As related in the Preface, Samuel II was born in Over to Samuel I and Martha. He was their first child, born on 26 March 1837 1 and baptised at St Chad�s parish church on 16 April of that year. He can be seen in the 1841 census at Over, when he was four years old, and in the 1851 census at Crewe, after his father had settled in Hightown. Nothing more is known of his early life, although Lest We Forget says:
Hugh Bourne and Wm Clowes [the founders of Primitive Methodism] were still living and active, and . . . . one of these pronounced a benediction upon him, predicting great things because his name was �Samuel�. The blessing and benediction of these leaders soon bore fruit, for he commenced to preach when he was only 16 years of age.
However, the same booklet goes on to say:
He served on Local Boards, Boards of Guardians, and in other official capacities; even in years so remote from the present, his personality was such that he invariably headed the poll.
This sounds more like Samuel I; even those close to him seem to have confused Samuel II with his father! In his early life, it is doubtful if Samuel II ever stayed long enough in the same place to become deeply involved in civic affairs. When he settled in Manchester, the days of Local Boards were over.
In the 1861 census, there was no sign of Samuel II at his father�s house (West View), nor could any trace of him be found in Crewe. At this stage, it proved necessary to obtain a copy of the birth certificate of his eldest son William Henry (whose date of birth was believed to be 4 August 1862), in order to discover where the family were living when he was born. The certificate would also reveal the name of Samuel�s wife 2.
The surprising revelation of his birth certificate was that William Henry was born in Weaverham (not Audlem, as his grandchildren had always believed) on 5 (not 4) August 1862, his father�s occupation being given as a �coal agent�. His mother�s maiden name was Sarah Hale. A check on the census for Weaverham in 1861 revealed Samuel (�brick and tile manufacturer�) and Sarah living in Church Street with a young girl as a servant, but there was another surprise in store: they had two daughters before William Henry was born. So much for the belief that William Henry and his younger brother John were the only children of Samuel II! As research continued, several more previously unknown offspring were discovered.
The two daughters were Evaline (then aged 2) and Martha Eunice (6 months). Evaline�s birthplace was given as Crewe, and Martha Eunice�s as Weaverham, so it may be assumed that Samuel and Sarah started their married life in Crewe and then moved to Weaverham. Evaline�s birth certificate shows that she was born on 19 May 1858 at �East View�, her father describing himself as a �builder�. At the time of writing, this house still exists as 84 Mill Street. Martha Eunice was born on 10 December 1860; Samuel then described himself as a �coal merchant�.
The 1861 census shows that Sarah Hale�s birthplace was Ridley, Cheshire. The census of 1841 for Ridley reveals the Hale family consisting of Philip, a farmer, his wife Elizabeth, daughter Mary (aged 8), son Philip (aged 6), and daughters Martha (aged 4), Sarah (aged 2) and Elizabeth (aged 2 months). No record was found of the family at Ridley in later censuses (although a boy called Ralph Hale, presumed to be a younger son, was born there in 1846), and it is not known where the Hales went to live.
After the St Catherine�s Index had revealed the place of registration and the approximate date of the wedding of Samuel and Sarah, their marriage certificate was obtained. This showed that they were married by licence on 1 January 1857 at Bunbury parish church. Sarah�s sister Martha, brother Philip and father were witnesses. Samuel gave his occupation – and that of his father – as �timber merchant�. He was probably working for his father.
The 1871 census shows that Samuel had taken his family into West View, previously occupied by his father, who had retired to Audlem. Samuel and Sarah�s children now included not only Evaline (aged 13), Martha Eunice (aged 11) and William Henry (aged 8), but also Elizabeth Hale (aged 6), Lily Dagmar (aged 5) and Minnie Gertrude (aged 3). They had two servants. Elizabeth and her two younger sisters were all born in Crewe, so Samuel must have returned from Weaverham before the birth of Elizabeth, ie before 1865. Indeed, Morris�s Directory and Gazetteer of Cheshire for 1864 has the entry:
Heath, Samuel Junior. Coal and Lime Merchant, Thomas Street [Crewe]. h. [home] Laburnum Cottage.
Elizabeth was born on 2 June 1864, her parents� address being given as Thomas Street, Monks Coppenhall. The 1874 Ordnance Survey street map of Crewe shows Laburnum Cottage near the south end of Thomas Street. The house probably also acted as Samuel II�s business address 3. Minnie Gertrude was born on 1 December 1867. According to her birth certificate, the family home was then �Spring Grove Villa�, Monks Coppenhall. Lily Dagmar�s birth certificate gives the family address merely as �Monks Coppenhall�. She was born on 6 September 1865, so the family could have been at either of the previous addresses.
Samuel I left West View around 1870, and no doubt Samuel II immediately followed his father into that prestigious residence, since one may assume that there was no interim occupant.
Ollerhead tells us that
Permission for a new chapel on additional land, donated by Samuel Heath Junior, was sought from the [Primitive Methodist] Circuit in 1874. One year later it was built . . . . known as the Boilermaker�s Chapel, due to the predominance of that trade amongst the congregation.
Thus even before the death of his father, it seems that Samuel II had come into possession of some land in Crewe. It may have been passed to him along with the title to West View. He was clearly following in his father�s footsteps by giving away land for church-building purposes, and he was obviously still living in Crewe in 1874.
Lest We Forget says that Samuel II moved to Manchester in 1876, where he became associated with two Congregational churches in Longsight and Levenshulme. He appears to have moved from one to the other – and back again – when he disagreed with their policies. The Longsight church (Ivy) closed in 1933, but some of its records are retained in the Local Studies Unit of Manchester Central Library. These records show Samuel II�s address as Morton Street.
The discovery of this address enabled the family to be found in the 1881 census at 258 Upper Morton Street, Longsight. Samuel was described as a �coal agent�, and besides Sarah there were William Henry (aged 18, but no mention of his occupation), Lily Dagmar (aged 15), Minnie Gertrude (aged 13), Samuel Martin (aged 6), John (aged 4) and Thomas (aged 2). The eldest daughters must have left home, for there was no sign of Evaline, Elizabeth and Martha Eunice. As will become evident later, Evaline was married in 1878, and the 1881 census for Crewe shows that Elizabeth was staying with her aunt and uncle (Thomas Henry) at West View, into which they appear to have moved when Samuel II and his family left. Only Martha Eunice�s whereabouts remain a mystery, for she did not get married until 1883.
