matilda Sturman who was living at 45 in the last census? Yes, of course it is! Matilda had married William Tromans in the last quarter of 1914 and Alice’s birth registered in the last quarter of 1916. I wonder whether Alice’s second name of Bertha was for Bertha Adams who was just a couple of doors away?

At Number 46 is still William Bird with his wife Annie and seven children. William is a ‘Fish Fruit Poultry shop Keeper’ with the place of work shown as High Street, Blackheath. The four eldest children are also employed in the fish business, including two boys Leonard (26) and Thomas (21) working from home as Fish Salesmen and Annie (19) working as a shop assistant in the High Street shop, whereas Arthur (16) is shown as ‘assisting father in general’ and working from home. Looking back to my mother’s memoirs of family friends and visitors to her father’s shop, she referred to the Bird family who were fruiterers with a High Street shop who must surely be this family. And although she remembers a Dick Bird, who does not appear in this family, might this not be a nickname – Dickie Bird? I searched the 1921 Census for a Dick or Richard Bird in the area, there was none of any age so I am sure that this family, living almost directly opposite my cobbler grandfather (and whose shop was in the High Street, is the family that my mother remembered.

After this entry, the 1921 census sheets do not shown house numbers but the houses are occupied by families with unfamiliar names so I think that they were rented out and occupants changed more often than the group of houses, shops and business premises between the Shoulder of Mutton and Number 47.

Absalom Rose died in 1922 and his wife Betsy in 1926. By that time their children were all established elsewhere so presumably other occupiers moved into number 43.

Unfortunately, although there was another census in 1931 this was destroyed by fire in 1942 (not bomb damage, just a fire), no census was taken in 1941 because it was wartime and the next census was in 1951 which will not be released until 2051 – I doubt I will be around to see it! There was the 1939 Register which was taken to organise identity cards and rationing which includes some useful information but no relationships. Bertha Adams was still in Birmingham Road in 1939, indeed she lived until 1979. Her Probate record gives her address as Harvest Road, Rowley Regis so even Bertha moved away from Birmingham Road eventually. Most of the shops were demolished to make way for a shopping centre and a multi-storey car park which was never built.

The Market Place/Shoulder of Mutton/Birmingham Road group of premises

So I have identified that there is a group of business premises, shops and houses which wrap around the Shoulder of Mutton and the residents of these premises appear to move between the different houses or shops over a period of at least fifty years. And most of those houses and shops which I have investigated so thoroughly, have now gone, although I remember them from my childhood in the 1950s. And some of them are shown in the photograph of the Adams/Rose families, and also in this picture taken, apparently in the 1930s, looking from the Market Place towards Rowley, which appeared on a different Facebook page.

Most of them can be placed fairly accurately on this extract from the 1902 OS map, mainly from the yard entrances and covered entries which also appear on the map.

Whether all or some of these properties were owned by the Allsops or by the Sturmans or by someone else, at this point in my research, I could not tell.

Certainly one of the shops, over a long period was run by Bertha Adams and it seems likely that Betsy Rose also operated a shop. A friend of my mother gave me a photograph a few years ago which she said was of my great-grandmother Betsy Rose standing with two younger women in the doorway of a shop which was supposed to be in Birmingham Road and which I think from the fashions was probably taken in the 1920s. Was this Betsy Rose? I am told so and perhaps the young ladies are my great-aunts!

Front room shops

I believe, regardless of these business arrangements not being recorded in censuses, that it was quite common for women to run small shops from their front rooms which sold basic items and sweets, etc, as my mother mentions elsewhere in her memoir, visiting her mother’s aunt Mary Ingram (Fred’s granny) in Bell End which, after the pits had closed was now all fields with a row of small terraced miner’s cottages where Great-aunt Mary lived. My mother described it like this –

“There was a tiny pantry with a front facing window. Aunt Mary made it into a little shop with sweets and chocolates, lucky bags and pop. I suppose she sold groceries too but they wouldn’t have interested me! Oh, yes, I remember blue paper bags of sugar.”

I think that those little cottages in Bell End survived into the 1960s as I remember them, almost opposite to where Fred and Emily Ingram lived! And again, these were the sorts of shops, like Bertha’s in Birmingham Road, which sold useful day-to-day necessities and pop! Home made lemonade, somewhere local people, even children, could pop in for a few items without having to go too far.

The Adams connection

I had been unable as yet to find any link my mother mentioned between the Emily Adams who became Emily Ingram and the Charles Eli Adams to whom Bertha Bennett had been married. However, just to stir the mix, Charles Eli was a first cousin to Alfred Adams who married Mary or Polly Alsop, daughter of Edward Alsop who lived and traded in this cluster of houses and shops. So perhaps the Alsop family allowed the widowed Bertha to take over their shop when they moved round the corner.

It appears that another apparently unrelated Adams family lived in Mott Street, later called George Street off Birmingham Road, and moved into Birmingham Road in the early 1920s and it was this family which had, amongst others, the daughters named Emily and Lily who my mother remembered.

And then I found another of those intertwining threads that keep emerging in this game. Both of these daughters of the Adams family married at Birmingham Road Methodist church with which my family was closely connected on my mother’s side. Emily Adams married Fred Ingram and they were well-known to anyone connected with Birmingham Road Methodist church, real stalwarts. They lived in Bell End when I first knew them but then moved to Olive House in Halesowen Street, formerly the home of Miss Estelle Hancox, another stalwart of Birmingham Road and a great friend of my mother’s. Lily Adams married Cecil Hancox, whose address at the time of the marriage was Olive House in Halesowen Street. Yes, Cecil was the brother of Stella Hancox. And Cecil ran the confectionary and sweet shop at the Kings cinema, to which my grandfather Rose used to take me as a child to buy sweets on Saturdays! So the Adams/Hancox/Ingram connection to Olive House becomes clear to me. Many chapel events were held in the lovely garden there over many years.

And Joseph Adams, the father of Emily and Lily was certainly a rivet maker working from a forge behind his house so this was probably the Mr Adams mum remembered, but nothing to do with Bertha!

And looking for items to illustrate this piece I found a map which appears to show Blackheath at the time when the Glebe lands were about to be sold and there were very few houses in Blackheath. But, off what became the Birmingham Road, there was an unnamed road leading off to the right, almost opposite the Causeway. It appeared to have only one building in the road. But the name Wm Adams appears against that house or houses.

Very probably the same Adamses who lived in Mott Street which was in the same area fifty years later. So those Adamses were in that area for a long time too and may well have been connected to the William Adams who was a butcher in Birmingham Road in 1861 – I have not built that family tree any further back from Emily and Lily and their father to check!

The Gloucestershire/Somerset/Blackheath Connection

Another diversion then emerged.

While I was researching the Bennett family who were drapers in the Market Place, I found that Lucy Roberts (who married bootmaker Henry Bennett) had been born in Chipping Sodbury which is a delightful little town in Gloucestershire only a few miles from where I live now. So I knew from the census entries for her family there exactly where she lived, as those houses are still there today. Her father Joseph Roberts was a publican, he had married three times, each of his wives was named Ann (that took some meticulous working out as most of the trees on Ancestry think he had only one wife!) and he remained in Chipping Sodbury until his death in 1902.

So I was a little surprised, when checking out Lucy’s earlier life, that Lucy (aged 18) and her younger brother William (aged 13) were already living in High Street, Blackheath by 1871, living with and described as the niece and nephew of William Dudley, aged 39, born in Wednesbury, who was a ‘Pawnbroker & Draper & Local Preacher’ – an interesting combination! Lucy at that time was an assistant in the Drapery, William was a scholar. Pawnbroking was something of a family trade for William’s Dudley family and he had had a pawnbroker’s shop in Oldbury before he moved to Blackheath. Also in his household with Lucy and William Roberts was a Constantine Lovell, an assistant pawnbroker who was also said to be a nephew, his place of birth was not known, given as either Gloucester or Somerset (now known to be Clifton, Bristol).

Constantine was not difficult for me to track, he had been living next door to Lucy in Chipping Sodbury in 1851 and his mother and Lucy’s were sisters. Constantine’s father had died in 1852, and it seems likely to me that Constantine and his two siblings were sent away from Chipping Sodbury then or soon after, as in the 1861 Census, his older brother was in the navy, his younger sister was in the workhouse in Somerset, in the parish of her Lovell grandparents and Constantine was working as a Worsted spinner, near Halifax in Yorkshire. It was not uncommon for boys of his age to be sent from workhouses in the south of England to mills in the North to work. However, somehow he had been brought back to his family in Blackheath by 1871 and Constantine went on to become a Pawnbroker in Smethwick for the rest of his life. His sister was also in West Bromwich within a few years and married there so they appear to have kept in touch with their wider family.

The maiden name of the two sisters who were the mothers of these youngsters was Collard, yes, they were the daughters of the very same William Collard who had a drapery shop in the Market Place in 1861– he was grandfather to all three of these youngsters.

Lucy and William Roberts’s mother had died in 1868 and their father re-married in 1869, so it appears that the Roberts children had moved to be with their grandfather. Their aunt Mary Collard, his youngest child, had married William Dudley in 1863 and that was how they had come to be described as his nephews and nieces.

Was it coincidence that Lucy’s eldest daughter Florence later became a pawnbroker? I wonder whether the draper’s shop in the Market Place also operated as a pawnbroker? It seems that Henry Bennett was originally a boot and shoemaker (yet another!), and he had come into the family drapery business when he married Lucy so most of the business experience of drapery – and pawnbroking – was on Lucy’s side.

So the premises at Market Place, later occupied by Lucy and Henry Bennett had actually been originally occupied as a drapers by Lucy’s Collard grandfather, as early as 1861 and appear to have been operated as such over a long period.

To summarise:

So this was my convoluted attempt to trace the movements of people and families around the houses and shops in this very small area of Blackheath in the late 1800s and early 1900s and to relate them to my mother’s memories of growing up there. This very long tale may not be of great interest to anyone else but has been an interesting exercise in research for me.

It does appear that there were close-knit networks of families who owned or occupied houses, shops, mills and warehouses, who moved around each other, swapped houses and shops, intermarried, employed their own and neighbour’s children in their businesses and ran a wide variety of small businesses which helped Blackheath become the busy and thriving little town it became. But also that the burgeoning ‘new town’ of Blackheath also attracted traders and shopkeepers from outside the immediate area.

I still do not know quite who owned which land or houses or when or how those yards at the back interconnected and I may at some point investigate through land taxes but that is another rabbit hole for another time!

Families of the Lost Hamlets – The Alsops 5 – Edward

Edward Alsop (1818-1901)

Edward was baptised at St Giles, on 17 Feb 1818, the fourth son of Edward Alsop and Betty (nee Hodgetts). Their abode was shown at that time as ‘Windmill’ and his father’s occupation as miller. On 29 July 1838 FreeREG shows that Edward married Rebecca (often spelled Rebekah) Clift (also known as Parkes) at Christchurch, West Bromwich. Edward was shown as a bachelor and a farmer of Rowley, of full age and Rebecca as a spinster of Rowley, also of full age. Whether Edward was older at baptism than usual I don’t know but with a baptism in 1818, it seems likely that he was only just of full age, which was 21 in those days! Or perhaps he lied… Edward’s father’s occupation was shown as farmer and Samuel Parkes as a Nail Factor.

The man Rebekah names as her father in the marriage entry was Samuel Parkes who was a Nail Factor, business families marrying into other business families again. There were many members of the Clift family living on the Portway/Oldbury side of Rowley and it appears that Rebekah was baptised as the illegitimate daughter of Sarah Clift of Mincing Lane. Rebekah gave her own surname as Clift and the name of her father at her marriage as Samuel Parkes and her mother Sarah appears to have been living with Samuel Parkes in the Club Buildings in 1841 and in Bell End in 1851 when she was shown as his wife but I have not been able to find a marriage between Sarah and Samuel . Rebekah also gave her maiden name as Parkes when the births of her children were registered. Whether Samuel was actually her father is unclear but it appears that she considered him such.

