Introduction

Other articles within the website which relate to particular aspects of this story are noted within square brackets in the text. Links to these articles can be found in the table towards the bottom of column 2

This article follows on from the article "A History of the Beadsworth Family - Part 1, Origins" [Article A.], tracing the progress of one of the branches of that family from its roots in Uppingham, Rutland and the neighbouring villages of Drayton and Bringhurst into the Welland Valley, Northamptonshire from the early part of the nineteenth century to the middle years of the twentieth century. It concentrates on the offspring of Anthony, who was the eldest son of William Beadsworth and Alice Sumpter. As described in the previous article, William and Alice had six other children, the story of the youngest son Isaac and his progeny appears elsewhere. For an illustrated overview of the village of Cottingham, see "My Cottingham" [Article B.]

As in the previous articles, research into this family is bedevilled by the many ways in which the family's surname is entered into historical documents. Although the contemporary appearance of the surname is as given above, Anthony and many of his children used the alternative Beesworth spelling throughout their lives and this version will be used in the narrative here, although on occasions examples where alternative spellings for the same person may be given in parenthesis as points of interest. It is known that the origins of the family can be traced back to Uppingham in Rutland in the second half of the 17th century. Prior to 1750, Beesworth and its variants were unknown but Bosworth (and the variant Boseworth) were commonplace across Northamptonshire including one family in Cottingham. After 1750, no baptisms for that name occurred in Cottingham. The first baptisms of the name, as Beardsworth (five children in one family), took place in the village of Evenley on the southern border of Northamptonshire between 1825 and 1829. The first baptisms to take place in Cottingham were for the children of Anthony Beesworth between 1821 and 1841. The first marriage of a female (Elizabeth Beesworth) took place in 1847 and of a male (William Beesworth) in 1848. The first burial in Cottingham (Joseph Beesworth 2½ years, Anthony's son) took place in 1836. There are several graves in Cottingham Churchyard bearing the name Beadsworth, the earliest from 1924 which belongs to Alfred (1866 - 1924), the grandson of Anthony Beesworth.

What also becomes rapidly obvious as family lines are explored is how quickly and thoroughly involved the Beadsworths become with many of the other inter-related and intermarried families who were living in the village.

The family of Anthony Beesworth and Elizabeth Hipwell

Anthony was born in the village of Bringhurst, Leicestershire and was baptised with the surname as Beesworth at St Nicholas Church in that village on April 1st 1798. He maintained that spelling of his surname throughout his life. By the time he had reached the age of twenty years he had left home and made the move across the border into Northamptonshire to the village of Cottingham. There he courted Elizabeth Hipwell. Born in the village and baptised on June 26th 1796, she was the daughter of John Hipwell and Sarah Timpson. Both her parents had died while she was still young: her father in 1804, her mother four years later. Anthony and Elizabeth were married at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on November 22nd 1820.

Over the first twenty years of their marriage, Elizabeth presented Anthony with ten children: six sons and four daughters. They made their home in Dag Lane (now called School Lane) which traverses a dog leg shape between High Street and Rockingham Road. Anthony spent his working life on the land. Elizabeth earned some money as a washerwoman. He died towards the end of 1858 and was buried in the village on November 17th that year. By 1861 Elizabeth had moved on to a property in Wood Lane taking her youngest son 16 year old John and her granddaughter Mary Ann with her. During the next decade she moved again, this time on her own, to a cottage on the High Street, registering herself as a pauper and being in receipt of Parish Relief. She died and was buried on February 25th 1874.

William (1821 - 1902)

Anthony and Elizabeth's first son, William, was born in early 1821 and was baptised at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on July 22nd 1821. He was destined to grow up, marry and raise his own family in Cottingham. His story will be picked up in a later article [Article C.]).

Alice (1823 - 1875)

Their first daughter was born in Cottingham on September 8th and baptised on November 23rd 1823. In her early twenties, Alice had two illegitimate daughters. The father of neither is known for certain although Alice may have left a hint in each girl's given names. The first, born on July 20th 1845 and was baptised Alice Mason Beesworth on August 27th 1845. Sadly the little girl survived less than a year, dying during an epidemic of whooping cough, and was buried on April 9th 1846. Two years later, Alice delivered another daughter on October 1st 1849. She was baptised Mary Ann Elizabeth Scott Beesworth on February 14th 1849. By 1851 Alice had taken up a house servant position with the family of baker William Aldwinckle and was living at their house on The Hill in Middleton. Mary Ann had been left in Cottingham to be looked after by her grandparents.

