SHARMAN in Shropshire

[sherlock1207]

My Sharman Family History includes the following:

Henry Sharman was born in Swinstead (Lincolnshire) on 5th December 1825, and baptised there on Christmas Day. Unlike his father and generations of Sharmans before him, he did not go into agriculture. Instead he took up the building trade, and by 1851 he was a partner with a John Brotherway in a building business in Grantham. Early in 1854 he married Margaret Louisa Taylor in Manchester. Margaret was born in Wrexham, and was about six years younger than Henry. Henry and Margaret had certainly moved to Shropshire and were living in Ellesmere by the end of that summer. In the 1861 census Henry was listed as a builder in Ellesmere employing sixteen men.

Within ten more years (i.e. by 1871) Henry appears to have been widowed and remarried, although we have yet to find a record of Margaret’s death. His new wife was Anne (surname unknown), who had been born in Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury in about 1829. In 1871 Henry and Anne were living in Scotland Street in Ellesmere where they both seem to have stayed for the rest of their lives. In the same year’s census Henry’s daughters Jane and Mary were both dressmaker’s apprentices boarding about ten miles away at 2 Bark Hill, Dodington in Whitchurch. In all Henry had five children that we know of. All were born in Ellesmere to Margaret, his first wife.
 
 Jane was born in Ellesmere in 1854, and baptised there on 31st August. Apart from her move to Whitchurch by 1871 (see above), and her presence as a visitor in the home of Charles and Elizabeth Pitcher in Highgate, Whitchurch at the 1881 census, we know nothing more about her.

 Charles was born in Ellesmere in 1856, and baptised there on 10th July. In 1881 he married Elizabeth Davies who was his senior by two years and born in Wellington. By 1901 they were living in Bushbury, to the north of Wolverhampton, where Charles was a carpenter. The census of that year lists seven children: Ivy (18), Charles (15), Henry (13), Violet (10), Cornelia (9), Percy (7) and Frank (2). All were born at Ellesmere except Frank, who was born at Bushbury.

 Mary Ann was also born in 1856, and was most likely twin to Charles. However, for some reason she was baptised on 21st April – over eleven weeks earlier than him. Maybe she was not expected to survive. Apart from her presence in Whitchurch in 1871, and living back with her father in Ellesmere in 1881, we have no further details of her. She might well have been the “Polly” Sharman married in Ellesmere in 1882, but we do not know her husband’s name.

 Henry was born in Ellesmere in 1858, and baptised there on 2nd February. In 1884 he married Caroline Jones, who was his senior by two years and also born in Ellesmere. By 1901 they were living at Oswestry with their children: Nelly (14), Florence (12), Frederick (10), Elsie ( and Albert (2) – all born at Ellesmere except Albert, who was born at Oswestry. Like his brother, Henry was a joiner and carpenter.

 Margaret Louisa was born in Ellesmere in 1860, and baptised there on 28th June. She married in 1884, but again we have no further details of her after that.

No trace has been found of any children to Henry’s second wife Anne; nor of her death, but in 1881 Henry was listed as being a widower again. In the summer of 1891 Henry Sharman senior died at Ellesmere aged 65 years.

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If you can add anything to this story about Henry's family or descendents, please let me know. Thank you. 

[sherlock1207]

Ref. above posting, Elsie's age should read 8. I've no idea how the little face got there!

[Lloydy]

Hello Sherlock.....Welcome to Rootschat

Within ten more years (i.e. by 1871) Henry appears to have been widowed and remarried, although we have yet to find a record of Margaret’s death. His new wife was Anne (surname unknown), who had been born in Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury in about 1829. In 1871 Henry and Anne were living in Scotland Street in Ellesmere where they both seem to have stayed for the rest of their lives.

On Free BMD I can see the following marriage:

Marriages December Quarter 1864

Henry Sharman **
District: Ellesmere
Volume: 6a
Page: 1396

** On page 1396 there are only 3 names listed, therefore 1 has not yet been transcribed.  There should be 2 grooms and 2 brides.  There is, however, an ANN POWELL listed on the same page as Henry BUT the missing entry could also be an ANN!!!  As the name Sharman is quite unusual then I would be inclined to request the certificate anyway.

Jan

[sherlock1207]

Thanks for the reply, Jan. Due to very limited resources I have to limit my certificate buying quite severely, and at the moment sadly I cannot justify ordering this one. I wonder is there somewhere in Shropshire that one can look up church registers on microfiche as you can in the county archives and many libraries in both Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire? If so, I can earmark it for a visit if ever I find myself in Shropshire again. I was passing Ellesmere on a narrowboat last autumn, but the folk in the library there seemed to think I was bonkers for hoping for such a facility (perhaps they are right!).

[Lloydy]

I wonder is there somewhere in Shropshire that one can look up church registers on microfiche

There most certainly is!!!!!  Take a look at the website http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/archives.nsf

and.........the archives are in my home town so I can go and check parish records for you

I will let you know when I will be going again.

Jan

[sherlock1207]

Jan,
That's brilliant! Thank you.

I've put Shropshire Archives into "my favourites" so that I can find the site easily if I know that I'm going to be in that part of the country. As for Henry's second marriage, I suppose that a look at Ellesmere marriages for the 4th quarter of 1864 wouldn't go amiss although we don't know that he was married in Ellesmere itself - only the district. Similarly Ellesmere burials from 1861 to 1864 might find Margaret for us, although I did search the cemetery at Ellesmere last autumn to no avail. Actually, I hate to ask others to do such searches for me, even when (like you) they have offered. It seems a bit cheeky. 