The 1881 census revealed even more of the family�s peregrinations. Samuel Martin was born in Cheswardine (Salop) on 15 August 1875, so the family must have spent a short time in Shropshire before moving to Manchester. Samuel Martin�s birth certificate cites his father as a �farmer�. The 1881 census shows a Ralph Hale (born in Ridley, and most likely Sarah�s younger brother), a �farmer of 6 acres� in Hinstock, barely 3 miles from Cheswardine. Possibly Samuel threw in his lot with his brother-in-law 4 for a while. But he did not move directly from Cheswardine into Longsight, for John was born on 31 December 1876 at Lorne Grove, Stretford, the birth being registered by his eldest sister Evaline, who was �present at the birth�. (The 1911 census gives John's birthplace as Urmston, which is next door to Stretford.) The last child, Thomas, was born on 16 November 1878 at 26 St John�s Avenue, Rusholme, indicating that the family settled there for a short time.
The directories of the period list Samuel as a �coal agent� at various Manchester addresses (some of which may also have been his residences): 4 Albert Road (1881); 4 Pemberton Place, Albert Road (1884), 66 Albert Road (1892) and 8 Pine Grove (previously called �The Grove�), Victoria Park (1893 – 1910). At times he is described as �Samuel Heath & Co�. The �& Co� was probably William Henry, who appears to have manned the office in the coal yard at Longsight railway station, and who later became the agent for Haydock Collieries.
The 1911 census shows Samuel living with his son John and his family at 24 Longford Place, Victoria Park.
The records of Ivy Congregational church reveal that it was �by schisms rent asunder� as the hymn-writer puts it, mainly about the choice of successive ministers. In 1867 the minister had been coerced by one faction into tendering his resignation. The minister�s supporters had arranged a �tea-party� at which he had been presented with a testimonial – but only certain members of the congregation had been invited to attend. This �caused a rumpus� and led to the resignation of the deacons responsible.
Although it was several years after the notorious �tea-party� that Samuel II came on the scene, there was obviously a lingering problem over the choice of minister. The records do not make it clear, but Samuel must have been appointed as a deacon soon after his arrival 5. On 4 February 1885, he handed in his resignation, along with two other deacons. A few months later, a new minister was appointed – but he stayed only three years.
In October 1892, four more deacons resigned, saying they �could not work with Mr Westerby� (the next minister), and Samuel and four other members were invited to �act until new deacons could be appointed�. A month later, at a special church meeting, six deacons were formally elected, but Samuel was not one of them. Ten days later, at a �large meeting, 76 present�, three more deacons were elected. This led to the resignation of all the others. In December 1893 Mr Westerby handed in his resignation, giving six months notice. It is most likely, after this latest �rumpus�, that Samuel took himself off to the Congregational Church in Levenshulme 6, but when he disagreed with a faction of that congregation who wished to form a new church, he returned to Ivy.
In June 1904, Ivy found itself in such severe financial difficulties that it was unable to pay the minister his stipend, and he offered to accept a reduction. A brief note records that the following November �Mr W H Heath resigned and another Deacon�. This is the only mention of William Henry being a church member, and the inference is that he was also a deacon. In March 1905 the minister resigned, and the church appears to have had no minister for several years. During this period (up to 1910), the �work (was) carried on by Local Preachers under the Superintendence of Mr S Heath�.
A propos his leadership of the local preachers, Lest We Forget has this to say:
Soon after his coming to Manchester, he joined the Manchester, Salford and District Congregational Lay Preachers� Society, then in its infancy. He remained a member for over forty years, and for many years was its President. . . . The Lay Preachers� Society will feel his death still more so, for he presided at all its meetings, and excepting during the period when he visited America 7, it may be confidently stated . . . . that he did not miss more than half a dozen meetings.
There is photographic evidence of a visit by Samuel to the USA.
Another local family appear in the minutes of Ivy Congregational church. They are of interest because of their connections with the Heath family. They were the Ainsworths, who were living at Ada Villas, Albert Grove, in 1881. William (aged 45) was a publisher�s manager; his wife Mary was 39, and at that time they had seven children: Ada Louisa (aged 14), Lilian (aged 12), Eliza A (aged 11), Minnie (aged 8), John W (aged 6), Elizabeth W (aged 4) and Edwin P (aged 2). Mary�s mother Eliza Wetton (aged 65) lived with them.
The Ivy church records show on 2 July 1884: �Mrs Ainsworth and Daughter Ada received� (into membership). Ada was to become the first wife of William Henry Heath; a few years after her premature death, he married her younger sister Lilian. In the intervening years, Mrs Mary Ainsworth acted as foster-mother for Samuel Percy, the young son of William Henry and Ada. The lives of William Henry and Samuel Percy are featured in Chapters 7 and 8.
The family started a jewellery and watch-making business in West Gorton, not far from their home. The 1901 census shows that the family had moved to 537 Stockport Road, Levenshulme with Edwin as a �Watch-maker and Shop-keeper� [sic] and his 16-year-old brother Alfred as a �Watch-maker�s Assistant�. It is believed that the business was started to find suitable employment for Edwin, who was physically handicapped.
In 1911, the census shows William and Mary in Meade Close, Longsight, living with their unmarried daughter Eliza Annie and their granddaughter Gladys Howarth (Minnie's daughter). Minnie died in 1903, and her husband James Howarth died in 1908, leaving Gladys and her two older brothers as orphans. It seems likely that Gladys was brought up by her grandparents and her maiden aunt.
Around 1912, William Henry and Mary moved to a house called �Aberglaslyn� (now 33 Longhurst Lane) in Mellor. Mary died there on 9 February 1918, and William Henry died there on 23 October the same year 8.
In June 1910 a new minister for the Ivy Church was found at last, and �Mr S Heath resigned all official positions�. In September 1911, �Mr S Heath transferred to Bugsworth�. Samuel obviously had strong connections with Bugsworth (in Derbyshire – now spelled �Buxworth�) ever since his arrival in Manchester, for according to The High Peak Reporter of 1nbsp;May 1920:
Mr Samuel Heath . . . is well-known in the High Peak, and for about forty years has been the preacher at the anniversary services of the Brierley Green Congregational Church, Bugsworth.
On the occasion of the church�s 70th anniversary, The Buxton Advertiser for 21 April 1977 had this to say:
Work on the extension [to the Brierley Green Church] began in 1906 due largely to the efforts of Mr Samuel Heath, who did much to raise the £41 necessary to buy the land.
A foundation stone for the extension was laid by Samuel on 15 September 1906. Although 1977 was the 70th anniversary of the Church, the original school building had been there since 1827. On the occasion of the centenary of the school, a booklet 9 was published privately. This tells us that, at the church stone-laying:
Rev W D Edmondson also presented a trowel to Mr Samuel Heath, of Manchester, whose untiring and faithful service will long be remembered . . . The event closed with a public meeting in the evening, which was presided over by Mr Samuel Heath.
Describing the planting of trees in the church grounds to celebrate the coronation of King George V, the booklet continues:
The ceremony was of a very patriotic nature, Mr Samuel Heath once more taking part in the proceedings.