On September 18th 1853, Alice married agricultural labourer Thomas Jarvis at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, the marriage witnessed by James Jarvis and Matilda Coles. Thomas was the eldest son of John Jarvis and Mary Clow who were living in Water Lane at the time. He had two brothers (James and William) and three sisters (Elizabeth, Mary and Jane). Two years later, James would marry Matilda, the daughter of Thomas Coles and Susannah Claypole. Subsequently Thomas' sister Elizabeth became the second wife of Matilda's brother Charles Coles. Thomas and Alice had five children: four sons (William, 1855; Thomas, 1859; George, 1864 and Frederick, 1867) and a daughter (Mary Ann, 1854). Shortly after the opening of the 1860s, Thomas moved the family about fourteen miles south east to Aldwinckle St Peter near Thrapston. It is noteworthy that Alice's maiden name had been changed to Beadsworth on the registration of the last two births which had taken place after the move. Thomas became a woodman and the family settled into a cottage at Wadenhoe Lodge on the outskirts of the village. Alice died there in the opening months of 1895.

Elizabeth (1825 - 1864); Ann (1828 - 1894)

Second and third born daughters Elizabeth and Ann married into the Bradsaw and Binley families. Their stories will be recounted later in this article.

Sarah (1831 - 1875)

The fourth of Anthony and Elizabeth Beesworth's daughters, Sarah, was baptised on March 9th 1831. In her late teens she entered domestic service with the family of Bartholomew Aldwinckle who farmed 390 acres in the village and employed 14 men. Sarah's sister Elizabeth, now married to John Bradshaw lived in the house next door. She met and married agricultural labourer William Woodcock in nearby Wilbarston in 1853. The couple settled in the village where she had nine children (5 boys and 4 girls). Towards the end of the decade the family moved to a farm cottage in Pipewell, a hamlet on a country lane between Great Oakley and Desborough. Their next door neighbours were David Claypole, a cousin of the Cottingham family, and his wife Emma Chambers. Emma's nephew Frederick would ultimately marry Rebecca Ann Beadsworth - one of Anthony and Elizabeth Beesworth's great granddaughters. A final move was made to Goose Pasture Lodge in Rothwell where Sarah's last son, George was born just three years before she died in 1875. She had been suffering from breast cancer for more than six months and died on March 10th 1875.

Thomas (1836 - 1901)

The third of Anthony and Elizabeth's sons was born on January 14th 1836 and baptised Thomas four days later. From his early teenage years he was destined to become an agricultural labourer. Just after the beginning of 1858 he married the heavily pregnant Harriet Payne, a girl from Medbourne in Leicestershire, the Banns having been called on the first three Sundays of January. Whilst in the village, she delivered their first daughter on March 9th 1858. Shortly afterwards the couple returned to Cottingham where the baby was baptised and named Harriet on April 25th 1858. They made their first home in Rockingham Road, next door to his sister Alice and her husband Thomas Jarvis. Over the next 20 years, the family moved firstly to High Street and then to Corby Road. Harriet died there on June 15th 1900. Thomas followed her at the beginning of the following year.

All told, Thomas and Harriet had ten children: one son and 9 daughters. Eldest daughter Harriet married labourer Samuel Cleaver from Market Harborough on December 31st 1877. Within two years, Harriet had presented Samuel with a son they named Frederick William. Two daughters followed: Florence Louisa in the spring of 1883 and Grace Maud in the summer of 1885. Then tragedy struck. Harriet became pregnant for the fourth time the following year. Towards the end of the pregnancy she became increasingly ill. The likely cause appears to have been puerpural sepsis or "childbed fever". She went into premature labour and gave birth in the late hours of November 28th 1886 but collapsed from shock and died. She had delivered a male child which survived for just nine hours, perishing the following day. Her formal death certificate read "Erysipelas; confinement; syncope"; that of her unnamed child, simply "Premature birth". The scourge of maternal and infant mortality and the causation of "childbed fever" was hotly debated during the nineteenth century. [Further Reading: 1.]

