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HELLO, Paul, and thank you for offering this service.
My husband
and I have a beautiful sampler and the name stitched is "Emma
Burgess, Nantwich 1822.".
We are trying to find out a bit of
history about Emma. Any information you could provide would
be most useful.
Marilyn Taylor McDowell FEBRUARY 2013
However, Paul replied:
I
have to admit defeat on this one as I just don’t have enough
information to go on.
I
did find two items in parish registers for an Emma Burgess, one
baptised on 17 March, 1812, and daughter of James and Alice, resident in Stapeley, under Wybunbury parish.
The other was baptised
on
18 November 1811, and was the daughter of Alice and John, a farmer.
One entry was also in the 1841 census of an Emma, aged 25, living
with another family and could possibly be a servant.
Sorry I can’t help any more on this one.
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THIS sampler (left) was embroidered by Emma Burgess
in 1822. The verse reads: "Next unto God, dear Parents, I address
Myself to you, in humble thankfulness,
For all the care, and pains
on me bestow
The means of learning, unto me allow'd.
Go on, I pray,
and let me still pursue
That golden rule the vulgar never knew."
Nantwich Museum has two similar samplers
in its collection, stitched by the Tunstall sisters (it is presumed)
of Nantwich. They were Maria (1824) and Caroline (1825).
www:nantwichmuseum.org.uk
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Grandfather may have lied about his age
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MY name is
Jan and I now live in Perth, Australia, but originally come
from the Nantwich / Shavington area. Your name has come up in
my search as a person who might be able to help me trace my
grandad's war history.
We know
that my grandad, Richard Thomas Flisher (Flischer) Bussell,
born 1901, served in the First World War and believe he may
have used the name Thomas Bussell to enlist.
It is also
thought that he lied about his age and possibly made himself
out to be two years older in order to be accepted. We don't
know where or with whom he served.
We have also been told that he was injured and sent to The
Cliffe (formerly Cliffe Nursing Home) in Wybunbury, which
operated as a convalescent home (from 1915?) and this is how
he met my grandmother. He was not sent back to the front and
made his home is Crewe.
What I am
hoping to do is trace him and his war
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records back from his
time at The Cliffe but I can't
seem to pinpoint just where
the records for this hospital would be kept.
I am
really hoping that you may have a better idea than me and am
keeping everything crossed!
Thank you so much for any help you can give me.
Jan Warhurst, Perth, Australia
FEBRUARY 2013
Paul replies:
THIS grandfather
of yours is not an easy man to trace. I can’t find any military
World War 1 records for him, such as enlistment, but only about
45% of the non-officer records survived a fire during World War
2.
Changing his name and age causes a problem as well. I found only
one World War 1 medal record card for a T. Bussell, Private
36728, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, but I cannot be certain it
is him.
As
for the nursing home, it closed down in the 1960s after being a
maternity home. Most of the building still exists and is now a
listed building that |
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you can
see here with a photo:
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-57115-the-cliffe-wybunbury-
If the records from that time went anywhere
it would have been to the Records Office in Chester, but nothing
is coming up in the catalogue listing. You can ask them to do a
search for you, for a fee.
See
this page:
http://archives.cheshire.gov.uk/
I
did find the 1911 Census record, with him aged 10, living with
his mother, aged 30, who was single at that time and she stated
that she had three children and one had died. So at the time,
Richard had a brother or sister.
The home is a two-room at 11 Granvilla Street, St Mary,
Hampshire, and she has signed as Lucy Kate Fisher Bussell, but
on the name line the Fisher is
crossed out.
A
birth record shows the father as Richard Thomas Fisher.
I hope this is
of some help to you. |
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Helping to trace an
ancestor . . . |
The gravestone of John Cheyney, a
Nantwich carpenter, and his wife, Catharine, at St Mary's Church,
Acton, Nantwich.
Below: gravestones, including that of the Cheyneys,
make up a path to a door at the church.
Pictures: Paul Simpson |
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THE following e-mail correspondence started with a request for help
from Australia. It shows the work involved when Paul sets out to
find details about a person or family. The person seeking help also
plays her part. The correspondence has been edited, but Paul sent
the full details he discovered to the lady.
HI,
Paul.
I am
hoping you may be able to help with a family history problem. I have
been in touch with Andrew Lamberton about the Cheney family from
Nantwich who, he has found out for me, were quite wealthy timber
merchants.