In the 1841 Census, Edward was living at Yew Tree, with Rebecca whose age was shown as 25, so it appears that she was a little older than Edward whose age had been rounded down to 20. Also listed living with them was a daughter Mary (actually registered and baptised as Mary Ann), aged 3 and a son Joseph, aged 6 months. Edward was shown as a Ag Lab. Mary Ann was baptised on 19 October 1838 at St Giles when the abode was given as Windmill and also, apparently, 9 December 1838 when the abode was given as Mincing Lane. This seems very odd. But both entries appear in the parish register, just a few lines apart and there is no other female Alsop born in the area in that period. I suspect, though I cannot be 100% certain, that this may have been a private baptism in October, often performed at home when a baby was in danger of dying. Then, if the baby survived, another ceremony was held a little later to ‘receive the baby into the congregation’ of the church. Joseph was baptised on 14 March 1841 when his parents were living in Yew Tree where Edward was a farmer, confirmed by the 1841 census. And another son Samuel Edward was born in 1844, baptised at St Giles on 14 March 1844, but his mother Rebecca was buried the same day with a note on the burial entry in the register that she had died in childbirth.

Poor Edward’s family life seems to have been badly affected by Rebecca’s death. By the time of the 1851 Census he had moved to Barr Common, Great Barr where he was farming 39 acres with just one labourer sharing the house with him. His daughter Mary Ann appears to be in service as a house servant, aged 12, at a farm in Handsworth, Birmingham. Joseph is living with his maternal grandmother in Bell End, Rowley and Samuel Edward is living with his paternal grandparents at the Mill Farm.

In the 1861 Census Edward was still farming at Barr Common but he had re-married in 1859 in Aston, Birmingham to Eliza Paviour , a widow, nee Billingham. With that maiden surname you will probably not be surprised to hear that Eliza, although she had been living in Aston at the time of her marriage to Edward, gives her place of birth as Rowley and there is a baptism at Park Lane Presbyterian chapel in Cradley in 1814 which may relate to her. However, her age in censuses varies in each census and her estimated year of birth from those ages ranges from 1813 to 1820, with three instances of 1817! Edward and Eliza appear not to have had any children.

Also in this census his son Samuel Edward, by now aged 17, was also living with him.

By 1871 Edward and Eliza were still farming at Barr Common but by 1881 Edward was described as a retired farmer and they had moved to Birmingham Road, Great Barr. Eliza died in 1889 and Edward remained in Great Barr in 1891 and 1901, dying in July 1901 and he was buried at St Margaret’s Great Barr on 27 July 1901. His substantial probate in December 1901 showed that he left more than £7,000 which was a substantial sum in those days.

Edward and Rebekah’s children:

Mary Ann (1838-1859)

As already mentioned above, Mary Ann was baptised twice and was apparently in service in Handsworth in 1851. It was not unusual for girls to go into service so young, brutal as we might find it today, and it appears that her two younger brothers were also separated and being cared for by different grandparents at that time. However, I was, at first, unable to find much trace of Mary Ann after that census.

At least one family tree on Ancestry has Mary Ann recorded as marrying a William Ward in Moxley, Staffordshire in 1864 and subsequently moving to Yorkshire but her father’s name in the FreeREG entry of that marriage record was shown as Henry so definitely not our Mary Ann.

However I did find a death and burial of a Mary Ann Alsop in Great Barr in August 1859. Great Barr was where Mary Ann’s father had moved to following her mother’s death and where he was also buried after his death. This Mary Ann was aged 20 which is the correct age. Bearing in mind that in the 1861 Census Edward’s son Samuel was also living at the farm with his father, it does not seem unlikely that the children, as they grew up, moved to live with their father, especially as Mary Ann could housekeep for him. I have not been able to find Mary Ann in any later censuses and I think that this is our Mary Ann.

Curiously the Civil Registration Death Index through FreeREG shows two entries for the death of Mary Ann Alsop in Walsall RD in this quarter, with the second entry being inserted below the first and in a different handwriting and with the page number being one different – very odd! But the GRO online search couldn’t find either of them so I couldn’t even order them to satisfy my curiosity! However, I did raise a query with the GRO, and some correction has been made and I have now been able to obtain Mary Ann’s Death Certificate.

Not easy to read but this confirms that this Mary Ann was indeed the daughter of Edward Alsop, farmer and that she died of phthisis (tuberculosis), aged 20 on 12 August 1859 at Great Barr. She had been suffering from phthisis for three years.

So two baptisms and two death registrations for this poor girl in her short and hard life.

Joseph 1841-?

Joseph was baptised at St Giles on 14 March 1841, when his parents were living at Yew Tree where Edward was farming. In the 1841 Census his age was given as 6 months and that census was taken on 6 June so presumably he was born sometime in December 1840, though his birth was not registered until the first quarter of 1841. In 1851, aged 9, he was living with his maternal grandmother Sarah Clift/Parkes in Bell End and he was still there in 1861, aged 20 when he was a warehouseman. His widowed grandmother, by then 65, was listed as a shopkeeper. This is not the first time we have found members of the Alsop family keeping a shop in Bell End, one wonders whether the tenancy was passed around the family as others moved on!

But after that, Joseph disappears. Searching for him has been difficult because he had a first cousin also named Joseph Alsop, also born in 1841, son of his father’s older brother Joseph Alsop and Sarah Eliza Dingley and who at one time also lived in Bell End…. Only by looking at the name of the groom’s father in various marriages was I able to establish that none of the marriages of Joseph Alsop in the surrounding area in following period was this Joseph. He was not with his father and brother in Great Barr in 1871 and I can find no other Joseph born in Rowley Regis in 1840/41 in any of the later censuses, all the entries I can find relate to his cousin. I cannot find a death registration for him in the UK nor a burial any where locally.

It occurs to me that Joseph may have emigrated, perhaps after his maternal grandmother died, as he was living with her in the last two censuses but I have not found any specific records of Sarah’s death or of him emigrating. There is no evidence of him living with his father in later life and his only sister died in 1859, so perhaps new adventures appealed. Certainly his brother had emigrated to Australia by the mid-1860s, perhaps they went together or one followed the other.

In the meantime, none of the other trees on Ancestry who have this Joseph on them have any information after 1861 either which probably means that there is no more information to find about him, at least at present.

Samuel Edward (1844-1933)

Samuel was baptised at St Giles on 14 March 1844, the same day that his mother was buried. This left his farmer father with three children, including a new born baby, under the age of six. It seems that he got a lot of help from his family, as the two boys were later living with grandparents, Samuel was with his paternal grandparents Edward and Betty Alsop at the Mill Farm, off Tippity Green, while his father had moved to farm in Great Barr.

By 1861 Samuel was living with his father in Great Barr and I found a newspaper report in the Walsall Free Press and General that, in June 1863, “Samuel Edward Alsop, farmer, Great Barr, pleaded guilty to carting night soil through the streets during prohibited hours . It appeared that, on Friday last, the night soil had been brought from West Bromwich, and that the waggon passed along Bridge Street during prohibited hours. Under the circumstances, the defendant was sentenced to pay a fine of 1 shilling and costs.” Which does not seem to be a very severe punishment – one cannot help thinking that if the smells associated with this work were so unpleasant that they could not be transported through the streets when people were out and about (I presume this was the restriction!), and bearing in mind that it was June and possibly quite warm, the magistrates had some sympathy for poor Samuel!

As mentioned above, Samuel’s father had remarried in March 1859, and his sister Mary Ann had died in August 1859 so perhaps Samuel Edward decided that there was not much to keep him at home. Certainly by 1867 he had been in Victoria, Australia long enough to marry his wife Matilda Blazeley. They appear to have settled in Condenand then Camperdown, Victoria and they had at least six children.

I found this obituary for his son Samuel, which gives some of the story of his father’s early life in Australia.

I was very interested, looking at some of his children on other family trees on Ancestry to see that his son Henry Alsop, born in 1871 in Victoria, was married in Australia and subsequently settled in New Zealand. The reason for my interest? His bride was a Lily Dingley – born in Wolverhampton – another Alsop/Dingley connection and one that showed that the close connectionns between these families had crossed the world, not confined to the Rowley area. And Dennis and Lily were married in the Wesleyan church by a John Adams. And the witnesses at the marriage were Lily’s mother and Grace Rose Adams, presumably related to the Wesleyan Minister. Lily’s parents were Dennis Dingley (born in Titford, Oldbury) and – wait for it… Betsy Alsop (born in Rowley Regis, the daughter of Joseph Alsop and Sarah Eliza Dingley)… So Henry married his second cousin. What a cluster of very familiar Rowley and Blackheath names – I wonder whether there was a mini-Rowley settlement there?! It must be challenging to move to the other side of the world, leaving all your loved ones behind – what could be more natural than for people to settle near to others from the same area and who had the same connections back at home?

Samuel Edward returned at least once to England, sailing back in April 1896, apparently, from passenger lists, alone and he returned to Adelaide arriving back in Albany in November of that year.

He died in July 1933 at Camperdown and is buried there.

Conclusion

So of Edward and Rebekah’s three children, the only definite issue was Samuel Edward’s children in Australia. After Edward’s death in 1901, an advertisement appeared in the Walsall Observer on 17 August, giving details of the auction of the contents of Edward’s house in Birmingham Road, at the behest of the executors of Edward’s Will so it seems likely that there were none of his children in England to take possession.

The Allsopp Genealogy website

In the course of my research on this twig of the Alsop family tree, I found the Allsopp Genealogy website (https://allsoppgenealogy.com/ ), run by Dennis Allsopp in Australia and he is also working on a One Name Study for the Allsopp family. It is an extensive and well documented website and if you have any Alsop connections, you will find it of interest. Dennis has kindly placed a link to this blog on the site as he thinks it may be of interest to some of his members, including this delightful illustration he has created about the Rowley Alsop family.

Whether Dennis has direct links to the Rowley Alsops I do not know but he has noted that Staffordshire was a ‘hotbed for the Allsop name’ and he is continuing to add names to his One Name Study.

I shall continue the story of the Rowley Regis Alsop family in my next piece, with Mary Ann and Rhoda’s stories still to come.

An Alsop connection on the other side of the world!

When I am working on a family study for my OPS, I use many different sources, family history search engines, censuses, parish registers, newspaper reports, academic papers – anything which throws additional light on the family I am looking at. In my mind, the variety of different sources helps to build a bigger picture of the family and how they conducted their lives and adds to the interest, rather than simply a list of names and dates.

As regular readers may remember, in my first piece on the Alsop family I referred to an interesting paper I had found which related the skills and training of mill wrights to the development of engineers in later times, as they were accustomed to complex machinery and the need for accurately made parts so that the moving machinery operated smoothly. I had noticed that there seemed to be a number of Alsops/Allsops/Allsopps who were millers in the surrounding area, at least from the early 1700s and very possibly earlier.

A recent online search for ‘Alsop + millers’ brought up a few interesting links and one of these was a link for an Allsopp Genealogy website. A very interesting website too, very well set out and extensive and including reference to an Allsopp One Name Study. I sent off an email, mentioning the OPS and my Alsop family study and asking whether the owner of the website had noticed a lot of Alsops who were millers.

I received a very prompt reply from Dennis Allsopp, who is in Australia, he had clearly looked at my posts on WordPress and he asked whether I would allow him to place a link to the study on the website, as he felt that visitors to his site would find it interesting. Of course, I am very happy for this to happen. Dennis described Staffordshire as ‘a hotbed for the Allsop name, especially around Walsall’ which tied in with my findings. He had not observed a great number of millers in his database but did comment that many were shoemakers or cordwainers – which again ties in precisely with my findings!

Not even 12 hours after my first contact with Dennis, he had read, it seems, quite a few of my posts about the Alsops and related those to the family and their place in the Industrial Revolution. He talks, in his link to my blog, about the technical skills of the family and their transition from artisan craftsmen to modern engineering in the Black Country and elsewhere. And, having written about this, he had then added this fabulous image, incorporating names, dates, a mill and machinery , all designed and done in less than a day after I had contacted him! This sort of contact is one of the things which make this study so worthwhile!

So, if you have Alsop links by name or in your family tree, do go and look at the Allsopp Genealogy website, this link goes to the page about the Lost Hamlets but if you click on the home button at the top, there is a huge amount to explore. I am very impressed by (and tbh, somewhat envious of) the technical skills used here.

https://allsoppgenealogy.com/732-2/

Dennis is also working on the Allsopp One Name Study and there is a Facebook page, too where Dennis has also apparently put a link to my study. Thank you, Dennis!

Just to think that I thought the Alsop family would be a quick easy Family Study, a bit of a recreation from some of the more familiar Rowley families – but it seems that every family I look at expands in this way and provides new areas of interest!