Documentary recording for this family was beginning to use the spelling Beadsworth with increasing frequency. The table above has been constructed by reference to the birth and death registers from the General Register Office; serial census returns and the baptism and burial parish records from Cottingham. Frederick, their only son, enlisted with the 17th Leicestershire Regiment in his late teens. During the winter of 1882 he contracted pneumonia from which he died in the Market Harborough area on February 11th 1882. He was barely 20 years old. Emily Caroline, their second daughter, married William Moore on May 29th 1882, moving first to Gloucester and then to Bulwell in Nottingham. They had five children. Emily died in Nottingham in 1944. Third daughter Mary Elizabeth married stone carver Samuel Gilbert in 1885. They went to live in Kettering where she had nine children. She died in the town in the winter of 1940. Fourth daughter Mary Jane (1867) was known in adult life by her second name. In 1881 she was in domestic service at the Shoulder of Mutton public House in Great Bowden near Market Harborough. She married farmer Albert Marvell in 1885 and went to live in Lubenham. They had no children. Albert died in October 1935; Mary Jane died in Lubenham on January 11th 1940. Last daughter Clara (1880) married George Law in 1897 amd settled in Rothwell near Kettering. They had a son and four daughters by 1911. A further son was born in 1916, George and Clara were still living in Well Lane, Rothwell at the outbreak of the second World War. Their eldest daughter, Eva, who was incapacitated, and two sons, Frederick and George, remained at home. All three were single. Clara died in the village in the early months of 1963; George followed a year later in 1964.

Anthony (1838 - 1894)

Anthony and Elizabeth's fifth son, Anthony was born on November 13th 1838 and baptised on January 24th 1839. He remained in Cottingham throughout his life where he married Mary Henrietta Mayes and had 10 children with her. His story will be picked up in a later article [Article D.]).

Joseph (1833 - 1836); Joseph (1841 - 1869)

Anthony and Elizabeth had two sons they named Joseph. The first, their sixth child, was born on September 25th and baptised on September 30th 1833. He succumbed when less than three years old, presumably to one of the regular epidemics which swept through the village, at the tail end of April and was buried on May 1st 1836.

They then named their ninth child (and fifth son) born in 1841 and baptised on June 21st 1841 after the dead infant. By the time he was ten years old he was labouring in the fields. In his late teens he was sent into domestic service in Rockingham with the family of widowed inn keeper Mary Jones. On Boxing Day 1864 Joseph married 20 year old Rowena Stafford Bell in St Peter's Church, Stanion, a village a couple of miles south east of Corby. They had one son they named Christopher Thomas in 1867. Joseph had contracted pulmonary tuberculosis in his early twenties from which he died on July 22nd 1869. The couple had been living in Ashley, a village about four miles to the west of Cottingham. Rowena married again to William Kilbourn, a sawyer from Stanion. They made their home in Stanion where William managed a grocery and general dealership.

Charles Thomas Beadsworth married Ada Knight from Staffordshire in Thrapston in 1890. They made their home in Regent Street, Kettering where, by 1911, they had eight children (four sons and four daughters) and Charles worked as an ironmonger. Notable amongst these was oldest son Charles William who was born in 1892. He too followed his father into the iron works. During the first World War he enlisted as Private 200927 with the 1st/5th Battalion the Durham Light Infantry and was shipped out to France. He was killed in action on the Somme on March 25th 1918. He is commemorated on Panels 68 to 72 of the Pozieres Memorial, to the north east of the town of Albert.

John (1843 - )

Their last child was born on September 7th 1843 and baptised John on January 15th 1844. He too became an agricultural labourer and remained with his mother in Wood Lane after his father died. To date nothing has been discovered about his whereabouts or activities after 1861.

