Friday, August 31, 2012

THE POOLE FAMILY OF DAWLEY

 

As I mentioned before I think, its not really the names and dates and how far back I can get that really is what interests me so much in my study of my family tree, but its the stories behind the names. Sometimes of course there is no family story thats been passed down, or no newspaper account of an event to help tell the story so its up to the records to tell the story for me. And with the POOLE family of Dawley the story is told quite nicely by the census records.

As Im a visual person I found it easier to tell this story in a layout ( be it all mainly journalling)

I borrowed the photo from the very interesting Dawley Heritage website .

After looking at all the census records I do believe that this photo was taken from very near where Richard Glazebrook POOLE lived and worked.

The address is described differently  in each census but its clear it was near the Elephant and Castle Hotel, in High Street and perhaps on the corner of Burton Street, which if my study of google maps and old photos is correct – is exactly where this photo is taken from.

 

 

The journalling on this layout reads as follows :

The Dawley and Ironbridge areas were the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Its rich seams of coal clay and ironstone meant that almost overnight its agriculturally based economy was transformed by vast additions of industrial settlements. From a small market down developed a thriving and busy town centre around Dawley Green which became the new town commercial centre. Dawley was home to the second largest Iron works in Great Britain and one of the first roller mills in the world. Half of all the furnaces and forges operating in East Shropshire were located within the Dawley Parish.
By the late 19th century though, with the iron industry in decline, the population had dropped markedly and there was considerable poverty. It remained an area notable for its areas of of abandoned industrial waste until the mid 20th century when it was redesignated and conglomerated and with other towns to become Telford.
It appears the POOLE Family have a long history in the Dawley area . Thomas POOLE(born 1730)my 6x great grandfather and his son John( born 1759) lived in nearby Brosely . John and wife Mary PARKER’s son Thomas Parker POOLE was at first a china painter in Madeley. He married Isabella GLAZEBROOK and by the time of the 1841 census aged 56 he was a hairdresser. This started a long family career in hairdressing, although by 1851 he was also the Dawley Town Crier, and at least 2 of his sons carried on with the family hairdressing business. Thomas died in 1853 and his son Richard Glazebrook POOLE ( my 3x great grandfather continued hairdressing from High Street Dawley.
I imagine one of the buildings in this photo may even have been his residence and business place. In 1901 at age 78 Richard is still listed as a hairdresser in the High street area.
By 1881 his son Ralph had set up his own Barber and Hairdressing business In Bridge Street quite near his fathers business, but by 1891 he appears to have left the business and is listed as a labourer (This would have been about the time of a severe decline in the economy in the Dawley area - perhaps not enough business for both in the area - but by 1901 Ralph is again back hairdressing but he has moved from Dawley to the larger more populated city of Derby where the history of the POOLE family continues.

1 comment:

  1. This is a very good comment of the Poole Family
    My Gran was a Poole Its turth Taht my Uncle Wsa a hair dresser and he died cutting a mans hair at work
    at a very young age about 51 in North Wales
    Vic

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