Families of the Lost Hamlets – The Alsops 4, Joseph and his eldest son Edward

Joseph Alsop (1816-1868)

Joseph, the third son of Edward Alsop and Betty (nee Hodgetts), was baptised at St Giles on 14 January 1816, so may have been born late in 1815.

Joseph married Sarah Eliza Dingley on 4 December 1836 at Clent. In the 1841 Census they were, from the description of the enumerator’s route, living at the bottom of Rowley village, very near to Lillypot Row, with their 3 year old son Edward and also Nahan (Nathan?) Dingley, aged 14, presumably a relative of Sarah. Joseph was a shop keeper.

In the 1851 Census, Joseph and his family are shown as living in Blackheath. But then, so is everyone else in nine pages! Trying to work out whether these were actually the same place, I looked at the route described by the enumerator. The enumerator’s route, however, is slightly – but only slightly – more informative when trying to work out exactly where they were living and then only if you know where other named individuals were also living, as routes are often defined by reference to the occupants or sometimes the builders or owners of particular houses. I do not have that knowledge! So:-

“All that Part of the Parish of Rowley Regis called Blakeheath [a common spelling variation then and later in the document the writer consistently spells the name as Bleakheath] , commencing at two houses lately built by James Preece [no help at all!], taking both sides of the road up to the Endowed School, then Lillypot Row, Barton [at this period Barton seems to have referred to an area around what is now the Britannia Inn. The historical meaning of barton refers to a barley farm and I am interested to note this as I know from other studies that at least one farmer of this land was also a publican on the site and perhaps grew barley for use in brewing his beer] and up to the Partridge’s on that side only, then along Siviters Lane, taking New Ross and Shepherd’s Fold including the Yew Tree Lane and Hyams Hill House, and Scotwell Cottage, thence to Benjamin Adshead [again, no help, except that I was interested to see that there were Adsheads living in this area as I had previously only come across this surname in connection with the Levett family] taking that side of the village to the National School.”

The Enumerator’s route for the adjoining part of the 1851 Census reads :

“All that Part of the Parish of Rowley Regis called Mincing Lane, taking Bell End, MackMillans’s Green, the North side of the village including 2 houses at Whiteheath Well, Spring Row, the Parsonage, Hawes Lane, Club Buildings, the Mill Farm House and Tippity Green, ending at Joseph Parkes.”

From various descriptions, Mackmillan’s Green appears to have been below Bell End, perhaps opposite to what is now the entrance to Britannia Park.

So it appears that the line of what was or is now called Birmingham Road was the boundary between these two Enumerator’s sections and that Joseph and his family were living somewhere at the bottom of the village, between Lillypot Row and Siviter’s Lane, on the side where Britannia Park is and possibly where the Tesco is now and possibly in the same place as in 1841. But this time, Edward was described as a farmer of 7 acres, so not a big farm.

Joseph and Sarah had six children: Edward (1838-1908) who is looked at in the rest of this piece; Joseph (1841-), Eliza (1844-); William (1845-1846); Elizabeth (1847-) and Rhoda Ann (1849).

Rhoda is quite an unusual name but appears several times in the Alsop family, both in Rowley Regis and as far afield as Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Derbyshire, Cambridgeshire and London in the 1700s and early 1800s. Presumably this Rhoda was named after Joseph’s youngest sister Rhoda (1821-1903)of whom more anon.

In this piece I will deal with their eldest son Edward who had an extensive and busy family. The others will follow soon! I hope…

Joseph and Sarah’s children:

Edward Alsop (1838-1908) married Sarah Whitehouse at St Edmund’s Dudley on 25 December 1858. Sarah’s family lived in Portway. It was not unusual to have weddings on Christmas Day in those days, as this was the one day that workers were on holiday and would not lose pay. Perhaps also it was a day that families often got together to celebrate so that a separate celebratory gathering was not necessary.

In the 1861 Census, when this Edward was living in Rowley Village with Sarah and their eldest son Joseph, aged 3, he was a cordwainer or shoemaker, a trade which he passed on to others in his family and in which he appears to have built up a successful business in the Blackheath area.

Edward and Sarah had six children, all blessed with the usual Alsop names, leading to some confusion at times. I apologise in advance if I confuse you, too! These were : Joseph (1859-1932), Eliza (1863-1939), Mary (or Polly) (1865-1938), Alfred (1871-1900), Alice (1875-1887) and Annie (1879-1954).

Joseph Alsop (1859-1932)

Their eldest son Joseph, like his father and brother, became a boot and shoe maker, he had a shop for many years in Oldbury but moved back to his father’s business in Blackheath after his father’s death. It does appear, looking at the locations of the family in various censuses and wills that they kept a connection to a shop in this immediate area for many years. Other records refer to 4 Long Lane and others to Market Place, Blackheath. And as seen before, the boys in the family appear to have been placed in businesses of their own, even if in the same trade, but carefully situated far enough apart not to compete with each other.

Joseph married Annie (Susannah) Grosvenor at Quinton in 1880, they had three sons. The eldest Edward (1881-1946) was in Barnsley Hall Mental Hospital in the 1921 Census and apparently remained there, dying there in 1946.

I can remember when I was growing up in Rowley in the 1950s there was an absolute horror of people being ‘taken to Barnsley Hall’ and I know from other people I have researched that quite often people who were admitted to mental hospitals, including some who were admitted after shell shock in WW1 military service, never came out. Whether Edward was admitted for these reasons we cannot know but it is possible that he remained there for most of his adult life.

Joseph and Annie’s other sons were Alfred (1886-1973) who married Elsie Oakley in 1909 and was a Master Shoe Maker, staying in the Blackheath area for the rest of his life. Alfred and Elsie appear not to have had any children.

And Horace (1892-1945). In the 1911 Census Horace, then 19, is recorded proudly as ‘Student – Arts Degree’. This is the first time I have come across a member of this family graduating, which Horace clearly did as he became a secondary school teacher and later an Inspector of Schools. He married Hilda Lusty in 1917 and was a schoolmaster in Norwich by 1921, where he stayed for the rest of his life.

Joseph died in 1932 and his Probate Record describes him as ‘of Long Lane, Blackheath, I have been unable to find a record of his burial and Susannah died in 1933.

Eliza Alsop (1863-1939)

Edward and Sarah’s daughter Eliza married James Stafford (1864-1940) who was a Boot and Shoe Maker in 1886 (although he later became a publican and also, at some point a shopkeeper); they lived in Mott Street, Blackheath in 1891, just around the corner from Eliza’s parents, later at the Quinton end of Long Lane in 1901 and later still in Riddins Street, Old Hill (which was apparently somewhere in the Brickfields area) in 1911 and 1921.

And Hitchmough confirms that James Henry Stafford was indeed the licensee of the Riddins Tavern from about 1905 – 1930. What fascinated me about the entry in Hitchmough was the name of the previous licensee – John E French [1899] – [1901]. Hang on, we already know about a John French who was a licensee, the son-in-law of Hannah Alsop, Eliza’s aunt. And although he was dead long before this, he did have a son John E French. Was it possible that Eliza and her husband took over the pub from her cousin?

Well, no, apparently not! The John Edgar French (1881-1973) on the Alsop family tree was born in Belbroughton in 1881 and was a farmer whereas the publican John E French was, according to various censuses, born in 1866 in Cradley Heath. And our original John French (1832-1886) was the son of George French, and was born, as was his father, in Wardington, Oxfordshire. The Cradley John E French was the son of Andrew and Ann French who were both from County Mayo, Ireland. Just a strange coincidence, it seems! But it is tempting to wonder what connections there might have been further back…

James and Eliza had two daughters Elsie (1889) and Lily May (1893) and one son James Leonard (1898). Eliza died in January 1939, her death being registered in the Rowley Regis Registration District so she had not moved far from her Rowley roots, James died in 1940.

Mary (or Polly) (1865-1938)

Mary [usually known as Polly] Edward & Sarah’s next daughter, married Alfred Adams (1865-1943) in 1889, he was a Solicitor’s Clerk. In the 1921 Census, which asks for the name of employers, Alfred says that he was employed by T Cooksey and Co., Solicitors, of Old Hill. They stayed in the Blackheath/Cakemore area for the rest of their lives.

Polly’s husband Alfred Adams is related to me as a distant cousin, through my maternal line, and I will be doing a separate piece about the Alsop premises in Blackheath and how they relate to my Rose/Adams/Parsons family.

Alfred and Polly had four sons, Eli Percy (1890-1891), Alfred Theodore (1894-1960), Bertram Leslie (1897-1992) and Harold Cyril (1902-1974). Of these, Eli died in infancy, Alfred and Cyril appear to have stayed in the Halesowen/Cakemore area and Bertram, who was a Civil Servant lived in various places including Nottingham, Doncaster and London, but died in Bournemouth. Alfred does not appear to have married though both his brothers did. He was noted in the 1939 Register as living with his retired father and his occupation , very unusually for a man in those times, was shown as ‘unpaid domestic duties. Since he died in Powick Mental Hospital in 1960, it is possible that he suffered from some disabling condition.

This Alfred was a second grandson of Edward & Sarah’s who appeared to have long term residence in a mental hospital. It seems very sad that this should have happened and that it appears to have been relatively common to have people confined in these hospitals for such long period but there appear to have been relatively few effective treatments at that time, conditions such as PTSD were not defined (although shell shock was) and it was many years before a campaign was undertaken to move people who were capable of being released into the community.

Polly died in the second quarter of 1938, aged 73 and Alfred Adams in 1943, aged 78.

Alfred Alsop (1871-1900), was born in 1871, in Rowley Road, Blackheath (which was another name for Birmingham Road at that point), and was less than one month old at the date of the 1871 Census (which took place on 2 April 1871). In 1881 the family were stillat Birmingham Road, living next door to the Shoulder of Mutton, a property with which they appear to have retained a connection well into the 1900s. More of that in my next piece. Alfred was then a scholar. In 1891 he was still at home with the family (who had moved from Birmingham Road to 122 Halesowen Street), now aged 20 and a journeyman bootmaker, following the family trade. He married Flora Jones, who was a dressmaker, on 20 March 1895 at St Paul’s Blackheath, Flora being a Quinton girl. Alfred’s sister Polly (Mary) and her husband Alfred were the witnesses at the wedding. Alfred and Flora had two sons Arthur William Alfred (1895-1979) and Harry Leslie (1897-1954). Sadly, Alfred died on 18 July 1900, aged 29 and was buried at St Paul’s on the 20^th. His widow re-married in 1908 to James Adderley and Flora, by this time a widow again, died in Hove, Sussex in 1845. Her son Harry was living in Hove in 1939, working as a Motor Mechanic and died in Hove in 1954. His older brother Arthur died in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1979, a period of fifty years between those deaths so presumably they had all moved to Sussex at some point. So this was another branch of the family who moved a long way from Rowley Regis.

Alice (1875-1887)

Alice was born at Birmingham Road, next to the Shoulder of Mutton and was listed as a scholar, aged 6 in 1881. Alas, this was the only census in which Alice appears as she died in 1887 and was buried at St Paul’s, Blackheath on 1 September 1887, aged 12.

Annie (1879-1954)

Annie was also born at Birmingham Road, and was there in 1881. In 1891 she was with the family in 122 Halesowen Street when she was a scholar. As the youngest child she was still at home in 1901, at Halesowen Street, with her parents and their grandson Arthur, son of Alfred, mentioned above.

Where exactly did the Alsops live?

I was still trying to sort out the exact location of these addresses in my own mind, as more and more family addresses seemed to link back to this immediate area. So I looked in more detail at the censuses for this area. In the 1891 Census, the list goes:

123 High Street: George Darby, Grocer and his family.

Next house:

122 Halesowen Street: Edward Alsop, Boot & Shoe Manufacturer and family.

Then:

123 Halesowen Street: Henry Bennett, General Outfitter and his family.

And then:

124 Halesowen Street: The Shoulder of Mutton, Thomas Miller Gun Wadding Manufacturer and Licensed Victualler – interesting combination!

It appears, from carefully reading the extensive information in Hitchmough about the Royal Oak Inn (which was later demolished to make way for the roundabout in the Market Place) that George Darby was born in The Royal Oak as his father owned it and that the Darby family owned extensive properties in this area and, again, all the family were involved in different businesses and pubs.

Detail showing Market Place/Halesowen Street/High Street. Copyright: Alan Godfrey Maps. Surveyed 1883, revised 1902.