The family of Elizabeth Beesworth and John Bradshaw

Anthony and Elizabeth's second daughter arrived on Christmas Day 1825 and was baptised at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on January 26th 1826. She married John, the son Thomas Bradshaw and Frances Sculthorpe. John, born in the spring of 1824, was one of five brothers and two sisters. His mother was the youngest of the eight children of Thomas Sculthorpe and Elizabeth Burditt. Her sister Mary had married Henry Aldwinckle, a farmer and employer in the village. They had produced 11 children by 1827. Frances' older brother, Thomas, married Mary Hayes and produced eight children. Of them, their daughter Mary married Henry Crane - notorious for the murder in Cottingham in 1875. Frances' nephew, William, married Sarah Crane (Henry's first cousin). Ultimately Henry Crane's daughter Emma and William Sculthorpe's son moved to Leicester together and were married. [Articles E, F.]

John Bradshaw was an agricultural labourer. At the time of the 1841 census his family were living a few doors away from the Beesworths in Dag (now School) Lane. John and Elizabeth were married on April 25th 1847; her sister Sarah and Charles Binley, the son of another local family, standing as witnesses. The following year, Elizabeth presented John with their first son who they named Charles. A second son, Thomas, followed in the fourth quarter of 1849. By April 1851, the young family were settled in a cottage in Goodwin's Yard, a space on the corner of George Street (which would ultimately be renamed Corby Road) and The Nook. Their next door neighbours were the family of Bartholomew Aldwinckle, the brother of William, the baker in Middleton where Elizabeth's sister Alice was working. Elizabeth was earning some money for the family budget as a framework knitter.

John had a minor brush with the law when he was convicted at Kettering Petty Sessions of stealing wood from a fence in November 1851. He was fined 7/6d (seven shillings and six pence) with costs with the option of fourteen days imprisonment (4). Over the course of the next decade, Elizabeth had three more babies, two sons (James Philip, 1855 and John 1858) and a daughter (Fanny Elizabeth, 1852). Also during this decade they moved house into Water Lane. A final son, George, was born in the early summer of 1861. Elizabeth died of a fever on November 17th 1864, her death was notified by Ruth Humphrey, the wife of near neighbour in Church Street, William Liquorish. She was 38 years old. She was buried in plot 246 of Row A14 in St Mary Magdalene Churchyard on November 19th 1864. John continued living in Water Lane for almost twenty years after Elizabeth died. Initially daughter Fanny looked after him as his housekeeper. By 1891, he moved into one of the small cottages in Barrack Yard off Blind Lane (for an account of this area see "We are the Barrack Yard Preservation Society" [Article G.]) At the time of the census he had his 22 year old granddaughter Elizabeth with him. John died just after the turn of the century and was buried alongside his wife in Cottingham graveyard.

Charles (1847 - 1878)

John and Elizabeth's first son was born in the summer of 1847. Barely into his teens, he went into domestic service with the family of farmer William Coe in East Carlton. On November 24th 1868 he married Sarah Ann Palmer who was also in service. She was the daughter of labourer John Palmer and his wife Mary Ann and was originally from the village of Middleton. Charles' brother Thomas and the daughter of another neighbour, Elizabeth Crane, acted as witnesses. After the service, they made their home in the Leicestershire village of Horninghold. After three years, they moved 13 miles west to Newton Harcourt which sits alongside the Grand Union Canal a mile or so west of Great Glen. In the space of eight years, Sarah Ann had three daughters (Elizabeth Ann, 1869, Fanny, 1872 and Sarah, 1876) and two sons (John, 1874 and George, 1878). Charles died on December 22nd 1878 suffering from acute rheumatic fever and pneumonia. He was 32 years of age. He was buried at St Lukes Church in the village. Within a year Sarah Ann had married again, to Thomas Wormell, a labourer from Great Glen who was 12 years older than she was. They made the move to Little Hill, Wigston Magna. Sarah Ann presented him with a son in 1880 that they named Thomas William Palmer Wormell. Thomas was alone in the house in Wigston Magna at the time of the 1901 census. He died in the area in the opening months of 1911.

Of the five children of Charles Bradshaw and Sarah Ann Palmer, the only one with any known history is eldest daughter Elizabeth Ann. Born on February 19th 1869, she was with her mother and stepfather in Wigston in 1881 but by the end of the decade she had moved back to Cottingham to be with her grandfather in Barrack Yard. She was also employed as a tailoress at the Wallis and Linnell clothing factory on Rockingham Road.

