WASS and WALKER Family History.
Including Horsman, Blakesley, Taylor, Whittingham, Burrows, O'neill and Armstrong surnames.
Photographs and stories added.
Blakesley Families
The Blakesley family, as far back as I have got, originate from Sutton Coldfield, they moved to Tipton in Staffordshire before my branch went to Rawmarsh in Rotherham where my Nanna was born. It is her that I will start with but first a little history before I move on to her.
At the time of Nanna's birth the world was at unrest and on the 28th July war was declared. The lead up to the war was due to Militarism and Nationalism. The Slavic people of Bosnia and Hertzagovia wanted to break from Austria Hungary to become part of Serbia. But the immediate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, by the Black Hand, the Serbian nationalist terror group. This led directly to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, Russia allied with Serbia and Germany then declared war on Russia. What followed was a war which spread rapidly, Germany declared war on France as France was an ally of Russia, they went on to invade Belgium which had remained neutral. Britain then declared war on Germany.
German propaganda reared it's head and Russia was made to believe that the Turks of the Ottoman Empire had attacked it which then brought the Ottomans into the war. The British landed at Gallipoli and also attacked Mesopotamia.
The first world war was trench warfare and it was a sad state of affairs, the enemy would maybe win a few yards of land only to be driven back again. The loss of life in this war was astronomical and a total waste of young men. In Britain Kitchener started a campaign for volunteers and thousands of young patriotic men signed up. When the tales of the horrors started to reach home with the young men on leave, the volunteers weren't so keen anymore, so in 1916 conscription was started and many more men, young and old had no choice but to go to war.
Every family in Britain probably lost one or more family members to this dreadful war. The conditions on the battlefields and in the trenches were horrific, knee deep in mud, bodies left to rot in no mans land, thousands of men were never found due to being blown to bits. All they have are memorials, some of these are enormous structures. Thiepval memorial can be seen from miles away, this was where the men who fought in the battle of the Somme are remembered.
At the beginning of the war on Christmas Eve in 1914, the Germans had delivered Christmas Trees, only small ones that would fit all around the top of the trenches. They put candles on them and lit them, the night was still and frosty. The British troops only yards away suddenly heard them singing, the song they sang was Stille Nacht, today we know this as Silent Night. It was so beautiful that the British soldiers stopped to listen. The Germans started to shout 'give us a song', so the British also started to sing. The Germans then popped their heads up out of the trenches, shouting please do not shoot, it is Christmas, we have gifts for you. This unbelievable scene must have been heart rending for anyone watching. Both sides emerged from their trenches and walked to the middle of no mans land where they shook hands and exchanged gifts of chocolate, beer and even buttons from their tunics. The following day they did the same and played games of football. The truce lasted into Boxing Day before both sides were told that they were at war and to stop this nonsense. So it was back to fighting again. The diaries from both sides explain that neither side wanted to fight each other. So sad. There was never another truce after this unofficial one. Men were sometimes allowed to go into no mans land to collect what dead they could find but that was all.
Germany had a General Strike in 1918 to try to bring and end to the devastation within their country, the aim being that if no ordnance could reach the front then they couldn't fight. Two days before the war ended there was a revolution and Kaiser Willhelm abdicated leaving the country in the hands of commonists. There were many more years of trouble to follow, including invasion by France in the Rhur Valley.
At the end of the war in 1918, it is estimated that there were 40 million casualties, of which 19 million were deaths. But this was not the end of death, as a bird flu virus named H1N1 and known worldwide as Spanish Flu, started up in 1918. It originated in America and spread rapidly into the trenches of France and soon became a global pandemic. The total loss of lives during the war was insignificant compared to the loss of life due to the flu. It is estimated that at least 50 million people lost their lives to this flu, and just as with the deaths in the war, many people will also have ancestors who died from the flu.