So I think that the households listed above ran across the west side of the market place, where the Midland Bank and Burtons were later so that the Alsops were in the middle of that row of shops. And it seems quite possible that this is the same place sometimes known as 3 Market Place, where Edward Alsop died in 1903. The Royal Oak was sometimes described as in Halesowen Street and sometimes in High Street so it can be quite confusing!

I have found this photograph in Anthony Page’s Second Book of Blackheath Photographs which shows this area (albeit slightly later) and refers to the Shambles which ran from the back of some of the shops in Birmingham Road and the Shoulder of Mutton (which had been built on land originally owned by the butcher who had asked for the pub to be named after one of his products!) into Market Place and High Street. And I think that the Alsop’s shop and home in this photograph was between the advertising hoarding and the Shoulder of Mutton. The Royal Oak faced them, on the far right of this photograph, with a van parked outside. The Darby family hired various means of transport from the pub so this may well have been one of their vehicles.

The day after publishing this, and by pure coincidence, I was amazed to see a postcard photograph of this very area from the other direction which Phil Sims posted on Facebook. The pub on the right is the Shoulder of Mutton. And Phil has very kindly allowed me to add it here. When the scan is enlarged, the names can be read on the shops which place the photograph about 1905, I think.

Back to Annie

Annie married William Leonard Butler in 1907, and they continued to live in Halesowen Street. They had one daughter Vera May Alsop Butler in 1908. Although Vera later moved to Mucklow Hill with her husband Reginald Hiscock, Annie stayed in Blackheath. In 1939 she was living at 3 Halesowen Street (which as so often may have been the same house previously numbered 122 which appeared from the census return to be immediately adjacent to or on the Market Place). William Leonard Butler died in 1949 and Annie in 1954, they are buried together in Quinton Cemetery. Annie’s Probate entry still refers to her as ‘of The Market Place, Halesowen Street, Blackheath so there was an Alsop connection to that address as late as 1954. Does anyone remember Alsop’s Shoe shops? I don’t, I’m afraid but it must have been before my time, nor have I found any advertisements for the shop or business .

Summary

So this was the family of Edward Alsop, (eldest son of farmer Joseph Alsop), and Edward’s wife Sarah Whitehouse. Edward’s family started and expanded the boot and shoe making of the Alsops.

As usual, the Alsops were in trade, always willing, it appears, to diversify into new areas of trading and to ensure that their children also had business opportunities and training or education to take later generations into the professions. A far cry from the millers/farmers only a few decades earlier, but clearly the business acumen and drive of the Alsops was fully present in this branch of the family.

Their six children had given Edward and Sarah the fairly modest (for that time) total of thirteen grandchildren.

In my next piece I will look at the other younger children of Joseph and Sarah.

Families of the Lost Hamlets – The Alsops 3 –Sarah, John, Thomas and Mary

This very short piece looks at the next younger children of Edward and Betsey (nee Hodgetts) Alsop , having dealt with their eldest daughter Hannah in my last piece. This piece covers Sarah, John, Thomas andMary. Joseph will be looked at in the next piece, as he has turned out to have quite a lot of information available about him, and the remaining children Edward, Mary Ann and Rhoda will be in the final piece.

This picture (copyright unknown) shows the view to Turners Hill from Hawes Lane which would have been very familiar to the Alsop family, their farm was just over the wall! They must also have had good views of Turner’s Hill, and this was before the hillside quarries really ate into the hillside, and their own quarry also created a very large hole! I am not sure what the enormous heap on the right is, as I am not aware of any mining in this immediate area which would create spoil. Perhaps it was material from their quarry or perhaps it was Alsop’s Hill which appears on the 1902 OSMap. I think that the houses on the left are in Tippity Green and it is possible that by this time, the mill and farm may have disappeared.

Sarah Alsop (1805-1884)

Sarah was born early in 1805 and baptised on the 2 June 1805 at St Giles. In 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses she was living at Mill Farm, one of several unmarried children of Edward. In 1871 she had moved to Mincing Lane where she was living with her sister-in-law, Eliza Alsop (widow ofJoseph) . In this census she is described, at the age of 69, as an ‘idiot’ which does not have quite the same meaning as it might today but implies some sort of mental condition or handicap. However, by 1881 she had moved to 93 Rowley Village where she was living with Jesse Patrick, a tailor and his wife. By now Sarah was 77 but there is no mention in this census of any health issues. Whether Sarah was suffering from dementia we cannot tell nor whether any health issues might have prevented her from marrying but it seems unlikely that she would have lived to such a great age if she had suffered from Downs Syndrome or some such disability. It is possible that she had some degree of learning difficulties and certainly she was looked after with the family until at least 1871. She never married.

Sarah died in Rowley Regis and was interred at St Giles on 27 April 1884, aged 79 and ‘of the village’.

John Alsop (1807 -?)

John Alsop, named presumably for his grandfather John Alsop, was baptised at St Giles on 4 October 1807. And that is the only definite information I can find of him. I cannot find a burial or a marriage for him in Rowley Regis or the surrounding area. The period of his younger life was before censuses, of course, so there are no clues there. There is a possible baptism for a John Alsop, son of John and Mary Alsop at Dudley St Thomas in 1839, the father being a baker who could be the right man. But I cannot find that couple in the 1841 Census so that is also inconclusive. There are three other trees on Ancestry which have John on them but none of them have any further mention. It is tempting to assume that he died in infancy but no subsequent sons were called John, as often happens when an infant dies and a later sibling is given the same name, especially when it is a family name. So John is a mystery!

Thomas Alsop (1809-1865)

Thomas was baptised at St Giles on 29 October 1809. He was living, unmarried, with his family at the Windmill Farm in 1841, in 1851 when his occupation was given as ‘Farmer’s son’ and in 1861 when, at 51, he was the farmer at Blowershill Farm (otherwise known as Mill Farm or Windmill Farm), farming 35 acres. His father had died in 1860 so Thomas had taken over the farm but there is no reference at any stage to him being involved with the milling trade, unlike two of his brothers. He was still single in 1861 and his unmarried sisters Rhoda and Sarah were also living there. John Wright, a labourer and carter born in Rous Lench , near Evesham, Worcestershire, was also living there. Another instance of labour being brought in from outside the area, even for relatively unskilled work for which one would have thought there would have been suitable local candidates.

Thomas Alsop, of Blower’s Hill, was buried at St Giles on 10 July 1865, aged 54, having outlived his father by only five years. In the next census, his sister Sarah, as related above, had moved to live with her sister-in-law in Mincing Lane which would tie in with this.

Mary Alsop (1811-1813)

Mary was baptised on 24 November 1811 at St Giles and buried there less than two years later on 17 October 1813. The entry in the Burial Register has her abode as the Windmill and the cause of death as a ‘bowel complaint’, a very common cause of death for infants, not only then but for more than a century to come, before water supplies and sewage disposal conditions were improved in the area which helped gradually to reduce the number of infant deaths.

The next brother, Joseph, turns out to have quite a lot of information available so he will probably have a post of his own, hopefully very soon.

Families of the Lost Hamlets – The Alsops 2 – Edward Alsop’s eldest daughter Hannah and the Mallin family

Edward Alsop’s children:

Of Edward’s children, I will look in this piece at Hannah, the eldest daughter and her family, many of whom were – at least initially – involved in milling and associated trades. The other children will be the subject of later posts.

Hannah Alsop (1801-1870)

Hannah was baptised at St Giles on 11 October 1801. On 21 June 1824 she married Isaac Mallin at Clent and they moved to Dudley Port where Isaac ran a grocer’s shop and also worked as a Corn Factor for the rest of his life. At the time of the marriage they were both described as ‘of Rowley Regis’.

Apologies for the poor quality of this picture. This image, uploaded by D Bickley (to whom copyright presumably belongs) is believed to show the grocer and corn factor’s premises at 8 Dudley Port, home of Isaac and Hannah Mallin. The middle building with the red roof is the premises in question and this also shows numerous outbuildings at the rear where presumably Isaac stored the corn and other materials he dealt with.

The Mallin family

Isaac Mallin, son of William Mallin and Ann nee Woodhouse, was born in 1800 at Portway where several Mallin families were farming in the 1841 Census.

The Mallin/Mallen family had many connections on the Oldbury/Portway/Tividale side of Rowley, and in the Brades area. They first appear in the Rowley Parish Registers in 1718 when Elizabeth, daughter of William Mallin was baptised at St Giles and recur frequently after that, using the names Abraham, William and Isaac repeatedly in all branches of the family which adds considerably to the task of sorting out who was who! They were business people, like the Alsops, mainly farmers, with at least three Mallin families listed separately in Portway in the 1841 Census but they also worked in associated trades and generally married into families in associated trades. Isaac and at least one of his sons became grocers and Corn Factors who would have many dealings with Millers. Others became Millers or worked in jobs associated with milling in some way.

I was also interested to note that Hannah’s maternal grandparents were Mallins, so she may have been related to her husband although I have not pursued further research on this line yet. It appears from baptismal records that Hannah’s maternal grandparents lived in Cakemore, so came under the parish of Halesowen, which at this time included Oldbury and certainly there were numerous Mallins still in this area in the 1800s so again there is this association with the Cakemore/Brades area.

The Mallin family – or at least some them – were, by the standards of most local families I have studied so far, well-to-do. A report of the death in 1838 of Mr Abraham Mallin of Tividale, aged 81, notes that he was formerly of Brades Hall and a report of a burglary in 1871 at the home of another Abraham Mallin of Oldbury lists some of the items stole on Christmas Day 1870. These included “six silver teaspoons, two silver table spoons and a pair of silver sugar tongs; two old Guineas; three gold dress rings; a silver pin; two pairs of gold ear-rings; a gold locket and a brooch.” This implies a level of living standards and prosperity quite outside the experience of most ordinary Hamlet folk, I suspect!

Isaac and Hannah had nine children – John (1824-1880), Ann Eliza (1831-1904), Joseph (1833-1912), Elizabeth Emma (1833-1897), Isaac (1835-1852), Abraham (1836-1902), Edward James (1838-1922), Hannah Alsop (1841-1918) and Mary Jane (1844-1910). The ties with Rowley Regis and the Mill remained close. The first seven children were baptised at Rowley, the last two at Tipton. Several of the boys learned milling skills, presumably from their grandfather so must have worked with him at the windmill.

Hannah died in 1870, aged 68 and was buried at St Giles, Rowley. Isaac died in 1885, aged 84, of Dudley Port and was also buried at St Giles, on 24 March 1885. His Will was proved in June of that year and his son Joseph and two of his sons in law were executors. His estate seems relatively modest, after his long business life – £286. 6s. 8d – but perhaps he had distributed some of his assets before he died.

Isaac and Hannah (nee Alsop) Mallin’s children

John Mallin (1824-1880)

John was baptised at Rowley Regis on 21 November 1824, the family abode was shown as ‘Windmill’ and he later gave his place of birth as Rowley Regis, later children of the couple gave their place of birth as Dudley Port or Tipton. In the 1841 Census John was listed at Portway, living with his paternal grandparents William and Ann Mallin, his occupation was shown as Male Servant. Also listed is an Elizabeth Mallin, aged 18, who I suspect was the Elizabeth Mallin, illegitimate daughter of Rebekah Mallin of Portway who had been baptised on 25 December 1822 so another grandchild. So he was effectively an agricultural labourer for his grandfather, not an uncommon situation in those days which gave occupation and training, though possibly not much pay!

In the 1851 Census John was living at Dudley Road, Tividale as Head of his household and was a provision dealer. His sisters Elizabeth Emma aged 23 and Ann Eliza aged 20 plus his brother Edward James aged 11 were also living with him. His younger siblings were still in Dudley Port with their parents and it seems reasonable to assume that his sisters kept house for him and probably helped in the business. This seems to be a recurring pattern in the family, there are several instances of groups of the children living together away from the family home but working in businesses which may well have been satellites of the main business in Dudley Port.

John married Rebecca Wright , by Licence, at Dudley St Thomas on 19 October 1854. Rebecca’s father was a wine merchant in Dudley so this is another example of business families inter-marrying with other business families. Their son Isaac Henry Mallin was born in the September quarter of 1855 although he was not baptised until 26 December 1858 at Dudley St Thomas. Rebecca Mallin died in the September quarter of 1856, the death notice for her which appeared in the Worcestershire Chronicle describes her as “the beloved wife of John Mallin and the only daughter of Mr H Wright of Dudley”. So Henry’s baptism is well after this date but he is still described in the baptism record as the son of John and Rebecca Mallin, of Dudley Port with no mention of her being deceased. John’s occupation was given in the baptism record as a Miller.