She married George Binley, the son of Charles Binley and Sarah Caroline Wingell, on February 16th 1893. His younger sister Rebecca and younger brother Stephen Charles acted as witnesses. George looked after the horses on a farm and the couple initially lived in Blind Lane. They had four sons (John Charles, 1895; George William, 1898; Robert Edward, 1900 and Frederick Wingell, 1907) and a daughter (Olive, 1906). Sadly, Robert and Olive both died within weeks of birth. Robert contracted gastroenteritis and suffered convulsions before his death on August 19th 1900. Olive was born with spinia bifida, a developmental abnormality of the vertebral column, which became infected. She was just six weeks old when she died on February 15th 1906. Frederick was given his second name, Wingell, after his paternal grandmother. By 1911 they had moved to Coldermeadow Lodge at Great Oakley in Northamptonshire where George was employed as a waggoner.

After the first World War, second son George emigrated to Australia where he married and raised his own family in New South Wales. Youngest son Frederick married Eva Claypole, a cousin of the Claypoles who also lived in Blind Lane. Upon his retirement, George and Elizabeth moved to Cannams Lodge in Middleton where he died in 1943. He was buried in plot 63 of Row G4 in Cottingham Cemetery on November 28th 1943. Elizabeth Ann lived on for another 20 years in the village before she died in October 1963 and joined her husband on the 8th of that month.

Continued in column 2...

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Revised and updated: September 22nd 2020

The family of Elizabeth Beesworth and John Bradshaw (Continued)

Thomas (1849 - 1922); James Philip (1855 - ); George (1861 - )

John and Elizabeth's second son, Thomas followed his brother Charles to Newton Harcourt where he became a shepherd. He married local girl Elizabeth Allen at St Luke's Church on July 13th 1875. They had three sons and a daughter. Thomas died in the village in 1922. Third son James Philip moved to Ashton-under-Lyme, a town now in Greater Manchester, where he married Mary Ashton in 1863, They had four daughters: Elizabeth, Fanny, Alice and Annie. Last son George married Hannah Palmer, the sister of his brother's wife Sarah Ann, in Hallaton in 1886.

Fanny Elizabeth (1852 - 1924)

Daughter Fanny was born in Cottingham in 1852. Before her tenth birthday she earning pennies making lace. She was 14 years old when her mother died and she stayed at home with her father, acting as his housekeeper. She married Edmund Bull at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on October 24th 1878. He was the son of John Bull and Rebecca Sculthorpe who lived on Rockingham Road in Cottingham. Although the families lived in close proximity a link has so far not between established between Rebecca's line and those of Frances Sculthorpe - Thomas Bradshaw's wife - or Mary Sculthorpe who married Henry Crane. At the turn of the century Edmund was working as a presser in the Rockingham Road clothng factory. The couple had no children. Edmund died in November 1906 and was buried on November 26th 1906. After his death Fanny went to stay for the period including the 1911 census with her niece Elizabeth, now married to George Binley, at Coldermeadow Lodge in Great Oakley. She lived on for nearly 20 more years. She died and was buried on January 5th 1924.

John (1858 - 1930)

Penultimate son John was born in the spring of 1858. He followed the family onto the land. On August 5th 1878 he married Ann Elizabeth Tansley in Cottingham. Ann Elizabeth was the illegitimate daughter of Matilda, born in 1858, before Matilda married Lewis Binley. Ann's putative father was John Thomas Darker, son of a publican in nearby Rockingham. Indeed her name is entered on the General Register Office index as Ann Elizabeth Darker Darker although other online indexes record her as Ann Elizabeth Darker Tansley. The marriage certificate records her father as David Tansley, presumably her grandfather. John Lewis Binley, her half brother and nephew of Ann Beesworth's husband Edward Binley, acted as a witness. The couple made their home in Blind Lane where they had five sons (John Thomas, 1879; Charles, 1880; Alfred, 1882; Thomas, 1886 and James, 1890) and a daughter (Anne, 1888). John died in the village in 1930.