James Cheney, the owner of the yard, had many children, most of
whom passed away as infants or young children. I know he had a son,
John, who is listed in his Nantwich 1801 will and inherits most of
his possessions.
I
found a birth and a death for a John Cheney in Nantwich in 1766/67,
but there must be another birth for another John in the early 1770s,
I just can’t seem to find it!! I also know this John had a son and
daughters (also listed in his will, although not by name), so if I can
find and name these children, I will be able to totally confirm the
connection to James, the timber merchant.
Any
help would be greatly appreciated.
Kristy Bailes, New South Wales,
Australia
NOVEMBER 2012
Paul replies:
The following is
from the Cheshire Parish Registers On-line Project.
Four entries in
the Nantwich Parish Registers for baptisms: 2/1/1765, Elizabeth,
father James Cheney, a carpenter; 10/3/1766, John, father James
Cheney, a carpenter; 9/7/1769, Peter, father James Cheney, a joiner;
30/5/1780, Kitty, father James Cheney, a joiner.
Marriages:
Elizabeth married Thomas Cartwright, 29/11/1756; James Cheney
married Mary Bebbington, 17/10/1764; Eliza Cheney married Josiah
Beddeley, 15/4/1813; Mary Cheney married
John Speed,
1/11/1857. This one has James Cheney, |
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a farmer,
deceased, as the father of the bride.
Burials, only two: John Cheney, 7/2/1769, an infant. Ralph
Cheney,19/4/1779, father James, mother Mary.
If you do a
search without entering a parish you will find Johannes baptised on
10/1/1733 in Macclesfield.
Kristy
replies:
"I, too, have trawled the Cheshire
database but, unfortunately, the parishes I seem to need are not
on-line yet. The John I need to find was a son of James but the
original John (born 1766) died in 1767 in Nantwich, so I am guessing
that they had another son in the late 1760s
or early 1770s.
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"I have been able to find some
burial records that
match James and Mary in Acton, so maybe the
birth records might be there. They seem to have had land around Henhull as well, so maybe they shuffled between the parishes?
Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated."
Back to Paul, who e-mailed:
"I
have the following memorial inscriptions for you from St.
Mary’s Church, Acton, which should be of some help."
He
lists the graves by plot numbers and the inscriptions, and adds: “I
will go up and see if I can take a picture for you.”
While he is doing that, Kristy has been hard at work, too. She
e-mailed Paul to say:
"Thanks so much for that, Paul. I have since found two more Cheneys
buried at Acton of the same family. They are James, died 1801, and
his wife, Mary, died 1816. I think he will be the son of the John
you have listed.
"Any photos would be totally fantastic. Thank you."
After a visit by Paul to St Mary’s Parish Church in Acton he sends
Kristy some photographs (including the two in this item). These are “a full shot of the body stone”,
“a shot of the inscription”, the location of the grave in the
churchyard, and the location of a second stone that is overgrown.
Paul comments:
"Unless
you really want it cleared off for a photo it would be best to leave
it covered and the grass and moss will give it some protection. If
ever you come over let me know and I will put a marker in so you can
find it."
Kristy replies:
"Thanks so much Paul for doing that for me. The photos are
fantastic.
Hopefully one day I might be able to get over there to see them for
myself!" |
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Did my ancestor live on the river bridge?
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This map of the
"Welch Bridge" shows the bridge bottom centre, with the salt works
just north of it on the town-side bank of the river.
Map:
Board of Health (1851) on
display in Nantwich Museum |
THIS ITEM INCLUDES AN INPUT FROM
A LOCAL AUTHOR
I WONDERED if you could shed any light on my great, great,
great grandfather Matthew Boyer who, the census states in
1841, lived on "Welch Row bridge". Were there any
buildings at all on the bridge at the time or do you suppose
it was a building at one side?
Do
you know anywhere that I can get hold of any photos of the
bridge and Welsh Row itself, dating back to the 1800s? I am
interested in Welch / Welsh Row as a number of my relatives
lived there, around numbers 19, 20 and 22 in the 1800s.
I
also have another great great great grandfather called James
Gibson who was an innkeeper on High Street. Am I right in
thinking the George and Dragon was the only inn in the mid
1800s on High Street?
STEPHEN BRADLEY
JULY 2012
Paul
replies:
I
have done a bit of searching and found that the current bridge
was built in 1803, replacing an older stone one that had shops
on it. The current one is just a bridge. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantwich_Bridge for the
details.