In late 1855/early 1856 a John Mallin, presumably this John Mallin, as Miller of Rowley Regis, was declared bankrupt. There is just one newspaper notice that I can find which names Joseph Mallin of Rowley Regis, a Miller as bankrupt, on exactly the same date as John, but no mention of John in that notice. Had they been partners in business I would have expected both of their names to appear. But this is the only one of numerous notices appearing in the press about this bankruptcy to name Joseph, all of the others only name John. Also, by 1861 Joseph was employed by the New Union Mill in Ladywood Birmingham, as Company Secretary, a position he held for several decades. I do not think that the company could have employed a bankrupt in this position of trust, so I am inclined to think that this one notice was an error.

There was also one Press advertisement in November 1860 for the Rowley Flour Mill to be let at a low rent. It included outbuildings and two dwelling houses. This states that ‘the Mill consists of 18-horse condensing engine, driving three pairs of French Stones, with Dressing, Bolting and Smutting machines, Bean Mill, etc all in excellent repair’. So it sounds as though someone had invested money in equipment, perhaps this debt had led to the bankruptcy. Enquiries were directed to Isaac Mallin, Corn Factor at Dudley or Joseph Mallin at the New Union Mill, Birmingham. This was just a couple of months after the death of Edward Alsop who had perhaps continued milling until his death and it may already have been known that John would not be returning from the USA.

It appears that John Mallin moved soon after his bankruptcy to the USA, as he appears in a Street Directory in Chicago in 1867 as a Miller and in the 1870 Census in Chicago, as a Miller. Trees on Ancestry also suggest that a John Mallin in New York in the 1860 census was also him but that John Mallin gave his place of birth as Canada so would not seem to be the same person. Living with him in Chicago in 1870 is a lady who appears to be his wife Mary and four children, Louisa aged 21, Andrew, aged 16, Jane aged 14 and Ada aged 12 who were presumably Mary’s children from a previous marriage as John was in England at the time of their births, although they appear to have adopted his surname. It is unclear when John died.

John’s son Isaac Henry remained in England for a period. He was living with his Mallin grandfather and two of his aunts at Dudley Port in 1871 but he then also moved to the USA. A Voter registration form dated 1892, shows him living in Mill Avenue, having been in the Precinct for one year, the County for 12 years and the state for 16 years. Isaac became a naturalised citizen and later married and remained in the USA until his death in Chicago in 1921.

I have found John’s parents Isaac and Hannah Mallin in every census during their lives apart from 1861 when I cannot find either of them anywhere. They were at 8 Dudley Port at the shop in censuses before and after that but in 1861 their son Edward James was there with his two younger sisters, with Hannah described as a grocer. They do not appear to be with any of their other children so far as I can see or anywhere else in the country. Then in the next census they are back in Dudley Port so they had not retired. I wonder whether they had gone to visit their eldest son John the USA. I don’t suppose I shall never know! I cannot find them on any passenger lists but those are not exhaustive so it seems possible that they had gone to visit their eldest son.

So it appears that John and his descendants settled in the USA and they appear not to have returned to the UK.

Ann Eliza Mallin (1831-1904)

Ann Eliza was born in about 1831 in Dudley Port. I have not found her baptism. She was living in Dudley Port with her parents in 1841 and in Tividale with her brother John in 1851. By 1861 she was living with her brother Joseph at the Union Flour Mill in Ladywood, Birmingham where he was the Company Secretary for many years. After Joseph’s marriage Annie Eliza moved back to Dudley Port and was living with her father in the 1871 and 1881 Censuses. By 1891 she was back in Aston, housekeeping for her brother Joseph again, he was a widower by this time but had his seven children living with him, ranging in age from 24 to 10. By 1901, Joseph, by now aged 68, had taken up a new occupation of Cycle Fitter and Annie was still living with him in Bolton Road, Aston, sharing housekeeping duties with her niece Lucy.

Annie died on 5 March 1904 at 18 Dawson Street, Small Heath, Birmingham, still living with her brother Joseph and was buried at Yardley Cemetery. She had never married but appears to have spent her whole life housekeeping for members of her family.

Joseph Mallin (1832-1912)

Joseph was born in 1832 and baptised at Rowley Regis on 23 September 1832, his parent’s abode given as Dudley Port and his father’s occupation as a grocer. In 1841 he was with his parents and siblings at the grocer’s shop in Dudley Port, aged 8. In 1851, he was living at Wombourne with the miller there and his occupation was also given as a Miller, so clearly more than one of the Mallin boys had learned the family trade from their grandfather Alsop. By 1861, Joseph was living in a company house in Ladywood, Birmingham where he was Company Secretary and Clerk to the Union Flour Mill. His sister Annie Eliza was also with him, as mentioned above, keeping house for him and they had one female servant, aged 15.

The New Union Mill, Birmingham where Joseph worked as Company Secretary for many years. Copyright unknown.

On 14 April 1865, Joseph married Mary Ann Morgan at St Barnabas church, Edgbaston, she was a Birmingham girl, born in Great Barr. They had eight children: Lucy Beatrice Rose (1867), Francis Joseph Edward (1868), Arthur William (1871), Charles Isaac (1872), Walter Herbert (1873), Albert Howard (1874), Charlotte Florence (1879-1879) and Harriet Lilian (1880). Mary Ann died in 1883, aged 41 and was buried at Witton Cemetery, Birmingham. That left him with several young children under ten so it is perhaps not surprising that his sister Annie Eliza moved back to keep house for him, apparently staying for the remainder of her life. Joseph never re-married.

By 1891, at the age of 58, Joseph was living in Stratford Place. Aston, with Annie and all of his surviving children and was described as ‘living on his own means’. All the children aged 16 or more were working, Lucy as a barmaid, Francis as a Warehouseman, Arthur, Charles, Walter and Albert as Clerks and the youngest two – Frederick and Harriet were still scholars.

In 1901, Joseph and Annie were at 120 Bolton Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, and six of the children were still at home, aged from 34 down to 20. Joseph had perhaps seen a business opportunity and had become a Cycle Fitter. Perhaps rotating things still appealed to him, mill wheels, bicycle wheels…

These were not very large houses but some of the houses in Bolton Road were three storeys so this may have been one of those.

In 1911, Joseph, now 77 and a pensioner, was living at 18 Dawson Street, Aston, with his son Frederick who was still unmarried and worked as a traveller in hardware. His sister Annie had also been living there with him until her death in 1904.

Joseph died in March 1912 and, like his sister, was buried at Yardley Cemetery. Most of Joseph’s working life had been involved with mills but that link seems to have been broken after him and none of his offspring seem to have gone into the mill business.

Joseph’s children appear to have remained settled in Birmingham, where they were all born, and not come back to the Tividale/Dudley Port/Rowley Regis area.

Elizabeth Emma Mallin (1833-1897)

Elizabeth Emma was baptised on 27 April 1828 at St Giles, Rowley Regis. Her parents were said to be of Dudley Port and Isaac’s occupation was given as a Huckster, which means someone who sells or offers goods, sometimes with implications of inferior goods or questionable sales techniques.

Elizabeth is not living in Dudley Port with her family in the 1841Census so must have been visiting elsewhere, possibly with family. Elizabeth’s sister Hannah was born in the first quarter of 1841 so it is possible that a member of the family took Elizabeth to stay with them, to help their mother.

Searching the 1841 census for Elizabeth, I found an Elizabeth Mallin, living in Church Vale in West Bromwich but she was shown aged eleven and there were twenty three children of various ages at this address, almost all of whom were described as pupils, although there was only one adult who might be in charge who was described as a governess, plus a couple of servants. The enumerator’s route described Church Vale and the Parsonage but there was no mention of the Parsonage in the listed people nor a clergyman of any sort. Living with the Governess Mary Hartland, (who was only 25) the Head of the Household Timothy Hartland appeared to be a bricklayer with the same surname and a baby aged one, also with that surname, followed by the children aged from 3-17. It seems very strange. So, if this was a somewhat chaotic establishment, I suppose the age might be wrong. But I then noted that in the 1851 Census, Elizabeth’s sisters Hannah and Mary Jane were also shown as boarders at this same address so it obviously was a boarding school and it seems that this was the correct Elizabeth Mallin. So it appears that the Mallin family were sufficiently prosperous to send their daughters to boarding school.

In 1851 Elizabeth Emma aged 23 was living at Dudley Road, Tividale with her oldest brother John who was then a provision dealer. Her sister Ann Eliza aged 20 plus her brother Edward James aged 11 were also living there.

On 5 June 1855 Emma Elizabeth married Jabez Baker, a Land Surveyor, at St Giles. They had four children: Joseph Edward was born in 1859 in Wolverhampton; Walter Jabez in 1862 in West Bromwich; Elizabeth Emma in 1866 also in in West Bromwich and Agnes Louise in 1869 in Lenton, Nottinghamshire.

In 1861 Elizabeth and Jabez were living at Railway Street, West Bromwich with their son Joseph Edward and also Mary Baker, Jabez’s widowed mother and a servant girl. Jabez was shown as a Land & Mine Agent.

By 1871, the family, now including all four children (but not Jabez’s mother) were living in Lenton Sands in Nottinghamshire where Jabez was employed as an Engineer. Their neighbours here included an Estate Agent, an Insurance Superintendent, a Photographer, a Police Constable and a shop keeper – and several lace makers, so it seems to have been a reasonably comfortable area. In 1881, the whole family were at 233 Derby Road, Lenton and Jabez’s occupation is shown as a Mining Engineer. By 1891, the family had moved to Loughborough Road, West Bridgford , Jabez still a mining engineer with their two daughters in the household, daughter Elizabeth Emma under her married name of Beardsley and Agnes Louise, still unmarried.

Jabez Baker, died on 18 Jun 1897, aged 70 and Elizabeth Emma nee Mallin died two months later in August 1897 and was buried on the 14 August 1897 in Nottingham. All four of their children remained settled in the Nottingham area for the rest of their lives.

Isaac Mallin (1835-1852)

Isaac was born in Dudley Port and baptised at Rowley Regis on 20 April 1834. In 1841 and in 1851 he was living at home with his family in Dudley Port. He died on Typhus Fever, aged 18 on 4 February 1852 and was buried at St Giles, Rowley Regis on 10 February 1852.

Abraham Mallin (1836-1902)

Abraham was born in Tipton (almost certainly in Dudley Port) and was baptised at St Giles, Rowley Regis on 17 July 1836. In 1841 and 1851 he was living at home with his family at 8 Dudley Port. No occupation is shown for him in 1851 but he was 15, a working age for boys in those days, so was probably working in the family business in some way.

On 3 April 1861 Abraham married Ann Hargrave Blewitt, daughter of Joseph Blewitt, Butcher (another Mallin marriage into another business family) and just four days later on 7^th April the 1861 Census shows the happy couple living in their own household in Dudley Port with Abraham’s occupation shown as a Corn Factor, (an occupation which his father also followed in conjunction with his grocery business). Again, note the connection to the Milling trade, corn had to be milled, this was the family area of expertise.

Abraham and Ann had six children: Mary Louisa (1862); Isaac (1864); Jessie Blewitt (1868); Samuel (1870); Ada Sarah (1873) and Emma Gertrude (1876).

By 1871, the family were living at 37 Halesowen Street, Oldbury where Abraham was still following his trade of Corn Factor. He was two doors away from the ‘Hope and Anchor’ pub and next to the Canal side which may have been the means by which much of the corn was moved around. But perhaps he had business problems as by 1881 the family was living in Danks Street, Tipton and Abraham was listed as a labourer.

In 1891, the family had moved again – back to 8 Dudley Port, Isaac and Hannah’s home where Abraham was once more working as a corn factor, his father having died in 1885. The 1901 Census has the family still in Dudley Port, apparently now at 123 Dudley Port, rather than Number 8, where the family business had been for decades, but Abraham was still a Corn Factor so the number may just have changed.

Abraham died in February 1902, aged 65 and was buried on 7 February 1902 at Tipton Cemetery. It appears that their daughter Jessie and her husband then took over the business as Ann was living with them there at 123 Dudley Port, in 1911. She died in 1919 and was buried on 19 March 1919, like Abraham, at Tipton Cemetery.