In a short history entitled The Old-Fashioned Sing (1989) Robert Hadfield recalls:
Following this ceremony and service [at the opening of the extension in 1907] it was agreed by the fellowship that an �Old-Fashioned Sing� be organised to raise further funds towards the cost of the new church. Two people had a great influence in the organising of this first Old-Fashioned Sing. They were Mr Samuel Heath, a coal merchant of Didsbury [sic] and Mr William Cottrill, a native of Buxworth. They had a large circle of friends, and brought a good number of musicians to help with the orchestra.
In 1920, the specially-printed hymn book used for this annual event carried a photograph of Samuel on the front cover.
On 2 March, 1912, a flowering Japanese chestnut tree was planted in the church grounds to commemorate the 250th anniversary of nonconformity in Derbyshire. It was also (quoting the centenary booklet)
an expression of gratitude for the spared life of Mr Samuel Heath, chairman of the trustees, who for the long period of 30 years gave his services freely and was the principal mainstay of the church.
The lady who planted the tree was presented with a miniature silver spade, suitably inscribed. The spade �was given by Mr Alfred Slater Ainsworth of Longsight� – the third son of William and Mary Ainsworth. His baptism is noted in the Ivy church records; he was born on 3 October 1884. The records also show the baptisms of his own children in 1911, 1913, 1916, 1917 and 1920; on each occasion his occupation is quoted as a �jeweller�. No doubt Samuel persuaded his son�s brother-in-law to make the spade.
The centenary leaflet continues:
Mr Heath obtained the idea of tree planting when on a visit to his friend, the Rev J Crichton Jack, in Jersey, a similar event having taken place at St John�s Church there on the 29th April 1909.
This is the only known reference to Samuel having visited Jersey. In those days, a holiday in the Channel Islands would be a rare event.
Let us now return to Manchester in the last decade of the nineteenth century, where the 1891 census strikes a sad note. What remained of Samuel�s family were living at 2 Pemberton Place 10: Samuel (widower, coal agent, aged 55), William Henry (single, coal agent, aged 28), Minnie G (single, machinist, aged 23), John (schoolboy, aged 14) and Emily Frost (servant, aged 42). Sarah, Lily Dagmar, Samuel Martin and Thomas were all dead. Three years later, William and Minnie were both married; Samuel and John were the only ones left at home.
Samuel Martin died of scarlet fever on 5 May 1883 at 4 Pemberton Place. Thomas died on 27 May, and Lily Dagmar on 6 June, both from the same disease. Their deaths echoed those of Jane and Catharine in the previous generation.
Sarah died of phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) the following February (1884) in Liverpool. According to her death certificate, she had been suffering from this wasting illness for the previous 18 months. Samuel was present at her death, but what they were doing in Liverpool when she was so weak is a mystery, for their home was in Pemberton Place. She was buried in Ardwick cemetery, Manchester.
Evaline, the eldest daughter, married one John Hudson (a �coach-builder�) from Whitchurch, Salop, on 13 March 1878 in her local Anglican church (St Stephen�s). According to the 1871 census, John had originally been apprenticed to a �druggist and grocer� in Whitchurch, but later he appears to have joined his father in the coach-building business. Evaline�s address on the marriage certificate is 12 Downton Street (Longsight) 11. Martha Eunice was a witness – no doubt she was Evaline�s bridesmaid.
The census of 1881 shows that Evaline was then living in Whitchurch with her husband and widowed father-in-law (also called John) and two servants. She then had two daughters: Marion Eva Ann (b 1879) and Mary Eunice (b 1880). Two more daughters followed: Marguerite (b 1881) and Gladys (b 1883). All the children were born in Whitchurch, where the family lived at Smallbrook Villas.
The 1891 census shows that John Hudson with his wife and four daughters (each one listed as �Scholar�) were then living in Huntingdon, where John was listed as �Superintendent, Carriage Manufactory�. John died on 29 March, 1894, from phthysis (TB) aged 39; his death certificate gives his address simply as �Godmanchester� and his occupation as �Coach Builder (Master)�.
Evaline was married again on 30 April 1901 to George Thompson, described as a �traveller�, at St James�s parish church, Birch in Rusholme, Manchester. She was then a widow of 42, and George a widower aged 62. George�s residence at the time of the marriage was given as Birch Villa Hotel, Rusholme, although he had a house at 29 Longford Place, at the junction with The Grove. Evaline gave �The Grove� as her address. After her first husband�s death, it seems that Evaline (with her daughters) returned to live with her father 12 in Pine Grove, and thus came to meet George. Her eldest daughter Marion was a witness to the marriage, as was Samuel.
George died on 24 July 1905 at Beaumaris, Anglesey, possibly whilst he was on holiday. His address is given in his will as 21 Portland Street, Manchester (his business address). According to the local directories, he and Evaline lived at 29 Longford Place, Evaline remaining there after George�s death until 1910. The 1911 census reveals her acting as a companion to an elderly couple in Moor Lane, Kersal (Salford). Other members of the household were the couple�s young grandson, his nurse and a general servant. Evaline died in Liverpool on 4 April 1924. The death was reported by her daughter Mary, who was then married to George Frederick Gill and living in North Wales.
The 1911 census shows Marion Eva Ann acting as a housekeeper to one Harold Jones (�Textile machinery buyer�) at 110 Palatine Road, West Dudsbury. Harold declares himself to be married for 21 years, but there is no mention of his wife, although their son Sidney (aged 15) is at home. He is described as �Office boy to a coal nerchant�. Could this merchant be Samuel Heath?
Living at the same address as a boarder is Marion�s sister, Marguerite, described as a �Post Office clerk�. One other member of the household is Kathleen, an adopted daughter aged 12 months. As will be revealed later, she is the daughter of Gladys Hudson.
Marion was partnered by Harold Jones, and a son Alick Gordon Jones was born to them on 26 June 1915. She and Harold were then living at 80 Oxford Road, Manchester – not far from Longford Place. No record of Marion�s marriage to Harold has been found, but on her death certificate she is called �Marion Jones, Wife of Harold Jones�. She died on 13 July 1929, at their home in Wilmslow (Cheshire).
Mary Eunice can be seen in the 1911 census, working as a nurse to the 3-year old daughter of Harry and Edith Woollacott at 2 Chorlton Street, Cornbrook, Manchester. Mary married George Frederick Gill (a �shipping clerk�) on 1 September 1917 at St Anne�s Church, Sale. She gave her address as �Fern Lea�, Victoria Road, Sale. George lived in Daisy Bank Road, from which Longford Place branches. Mary died on 1 May 1956 in a nursing home in Whitford, Flintshire. Her death was reported by her nephew Alick Jones, so it may be assumed that she had no children. The death certificate describes her as the widow of George Frederick Gill, a poultry farmer.