Of note of their children, eldest son John Thomas became a farm labourer. He had a number of brushes with the law in his younger days. He was arrested and charged with indecent assault with intent. He appeared before the Northampton Assizes in June 1895 where he pleaded guilty and admitted a previous offence. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour. (6, 7). He received a further three months hard labour for stealing a watch and chain in November 1898. Now an ironstone labourer, He married Annie Stubbs, who already had five children from a previous marriage (her maiden name was Sharpe), in Cottesmore near Oakham, Rutland on May 23rd 1910. In 1911, John's younger brother Thomas Henry, also working in the ironstone quarry, was lodging with them. At the age of 34 years, John enlisted with Leicestershire Regiment on September 1st 1914. He served with the Expeditionary Force in France during 1915 and 1916. He transferred to the 3rd North Staffordshire Regiment and the Labour Corps. He sustained a gunshot wound to the face for which he received a small War Pension.

The aforementioned Thomas Henry married Maud Matilda Binley, the daughter of Abraham Binley and niece of John Lewis Binley, on December 26th 1911. His brother James and her sister Ethel acted as witnesses. Their initial home was in Blind Lane where they raised seven children. Prior to the second World War they had moved to Ripley Road off Rockingham Road where Thomas worked as a slag labourer. Thomas died in the spring of 1976; Maud followed in the summer of 1980.

The family of Ann Beesworth and Edward Binley

Next child of Anthony and Elizabeth Beesworth, Ann, was born on June 15th and baptised on August 3rd 1828. She married Edward Binley, a farm worker, on October 7th 1849 at the Church of St Mary Magdalene. Edward's brother John and sister Sarah stood as their witnesses. She was probably in the middle stages of a pregnancy at the time. Edward's parents lived on High Street in the village. His father, Thomas was a carpenter and wheelwright; his mother was Mary Reynolds. He had 15 siblings (11 brothers and 4 sisters). The Binleys already had strong connections with other long term family residents in Cottingham. Edward's older brother Charles had married Mary Ann West in 1848. Her family had previous links with the Jarvis and Sculthorpe families. Edward's younger sister Sarah married Joseph Tilley (see [Article H.]). Brothers Lewis annd Jeffrey married Matilda and Caroline Tansley respectively. Lewis and Matilda's daughter Grace Rosina Binley ultimately went on to marry Ann Beesworth's nephew Ernest Edward Beadsworth (see [Article I.]).

Edward and Ann settled into a house in Dag (School) Lane next door to Ann's older brother William. During the first ten years they had six children (a son and five daughters). A further two sons and a daughter arrived during the 1860s. Sometime during that decade Edward switched occupation and became a carpenter like his father. In the 1880s, the couple moved to Water Lane where Ann died at the end of January 1894. She was buried on February 2nd the same year. Edward died two years later and was buried on July 15th 1896.

Thomas (1850 - 1835)

Edward and Ann's first son, Thomas, was born in the opening months of 1850 and was baptised on March 3rd 1851 at the Church of St Mary Magdalene. In the late 1860s he moved across to Leicester and in early 1871 he married Christiana Burditt. She was about six years his senior. Although her family came from Sutton Bassett, no direct link to the other Burditt families in the Welland Valley has so far been made. The couple were to have nine children, although tracking them has proved difficult because of the multiple variations in the way the surnames have been entered in various registers.

In 1891, the family were living in Welford Road and Thomas was working as a brickmaker's labourer. By 1911 he and Christiana had moved to Westbury Road, a cul de sac off Welford Road. Christiana died in the spring of 1914. She was 59 years old. After the end of the first World War he moved into the next street, Brentwood Road. During the latter years of his life his daughter Annie lived with him as his housekeeper. Thomas died in the first quarter of 1935.

Mary Ann (1851 - 1864); John Edward (1861 - 1861); Ann (1867 - )

The first daughter to be born was baptised Mary Ann in 1851. She died at the age of 13 years and was buried on November 12th 1864. The cause of death was rendered as "Morbus cordis" which means a non-specific heart disease. At her age she could have had a congenital heart defect. Her death was registered by Priscilla Reddihof, the wife of Ann's sister William. Sixth child John Edward was born in the summer of 1861 but only survived for four months The cause of death was registered as convulsions which probably indicates anoxia or an injury during birth. He was buried in Cottingham on December 3rd 1861. Final daughter, Ann, was born in 1867. Nothing is known of her after the census of 1871.

