Richard Bray from Holmfirth (1827-1895

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Hi,

  I've written the following on the above character and thought it might be useful for anyone doing research on this line. No specific questions, although any thoughts on how to cover more ground or avenues for attempting to source a photograph of the person in question (my key aim with this project) would be gratefully appreciated.

  Richard was the younger sibling of my Great Great Grandfather William Bray, who had been born in 1821.

Richard (1827 - 1895), born at Wooldale in Holmfirth was a woollen piecer at a Mill from at least the age of 14 and, following his father’s death two years later, lived with his three of his siblings just down the road from his mother and stepfather in the 1850s. He worked as a stone mason. The Summer following the 1851 census, Richard married Mary Thorpe.
Mary had been born to Ebenezer and Hannah in Upperthong in March 1829 and had begun work as a woollen weaver. She had a child, Ellen Ann Thorpe whilst living at Cartworth in 1850 and, following a move to stay with relatives John and Ann Brook back in Scar Fold, Upperthong in 1851, had another child, Sarah there in the Spring of that year.
Following their mother’s marriage to Richard, both children became named ‘Bray’ rather than ‘Thorpe’.
Following the presumably common-law adoption of the elder two children, the couple had another child, John in 1853, with fourth child Alice arriving in 1854. Shortly after this, the family moved to Padfield in Glossop where their fifth child, Emily was born in 1856. Emily was followed by Ebeneezer Thorpe Bray in late 1857 and then Rachel in 1860. The census of 1861 finds the family living at Kelso Lane in Padfield near Glossop. The eleven year old Ellen Ann is working as a cotton weaver, and eight year old John is also working in a cotton mill, as a packer.
Following the census, four more children arrived; Samuel in 1862, Richard in 1864, Benjamin in 1867 and Mary in 1870, by which time the family are living at No. 39 Brosscroft in Padfield. Both Ellen, now 21, and Sarah, now 20, worked in a cotton mill, with Ellen as a weaver and Sarah as a card room hand. John, now 18 was an assistant stone mason and Alice, 17 and Emily, 15 were weavers. Ebeneezer, 13, was a cotton piecer, the three children younger than him were all listed as ‘scholars’.
When she was 22, Sarah had a daughter named Alice who was born under the name ‘Alice Bray Thorpe’. She left the family home and set up at 73 Bross Croft. She eventually married the Newton born Joseph Rowbottom in the Spring of 1883. They lived at 1 Barber Street in Hadfield in the 1891 census, with both working as cotton weavers. They had children Elizabeth 1885, Joseph 1888, William 1891 and Mary 1893. They eventually moved to Bamford Street in Chadderton by 1901 where their children began working in the cotton mills there.
John, now working as a mason, also left home in the mid 1870s and married Ellen, a cotton weaver from Tintwistle. They had two children; John Richard (1877) and Joseph (1885) and could be found in Old Road in Tintwistle in 1881. By 1891, Ellen and her sons (the elder of whom worked with her in the cotton mills) returned to Glossop and were living on 55 Platt Street. Although Ellen was listed as being married, her husband was not present. By the 1901 census, he was apparently deceased and the family of three, now all working in the mills, remained on Platt Street in Glossop.
Ellen Ann left home in Spring 1877 to marry one Joseph Slack, but just four years later was instead living with her sister Sarah and her daughter at 73 Bross Croft. Ellen ended up living on Turn Lee Road in Charlesworth in 1901 where, aged 51, she was a house maid domestic living with one Adam Slater, a 67 year old retired brewer from Siddington, Cheshire and his two sons.
The year after this, in early 1878, Emily also left home, and married William Lupton, one year her junior, in Dukinfield. They continued to live in Glossop however, on Platt Street, with him as a mechanic in the cotton mill, and her as a weaver. They had children Frank in 1883, and Samuel and Ebenezer in 1886 and by 1891 they had a lodger, Mary Bray, who was Emily’s sister. By 1901, the family are at 8 Brosscroft in padfield and William is an engine fitter, Frank is a cotton weaver, Samuel a painter and decorator and Ebenezer a tailor’s apprentice.

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Ebenezer also left home around this time and took up lodgings on 106 Taylor Street in Gorton, Manchester. He worked as a signalman and lived with Thomas and Mary Cook from Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. Ebenezer married the Hereford born Elizabeth Rothero who had been working as a domestic servant in Liverpool, at Longsight in 1882. They had a son Richard at Longsight in 1884 and then moved to Thorncliffe in Kent where Lillian Alice was born in 1885, before moving on to Ipswich by 1889 when Ebenezer Rothero was born, followed by Elizabeth Hester in late 1890. By Spring 1891 they were back in Manchester, at 42 Robert Street, Newton Heath. Ebenezer was a labourer at the dye works.
Ten years later, the family had moved to 216 Eastham Street, Brightside Bierlow in Sheffield and Ebenezer, now 44, was an armour plate planner. His eldest son Richard was working at the steel works and they had lodgers in the form of the Brumpton family. Elizabeth Bray nee Rorhero died in Sheffield in Spring 1929 aged 69 and Ebenezer followed her in Spring 1931, aged 73.
In 1881 Richard and Mary Thorpe were still at the same address, but only four children remained there. It is not known where Alice was. Rachel, now 21, was listed as the housekeeper, whilst her mother had no occupation listed, possibly suggesting an infirmity. Sam, 19, was a cotton spinner, as was the 15 year old Ben. Mary, 11, was a  cotton weaver.
Rachel left home in late 1884 and married the labourer Thomas Turner at Glossop. They moved to Tintwistle and lived there at 89 Woodhead Road with their children John (1885), Henry (1888) and Mary Ellen (1890). More children, Annie (1896), Emily (1898) and Thomas (1900) also arrived and the family had moved to 3 Stocks by 1901 and by this time, John and Henry were working in the cotton mills.
Samuel also left home in the late 1880s and married Eliza Higginbottom from Millbrook, Cheshire.
Five years later, in early 1886, Mary died. She was aged 60, although the death certificate stated 56. Following her death, Richard moved down the road to No. 10 Browcroft where his son Sam and his new Cheshire wife, Eliza were living. They had a son, Joseph in 1890. Richard continued working as a stone mason until at least four years before his death in late 1895. He was 68 years old.