Marguerite married Harry Ousey (an �engineer�s cashier�) in 1913 at the Register Office in Chorlton, Harold Jones being one of the witnesses. Harry lived at 1 Palm Street, Longsight, and Marguerite gave her address as 110 Palatine Road, West Didsbury, where she had been living with her sister Marion and Harold Jones. Marguerite�s and Harry�s first child (Frank) was born on 24 March 1914 at 20 Beech Road, Sale. Their next son, John, was born on 18 November 1916, at �Fern Lea�, Victoria Road, Sale. The third Ousey son, Harry, was born on 11 January 1919 at �Greenwood�, Wythenshawe Road, Sale. The fourth son, Ralph, was born on 12 December 1920, again at �Greenwood�.
Finally, we come to Gladys. The 1911 census shows her employed as a domestic servant in the household of the manager of the calico printworks in Strines, Derbyshire. It was later said of her that she was �a wrecker of homes, who broke her mother�s heart�. Suffice it to say that she remained unmarried, but had three daughters – Kathleen (Kitty, b 1910), Sheila Holdsworth (b 1917) and Joan (b 1918) – by three different men. All three children were fostered or adopted. Gladys�s story is told in the personal website of her grandson, David Smith. Gladys died on 25 October 1925 in Wimborne, Dorset, where she was a housekeeper/companion.
Martha Eunice, Samuel�s second daughter, married a wine and spirits merchant by the name of Allan Fielden Dutton of Kersal, Salford, at Kersal parish church on 21 March 1883, by licence. On the marriage certificate, Allan�s father (Thomas) is described as a �merchant�. Martha�s address is given simply as �Longsight�, and none of her family signed the register as witnesses.
According to the local directories, Allan had previously worked for his father (again listed as a �merchant�), and then with his brother (William G Dutton & Brother) in the wine trade. After being a �traveller� (1890), a �clerk� (1891) and an �agent� (1892), he appears in 1893 as a �leather merchant (George Angus & Co Ltd 13)�. His home address is given in 1886 as Ivy Cottage (now 7 Moor End Road), Mellor, near Marple. In 1893 and 1894 he is again listed as living in Mellor, although his children do not appear in the admissions registers for Mellor School.
Between the two brief spells in Mellor, the Duttons appear to have lived in Higher Crumpsall (1890) and Broughton (Salford) (1891-2). The 1891 census reveals them living at 264 Lower Broughton Road: Allan F Dutton (�agent, leather trade�), Martha E, his wife, and three children: Thomas (aged 6, born in Eccles), Ivy (aged 5, born in Mellor) and Norah Bindley (aged 1 month, born in Broughton). They had a young girl as a domestic servant. In 1895 they were in Duncan Street, Slade Lane, Levenshulme; in 1899 in Hamilton Road, Longsight, and in 1904 in Weston Grove, Heaton Chapel, where they remained until World War I, at least. Allan changed his job in 1908, becoming the manager of another Manchester leather goods firm trading as Joseph Clayton & Sons. The 1911 census shows the family at Weston Grove. Thomas is single, an accountant and an employer; Ivy and Norah are also unmarried, living at home and apparently unemployed. In his will, made in 1925, Allan gave his address as Stanley Road, Cheadle Hulme.
Thomas was born on 25 December 1883 at Stanley Mount, Eccles, which appears to have been the home of Allan and Martha Eunice immediately after their marriage. Ivy was born on 18 September 1885, and was baptised at St Thomas�s parish church, Mellor. On her birth certificate and in the baptismal register, Allan gave his occupation as an �ale and porter merchant�.
Norah married Reginald George Angus, then a Captain in the Royal Field Artillery, at West Didsbury parish church on 16 December 1915. Norah gave her address as 36 Cresswell Grove, London N10, and her father�s occupation as �leather merchant�. She was then 24. Reginald was 35, and gave his address as Newcastle-on-Tyne, and his father�s name as William Matthew Angus, also a leather merchant. This suggests that William Matthew was closely related to George Angus, Allan Dutton�s erstwhile employer, who had a factory in Newcastle. Allan was one of the witnesses to Norah�s marriage.
Allan Dutton was obviously �well in� with his father-in-law, for he accompanied him to the funeral 14 of Thomas Henry Heath in 1900. �Mr & Mrs A F Dutton� sent a present to Samuel Percy (William Henry�s son) when he married in 1920; they also sent a floral tribute on the occasion of Samuel�s funeral in 1922, Martha calling herself �Pattie� 15.
With the exception of Thomas, the family appears to have moved en bloc to Wharfedale, Yorkshire. Martha Eunice and Allan both lived to a good age. Allan (then a �leather merchant�s warehouseman�) died in 1940 aged 86, and Martha Eunice in 1951 aged 90. Their son-in-law Reginald Angus reported Martha Eunice�s death; she had been living with Norah and Reginald at 24 Rufford Drive, Yeadon.
Thomas married Lilian E A Beswick in Chorlton in 1914. They had two children: Patricia A (b 1915) and Marguerite (b 1917). Patricia's birth was registered in Bucklow, Cheshire and Marguerite's in Stockport. No record of Thomas has been found after 1914; it is posible that he perished in the First World War; indeed, the Stockport War Memorial bears the name �T Dutton�.
Lilian married for a second time in 1945. Her husband was Ernest B Clark, and the marriage was regstered at Spilsby, Lincolnshire. Lilian's death was registered at Shrewsbury in 1985, when she was 98 years of age.
Patricia married Sydney C Perrin in 1940 in Shrewsbury. They had two daughters: Lesley A (b 1944) and Suzanne M (b 1948). Marguerite married Maurice B Hopwoodin 1941, and subsequently married Dennis H Johnson in 1954 in Berkhampstead, Herts. Marguerite died in Dorset in 1998.
Ivy (who never married) died at �Crow Trees�, Leeds Road, Rawdon, on 12 February 1963, aged 77. Within a month of her death, Reginald (described as a �physiotherapist – retired�) died on 8 March 1963.
After losing her sister and her husband, Norah left Yeadon and went to live with her niece, Marguerite Johnson, in Radlett, Hertfordshire. She died in a nursing home in London Colney (St Albans) on 25 April 1969. She appears to have died childless.
Elizabeth, the third daughter of Samuel and Sarah, married Edward Armitt at the Wesleyan Methodist church on Oxford Road, Manchester, on 8 March 1890. Elizabeth gave her age as 24; Edward was 28. Edward�s occupation is cited as �salesman – cotton�, and that of his (deceased) father as �butler�. Edward was married from his father�s house at 44 Lister Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, and Elizabeth gave her address as 8 Bates Street, Longsight 16.
The census of 1881 shows the Armitt family at 44 Lister Street: George aged 62 (�butler�) born in Knutsford, Mary his wife aged 59 born in Llantysilio, Elizabeth Holland their daughter (24), their two sons Edward (19) and Herbert (14), and Elizabeth�s daughter Jane H Holland (2). All the children were born in Manchester.