Sarah Elizabeth (1854 - 1920)

Edward and Ann's next daughter Sarah Elizabeth was born in the spring of 1854 and was baptised on May 7th 1864. Around 1870 she too made the moved to Leicester where she met waggoner George Cooper. They were married at St Margaret's Church on April 6th 1874. Her sister Jane had journeyed to the town to act as a witness. They made their home in Denman Street which arose from Wharf Street in the St Margaret's area. Sarah produced four daughters and a son. George died in 1890. By the turn of the century Sarah had moved her brood to a house in Metcalf Street, which ran parallel to and three streets south of Denman Street and had taken over the running of a grocery shop. She died in the city in the winter of 1920.

Charlotte (1856 - 1913)

Two years later, a third daughter they named Charlotte arrived. She grew up in the family home in Dag Lane but sometime during the early 1870s she made the transition to Leicester. She met and married warehoueman George Morris at the Church of St John the Divine which stood in South Albion Street, just a stone's throw away from London Road railway station. They made their home in Craven Street in the St Margaret's district, close by where her great uncle, Isaac Beadsworth, and his children had lived for many years (See "The Beadsworth Family in Leicester - Part 1" [Article J.]). The couple had five sons.

In the 1890s, the family moved to Marlborough Street which is just inside Welford Road where George became a chemist's assistant and then tried his hand as a herbalist. He became very depressed when the business failed and on June 18th 1896 he cut his throat with a razor. He was rushed to the Leicester Royal Infirmary where he died from shock due to the haemorrhage the same day. An inquest was held before Robert Harvey the Leicester Borough Coroner the following day when a verdict of suicide while temporarily insane was returned (8). He was buried in plot 118 of Section T of Welford Road Cemetery on June 20th 1896. He was 39 years old.

On December 26th 1897 Charlotte married again, to James Allen at Holy Trinity Church, Leicester. He was a shoe maker and they made their home in Havelock Street close by the Infirmary. By 1911 they had moved around the corner into Albert Street. Charlotte was admitted to the Leicester Poor Law Infirmary in North Evington (which subsequently became Leicester General Hospital) with varicose ulcers and heart failure where she died on November 26th 1913. It is known that Charlotte owned the freehold to the plot and she was buried alongside her first husband George in Welford Road Cemetery on three days later. There is no headstone, the grave site is unmarked. After her death, James moved to the south of the county and ultimately died in Market Harborough in the autumn of 1921.

Jane (1859 - 1910)

Jane was born in the early months of 1859. Jane moved to Leicester staying initially in Underhill Street which is close to the old Leicester Union Workhouse. She married Frank Smith, an elastic weaver, at St Peter's Church on June 29th 1879, settling in a house in Ash Street on the edge of New Humberstone. They had two sons, Frank and William, and a daughter Kate. Little William contracted a chest infection which led to bronchitis and died aged one year. He was buried on July 19th 1884. Father Frank was found drowned in a water-filled pit in the old brickyard near the Spinney Hill Recreation Ground. His death was subject to an inquest before Leicester Borough Coronor George Harrison on March 21st 1885. The exact circumstances of the incident were unclear but it was known that he had been drinking heavily for some days beforehand. He was 25 years years old and was buried in the same plot - plot 359 of Section R1 of Welford Road Cemetery on March 24th 1885. After his death, Jane moved to Archdeacon Lane. From there she remarried, to James Shaw at St Margaret's Church on August 1st 1891. The family moved to Birstall Street and James died there in May 1903 and was interred in Welford Road Cemetery. Jane died in Leicester in the early months of 1910.

