I am now working on my ex-brother-in-laws family. He is a Wordsworth and his family want to know if they are related in anyway to the poet William Wordsworth. Obviously not as a descendant but maybe as a cousin however many times removed.
So I have traced the family in NZ back to a fellow named William Wordsworth who was born in the Sheffield area in 1851, and his father was George Wordsworth. According to William's obituary (From Papers Past) he worked as a steel roller in Sheffield before getting married to Mary Alice Clarke in 1872, and emigrating with the wife and 2 small boys to NZ in 1876. I think the wife died on the trip to NZ, because while she got on the boat, she does not seem to get off - or at least there is no record of her in NZ at all. William got married a second time to Hannah West of Te Kopuru near Dargaville in (What is now) Northland, NZ in 1878.
Getting back to George, I want to find William's parents. His fathers name was George and he named one of his daughters Martha after his mother.
There seem to be two couples named George and Martha in the West Riding in the 1800s.
One is George and Martha of Thurgoland. I think she used to be Martha Pollard. and their children include names such as Rachel, and Benjamin. They also dont seem to have a son named William. This is NOT my Williams family.
The other George and Martha are living in the Worsborough (aka Worsbro) area near Sheffield. Their children are - John, Ann, Joseph, Mary, William and Martha. In the 1871 census there is also a grandson named David. I think this George's father was also called David Wordsworth and that this George was born in Worsborough in 1805.
But I have no idea what Martha's maiden name was. I cannot find any record of their marriage. I only know that she is NOT Martha Pollard.
So if SKS could find the marriage for me, and perhaps anything more on George's parents (David and an unknown mother) that would be great, thanks.
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Burrow Digger