Elizabeth and Edward had two sons: Reginald Edward and Samuel Wallace. Reginald was born on 4 May 1891 at 1 Broom Avenue, Levenshulme, which is probably where his parents first lived after their marriage. Reginald�s birth certificate has his father as a �salesman – cotton goods�. Wallace (as it is believed he was known) was born on 8 March 1893 at 3 Alfred Street, which ran parallel to Lister Street. His birth certificate calls his father a �Manchester warehouseman (cotton goods)�. Like the Duttons, the Armitts sent a wedding present 17 to their nephew Samuel Percy, and a wreath to Samuel�s funeral.
Elizabeth died in Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, on 14 November 1936, her age being given as 70 18. Her husband notified the registrar of her death, declaring himself to be a �retired auctioneer�s clerk�. Elizabeth�s funeral took place at Stockport Crematorium on 18 November 1936. Their address was then 21 Meadows Road 19, Heaton Chapel, Stockport, where the electoral registers show they had lived for over 30 years. Wallace is listed as living with his parents until 1926, but Reginald moved to Kilmarnock in 1921, where he became the advertising manager for the Saxone Shoe Company. After 40 years service with the company, he retired in 1861, and lived to the great age of 90. He died peacefully in the Ayrshire Central Hospital, Irvine, on 10 November 1981. His wife Phyllis Rose (née Hayes) died two years later, aged 84. They had a son, David, Edward Nicholas, who died of bronchial pneumonia on 19 April 1939, aged 6 months. There were no other children.
Wallace also moved to Scotland (probably to be near his father after Elizabeth�s death). He never married, and his death certificate shows that he died of tuberculosis on 19 April 1940 in Glasgow. His brother Reginald reported the death.
Reginald also reported the death of his father Edward, who died at Reginald�s home (27 Portland Street, Kilmarnock) from a coronary thrombosis on 5 June 1940.
Minnie, the youngest daughter of Samuel and Sarah, was married at the Ivy Independent Church on 31 October 1894. Her husband was Ernest James Parker, a �commercial traveller�, giving his address as 54 St John�s Road, Longsight, only a short distance from Minnie�s home at 8 The Grove. The census returns of 1881 and 1891 reveal 54 St John�s Road as a boarding house – presumably where Ernest stayed on the night before the wedding. Ernest�s father was Edward Parker, a �salesman�. The minister who officiated at the wedding was of the Primitive Methodist persuasion; Mr Westerby had left in the previous June, and Ivy was probably going through an interregnum with no minister of its own.
A daughter, Sadie Evaline 20 was born to Minnie and Ernest on 14 November 1895. They were then living at 2 Yew Tree Avenue 21, Levenshulme, and Ernest gave his occupation as �cashier�. A second daughter, Phyllis Ida, was born on 21 May 1897, when the family had moved to 20 Ducie Grove, Levenshulme, which was a little further from the city centre.
In 1898, The family emigrated to America, and the 1900 census (taken on 8 June) for West Town, Cook County, Illinois, shows the family living in rented accommodation at 24th Place. Moreover, the census shows that Minnie (listed surprisingly simply as �Gertrude�) had borne three children, of whom only two (Sadie and Phyllis) had survived. Ernest gave his age as 32, but Minnie (who was also 32), gave her age as 23! Ernest�s occupation was stated as �bill clerk�.
By 1910, the census shows that the family had moved to rented accommodation at 537 North Grove Avenue, Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois. Ernest (aged 43) is listed as a book-keeper in a bank. This time, Minnie gave her age as 40, although she was actually 42. She is shown as the mother of five children, of whom four were still living. The eldest, Saddie E (sic), was 14, followed by Phyllis I, aged 12. The birthplace of both these girls is given as England. Two sons are shown on the 1910 census return: Samuel H (Heath), aged 5, and Ernest junior, aged 1. Both boys were born in Illinois.
When the 1920 census was taken on 13 January, the family had moved again to 201 Edison Avenue, York Township, DuPage County, Illinois. Now they owned their own home, albeit with a mortgage. Ernest (�auditor, bank�) admitted to being 50 (he was 52), but Minnie still claimed to be only 40! 22 Sadie (21) was a stenographer; Samuel (14) and Ernest junior (9) were at school. The 1920 census has Phyllis listed as a �boarder� with a family in San Francisco, where her �proffession� [sic] is given as �beauty parlor�.
Further research has discovered the marriage of Phyllis to Francis Harold Cederlof (who she met at a dance) in Los Angeles on 12 June 1928. Phullis's surname appears as "Martin" on the marriage certificate, so she must have been married (and divorced or widowed) previously. Francis was born on 3 November 1893 in Genesco, Henry County, Illinois, of Swedish descent. The couple had no children. The US census for 1930 shows them in Los Angeles, where Francis was an �Auditor, Oil Wells�. Francis died in Sun City, Riverside County, California, on 12 August 1970, having been an auditor for Union Oil for 43 years. Phyllis died in Sun City on 5 July 1997, soon after her 100th birthday. Her obituary23 says:
Mrs Cederlof was born in Manchester, England. She lived in Sun City 30 years. She worked as a bookkeeper with Mueller Brothers in Los Angeles. She sang in the choir at Faith Lutheran Church until she was 95 years old.
Sadie married one Bill Danler at an unknown date, and she had a son �Bob� by him. The 1930 census for Cook County, Illinois, shows their son Robert to be 4 years old, so one may assume they married around 1925. Bill appears to have spent some time in a Chicago sanatorium when he contracted TB. It is believed that Bob was in the US Navy. Sadie and Bill were divorced, and she married again on 2 February 1952, this time to Gilbert (Gil) Harold Baerresen, who worked for the County Assessor in Orange County, California, as a deputy field assessor from 1958 until 1965. There were no children of this marriage. Gil died in 1985 aged 87, but Sadie lived until 21 September 1990, when she was 94. Her death certficate refers to her as �Sadith Elizabeth�; �Sadith� is also the name used in the 1930 census. In her later years, she had been in a convalescent home at 22529 Maple Avenue, Torrance, California. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered on the Pacific Ocean off San Pedro. The certificate gives her occupation as �sales clerk, retail, various�.
Ernest senior died on 12 March 1926. His obituary (in a Manchester newspaper of unknown title) says, inter alia:
The deceased gentleman was born in Cheetham Hill some 58 years ago. His father and mother were tradespeople in Heath Street. . . . His brothers are equally well known. Like Ernest, they were keenly interested in all forms of sport . . .
He was obviously a keen gardener and musician, for a tribute from an old friend reads:
Flowers and music! How he loved their joys. Not one, but many instruments knew the tender touch of his hands – piano – organ – cello – violin.
Sadie seems to have inherited her father�s musical talents, for there is a photograph of her seated at her organ at her home in San Clemente, California.
Minnie died at Sadie�s home in Los Angeles on 9 December 1946, just after her 79th birthday. Her death certificate indicates that she had been in Los Angeles for only four months, so she probably went there to be nursed by Sadie in the last stages of a terminal illness (cancer of the liver).
