The Oliver family was from the Midlands, principally living in Dudley, they and their wider family all worked in cottage industries such as shoemaking, tanning or smithing.
The following news article was written in the 1880's, recording what life was like for poorer people in industrial England.
“The midlands include the black country so called because of the grime & smoke from the factories, was the part of the country that became the most industrialised of Victorian England. Around Dudley there were cottage industries for tanning leather, nail & chain making & all forms of smithing such as fender, fire iron & anvils etc., and also boot & shoemaking. There was unimaginable deprivation & disease was rife, houses were squalid, overcrowded & insanitary with open drains in the street. The average life expectancy in 1850 was 16.7 years”
Edward Oliver [1] was born in 1760 and lived in Bayton Worcestershire, Bayton is a small rural village on the Worcestershire/Shropshire border about 14 miles from Dudley.
He was a shoemaker. He married on 16/05/1785, Mary Howells, born 1764 in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire
They had 11 children, all of whom were
baptised in Bayton.
1/ Sarah, born 17/09/1786
2/ Ann, born 03/05/1788 -
3/ William, born 26/06/1789
4/ Hannah, born 16/03/1791
5/ Elizabeth, born 24/02/1793
6/ Edward [2] 20/11/1795 – 07/02/1863.
7/ Mary, born 29/0/1797
8/ John, born 22/06/1800
9/ Susanna, born 12/2/1801
10/ Theodosia, born 20/01/1805
11/ James, born 15/11/1807
Edward Oliver [2] was also a shoemaker, he married Elizabeth Bowater on 27/08/1827 in Dudley.
census show that they lived in various houses in John Street in Dudley. They had 10 children who were all baptised in St Thomas' Church Dudley.
1/ Alfred, 27/07/1828 - 17/04/1831
2/ Rowland, 1829 - 1866 he was also a shoemaker, he married Mary Butcher in 1845 in Dudley.
3/ Charlotte, born 05/09/1830 she was a dressmaker, she died in 1904
4/ Edward, born 30/09/1832, he died in 1907
5/ William, born 01/02/1835 he was a shoemaker
6/ Harriett, born 29/10/ 1837, she died in 1840
7/ Jesse 28/03/1839 - 09/01/1874, he was a boot and shoemaker
8/ Henry, born 10/01/1841, he died age 3 in 1848
9/ Jane, born 04/02/1844
10/ Louisa, born 08/07/1849 and died in 1852
Jesse Oliver married Mary Ann Guest in Stourbridge Worcs. on 19/08/1838
They lived at 42 Plato Road in Dudley and had 4 children:
1/ Sarah, born 17/09/1786
2/ Ann, born 03/05/1788 -
3/ William, born 26/06/1789
4/ Hannah, born 16/03/1791
5/ Elizabeth, born 24/02/1793
6/ Edward [2] 20/11/1795 – 07/02/1863.
7/ Mary, born 29/0/1797
8/ John, born 22/06/1800
9/ Susanna, born 12/2/1801
10/ Theodosia, born 20/01/1805
11/ James, born 15/11/1807
Edward Oliver [2] was also a shoemaker, he married Elizabeth Bowater on 27/08/1827 in Dudley.
census show that they lived in various houses in John Street in Dudley. They had 10 children who were all baptised in St Thomas' Church Dudley.
1/ Alfred, 27/07/1828 - 17/04/1831
2/ Rowland, 1829 - 1866 he was also a shoemaker, he married Mary Butcher in 1845 in Dudley.
3/ Charlotte, born 05/09/1830 she was a dressmaker, she died in 1904
4/ Edward, born 30/09/1832, he died in 1907
5/ William, born 01/02/1835 he was a shoemaker
6/ Harriett, born 29/10/ 1837, she died in 1840
7/ Jesse 28/03/1839 - 09/01/1874, he was a boot and shoemaker
8/ Henry, born 10/01/1841, he died age 3 in 1848
9/ Jane, born 04/02/1844
10/ Louisa, born 08/07/1849 and died in 1852
Jesse Oliver married Mary Ann Guest in Stourbridge Worcs. on 19/08/1838
They lived at 42 Plato Road in Dudley and had 4 children:
1/ Sarah Ann, born 20/09/1859
2/ Henry, born 30/01/1864
3/ John born 13/07/1865, he married Mary Louisa Wigg in 1888
4/ Louisa, born 1870
The 1861 Census shows Jesse and Mary Ann with their first child Sarah Ann living with her parents John and Sarah Guest at 116 Red Hill Dudley.
Jesse died in 1874 aged 35, leaving an estate worth less than £100.
In the 1881 Census Mary Ann was a widow living as Housekeeper at the Red Lion Inn in the village of Little Houghton in Northamptonshire, along with her daughters Louisa & Sarah Ann.
In 1882 she married Edwin Timms, a railway worker in Lambeth, they had a daughter Nellie born in 1889.
In the 1891 Census she was again a widow, living in Leicester with her daughters Sarah Ann Oliver & Nellie Timms. She died in 1935.