While men were abroad fighting, women had to take over the mens jobs, they had never been given the right to vote and from the 1890's through to 1919 the Sufferagette movement was active with women protesting for the right to vote. Once the war was over, the government really had little choice but to give in due to the efforts that women made and proved themselves during the war years.
Alice Elizabeth Blakesley, my nanna was born 29th May 1914 at 21 Nodder Street, Parkgate, Rawmarsh. Little is known of her childhood, she never really spoke about when she was a girl. I think there is some family history of mining accidents etc that made the family move to the Farnhill area. The men in the family were all miners at the time she was born, the Rotherham area also had Iron Works.
Alice was about 12 years old when her family moved from Parkgate. They lived at 56 Starkey Lane at first, then Harding Houses, then 19 Starkey Lane where Nanna lived until she was 97 before being taken into care.
After her marriage to Harry, they spent time living in Shorncliffe Barracks in Kent when during the second world war, the house was bombed and Alice was left with the clothes she stood up in and her dog. She moved back to Harding Houses to live with her parents and siblings until Harry returned after the war. Harry didn't see my dad until he was five.
She worked in Farnhill mill canteen when I was small before moving on to be a dinner lady at Kildwick School. She was made to retire from there when she reached the age of 60 but went on to work as a cleaner at the White Lion in Kildwick until she reached 80.
She loved bingo and would go many times a week to various clubs, she was a member of the Methodist Chapel and used to attend the coffee mornings regularly. She travelled all over on coach trips and once went to St Mary's in the Scilly Isles. She loved Morecambe and went every year with a friend until they fell out. She was also a member of the Womens British Legion. She cared for her parents as they grew old, then cared for her own husband when he became ill and died at the age of 58. She never re-married.
When she went into care, she was firsly in respite at the Craven nursing home at Snaygill, but then became a permanant resident at the council run home at Burnside in Skipton. She was happy there, she loved bingo and to sing and they took her to the tea dances in Sutton where she would dance.
She would make me laugh as her dementia progressed, she knew I was related but could never work out how. She refused to believe she was 97 and became quite indignant when she was told that she had been married and had two sons. One day I took my daughter and her partner to see her, she stood up and started rubbing her hands all over the young man's chest and said, oh aren't you a big boy!
She did get to see my grandson and was over the moon when she cuddled him.
I was with nanna when she passed away, otherwise she would have died alone in hospital. She only went in for a chest infection, but at the time the powers that be had brought in a package known as 'the Liverpool care pathway' whereby if a person refused food or drink they would be deemed to not want to live. So nanna was put on this, it wasn't that she refused food or drink, she had dementia and if nobody was there to feed her then she would leave it. so it was then that she died from thirst! Her death certificate says that she died from Kidney failure (well she would have) and late stage dementia. I had never realised that dementia was a cause of death! I was disgusted at the way she was treated, she had no mouth care and her tongue was dry and black along with her lips, half an hour before she passed away I was told to pack her things and take off her wedding ring, I did neither. I complained but got nowhere. Soon after the 'Liverpool care pathway' was ended.
Alice died just a few weeks before her 99th birthday, on 1st February 2013. She had lived through two world wars, spent 35 years as a widow, attended the funerals of all her siblings but most poignant of all was that she died just six weeks after the death of her son and my father Peter.
The photograph below is as far as I'm aware the only one of my nanna as a child. She is the girl bottom left of the photo. The baby is her sister Edith. The brothers are, back left Sam, back right Joe, front left Tom. The photo was taken in 1918 when nanna was aged four, it's a very fragile photo and I did my best to clean it up.
Photographs of Alice below, the group one is when she met Queen Mary at Shorncliffe Barracks in Kent where Harry was stationed. Alice is the one shaking hands with the Queen.
Joseph Blakesley was born in Tipton Staffordshire in 1880 son of Samuel and Sarah. He was brought up in a coal mining family and In 1881 he was a baby living with his parents at 3 Horseshoe Row Tipton. In 1891 the family were living in Parkgate, Rawmarsh, Rotherham and was still living at home in 1901 working as a coal miner, his mother was widowed and the males in the family were either working in the coal or iron mines. One of Josephs siblings Henry was a coal pony driver in the coal mines at 15 years of age.