Abraham and Ann’s children mostly stayed in the Dudley/Walsall area and lived no further away than Birmingham so closer than many of their cousins. None of them, however, returned to Rowley Regis.

Edward James Mallin(1838-1922)

Edward was born in 1838 in Tipton and was baptised on 3 July 1838 at Rowley Regis. In 1841, he was with his family in Dudley Port; in 1851 he and his two sisters Elizabeth and Ann Eliza were living with his oldest brother John in Tividale; in 1861 he was listed as a machinist in Dudley Road, Tividale with his younger sisters Hannah, listed as a grocer, and Mary Jane. Perhaps this was the same shop that his brother John had been living in in 1851, a second family grocery, in addition to the one in Dudley Port, to serve the growing community of Tividale.

On 28 March 1865 Edward married Sarah Whitehouse at Harborne. His occupation was shown as a Licensed Victualler and his father as Isaac Mallin, Corn Factor. Sarah’s father, also an Isaac, was also a publican, at the Cottage of Content in Harborne. Alas, Sarah died in September 1866, and was buried at Holy Trinity, Smethwick, aged 26 of Canal Bank, Harborne/Smethwick which appears to be where her father’s pub was also situated. Canal Bank was also where Edward’s brother Abraham was living at about this time so perhaps this was how Edward and Sarah met or perhaps they lived with Abraham, as we know that it was very much the Mallin family practice for siblings to live together.

On 4^th December 1866 at Edgbaston Parish church, Edward married widow Ann Ralph (nee Butler), Joseph Mallin was one of the witnesses. The 1871 Census shows Edward (although he is, for some reason, shown as Edward Isaac in this census) as a Licensed Victualler at the Britannia Inn Tipton, where Annie and her two children Lizzy Ralph (Eliza Ann 1862) and Susanna Ralph (1864) were living with them. Edward was licensee from 1868-1873. Annie and Edward had six children: Georgina Gertrude Ann (1867), Edward James (1869), Edith May (1871), John Henry Butler (1873), Albert Victor (1876-1889) and Walter William (1879).

Edward was a publican for much of his life, around Tipton, Willenhall and Dudley, although he was declared bankrupt in 1873 when he was the landlord of the Saracen’s Head which was in Stone Street, Dudley. Nevertheless, he continued to hold a license in later years and was licensee of the Three Crowns Inn, Willenhall from 1891-1904. Edward’s son, Albert Victor Mallin b 1877, died there in 1889.

In 1881 he and Annie were living in Cobden Street, Walsall and he was working as a Goods Guard.

The 1891 Census shows Edward is living at the Saracen’s Head with his wife, Ann (previously Ralph, nee Butler), children, Eliza (Lizzie Ralph), Edward James (b1869), May (Edith May b. 1871), John (John Henry Butler Mallin b. 1873) & Walter William Mallin b 1879). In 1896, his wife Annie died there. In the first quarter of 1897, while still living at the Three Crowns, Edward married widow Louisa Jane Flude (nee Lloyd b. 1849) but she died in 1899, aged 48, also while living at the Three Crowns Inn.

Hitchmough tells us that Edward James Mallin was the Licensee at the Gough Arms from about 1908- 1911.

In the 1911 Census Edward James Mallin (b1838) was living there with wife number four, Rose Hannah Mallin (formerly Griffiths, nee Booth, b. 1843) who he had married in 1902. Also living there was his son, John Henry Butler Mallin (b. 1873).

In 1921, Edward and Rose were living at 33 Fisher Street with John. Edward, at 85, was finally described as retired! Rose Hannah died in the first quarter of 1922 and, after his long and eventful life, Edward died a few months later in the third quarter of 1922, though I have not been able to find their burials.

Of Edward and Ann Butler’s six children, Georgina and Albert died in childhood.

Edward James (1869-1949) stayed in the Willenhall area, marrying Fanny Hoggins there and having six children. He worked as a gas lamp lighter and later a gas stoker and died in 1949 in Bilston.

Edith May (1871-1957) married William Allen in July 1891 and had four children with him before his death in 1898 (he thus misses appearing with Edith in either the 1891 or the 1901 censuses so I have limited information on him or his occupation), she then married Harley Chamberlain in November 1898 in Wednesfield with whom she had another son, also named Harley. Harley Chamberlain Snr died in 1937 and in October 1942 Edith appears to have married for the final time, to William T Mason in Wolverhampton. It appears that, like her father, Edith worked in the licensed and hotel trade much of her life and in 1921 she was Manageress of the Angel Hotel in Queen Street, Wolverhampton and in 1939 she was managing an off-licence in Bushbury Lane, Wolverhampton. In the 1921 Census Edith described herself as a widow, whereas in fact Harley Chamberlain was alive and living in Smethwick then, working as a Stable Man at Guest Keen and Nettlefolds; he described himself as married but perhaps they were separated. Harley died in 1937 in West Bromwich. Edith died in October 1957 in the Wolverhampton area, aged 86.

John Henry Butler Mallin (1873-1946)

John never married and lived most of his life with his father and then his brother Edward James. In 1891 he is listed as a ‘plater’, in 1901 as a mechanical engineer, in 1911 as a fitter and turner, in 1921 as a tool maker. In the 1939 Register he is noted as a ‘heavy worker’. John stayed in Willenhall and Bilston for his whole life. He died in 1946 and his Will named his niece Alice Maud Withington as his executor (along with Gordon James Smart, solicitor’s managing clerk.).

Walter William Mallin (1878-1909)

Walter William did not marry either and also lived with his father until his death in 1909, aged 31. Like his brother John, in 1891 he is listed as a ‘plater’, and in 1901 as a mechanical engineer. Walter was buried at the Bentley Cemetery, Willenhall on 11Jun 1909, his address given as High Street, Portobello, Willenhall and his age as 31.

So this branch of the Mallin family, although starting out in Tipton, mostly ended up in the Willenhall/Wolverhampton area and had no apparent further association with Rowley Regis.

Hannah Alsop Mallin(1841-1918)

Hannah was baptised on 21 January 1841 at St Martin’s Church, Tipton. She was, apparently, baptised again at St Giles, Rowley Regis two years later on 23 April 1842. This is unusual! But I have checked birth and death registrations for that time and it is not the case that the baby Hannah who was baptised at Tipton died and a later baby given the same name. Hannah Alsop Mallin really was baptised twice in different churches.

In the 1841 Census, Hannah, aged 4 months, was living at home in Dudley Port with her parents. In 1851, she, with her younger sister Mary Jane, was at the same Church Vale School which her older sister Elizabeth had been at in 1841. In 1861, Hannah was living in Dudley Road, Tividale with her brother Edward and sister Mary Jane. Hannah was shown as a grocer.

On 21 June 1864 Hannah married Frederick Duesbury, a Clerk, at St Giles, Rowley Regis. Frederick’s family were quite middle class, his father was listed, amongst other occupations, as an appraiser, an auctioneer, and a solicitor’s managing clerk. Other members of the Duesbury family were in the medical profession and Frederick also appears to have had various occupations.

Frederick and Hannah had eight children: Frederick William Ambrose (1865-1907), Arthur Edward (1867), Alexander Clifford (1869), William Herbert (1872), Ada Alice Jane (1875), Georgina Louisa (1877), Alfred Ernest (1879) and Harry Roland (1882).

In 1871 the family were living at St John’s Road, Kates Hill when Frederick was listed as a Varnish Manufacturer (the factory was apparently the Faraday Works at Monmore Green, Wolverhampton). By 1881 the family had moved to Cromwell House, Hill Road, Kates Hill where the family were still living in 1911, the last time Hannah appears in a census. Also living with them was Catherine, sister of Frederick Duesberry and Frederick had specified in his Will that a home should be provided for his sister or an annuity paid to her.

This 1928 image shows Dixons Green and Kates Hill which clearly had some superior dwellings! Copyright unknown but will be acknowledged on receipt of information.

Frederick died in September 1905, leaving a gross sum of £14,000, equivalent to over a million pounds today. Hannah died in September 1918, aged 77.

Of Frederick and Hannah’s children:

Their eldest son Frederick committed suicide in 1907, with reports at the inquest of financial and other problems, leaving a widow Mary Amelia nee Butler with two small children.

Arthur, who continued to run the varnish factory, married Myra Jordan in 1901 in Dudley and had one son John Frederick in 1904, Arthur died in 1934, having remained in the Dudley/Willenhall/Wolverhampton area all his life.

Alexander married Catherine Williams in 1902 and they had two children. He died in 1952 in the Walsall Registration District.

William disappears without trace from records after the 1891 Census when he was living at home, aged 19 and described as a Woollen Draper’s assistant. I can find no trace of him after that, no death registered, no census entries, no marriage. It is possible that he emigrated. There is a H W Duesbury listed on a ship from Australia in 1943 by which time he would have been 71 but that man was described as belonging to the Australian navy so unlikely to be our man, although possibly a descendant.

Ada Jane and Georgina both remained unmarried and appear to have shared a house in Stourbridge Road, Dudley after the death of their parents. Ada died in 1951 and Georgina in 1962.

Alfred was also a director of the family varnish manufacturing company, he married Florence Eley Dando in 1905 in Dudley and they had two sons. They continued to live in the Dudley area, Florence dying in 1934. It appears that Alfred may have re-married in 1935 but this is not certain and I am unable to find Alfred in the 1939 Register. However, he died in Dudley in 1949 so may have been out of the country in 1939.

Harry Rowland was working in the Varnish business in 1911. In 1920 he married Hilda Vincent in Sunderland, County Durham. In 1921 he was living in Sunderland and describing himself as a Master Confectioner. Harry and Hilda, a music teacher, had one son. Hilda’s full name was Hilda Whitehouse Vincent and I was interested to see the Whitehouse name which is also so common in Rowley Regis. Hilda was born in County Durham but her mother Hannah Whitehouse was born in West Bromwich! Hilda’s father was an organ builder so perhaps he built some organs in the flourishing non-conformist chapels in the Black Country and met Hannah there, perhaps it was he also who taught Hilda to play music so that she later became a music teacher.

Harry died in 1967, Hilda had died in 1959, both in Sunderland.

So Frederick and Hannah remained living close to Rowley Regis in the Kates Hill area of Dudley and their children and grandchildren mostly remained in the Dudley/Wolverhampton/Walsall area. They were perhaps the most prosperous of Isaac and Hannah’s children.

Mary Jane Mallin (1843-1910)

Mary Jane was born in the third quarter of 1843 in Dudley Port and baptised at Tipton on 5 August that year. In 1851 she was at the Church Vale School in West Bromwich with her older sister Hannah and in 1861 she and Hannah were living with their older brother Edward in Dudley Road, Tividale. In 1871, aged 27, she was at 8 Dudley Port, her father’s shop, with her widowed father, sister Annie and nephew Isaac Henry. Isaac Snr was still described as a Corn Factor whereas Mary Jane and her sister Annie were shown as having no occupation, so perhaps they were not working in their father’s business or perhaps, as in so many cases I have come across, the occupations of women were not considered worth recording.

On 23 June 1875, aged 31, Mary Jane married widower John French, aged 45, variously described as a farmer of Sandy Fields, Sedgley or a Licensed Victualler, whose first wife Eliza nee Butler had died in September 1874. Eliza was the sister of Annie Butler who had married Edward Mallin in 1866. John French had been the Licensee of the Earl Dudley’s Court House Inn, Gospel End, Bull Ring, Sedgley from 1860-1871, according to Hitchmough.

In the 1871 Census, when John and Sarah French were living at the Court House Inn, Susannah Ralph, Annie’s daughter by her first marriage and Georgina and Edward Mallin, children of Edward and Annie Mallin were visiting the Frenches, listed as nieces and nephew. This confused me as Mary Jane and John French did not marry until 1875 but when I looked further into the relationships I realised that Eliza and Annie Butler were sisters. There was also another niece visiting, Mary Berry, aged 16 who was the daughter of John French’s sister Sarah. So it seems John French was quite hospitable to members of the family.

An article in the Wolverhampton Chronicle in September 1861 relates, with reference to:

“Applications For New Licenses…..

Mr. John French, of the COURT HOUSE, Sedgley, was opposed in his application for a renewal of his license by Mr. Homer, on the grounds that a large organ or musical box had been introduced into the house, which played secular music on week-days and sacred music on Sundays. There was no other complaint against the house, and the license was therefore renewed.” So it seems that he kept quite a lively house there.

