Sunday, March 26, 2017

Ancestors of Winster: The Family of Thomas Boam 1803-1874

2 pages in 2 days. Im on a roll!
This is the promised page on Thomas Boam my 4x Great Grandfather whose 2nd marriage meant his son's sister in law was also his step-mother!!- Yes I know that is complicated!!
Thanks to Dawn Scotting for her research on this branch of my family because I dont think I would ever worked it out myself!!
Not to mention its hard to distinguish when your 5x, 4x and 3x great grandfathers are all named Thomas Boam!!



Thomas Boam was the second son of  Thomas Boam and Martha Walker. He was baptised at St John the Baptist at Winster on 18th September 1803 and lived his whole life in Winster. He was a Lead Miner by trade.
Thomas married Ellen Fryer at St John the Baptist on 26th January 1826 and she would bear him 4 children, but died on the same day the youngest child James was born so I have surmised, that she died giving birth to James. She died on September 7th 1835, and was buried on September 10th. Baby James was baptised on September 8th and then there is no further record of him so perhaps he was buried with his mother. No burial record for him can be found. Thomas was left to brng up his 3 children, aged 8, 5 and 3 . In the 1841 census he is living in Woolleys Yard, and appears to be living next door to his brother in law Thomas Fryer, Ellen's older brother, so perhaps the Fryer family helped look after the children while Thomas was at work. Of course by the time of the 1851 census the children were much older. Living with Thomas are youngest son John aged 19 and daughter Matha, now married, and her husband Daniel and their 2 daughters Ellen and  Esther. Thomas was a grandfather by 1849 when he was only 46.  on 12 Feb 1849 son Thomas marries Mary Wilson, daughter of William Wilson at St John the Baptist in Winster.  Confusingly in the 1851 census, Mary is living with her parents in St Werburgh in Derby, and Thomas jr is living alone in a house near his father in Woolleys Yard.
The connection to the Wilson family though is to take on a much more powerful meaning, as the next mention of Thomas Boam senior is his 2nd marriage.   Thomas marries Sarah Wilson the youngest daughter of William Wilson - yes the same man who is the father in law of son Thomas.!  Sarah is 38 years younger than Thomas, in fact she his 9 years younger than Thomas’s youngest child! This makes Sarah Wilson both the sister in law of Thomas Jr, but also the Step mother!!
Thomas Sr. must have had plenty of life left in him because Sarah provided him with another 7 children between 1858 and 1874, including Sarah’s first child Mary who was baptised with the surname Wilson but who Thomas claimed was his daughter in each subsequent census.
The two Thomas Boam families lived next door to each other in Wooleys yard until the death of Thomas Sr. in 1874 Sadly Thomas would never live to see the birth of his youngest son Alfred Albert who was born in October 1874, 5 months after the death of his father.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

My Winster Ancestry - The Family of William Wilson 1801-?

I finished another page for my book about the branch of my family who came from Winster, Derbyshire.
This page is about William Wilson, born 1801 - my 4x G Grandfather.
He is a bit of a frustration because I lose him and his wife, after the 1851 census. I cant pinpoint either his nor Marys death.
I suspect they died before 1861 as their two youngest living children are both back living in Winster, despite the family having moved into Derby for the 1851 census.


William Wilson was my 4x Great Grandfather, and eldest son of Joseph Wilson and Grace Ashton. Born in Winster, he was baptised at St John the Baptist church there on 21st September 1801.
Once again little is known of his early life until 1822 when his name is mentioned in the High Peaks Quarterly Sessions. He is accused of “Riot and Assault” but the chargers are later dropped.
Perhaps this was enough for William to leave Winster, as he is next seen in Prestbury Cheshire where he marries Mary Short on the 28th November 1824. However by the next year with the birth of his eldest daughter Jane, he is back in Winster.
Several of the children are born in Oldham Lancashire . When his son William was born in 1836, the family residence is noted as Fenleach and William’s occupation is listed as a Joiner
In the 1841 census this move to Lancashire is confirmed by the birthplace of son William being listed as not from Derbyshire.  The family residence in 1841 is Market Street, which is now  Main Street, and he is the last house on the schedule before West Street which is likely now West Bank.
It is entirely possible the house on the facing page which is on the corner of Main Street  and West Bank is the one lived in by William Wilson and his family.
Like his father Joseph, William is a Carpenter. By 1851, he has moved the family away from Winster yet again and is living at 12 Macklin Street St Werbaugh and his occupation is noted as Master Carpenter.  His son George is following in his footsteps 
William and Mary had 9 children, but several of them died in infancy or childhood. Eldest daughter Jane died aged 14, Then in 1835, they lost 2 children, Joseph aged 3 and Ann aged just one . Youngest child Henry died in the same year he was born, 1848. 
I have been unable to find either William or Mary in the 1861 census and can not confirm a death date for either . Youngest living son Thomas has moved back to Winster in 1861 and is living with his elder sister Mary and her husband Thomas Boam in WInster, which might indicate both William and Mary have died before 1861.

Monday, March 6, 2017

The Family of Joseph Wilson 1776-1859

I finally got time to complete another page for my Ancestors of Winster book.
Its nice to now be recent enough to finally have some census records to work with. Luckily for me Joseph and Grace, my 5x Great grandparents, lived into their 80s and appear in both the 1841 and 1851 census returns.
We also finally have a Wilson living in Winster.


Joseph Wilson was probably born at the very beginning of 1776 as he was baptised on February 4th of that year at Longnor. He was born at Dunbrook where his parents David and Jane Wilson lived . Joseph was the third of 11 children born to the couple. At some point probably in early adulthood he moved to Winster, in Derbyshire, perhaps to be apprenticed as a carpenter /joiner which is a trade he was still practicing into his 60s.
He married Grace Ashton at St John the Baptist Church, Winster, Derbyshire, on 8 Jun 1801. Grace was the daughter of William Ashton and Margaret Hodgkinson. Grace had been born in Winster.
The first real record I have of Joseph, apart from his marriage and the births of his children is his record in the 1841 census.  Joseph was listed as age 65 and his occupation that of Joiner. He is living in Bankside which could possibly later known as East Bank , in fact at the end of the lane later known as East Bank there is a block of terraced houses is now known as “The Flat”  It is thought this part of the road used to be known as Wilson’s Row so it is likely Joseph and family lived here .
Still living with Joseph and Grace in 1841 is son George aged 36 and Edward aged 28. Both following the same trade as their father.  Additionally a 6 year old child named Grace is living with them. Grace was the daughter of their eldest daughter Jane, who had died not long after the birth of her daughter.
By 1851 Joseph has become a Wheelwright - perhaps the work was less labour intensive, By this time he is in his mid 70s. Unlike many from their generation, all but the last of Joseph and Grace’s children lived to adulthood and married and had children, infact by 1851 it appears they had at least 31 grandchildren including Grace who was still living with her grandparents at the time of the 1851 census.  Eldest son William had 9 children, most of whom lived elsewhere in Derbyshire. Jane unfortunately died after the birth of her only daughter Grace, as mentioned before. George had 6 children  who lived in Lancashire. Joseph stayed in Winster and had 9 children . Mary moved to Lancashire like her elder brother, and had 3 children before her death in 1874 but was helping raise the children of her husband John Taylor as well . Edward stayed in Winster and he and his wife also had 3 children . Joseph  lived a long life, making it to 83 when he died in 1859, and was buried at St John the Baptist churchyard in Winster on October 1st of that year . His wife Grace had died a year earlier It was noted in 1851 on the census that she was blind but it is unknown how long she had been this way.