Edward (1863 - 1933)

Next son was born at the end of 1863 and named Edward. By 1890 he had moved to Leicester and become a labourer in a brickyard. In 1903 he married 50 year old widow Mary Ann Measures who had been born in Derby. Her maiden name was Spencer and had married John Measures, a shoe finisher, in 1871. They lived in Stephenson's Yard in New Lane off Welford Road. The couple had three daughters (Catherine, 1872; Annie Alma, 1877 and Harriet Alice, 1882). After Edward and Mary Ann married they made their home in the premises of the Knighton Junction Brick Company on Welford Road close to where his sister Charlotte lived. They had Mary Ann's 19 year old daughter Rose Jane living with them. Of note, Mary Ann's husband had died 14 years before and was buried in Welford Road Cemetery on December 18th 1889. Although Rose, was born in the fourth quarter of 1891 and registered as Measures, she is listed in the 1911 census as Rose Binley. Is it possible she was Edward's daughter from the outset? In a further family interconnection, Edward's stepdaughter, Harriet Alice Measures married his sister Charlotte's son James Arthur Morris on April 14th 1906 at St Andrews Church in Aylestone, Leicester. Mary died in the spring of 1912. Edward lived for another 20 years before dying in the winter of 1933.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks for the help, comments and suggestions from the following in the construction of this article: The Friends of Welford Road Cemetery; Contributors to the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Forums (including ColC, Istrice, JenB and SGF28) at RootsChat.Com.

Further Reading

1: "The Most Unspeakable Terror" Dartmouth Medicine by Emily Baumrin, William Corbett, Amita Kulkarni and Lee A Witters MD. This article appeared in the Winter 2009 edition of the Magazine for the Alumni and Friends of Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. It is a review of the changing knowledge of the cause and management of puerperal fever and the ultimate control of maternal and infant mortality that it caused, charting such conditions as child bed fever and the relationship of the skin condition Erysipelas to pregnancy..

Links to the articles mentioned in the text are in italic capitals below:

Article A: It all began in Uppingham A history of the Beadsworth family - Part 1: Origins
Article B: An overview of Cottingham village life My Cottingham
Article C: A story split between Cottingham and Nottingham Following the Beadsworth family in Cottingham - Part 2a: William
Article D: Concerning the Beadsworths and Craxfords in Cottingham Following the Beadsworth family in Cottingham - Part 2b: Anthony
Article E: The short life of Thomas Christopher Claypole Death for threeha'p'orth of suckers
Article F: Family history comes close to home. Paperboy unknowingly delivers newspapers to the granddaughters of his great uncle's murderer
Article G: Life on Blind Lane and Barrack Yard We are the Barrack Yard Preservation Society
Article H: Binley marries Tilley, 1856 A History of the Tilley Family: Cottingham Part 1, the early generations
Article I: Relationships between three families A Family Photograph Album: The Binleys, Jacksons and Tansleys
Article J: Early Beadsworth life in Leicester Concerning the Beadsworth family in Leicester: Part 1

References

1. Family tree graphic: Freeware Graphics: Vintage Kin Design Studio, Australia
2. St Nicholas Church, Bringhurst, © Pamela Weston: The Churches of Great Britain and Ireland.
3. Photograph of St Giles Church, Parish of the Six Saints circa Holt St Giles Church, Medbourne Medbourne overview
4. Convicted of stealing a quantity of wood valued at two pence. Report from Kettering Petty Sessions: Northampton Mercury Page 3 January 4th 1851 The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
5. Photograph: St Luke's Church, Newton Harcourt © Richard Williams, on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons
6. Alleged Shocking Assault on a little girl in Cottingham: Proceedings from Kettering Police Station. Northampton Mercury Page 6 June 21st 1895. The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
7. Assault at Cottingham, Proceedings from Northampton Assizes. Northampton Mercury Page 7 June 28th 1895. The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
8. The Suicide of a Leicester Herbalist: Report of Coroner's Inquest: Leicester Chronicle Page 8 June 20th 1896 The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
9. St John the Divine, Leicester, © George Weston: The Churches of Great Britain and Ireland.
10. Holy Trinity Church, Leicester, from an old postcard in Steve Bulman's Collection: The Churches of Great Britain and Ireland.
11. Lithograph of North Evington Poor Law Infirmary: Leicester General Hospital - From Poor Law to High Technology Specialist Hospital. Evington Echo. September 3rd 2020
12. Photograph of Knighton Junction brick: England page 13, Letter K "Old Bricks - history ay your feet"

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