The death certificate of Ernest junior (full name Ernest James, like his father) reveals that he died in San Diego, California, on 4 June 1986, having been born in Illinois on 26 January 1909. The 1930 census shows him in Manistique township, Michigan, Illinois, with his wife Ruth, then aged 16. After serving during World War II in the Tank Corps, he was employed as a �Recruiter� for the US Army.
Ernest junior had an illegitimate daughter while he was stationed in Germany after World War 2. She was Peggy M Joan, born in Mannheim to Magdalena Koch in 1946. Peggy married Rolf Henker, and documents in her possession show that her natural father was born in Oak Park, Chicago (thus confirming that he was the son of Minnie and Ernest), and that he served as a sergeant in the US Army. Armed with this information, Peggy was able to obtain American citizenship on 5 July 2002.
Peggy�s information mentions her father�s wife�s name as Helen Bitner Parker, so it seems that he was married twice, Ruth being his first wife and Helen his second. Ernest had a legitimate daughter called Phyllis, but she was accidentally killed in 1941 by a gunshot when she was 10 years old while the family was living in Michigan. Phyllis was therefore born in 1931 when Ruth was only 17.
The information on Ernest�s death certificate was supplied by Ruth D Norris Parker, his ex-wife, who nursed him in his last illness, so she must have retained some affection for the father of her dead child. Ruth died in San Diego in August 1994, aged 80.
Samuel Heath Parker married Kathryne Ellerington Saunders, who lived until 2 November 2001. They had a daughter, Audree Joanne (born 4 February 1928) and a son Charles Lew (born 14 August 1932). Samuel and Kathryne divorced in 1946, and Samuel later married Lillius Stephenson. Lillius died when their son Thomas Heath Parker was born on 6 October 1954. Samuel died on 29 June 1995.
Audree married Les Faust, by whom she had three children: Scott (b 23 December 1947), Nancy (b 13 April 1950) and Terry (b 16 August 1951). After a divorce from Les, Audree married Kenneth Samuelson.
Charles married Theresa Ann Murtaugh on 26 May 1956. Charles spent his working life as an insurance adjuster, retiring in May 1994. At the time of writing, he and Theresa lived in Oswego, Illinois. Theresa died in December 2010. They had no children.
Thomas Heath Parker and his wife Julie, living in Chicago, adopted a son (b 7 September 1998), who they named Ryan Heath Parker. So the old family name of �Heath� was continued!
John married Florence Maria Cooke �after Banns� at St John�s church, Longsight, on 22 August 1901. He was then 24 and his bride 23. John described himself simply as an �agent�, giving his address as 8 Pine Grove, and calling his father a �colliery agent�. Samuel was a witness to this wedding. Florence Maria lived at 8 Vernon Terrace, which was quite close to Longsight railway station; her father was described as a �station master�. Since William Henry was employed in the coal depot at Longsight station, it may have been through him that his brother John met Florence.
Like his father and brother, John appears in the local trades directories. In 1903 he is listed as a �manufacturer�s agent�, giving his address as 8 Pine Grove, the same as Samuel�s. John and his wife seem to have lived there for several years with John�s widowed father. In 1905, still at the same address, John had become a �manufacturer�s agent (Horrocks & Heath)� 24.
John and Florence had two daughters: Florence Mary (b 15 January 1903) and Marjorie (b 30 May 1905). Both were born at 8 Pine Grove. On his first child�s birth certificate (1903), he is a �manufacturer�s agent (drapery)�, and on his second child�s certificate (1905) he is a �mixed manufacturer�s agent�. Although John does not figure in the directory for 1908, he re-appears in 1909 and 1910, still at 8 Pine Grove, but in 1911 and 1912 he is nearby at 24 Longford Place.
After 1912, John is no longer listed, and about this time he and his family must have moved to Castleton, for Lest We Forget records:
[Samuel] returned to the Ivy Church, Longsight, and was a member there again until removing to Castleton, Derbyshire, to reside with his youngest married son, John.
The presumed date of John�s move to Castleton would thus coincide with Samuel�s transfer of membership from Ivy to Bugsworth (1911). What John�s occupation was whilst he lived in Castleton is not known. No trace of his daughters could be found in the village school, but it later transpired that they had a governess. In 1920, according to Lest We Forget, the family �sailed for New Zealand� 25.
John had only a short life in New Zealand, for he died in Bowen Street Hospital, Wellington, on 26 October 1924 at the age of 47. He was buried in Ashhurst cemetery; his death certificate lists him as a �storekeeper�. The one souvenir of his being in New Zealand (remembered by the author) was a jade fob with the greeting �Kia Ora� on the watch chain of John�s brother William Henry.
After her husband�s death, Florence Maria and her daughters returned to England more or less penniless to settle in London. Here Florence Mary married a doctor, Charles Moynihan who, as a major in the Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in Singapore during World War II. They had no children. Florence Mary died in London on 29 November 1974.
Marjorie won a scholarship to the Slade School of Art, and became a well-known society portrait artist. Her picture of Hannen Swaffer, the writer and drama critic, is in the National Portrait Gallery. Several other pictures, including one of her sister, one of herself, and one of the two of them together, were shown at the Royal Academy exhibitions between 1931 and 1950. She was obviously a woman of forthright opinions, for a short article in the Manchester Evening Chronicle for 30 June 1936, said:
Miss Marjorie Heath, the young Manchester-born artist, who is holding her first exhibition in London, would find some sharp critics if she were to return to her native city. Not criticisms of her portraits of Mr Ramsey MacDonald, Mr John Drinkwater and so on, but of something she has been saying about New Zealand, whither she and her parents went some years ago.�New Zealanders,� she has been saying, �have wonderful scenery, but are, as a people, totally devoid of all kinds of artistic appreciation.�
In 1931, she secretly married Hugh Davson, who became an eminent physiologist. Marjorie was in regular contact with her cousin Reginald Armitt, and her daughter Caroline has memories of staying in Kilmarnock, Scotland, with Reginald and his wife Phyllis. Marjorie died on 3 February 1994, and her husband on 2 July 1996. Hugh�s obituary in The Daily Telegraph for 10 July 1996 says, inter alia:
Professor Hugh Davson, the physiologist, demonstrated for the first time that animal cells were enclosed in an �invisible� membrane. He was born on 25 November 1909, one of eight children of a prosperous Highgate general practitioner.
In all, Davson published some 200 papers and wrote more than 20 books. He was an elegant lecturer with the rare ability to present complex facts in an understandable fashion.
Davson was a strong believer in the equality of women. In this he was fiercely supported by his wife, Marjorie Heath, the portrait painter, whom he married in 1931. They had one daughter [Caroline, b 12 September 1932].