Looking at the Census, I would say your
great great great grandfather
was in the first building off the bridge and as the Census moves
on it enters First Wood Street so this would point to the left
side when approaching the bridge.
The building that was there is sadly no more but it shows on the
image of the 1851 board of health map (above).
Now for some good news . . . I had a look at the book "Lost
Houses in Nantwich" (by
Andrew Lamberton and the late Robin
Gray)
and the following is the transcript on
page 22.
19 Welsh Row
The present retail premises of Mia Stanza at the above address
were at one time the site of Matthew Boyer’s bake house and an
advert in Johnson's Almanac in the early 1900s claims that it
has been in use for upwards of 200 years. John Boyer was the
occupier in 1792, followed by Richard Boyer in 1833 and Matthew
in 1850 until at least 1896. In 1912, Joseph has taken over
until at least 1939 after which time it appears that the family
left. It later became a garage before its present recent owners.
The
text is accompanied by a picture of the building with Matthew
and his wife and daughter outside (above)
On the map this would have been on the first
turning at the bottom of the map, left side.
Andrew is also better placed to tell you
about the inn keepers of Nantwich.
I agree with everything that
Paul says. The building
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would have been at the end
of Welsh Row next to the bridge on the north side.
Regarding James
Gibson, I need more information as I can find no trace
of him in the mid 1880s in Nantwich. There were just two
inns in High Street then, the Crown and the Union
Vaults. The George and Dragon was, of
course, at 5 Pillory Street.
Steve'replies:
My apologies. I omitted to
say James Gibson was an Innkeeper on High Street,
Budworth. He was also an engineer which I believe was to
do with boats, possibly on the Weaver.
I have been
looking on the Internet to buy your book, "Lost Houses
In Nantwich" but it seems no longer available anywhere.
Or, do you know of anywhere I could buy
one ? I am most interested in the photo of Matthew Boyer
and his wife (probably his second wife, Harriet, as I
think his first wife died prior to him becoming a baker)
outside the then bakery at 19 Welsh Row.
Matthew's son,
Robert, married James' daughter, Margaret, who had a
daughter, Jessie, my great grandmother.
Sorry you can't get hold of
a copy of "Lost Houses in Nantwich". However,
here is
the photo in question (above) |
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A later comment from
Andrew:
I have had an e-mail from local author Don
Tomkinson correcting the identity of the Boyer
family in the photograph.
I’ve no doubt he is correct as he has done a lot
of research on the family.
Don says that the members of the family pictured
are Joseph Boyer (1866-1947), his wife Harriet
Grace, nee Samways, born 1866, and their
daughter, Grace, born 1907. Grace later married
William Schofield.
The photograph was taken in 1911 or 1912.
Andrew
was also able to tell Steve that he had
a copy of "The Darnhall
Poaching Affray" by Don Tomkinson and thought that Steve
would be able to get a copy from the
History
Society of Cheshire who published it.
Mr Tomkinson
was also able to supply information about the Boyer
family.
An e-mail from Steve to Paul:
Many thanks for your time and effort regarding the information on
Matthew Boyer. It turns out he was quite a character, He was
a shoemaker and was involved with some other shoemakers in
Nantwich in the stealing of pheasants from the Darnhall
estate.
Riots took place in Nantwich, apparently (maybe due
to the harsh sentences) and soldiers from Chester were sent to
restore order. There is a
book about it which I am currently trying to obtain.
Here are some details from the Internet:
"Matthew and
24 others, including his
brother Joseph, took part
in the Darnhall 'Great Poaching Affray' on the 17th
of December, 1828. They were tried at Chester on the 9th of April, 1829, Matthew
being the first on trial, and six, including Matthew, were sentenced to be
transported to Botany Bay for a term of 14 years. The remainder were given short
terms of imprisonment.
"A lawyer, W. T. Jones of the Hough, found a technical flaw
in the indictment and they were all released after spending some months on
board the convict hulk 'Justicia' at Woolwich, London."
On his return he became a baker, hence the information you
have supplied. His father was Richard Boyer who died
in 1840 aged 68. I'm not sure who John Boyer was
as Richard's father was a Matthew. Maybe Richard's Uncle. I
will look into it.
Matthew Boyer (as per the Darnhall business) died in
1871 from 'paralysis'. He had a son, Matthew, who
must have taken over until at least 1896. They seem to like
the name Matthew! I'm not sure what relation Joseph was.
I will
look into it.
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