John and Mary Jane’s daughter Augusta was born in Sedgley in 1877 and John French was later the licensee of the Talbot Hotel at Belbroughton where their next two children were born: William Henry in 1879 and John Edgar in 1881.

John French died in February 1886, aged 56, at Belbroughton. His Will, which had been written on 5 July 1879, just a couple of weeks before the birth of his first son William on the 21^st, (his daughter Augusta had been born in 1877) and was proved in May 1886, probate granted to his executor Frederick Duesbury, Mary’s brother-in-law, the other named executor Benjamin Smith having renounced the probate and execution of the Will. It is not a complicated Will but is not very helpful as it refers to his wife, unnamed and just his wife, not his beloved or dear wife as the majority of Wills seemed to in those days. Provision is also made for his children but again these are neither named nor numbered, perhaps wisely as he and Mary did have another two sons after William, John in 1881 and Frederick in 1883. A solicitor’s note is attached to the Will stating that John French was formerly of Sandy Fields Sedgley but late of Belbroughton, Licensed Victualler.

Of these children Augusta Mary French (1877-1910) died in 1910 in Wolverhampton, aged 32 and unmarried.

William Henry French (1879-1949) was with his family in Belbroughton in 1881 but I was at first surprised to see that in 1891, aged 11, he was in the Orphan Asylum in Penn Road, Wolverhampton, while his widowed mother (living on her own means) was living in St Phillips Terrace, Penn nearby, with her other children. A little delving revealed that the Wolverhampton Orphanage had been founded in 1850 by a local lock manufacturer to provide a home for children left orphaned by a serious outbreak of cholera. It had later expanded and provided an education for the boys there and was located in handsome buildings, so may well have provided William with a good education. William went on to become a Director and Company Secretary to a local company ; he married Ellen Haydon in Aston in 1911 and they had two children. They lived in the Penn area of Wolverhampton, William died in Bilston in 1949, and Ellen in 1965.

John Edgar French (1881-1973)

John Edgar became the farmer of the family, following his father into the trade, although it appears that he moved farms several times and certainly John French’s Will had directed that the rents and profits from his real estate should be paid to his wife for the life or for the duration of her widowhood and on her death or remarriage that income should be used to maintain his children. Then that when his youngest child reached the age of twenty one, the real estate should be sold and the funds split equally between his children. So there did not appear to be a family farm for John to take over.

In 1901, John was living in Penn Road, Wolverhampton with his mother and siblings when all three brothers were working as Clerks for a hollowware manufacturer . Both his sister and mother died in 1910 and in 1911 John was a farmer at Manor Farm, Shareshill, Wolverhampton where his two brothers were also living with him, William a Despatch Clerk for the Holloware company and Frederic a Manufacturer’s Clerk at a Safe and lock Works. John was noted as an employer but the number of employees is not noted. By 1921 John had married Minnie Sortwell and his brother Frederick was still single and living with them at Old Fallings Lane, Bushbury. Although Minnie was born and grew up in Essex, they were married in 1920 in Hampshire. I found a newspaper article about Minnie stating that she had passed her third year nursing examinations at Wolverhampton General Hospital so perhaps they had met during her time there. In the 1939 Register John was farming at Seisdon in Staffordshire and Minnie was described as ‘incapacitated’ . He and Minnie do not appear to have had any children. I cannot find a definite death record for Minnie French but a woman of her age died in 1962 in Birmingham. If she had died in hospital, rather than at home in Wolverhampton, this might well be her. This Minnie was buried in Erdington so perhaps not, as John French died in 1973 in Penn, Wolverhampton, his home area. But it is also possible that they were separated.

Frederic Cecil French

Frederick’s birth was registered in 1883 with that spelling but in many later records, including his baptism at Clent in November 1883, his name appears as Frederic. The variation persisted throughout his life. His marriage and his death were registered as Frederick, his Will and Probate record him as Frederic. It seems likely to me that in his own and family circles he was Frederic but in cases where officials were keeping records, they may have assumed the more common spelling.

Following his father’s death in 1886 when Frederic was only three, his mother appears to have moved to the Penn area of Wolverhampton. It is possible that Frederic also went to the school at the nearby Asylum as certainly William had. All three brothers had become Clerks by 1901 so presumably had a reasonable standard of literacy. By 1921 Frederic was the Managing Director and Secretary of a Company of Lock Manufacturers.

In 1924 Frederic, by then 41, married Adelaide Cecila Jaffa who was 38, in Egremont, in Cumberland and they settled in Penn Road and then at 8 Merridale Lane, Wolverhampton where they were still living in 1939. It appears that they did not have any children.

At some later point Frederic and Adelaide moved North as they both died in West Kirby, Cheshire where Adelaide had been born and perhaps where she had family. She died in 1970 and Frederic in 1972.

So yet again, most of these descendants of Mary Jane settled away from Rowley Regis, mostly in the Wolverhampton area.

Summary:

So these were the descendants of Hannah Alsop, eldest daughter of Edward Alsop and Betty Hodgetts. She had been born in the Mill Farm at Rowley Regis in 1801, and her husband Isaac Mallin came from a business family that had many links with milling. They had nine children and seven of those had children, giving Hannah and Isaac at least forty-eight grandchildren.

Hannah kept her associations with Rowley Regis, although she lived at Dudley Port after her marriage and she was baptised and buried at St Giles. Her older children were also baptised there and there are indications that at least the older boys may have learned milling skills from their grandfather Alsop. Later children tended to base themselves around Dudley.

As noted previously these children and their own children tended to marry into families like themselves, business people, traders, publicans, shopkeepers, merchants. Some were clearly comfortably off, some became quite prosperous, few of them appeared to end up in the relative poverty of many residents of the Lost Hamlets.

But many of these descendants ended up away from Rowley Regis and the Lost Hamlets, living in an arc ranging from Kates Hill and Dudley, round to Walsall and Wolverhampton.

My next pieces will move on to Edward Alsop’s other children and we shall see whether they remained in Rowley or moved further afield.

Families of the Lost Hamlets – The Alsops

The Alsops only just count as a family of the Lost Hamlets, as they lived at Windmill Farm from about 1764 and were there in the 1841 Census, right on the edge of the Lost Hamlets area where they originally operated the Windmill. In this first piece I will look at John Alsop and his family and his son Edward. Edward’s children will be the subject of another piece.

Windmill Farm was off Tippity Green and Hawes Lane, the windmill was between the church and Tippity Green, opposite the Bull Public House and where the Windmill is shown on this Ist Edition OS map. The quarry which developed on this land was marked on the 1892 OS Map as Alsop’s Hill Quarry so the family obviously retained control for many years.

Reprint of the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey, Copyright: David & Charles

The Role of the Miller in Society

Where there were farmers growing crops requiring milling and where there were people needing flour, not to mention bakers, Millers were important and necessary in society. Some home grinding was possible with small querns or grinding stones but later two millstones one on top of the other – the bottom one stationary and the upper rotating to grind grain between them to crush the seed, remove the husk and crush the germ inside. The Romans developed this method further by using power to drive the runner stone, at first by horse or donkey but later using water power.

The Domesday Survey records more than five thousand water mills in England, the wind mill was not introduced into England until about 1185.

During the medieval period, there was a customary law known as Mill Soke. The Mill would be built by the Lord of the Manor and his tenants were obliged to bring their corn to be ground there, by the Lord’s Miller and he retained a percentage of the ground flour as his ‘toll’, usually about one fifteenth. Millers were apparently not popular in the communities they served, often accused of taking more than their entitlement (it was noted that the Miller’s pigs were usually the fattest in the village) or adding material, such as alum, to pad out the flour which would, of course, affect the subsequent baking with the flour but would increase the profit for the miller. In 1872 Dr. Hassall, the pioneer investigator into food adulteration and the principal reformer in this vital area of health, demonstrated that half of the bread he examined had considerable quantities of alum. Alum, while not itself poisonous, by inhibiting the digestion could lower the nutritional value of other foods.

The Rowley Windmill was a manorial Mill. It occurs to me that it may have suited the Lord of the Manor to recruit his Miller from outside the community and he would certainly have needed a miller who knew the business and how to operate the machinery.

By 1750 the tradition of ‘soke’ was disappearing and millers bought grain direct from farmers and sold flour direct to his customers. White bread also became more popular so millers had to install extra equipment, more storage was needed and mills became larger. Between 1750 and 1850, the population of England tripled to nearly 17 million so more flour was needed.

Copyright: Paul Harrison. This painting shows Heage Mill, in Derbyshire, probably painted in about 1850, this mill is very similar to the remains of the windmill in Rowley Regis, shown in this photograph published by Wilson Jones.

By 1850, the traditional windmill or watermill had arrived at a developed state, with many operations becoming automated. The growth of canals and later railways made it possible to distribute flour more easily and quickly. But as new large automated mills with steel rollers rather than stones were built, traditional millers could not compete, particularly in urban areas. In rural areas, some diversified by milling animal feed as well as flour but by the early years of the 20^th century, traditional flour milling had all but ceased.

This timeline certainly fits in very well with what we know of the Rowley windmill. In November 1860, an advertisement appeared in the Birmingham Journal, giving details of the Rowley Flour Mill to be let at a low rent, with two dwelling houses and good access to both canal and railway. The Mill was said to consist of “an 18 horse condensing engine, driving three pairs of French stones, with Dressing, Bolting and Smutting machines, Bean Mill, etc all in excellent repair.” So it was using relatively modern technology and money had been spent on equipment. But Edward Alsop had died in August of that year so perhaps no-one in the family had the skills or was prepared to continue traditional milling, especially if they were already well established in other work.

The role of the Millwright in the development of mechanical engineering

I recently read an interesting paper [i]which examined the importance of technical competence in the development of the Industrial Revolution. This suggests that the manufacturing and maintenance of relatively sophisticated devices using high quality materials (such as in mills) required top quality mechanical competence. In the early stages, this competence mattered more than schooling or literacy. The paper focuses on a particular group of craftsmen, millwrights and wheelwrights or simply known as ‘wrights’. These were originally highly skilled carpenters specialising in the planning, construction, improvement and maintenance of mainly water-powered machinery. The paper calls these the engineers of the pre-industrial era. They suggest that the agility and efficiency of the English Apprenticeship system also helped to produce high-skilled mechanics who in turn apprenticed others to pass on their knowledge. The skills developed by these ‘wrights’ later enabled them to be at the forefront of other engineering work, including steam engines – so when mines needed pumps and lifting gear and when factories began to be set up these men were the ones who knew how to install the machinery and the power sources which drove them. Was it a coincidence that many of these factories, especially those in the weaving industries, were known as ‘mills’? And although the Midlands did not have textile mills in the same way as the North-East, they certainly had many other areas of work and factories requiring similar engines and similar skills.

Some of the best-known engineers of the Industrial Revolution originally apprenticed as Millwrights, including James Brindley, the great builder of canals during the early canal era after 1750 and John Rennie the co-inventor of the breast-wheel water mill and who built the first steam driven flour mills. The millwrights were seen as all-round technically competent craftsmen and textile engineering installations categorised their equipment as either ‘millwright’s work’ or ‘clockmaker’s work’.

The report quotes John R Harris, a historian of technology during the Industrial Revolution, as saying “so much knowledge was breathed in by the workman with the sooty atmosphere in which he lived rather then ever consciously learnt”. Which I think sums up very nicely the versatility and dexterity of many of our Black Country workers, well before literacy was common. Specific skills were recognised and valued, some men described themselves as nailers or labourers but many others were more specific, many of my male Rose ancestors were rivet makers, others were furnacemen or puddlers, quarrymen were stone cutters or sett makers. I recently saw a remark that competent people in the Black Country made chains, less able made nails but I do not think it was as simple as that. Each village made a particular type of nail – Dudley folk made horse nails – whereas chains tended to be made in the Cradley area but each nailer would learn the skill from their own family so such small differences remained very local. And other skills, such as ramrod making, jew’s harp making, gun making, bladed tool makers were all present locally and usually appear to have been family based skills and very possibly keenly restricted to family!

The authors of this report urge recognition of the ‘crucial role of mechanically trained and highly competent craftsmen in the Industrial Revolution’, which they suggest correlates closely to the distribution of mills and millwrights centuries ago, even as early as the Domesday survey, as the forerunners of the mechanical engineers who enabled much of the Industrial Revolution.