Caroline – a doctor of medicine – married twice. Her first husband was Ronald Kirby, who she married on 20 June 1955. They had three daughters: Miranda (b 5 June 1958), Amelia (b 8 March 1961) and Harriet (b 2 November 1965). Caroline�s second husband was David W Roche.
Florence Maria died on 1 March 1956. Her ashes were returned to New Zealand and buried in her husband�s grave, which also bears an inscription in memory of Florence Mary.
Samuel must have �commuted� between Castleton and Bugsworth every weekend, if not at other times in the week. Bugsworth then had its own railway station, and Castleton was served by the station at Hope, some two miles distant. Samuel obviously had good friends in the Cottrills, and no doubt he lodged with Mrs Cottrill (the mother of William) when necessary. Lest We Forget says:
The friendly meetings with the Preachers, and conversation in the cottage at Hollinwood, Bugsworth, will not readily be forgotten, especially by those privileged to stay overnight.
A glimpse of Samuel in old age can be caught at the wedding of his grandson, Samuel Percy, in the United Methodist Church at Mellor. The High Peak Reporter for 1 May 1920 says:
Mr Samuel Heath, who is over 80 years of age, and who sat with the minister, said: �I have been requested by the members of the families of the bride and bridegroom to say a few words . . . . I think that the people who have assembled here have come out of respect to the bride and bridegroom, and to wish them much happiness, and not to see how the bride and bridesmaids are dressed, though I know that ladies do sometimes go to marriages for that purpose.� (Laughter).
He then gave the happy couple a more serious homily.
Among the wedding presents listed in the newspaper was one from Samuel himself: �silver salver (family heirloom)�. This was surely the one presented to Samuel I which was passed to Samuel II under his father�s will, and later from Samuel Percy to William Geoffrey.
After John�s emigration, Samuel is believed to have gone to live with his elder son William Henry in Rainhill, Liverpool, although he continued to visit Bugsworth, presumably staying for �long weekends�. He was often to be seen in the village, where he was known as the �Bishop of Brierley Green� 26. Indeed, when he signed the register after Samuel Percy�s wedding, he called himself a �Congregational Minister�; on the death certificate of his son John he was called a �Clergyman�.
Samuel died at Rainhill on 15 March 1922. Lest We Forget tells us:
The last service he conducted was at Brierley Green, Bugsworth. On the following Monday morning he went about visiting in his normal way.
This last phrase indicates that he was a regular visitor in the homes of his many friends. The obituary continues:
On Wednesday he was stricken with weakness, and under medical advice was removed to the house of his eldest son, William Henry, at Rainhill . . . . as gently as a tired child he fell asleep.
It seems most unlikely that he would have travelled all the way from Bugsworth to Rainhill – a journey involving crossing Manchester from one railway terminus to another – if he was �stricken with weakness�. A more plausible theory is that he suffered a stroke whilst he was at Rainhill after his regular visit to Bugsworth, as indicated by this account in The High Peak Reporter for 18 March 1922:
Mr Heath�s death came suddenly from a seizure [at Rainhill], for he was at Bugsworth so late as Tuesday of last week, and had presided at the annual meeting of the trustees of Brierley Green Chapel on the previous Saturday. He was then in his usual health.
Samuel was buried at Chinley Independent Chapel, a mile or two from Bugsworth. It was his expressed wish that his body should finally be laid to rest in that little graveyard and amongst the Derbyshire hills that he loved so much 27.
Samuel�s will begins: �This is the last will and testament of me Samuel Heath of Springfield Castleton in the county of Derby Coal Merchant . . . . �, thus providing the only evidence of the address where he lived with his son John. (The name �Springfield� makes one wonder if it was in memory of the house of Samuel I in Audlem.) Samuel left �my gold watch and gold chain� to Samuel Percy; �the oil painting of my late father� to William Henry, and �my oil paintings of myself and my late wife, my silver salver 28, two silver trowels and two silver table spoons� to John. In a codicil, he altered this bequest so that William Henry would receive the trowel from the Bugsworth stone-laying. However, it seems that William Henry received the other trowel, commemorating the laying of a foundation stone at Whaley Bridge, since this is now in the possession of Florence May Parker, William Henry�s grand-daughter. The two �table spoons�, engraved with the initial �H�, are better described as ladles; one was also given to Florence May, and the other has been passed on to Sally Anne Hall, William Henry�s great-grand-daughter. Since John was in New Zealand when his father died, he may have allowed William Henry to keep his share of the heirlooms.
The rest of his estate was divided equally amongst his children, but Evaline�s share was to be placed in trust, and a sum of £2 per lunar month paid to her in her lifetime. Using words which were an echo of those in his father�s will, he added �so that while she shall be under coverture [although in 1912, when the will was written, Evaline was already a widow for the second time] the same shall be for her sole and separate use�. If any of Samuel�s other children died before their father, their share was to go to their own children, but Evaline�s inheritance was not to be passed on in this way. In a codicil dated 1916, the £2 per month was reduced to £1! One wonders what Evaline did to upset her father so much. Did he hold her responsible for the unconventional behaviour of her daughters? Or did he feel that she had already been well provided for by her two husbands? 29
The little church at Brierley Green has a memorial tablet flanking the pulpit.
On the opposite side of the pulpit is a similar tablet in memory of Samuel�s friend Mrs Hannah Cotterill 30, who died in 1923.
The Rev Dr William Simpson, who when he was interviewed had reached the great age of 98, and who remembered Samuel�s days at Brierley Green, said 31:
His preaching was not theological, but drawn from life, full of anecdotes which followed on, one from the other.
He added:
He warmed the very ground on which he walked.
Samuel�s obituary in Lest We Forget sums up his character:
He had friends in all the churches, for his mind and temperament as he grew older became more catholic and charitable. The Sunday School he valued highly, and he was always happy in its service. Little children loved him, as he loved them. Fathers and mothers were happy in his friendship, and the road of life seemed easier to travel in his company.
So passed away another great man, the worthy son of a worthy father. His life had been tinged with tragedy: when he was only seven years old, his two youngest sisters died of scarlet fever, and a third sister was accidentally killed. When he was seventeen, another baby sister died, and his mother died before he was eighteen. One of his brothers committed suicide. Three of his own children died of scarlet fever. His wife died after 27 years of marriage, and he lived as a widower for another 38 years.
His two remaining brothers emigrated to America, and his remaining sister went to Australia. As the twentieth century dawned, he was the only one of Samuel I�s nine children remaining in the land of his birth. Although he was the first-born of his parents, he outlived all his siblings.
He was a restless soul, never staying in any one house for very long, but finally finding his haven in a tiny Derbyshire village.
