OK. My ggggrandfather, William Cartwright:
He was born in or around 1796 – his death cetificate on 2.12.1873 (Hospital Street, Nantwich) has him at 77 years old, which is consistent with the census returns, although his burial record in the Parish Registers has him at 80.
The census for 1841 has his place of birth as Nantwich, whilst the censuses for 1851, 61 and 71 have it as Willaston (which adjoins Nantwich).
The earliest records I have for him are from the Poor Rate Assessments:
In 1815 and 1816, a William Cartwright is found to be living at No 58 Hospital Street. This is consistent with his later places of residence. But then he seems to disappear from the records until the 1841 census, which, again, places him in Hospital Street. (Although, there is a William Cartwright recorded in the Poor Rate Assessments for 1831 living at No 50 High Town renting a house and outlet, which could be him).
(His occupation was always recorded as shoemaker. Living in Welch Row 1841 and 51 was a James Cartwright and his family. James was also a shoemaker and 4 years younger than William. Welch Row adjoined High Town. Could James have been William’s younger brother? The names of his children: James, Ann, John, Elizabeth, Charles and Mary bear a remarkable resemblance to the names of William’s children, and also to the names of the family whom I will speculate could have been William’s grandparents).
But before 1815, when he would have been around 19 years old, there is nothing.
William married Sarah Ann Davies on 15.11.1819, with whom he had two children, Mary Ann and James, but Sarah Ann died and was buried 18.8.1827. William then married Martha Brown, presumably in 1828, and went on to have 8 more children: Thomas, Samual, Martha, John, Jane, Eliza, Richard and Alfred. I am a direct descendent of Thomas.
He started a family Bible in 1849, where he records the dates of birth of his children. He is evidently literate and writes in a neat copper plate. When his son, Thomas takes over, the neatness disappears. This leads me to feel that William had a reasonably good education.
Furthermore, his longevity is uncommon. Thes two facts lead me to surmise that he may be a descendent of what seems to be the principal (and, I feel, possibly more affluent) Cartwright family in Nantwich at that time:
William Cartwright (Joiner) married Mary Foden (born c.1753) on 11.2.1770. Their children were:
Elizabeth 1770
Thomas 1771
Sampson 1774
William 1778
James 1779
Mary 1781
Frances 1783
Sampson 1784
Catherine 1786
Jane 1790
Charles 1792
Frances 1793
Do you see the similarity in the names ?
Assuming that Sampson (1774) died (as did Frances (1783)), that leaves Thomas, William or James who could have fathered my ggggrandfather. Sampson (1784) (who, incidentally died in Willaston, aged 80) and Charles would have been too young.
It is interesting to note that my ggggrandfather called his first two sons James and Thomas, and a third one Samual, and three of his daughters Mary Ann, Jane and Eliza.
Sampson (1784) went on to become a leading confectioner in the town, and, it seems, owned a number of properties. This would suggest that he, too, had a reasonably sound education. His longevity and eventual death in Willaston - the recorded birthplace of my William - leads me to feel that he could have come from the same family as my William, and could, therefore have been William’s uncle.
However, at present, this is pure speculation.
Is there anybody out there who can help me establish a connection?
Neil
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Topic: William Cartwright born 1796 (Read 6861 times)