Millers in Rowley Regis

So, milling as a profession required certain skills which were clearly, in the Alsop (and Mallin) families passed through the generations. Although they may not have actually built the mills or the milling machinery, so were not technically ‘millwrights’, millers required quite a high level of engineering skills to operate and maintain their mills, and were not unskilled workers but likely to be in considerable demand by the owners of manorial mills to operate them safely and efficiently. And such owners may have preferred to bring in millers from outside the immediate area whose loyalties would lie with the mill owner, rather than the local populace. From my research, the children of the Alsop family appear considerably more likely to move away from the area and settle elsewhere, than most of the core families I have examined so far in this study.

The Alsop Family

The Alsops were not a family who had been in the parish for very long (at least in contrast to some of the local families who had been there for several centuries) and they were not as prolific as some of the Hamlet families. There are only 28 Alsop entries in the whole of the printed parish registers for Rowley Regis and only 34 results for the parish in FreeREG.

John Alsop (1744-1809)

John Alsop was born in about 1744, calculated from his age at burial which may not have been very accurate, such details are only as accurate as the knowledge of the person giving the information at the time of the death so with older people unlikely to have first hand knowledge. I searched FreeREG for the period 1730-1750 for a baptism in the area around Rowley Regis. There were three John Alsops baptised in the period. The first was baptised on 30 October 1734, the son of John and Mary Alsop. The second was baptised on 7 April 1740, the son of John and Elizabeth Alsop and the third on 9 September 1748, the son of Thomas and Mary Alsop. All three were baptised in Walsall where there are other later Alsop connections. I was very interested to note, whilst I was researching John Alsop, that another John Alsop aged 70 (which tallies with the last baptism above if the age was accurate)was buried in 1818 in Walsall and that his abode was also at ‘Windmill’. Perhaps the Alsop family were Millers and the Rowley John Alsop had moved to Rowley, with his specialist skills, specifically to operate the windmill there. As to which, if any, of these is the John who moved to Rowley, we cannot be sure.

John first appears in the Rowley Parish Registers in 1764 when his daughter Elizabeth was baptised, the first of five daughters – who were baptised to John and Elizabeth (nee Gough) Alsop. Then followed Hannah in 1766, Rachael in 1768, Lucy (1770-1791) and Mary in 1773. Elizabeth Alsop died in childbirth in 1773, (which I have concluded as Mary was baptised on the same day that Elizabeth was buried). A child of John Alsop was buried in November 1773 but no name is given but this was probably the motherless Mary .

John Alsop’s daughters

There is no further clear mention of any of John Alsop’s daughters in the Rowley Registers, other than the burial of Mary in 1773 and Lucy in 1791. There are no marriages for the other daughters in Rowley Regis but I think I have found their marriages elsewhere.

Elizabeth Alsop (1764-1794)

I think that Elizabeth Alsop married widower John Cooper (1761-1797) at Harborne, on 16 July 1782. Cooper’s first wife Mary nee Smith had died in March 1782 and their daughter Sarah (1782-1793) was baptised on the day of Mary’s burial so John re-married very quickly, partly, one would think, to give Sarah a mother. Elizabeth and John Cooper had five children, all baptised in Rowley Regis: these were Joseph (1783), Esther (1785), Elizabeth (1787-1811), Edward (1790-1794) and George (1792). Elizabeth died in 1794 and was buried at St Giles, so when John died in 1797 their surviving children would have been orphans. There are numerous Coopers in the area after that, especially in the Oldbury area but I have not been able to identify what happened to the children after that, although they may have been taken in by family.

Rachel Alsop (1768-1836)

It seems likely that Rachel Alsop married John Fenton at St Martin’s (in the Bullring) in Birmingham on 7 October 1788 and it appears that this couple went on to live out their lives in Aston, Birmingham where they had at least five children: John (1791), Isaac ((1793), Charles (1800), Sarah (1803) and Henry (1806). This Rachel died in 1836 and I think John Fenton died in 1843. If this is the correct couple, they were living in Potter Street, Aston which is just behind what is now Aston University and in the 1841 Census John is shown as a Steelworker.

Hannah Alsop (1776-1824)

Hannah married Benjamin Edge, a chain maker of Tuckies in the parish of Broseley, Shropshire in a Quaker ceremony in Worcester in April 1801 when she would have been 35, she was said to be of the City of Worcester. They lived in Coalbrookdale, certainly most of their married lives and at the time of their deaths, Hannah died in 1824 and Benjamin in 1845 and they appear to have had at least one child James Edge (1808-1887) who continued to live there for the rest of his life.

So only one of John Alsop’s daughters stayed in Rowley after her marriage, the other daughters settled in Birmingham and Coalport respectively and it appears that their children stayed in those places.

John Alsop’s second marriage

After Elizabeth’s death, John Alsop then married Sarah Bate, a widow, at Clent in 1780. Sarah’s husband John Bate had died in 1775, he and Sarah had had three sons and a daughter between 1770 and 1776. Perhaps John, with his several daughters, was keen to have a son to inherit his mill and farm. Edward Alsop was baptised at St Giles on 30 December 1781, the son of John and Sarah Alsop, he appears to have been their only child.

John Alsop died and was buried at St Giles in 1809, aged 65. Sarah Alsop, of the Windmill, died and was buried in February 1813, aged 76, of Dropsy.

Edward Alsop (1781-1860)

In 1841 John’s only son Edward Alsop, aged 60 with his wife Betty (nee Hodgetts), also 60, were living at the Mill Farm with their children Sarah aged 35, Thomas aged 30, Mary Ann aged 20 and Rhoda aged 15. There was also a Male Servant John Morteby, aged 15 who was not born in the County. Again, perhaps it suited millers to employ family members to keep their knowledge within the family or to bring in servants from outside the local community.

The 1851 Census is helpful, concerning farms and this has Edward Alsop, by then 70,as a farmer of 40 acres, employing 2 labourers. And in 1851 there were two men listed in his household, one a cowman and one a waggoner. I wonder whether Alsop was already quarrying by that time and required a waggoner to transport stone from the quarry?

Edward Alsop had married Betty Hodgetts of Clent on 7 Jun 1801 at Clent, and his abode was also shown as Clent. It may be that there was a family connection for the Alsops in Clent as his father had also married there but there were also a large number of Alsops in Walsall.

Edward and Betty’s first daughter Hannah was baptised on 11 October 1801 at St Giles, Rowley Regis. Then followed Sarah in 1805, John in 1807, Thomas in 1809, and Mary in 1811, (who was buried aged 1 in 1813), Joseph in 1816, Edward in 1818 – in these latter two baptisms the occupations of the fathers were being shown and in these two Edward Snr’s abode was shown as Windmill and his occupation as a Miller. Next came Mary in 1820 and Rhoda in 1821 and now his occupation was shown as farmer, so perhaps the milling was becoming less important.

Betty Alsop nee Hodgetts, died in July 1854 aged 74 and her abode was given as ‘The Mill’. Her cause of death was noted as ‘old age’. Hodgetts is not an unknown name in the area. I have not yet researched Betty Hodgetts myself but other researchers who have her on their trees on Ancestry indicate that she was born in Halesowen and that her father was Timothy Hodgetts and her mother Mary Mallen – Mallen is a name which will recur later.

Edward Alsop died six years later, aged 78 in 1860 and was buried at St Giles on 7 September 1860, no cause of death noted. The Mill was being advertised for rent only a few months later so it was obviously still operational and fully equipped at that point, when milling ceased completely is not known.

The next piece will look at the children of Edward and Betty.

[i] The Wheels of Change: Technology Adoption, Millwrights, and the Persistence in Britain’s Industrialization Joel Mokyr, Assaf Sarid, and Karine van der Beek+ which I was able to download free from academia.edu

Where was Blower’s hill?

Edward Alsop, of Alsop’s Hill and Alsop’s Quarry, died, aged 78 and was buried at St Giles on 7 September 1860, his abode given in the Burial Register as Blower’s Hill. Does anyone know where this was? I didn’t! And no-one in the local Facebook page knew either when I appealed there. But clearly the name was quite unremarkable to local officials who recorded information in parish Registers, compiled Poll Books and drafted Wills. They must have known where Edward was referring to. But I was puzzled, I had seen nothing to indicate that Edward had moved anywhere else, he appeared to have lived all of his life in the Windmill Farm. But I could not find Blower’s hill on any maps or in any online archives.

So I have been exploring down a little local history and genealogical rabbit hole, trying to find out where Blower’s Hill was.

Blower’s hill

The spelling and punctuation vary slightly but usually the Alsop family appear to have spelled Blower’s with an apostrophe – making Blower’s a possessive adjective. And often they did not capitalise Hill, as if it were just a description of part of the landscape, rather than a defined area.

I considered various issues:

What had this area been called before the Alsops arrived?

First of all, although the land there was known later as Alsop’s Quarry or Alsop’s Hill, it must have been called something before the Alsops came along in the mid-1700s. And it would probably have taken a few years/decades/generations of the family living there before it became associated with their name. Even then, although many records and maps show the land they farmed as Alsop’s Hill or Alsop’s quarry, the family appear always to have called it Blower’s hill.

So perhaps the earlier local descriptive name was ‘Blower’s Hill’, either for the windmill, which was apparently a manorial mill, so long established there.

Or perhaps the land was known by the name of a previous owner, since mostly the Alsops used a possessive apostrophe in the name and it was very common in this area for places to be named after their owners, such as Gadd’s Green, Darby’s Hill, Perry’s Lake, etc, etc.

So – were there any Blower families locally?

I searched all four volumes of the Rowley Parish Registers (1539-1849)for the name Blower and found just one! In 1573. a Thomas Davies married Agnes Blowere. So at some point there was at least one person called Blower or Blowere known of in the parish even if it was 200 years earlier! But when I extended the search on FreeREG to surrounding parishes (including 100 additional places within 7.5 miles) I found that , between 1750 and 1850 there were 314 entries of baptisms, marriages and burials in surrounding parishes. There were Blowers in Harborne, Halesowen, Wombourne, many, many in Penn, others in Oldswinford, Brierley Hill, Dudley, Sedgley, and especially latterly, in Bilston and Wolverhampton. Most of those are on an arc to the west of Dudley, between Harborne and Wolverhampton.

I was especially interested to note the marriage of a Susannah Blower to Joseph Hill at Clent in 1769, Rowley was a chapelry of Clent and quite a lot of Rowley people married there. And, of course, there were lots of the Hill family in the Lost Hamlets. And I also noted the marriage of Letticia Perry to John Blower in Sedgley in 1825 – hmmm, Perry’s Lake/Blower’s Hill, are immediately adjacent to each other in Rowley – interesting, perhaps their families had property interests in common!

So although there were very few Blowers in Rowley Regis in later centuries, there were plenty in adjacent areas.

The Electoral Records

Second: Another important clue lay in the Poll Books. Edward was shown in the 1837 and later Poll Books consistently with a house and land at this address, which was described as Blower’s hill Farm. I found Poll Book entries as early as 1837 – just after electoral reform had been enacted which would have given Edward the right to vote – and all of these identify his only property in Rowley Regis Parish as Blower’s hill farm, which was a house and land occupied, implying it was being farmed.

These voting rights were an important part of political and social reform in 19^th century Britain. There are interesting articles with further information here ( https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/what-caused-the-1832-great-reform-act/ ) and here(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Act_1832 ), and on numerous other pages. But it was not universal suffrage, the vote given to all men (and certainly no women!). The right to vote was extended to small landowners, tenant farmers, shopkeepers and all householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more. So the holding of property had presumably been checked before being recorded in the Poll Books.

What did the family call it?

Thirdly, at least Edward’s generation of the family were calling it ‘Blower’s hill’, rather than Alsop’s Hill or Windmill Hill, over many years.

Answering my own question!

So I have gone through again all of the records I have found for Edward Alsop, looking carefully at the descriptions in those records.

And, finally, fourthly, looking carefully at the wording of the Probate record for Edward’s Will, shown here, it actually says that he is ‘late of the Mill Farm Blowers-hill in the parish of Rowley Regis.’ And his son Thomas and daughter Rhoda, as executors, are said to be ‘of Blowers-hill aforesaid’.

Which shows, it seems, that Blowers-hill was the name by which the area of land farmed by the Alsops was previously known, and that it and the Mill farm were one and the same place.

Another old Rowley place-name detected and, I believe, placed geographically, at least on my mental map!