Chapter 1: Early Days (1321 – 1790)
Chapter 2: Samuel Heath I (1816 – 1882)
Chapter 3: Martin Heath (1810 – 1887)
Chapter 5: The Heath Family in America
Chapter 6: Mary Alice & Thomas Henry Heath
Chapter 7: William Henry Heath (1862 – 1943)
Chapter 8: Samuel Percy Heath (1893 – 1977)
Chapter 9: William Geoffrey Heath (b 1924)
1 Samuel II�s birth date is taken from Lest We Forget and his gravestone. He was born a few months before the civil registration of births was introduced. Back
2 Lest We Forget does not mention Samuel II�s wife, nor does it make reference to any of Samuel�s children other than William Henry and John. Beddow was also unaware of the name of Samuel�s wife. Back
3 The 1874 town map shows railway sidings, complete with weighing machine, alongside Thomas Street, approached through Wharf Place. Later maps label this as a �Goods & Coal Wharf�. According to the LNWR map of 1868 (before the wharf was built), the land was owned by Samuel I, whose will mentions �my coal wharf�. Another wharf was built on the other side of the main line to Liverpool. This was readily accessible from Thomas Street via Liverpool Bridge. Either wharf could have been used by Samuel II, so the cottage was conveniently placed for his business. Back
4 The 1881 census lists the Hale family in Hinstock, which included two daughters: Maria E and Lily D (born 1867). At Maria�s wedding in 1893, several of her siblings signed the register as witnesses, and Lily gave her full name as Lily Dagmar Goodwin Hale. Since one of Samuel�s daughters was also called Lily Dagmar (born 1865), the bond between the two families appears even stronger. Possibly both girls were named after a Hale ancestress. Back
5 Lest We Forget tells us that Samuel II joined Ivy Congregational Church in 1877, �serving that Church as Treasurer and Deacon, also Superintendent of the Sunday School�. No mention of his holding the first- and last-named of these offices appears in the church records (which are admittedly somewhat sketchy at times), but there is a note that on 1 June 1881, �Mr Samuel Heath joined the Church�. Back
6 �Some years later, he transferred his membership to the Levenshulme Church . . . . � (Lest We Forget). Back
7 The Daily Commonwealth Reporter of Fond du Lac for 16 April 1904 says �Mr Heath of Manchester has visited this city on several occasions.� No doubt the dates on the souvenir spoons (1902 and 1908) correspond to the dates of two such visits. Indeed, the Ellis Island website shows that Samuel travelled from Liverpool to New York on the White Star liner Arabic, arriving on 25 May 1908. Back
8 The dates are derived from a newspaper cutting in the possession of Mrs Beryl Goddard, a grand-daughter of William Henry Ainsworth. Back
9 Bugsworth Independent Chapel, Derbyshire. Centenary Souvenir, 1827 – 1927. Back
10 As will be seen later, it seems likely that the family left 4 Pemberton Place after the deaths of Sarah and three children, later returning to No 2, the house next door. Back
11 It is conceivable that this was the family home for a short period after they lived in Stretford (where John was born in December 1876) and before the move to St John�s Avenue (where Thomas was born in November 1878). Back
12 The census of 1901 shows Samuel Heath (aged 65 – Colliery Agent) living at 8 Pine Grove with his son John (aged 24 – Manufacturer�s Agent), Evaline Hudson (daughter aged 43 – Housekeeper), Marion (grand-daughter aged 22 – Typist), Marguerite (grand-daughter aged 19 – Post Office Clerk) and Gladys (grand-daughter aged 17 – Domestic Servant). The census was taken at the end of March; a month later Evaline married George Thompson. She then moved (presumably with her daughters) round the corner to Longford Place. Back
13 George Angus & Co Ltd are listed in Slater�s Directory as �manufacturers of leather and India rubber goods for mechanical purposes, contractors to the Admiralty and home and foreign governments, 26 Blackfriars Street, Manchester; St John�s Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Dale St, Liverpool; and James St, Cardiff; London Office, 9 Lime St, EC.� It was obviously a large company. Back
14 The Crewe & Nantwich Chronicle, 7 July 1900. Back
15 The High Peak Reporter, 25 March 1922. This is the only evidence that Martha was known as �Pattie� to her father. It seems likely that it was this pet name which was translated into �Patricia� by Beddow. Back
16 It is possible that this was the family home for a short while between the move from 4 Pemberton Place (where the family was living at the time of Sarah�s death in February 1884) to 2 Pemberton Place (census, April 1891). Back
17 The High Peak Reporter, 1 May 1920. The present was from �Mr, Mrs, and Messrs R and W Armitt�, showing that Samuel Wallace was known by his second name. Back
18 Elizabeth was really 72. Her marriage certificate shows that she subtracted almost two years from her age; her husband probably never knew her actual date of birth! Back
19 Weston Grove (the home of the Duttons) was a cul-de-sac running off Meadows Road. Elizabeth and �Pattie�, the sisters remembered by William Powell Heath, thus lived close to each other in the early years of the twentieth century. Back
20 It is interesting to note the unusual spelling of this girl�s second name, which is the same as that of her mother�s eldest sister Evaline. Back
21 : Slater�s Directory for 1896 gives the address as 4 Yew Tree Avenue. Ernest is listed as a �clerk�. Back
22 Minnie not only clipped several years off her age for every census, but she seems to have kept her true age a secret from her family. Her death certificate gives her date of birth as 1 December 1870, but an affidavit appended to the certificate changes this to 1 December 1883! Her birth certificate gives the date as 1 December 1867, which tallies with the age of 26 on her marriage certificate, dated 31 October 1894. Back
23 The Press-Enterprise, California, 11 July 1997. Back
24 According to his grand-daughter Dr Caroline Roche (who has supplied much of the information about this branch of the family), John was a partner in this cotton manufacturing business, but he was concerned about the poor working conditions of the mill hands. Unable to afford higher wages, he left the company. Back
25 According to his grand-daughter Caroline, John was advised to go to New Zealand on the advice of someone called �Tom�. Wilfred I K Powell, a grandson of Mary Alice, has indicated that �Tom� was Mary Alice�s eldest son Samuel Thomas Powell, who visited his relations in Castleton during World War I whilst serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. It was doubtless during this visit (of which there is photographic evidence) that he spoke to John about the advantages of life in New Zealand, where Tom then lived. Back
26 The High Peak Reporter, 18 March 1922. Back
27 The High Peak Reporter, 25 March 1922. Back
28 If this is the salver presented to Samuel I, his son must have changed his mind regarding its disposal, since (as we have just seen) he gave it to his grandson Samuel Percy as a wedding present in 1920. Back
29 The will of Evaline�s second husband shows that he left her a plot of land adjoining his house in Matlock, Derbyshire (the house itself was left to his eldest daughter from his first marriage), together with all his personal estate. Samuel may have taken this fact into account when drawing up his own will. Back
30 This name is spelt �Cottrill� in most sources of information, but is spelt �Cotterill� on the memorial tablet. Back
31 Conversation with the author, 21 February 1996. Back
