Anne Everley b. c1805 poss. Hopton AND Edward Williams b. c1805 poss Little Ness

[keyboard86]

  How do you know that William Walker was not living in Little Ness c 1826?
Keyboard86

[johneowens]

How do you know that William Walker was not living in Little Ness c 1826?
Keyboard86

Yes, good point. In 1829, William Walker was living at Halston where he was at groom at Halston Hall, according to a story provided in Anc***, "the home of Mad Jack Mytton; a colourful gentleman farmer and Member of Parliament whose exploits can be found in most history books of the area." However, the story continues, "Mad Jack squandered the family fortune and died in a debtor’s prison in 1834." By 1841, he had been promoted to coachman and then by 1861 back to being a groom.

I guess there is no way of knowing whether Edward Williams changed his name to Wm Walker although it would be useful to know whether there are baptismal records for either or both these names at Rushton, Cotebrook, Cheshire abt 1806. No NI records in those days, of course!

However, Halston Hall and Little Ness are quite a hike from Cotebrook, Cheshire. It seems more likely that if Edward Williams was born in Cotebrook and looking for employment, he would go to Chester or Northwich in preference to hiking all the way to Halston, don't you think? And since Ann and Edward's son, Edward, was baptised in Nov 1826 at Great Ness, why would they wait 3 years to marry at St. Martins, although I see St Martin's is pretty near Halson. Hmm

Also I wonder whether Halston Hall has any personnel records from that period.

A puzzle, then.

Best

John

[keyboard86]

  Hi again John, re the " Hiking all the way to" my ggm was born and raised in Somerset, at 14 ish worked as a Domestic Servant in Swansea, in-between census married in Staffordshire and ended up in Middlesex, it was amazing just/how far our ancestors travelled in the pursuit of work!
Keyboard86

[johneowens]

Hi again John, re the " Hiking all the way to" my ggm was born and raised in Somerset, at 14 ish worked as a Domestic Servant in Swansea, in-between census married in Staffordshire and ended up in Middlesex, it was amazing just/how far our ancestors travelled in the pursuit of work!
Keyboard86

Yes, I agree, there was extensive geographic mobility at that time. My gggf moved from Oxfordshire to Chester, which was growing rapidly with the industrialisation of the NW, but that reinforces my view that if EW was indeed born in Cotebrook, Ches, he would look first in Chester and Northwich. But, hey, who knows?

Let's see if we can find a baptism for either EW or WW in Cotebrook, Ches.

Best - and thanks for your help.

John

[johneowens]

Here we go: 2 baptisms of William Walker at Tarporley, Cheshire, which is the nearest parish to Rushton, Cotebrook, Cheshire. The one for 22 December 1805 lists the parents as Joseph and Ann Walker of Rushton. I'm pretty certain this is our man. The other baptism for 1807 is at Utkinton. Both locations are in the parish of Tarporley, Rushton just 2.3 mls away.

Best

John