Joseph married Alice Maria Taylor in Rotherham on 27th March 1904, they went on to have at least 12 children: Ernest (1904-1904), Phoebe (1904-1999), Joseph (1907-1961), Samuel (1909-1997), Thomas (1911-1973), Harold (1912-1913), Alice Elizabeth (1914-2013), Edward H (1916-1916), Edith (1917-2003), Harry (1921-2000), Ronald (1923-1978), Lawrence (1926-2005).
(I will be adding more information about the children further on)
In 1911 the family were living at 23 Victoria Road, Parkgate, Rotherham and Joseph was a coal miner.
The family moved to Farnhill in 1926 and were living at 56 Starkey Lane, the house where I grew up, they then moved to 8 Starkey Lane, then to 13 Harding Houses before finally settling at 19 Starkey Lane where Joseph died on 9th January 1961 from Cardiac failure and bronchitis. This house remained in the family until just recently.
Joseph and Alice
The parents of Joseph Blakesley were Samuel Blakesley and Sarah Woodall. Both were born in the reign of Queen Victoria.
Samuel was born in Tipton, Staffordshire about 1855. Sarah was born 21st November 1858 in Tipton.
In the 1861 census Samuel was at home with his parents and siblings in Watery Lane Tipton.
In 1871 Samuel was a coal miner and living at home with his father and step mother Ellen in Todds End, Tipton.
He married Sarah Woodall in 1875 in Dudley and they went on to have at least eight children: Thomas, Joseph, Emma, Samuel, Henry, Sarah, John, Edith.
In 1881 Samuel and his family were living in Horse Shoe Row in Tipton and his occupation was a coal miner,
By 1891 the family had moved to Nodder Street, Parkgate, Rawmarsh Rotherham. Samuel was still a coal miner.
Samuel died in 1897 at 7 Nodder Street, Parkgate, aged 42.
Sarah still lived at 7 Nodder Street in 1901 but by 1911 she had moved to Victoria Road, Parkgate. She was in the 1939 census and was living with her daughter Edith and husband, they had moved back to Tipton. She died in Staffordshire in 1943.
The parents of Samuel were Joseph Blakesley and Mary Christen. Joseph was born about 1819 in Tipton Staffordshire and was born at the end of the reign of King George III, or the mad King who suffered from porphyria a genetic disease which at times made him appear mad. His son who ascended to the throne in 1820 ruled as Prince Regent during these episodes of madness. Both Samuel and Mary would have witnessed the change of monarch four times throughout their lives: George III, George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria. There is a good chance that Samuel may have taken part in at least one war as during his lifetime the British Empire was in full flow and 56 wars took place while Samuel was alive, including the Crimean War, famous for Florence Nightingale. This war was as seems to be the case for many wars, down to religion. The British Empire, The Ottoman Empire, France and Sardinia declared war on Russia who supported the Eastern Orthodox Church whilst the coalistion were protecting the rights of passage for Christians to the Holy Land, the same as the Knights Templar did centuries before.
Joseph's occupation was a miner. Mary was born in Staffordshire in 1821. The couple were married in 1838 in Dudley, Joseph being aged 18. They had ten children: Maria, Adrian John, Phebe, Catherine, Adrian, Joseph, Mary Jane, Henry, Samuel, Mary.
In 1851 the family were living at Lower Green, Tipton
By 1861 the family were living in Watery Lane, Tipton, Joseph was still a miner. Also living with them was Mary's father William Christian, formerly a soap maker and born in Ireland.
Mary died in 1865 and in 1866 Joseph re-married to Ellen Kiveon or Laffy who was born in Ireland. I couldn't find any marriage records for this new marriage.
In 1871 Joseph was still a coal miner, they were living at Todds End in Tipton.
Joseph died in 1877 in Tipton. No census records were found for Ellen after Josephs death.
The parents of Joseph were Adrian John Blakesley and Maria Brinton. Adrian was born in Tipton Staffordshire about 1798. Maria was born 26th March 1796 in Tipton.The marriage took place on 22nd March 1819 in Tipton,
They had at least eight children: Joseph, Adrian, William, Maria Elizabeth, Samuel, John, Jane, Sarah Elizabeth emigrated to Pennsylvania USA and died there.
In 1851 the family lived in Quarry Lane, Tipton, Adrian was a miner. they had a lodger staying with them and also Sarah Brinton, Maria's mother who was widowed, aged 79.
In the 1861 census Adrian and Maria were living with their daughter Sarah and family, Sarah's husband William Sabin who was a publican and an iron stone miner, they were living at Todds End, Dudley Head, Staffordshire in the Sawyers Arms. Adrian was a coal miner aged 62.
Adrian died on 8th February 1864 Maria died on 4th September 1864.
The parents of Adrian were Joseph Blakesley and Elizabeth Hilton. Joseph was born on 26th January 1849 in Sutton Coldfield, Warwick, during the reign of George II. Elizabeth was born 28th January 1755 in Stafforshire. Both Joseph and Elizabeth lived during the Napoleonic wars with France, also called the hundred years war.
The couple married in Lichfield Staffordshire in 1782 and they had at least five children: Joseph, Anna, Jane, Samuel, Adrian John.
Joseph died 8th March 1826 in Sutton Coldfield, and Elizabeth died in 1824.
The parents of Joseph were Samuel Blakesley and Jane Edley. Samuel was born about 1713 in Sutton Coldfield, he was baptised on 5th January 1714, baptism record: anno domini 1714, there was baptised the 5th day of January a child of John Blakesley named Samuel..
He was born during the reign of Queen Anne, the last Stuart Monarch. Jane was born about 1711. Both Samuel and Jane would have witnessed the 1715 Jacobite rebellion by the Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Sturart who was in exile in France.
Samuel married Jane Edley on 20th February 1736 in Sutton Coldfield. They had at least 11 children: Elizabeth, John, Jane, Samuel, Adrian, Ann, Felicia, Joseph, William, Ester, Jane.
Samuel died in 1768 and was buried on 21st July 1768 in Sutton Coldfield.
During his life the calender changed over from the Julien to the Gregorian in 1752. Prior to 1752 the year began on 25th March every year. History has Charles I as being executed in 1649 when in reality it was 1648 as it was before the 25th March.
John Blakesley was the father of Samuel and was born in Sutton Coldfield about 1683 during the time of Charles II.
Unfortunately the records didn't require the mother's name so early on but whoever his wife was they had at least seven children: Robert, Thomas, Samuel, Mary, Hannah, Rhoda, John.
The occupation of John snr was a cordwainer, soft leather shoemaker, in 1710 there is a record of masters names, places of abode & employifts, clerks and apprentices and their parents, terms of years....this was recorded from the top of the page as 7 yrs from date then underneath the term Thelike was used. The date of John Blakesleys entry was 30th April 1710. The apprentice was called John Scott son of robert Scott. The place was Sutton Coldfield but in 1710 it was Sutton Colefield.
John's father was Thomas Blakesley (Blacksley) born about 1656, He was born into a republic as Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector at the time and an obsessive Puritan. Thomas had four children: Thomas Mary, Robert, John. The baptism of his son Thomas has survived but is difficult to read. He was born and baptised in 1676 at The Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield. Mary the daughter was baptised on 5th February 1677 in Sutton coldfield.
Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 and the monarchy was restored in 1661 with Charles II.
The parish registers were first introduced by Henry VIII and it became law to keep records but as they were written on paper most of them disintigrated, it wasn't until 1598 that the records were written onto parchment. During the time of Oliver Cromwell parish registers were banned and many taken away and destroyed.