Thanks again.

[sherlock1207]

Messing around on the internet I reckon I've found the marriage of Ann Powell and Henry Sharman. It seems to have been at Ellesmere on 10th December 1864. Hopefully a search in the archives by a kind soul will confirm this and provide Ann's parents' details.

[sherlock1207]

Thanks to off-board contacts I now can share the following (split into two due to message board restrictions):

Henry Sharman was born in Swinstead on 5th December 1825, and baptised there on Christmas Day. Unlike his father and generations of Sharmans before him, he did not go into agriculture. Instead he took up the building trade, and by 1851 he was a partner with a John Brotherway in a building business in Grantham. Early in 1854 he married Margaret Louisa Taylor in Manchester. Margaret was born in Wrexham, and was about six years younger than Henry. Henry and Margaret had certainly moved to Shropshire, and were living in Ellesmere by the end of that summer. In the 1861 census Henry was listed as a builder in Ellesmere employing sixteen men.

Later that year Henry was widowed as Margaret died in the summer of 1861. Just over three years later, on 10th December 1864, he married Ann Powell. Ann had been born in Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury in about 1836 to Samuel and Martha Powell. In 1871 Henry and Ann were living in Scotland Street in Ellesmere. In all Henry had five children that we know of. All were born in Ellesmere to Margaret, his first wife.
 
 Jane was born in Ellesmere in 1854, and baptised there on 31st August. By 1871 she had moved to Whitchurch, where she and her sister Mary were dressmaker’s apprentices boarding at 2 Bark Hill, Dodington in Whitchurch.  In the census of 1881 Jane was listed as a visitor in the home of Charles and Elizabeth Pitcher in Highgate, Whitchurch. By 1891 she had returned home to live with her father. No further details about Jane have yet been discovered.

 Charles was born in Ellesmere in the spring of 1856, and baptised there on 10th July. In 1881 he married Elizabeth Davies who was his senior by two years and born in Wellington. The 1891 edition of Kelly’s Directory of Shropshire lists Charles as a carpenter living on St. John’s Hill in Ellesmere. The same directory includes Elizabeth in the listing for Milliners and Dressmakers, although we don’t know which she was. By 1901 the family were living in Bushbury, to the north of Wolverhampton, where Charles was still a carpenter. The census of that year lists seven children: Ivy (18), Charles (15), Henry (13), Violet (10), Cornelia (9), Percy (7) and Frank (2). All were born at Ellesmere except Frank, who was born at Bushbury.

 Mary Ann (also known as Polly) was also born in 1856, and was most likely twin to Charles – especially as her birth was registered in the same quarter as Charles’s. For some reason she was baptised on 21st April – over eleven weeks earlier than him. Maybe she was not expected to survive. As stated above, she was living and working with Jane as a dressmaker’s apprentice in Whitchurch in 1871, but by 1881 she was living back with her father in Ellesmere. Mary Ann seems to have been the Polly Sharman who married the chemist Robert Ferguson Dickie at Ellesmere in the summer of 1882. They had at least one child – a son named Robert Henry Dickie, born at St. George’s (near modern-day Telford) in the summer of 1883. Strangely the 1891 edition of Kelly’s Directory of Shropshire lists Robert as an Insurance Agent at St Georges, but the 1895 edition confirms that he was a Chemist.

 Henry was born in Ellesmere in 1858, and baptised there on 2nd September. In the summer of 1884 he married Caroline Jones, who was his senior by two years and also born in Ellesmere. By 1901 they were living at Oswestry with their children: Nelly (14), Florence (12), Frederick (10), Elsie (08) and Albert (2) – all born at Ellesmere except Albert, who was born at Oswestry. Like his brother, Henry was a joiner and carpenter.

 Margaret Louisa was born in Ellesmere in 1860, and baptised there on 28th June. In the autumn of 1884 she married coachman Richard Henry Sudlow who had been born in 1859 at Cockshutt about five miles south of Bridgnorth. In 1881 Richard had been a groom at Wavertree near Liverpool, so he was no stranger to moving around for work. The places of birth of Margaret and Richard’s children indicate how they moved from place to place after they were married. These children were Maggie L. (born Cockshutt, Shropshire in 1886), Miles H. (Bardsea, near Ulverston, 1889), Richard Henry (Halton, near Lancaster, 1891) and Fred S. (Lancaster, 1896). By 1901 the family were living in Kendal where Richard was still a coachman.

continued in part two...

[sherlock1207]

... continued from part one ...

No trace has been found of any children to Henry’s second wife Ann. In the census of 1881 Henry was listed as living at Laurel Cottage in Scotland Street, but being a widower again. However, Ann was not dead. Instead she was working as a domestic cook in Dursley, Gloucestershire. She claimed to be unmarried, but we do not know the reason for her separation from Henry.

By 1891 Ann had returned to Shropshire. She was working in Shrewsbury as housekeeper to widower Barnabas Powell claiming to be his sister, which was untrue, although she did at least admit to being married this time! There is no record of Ann returning to Henry, who in 1891 was living at number 38 Scotland Street in Ellesmere with his eldest daughter, Jane. 

The 1891 edition of Kelly’s Directory of Shropshire lists Henry still as a builder even though he had turned 65 the previous year. In the summer of 1891 Henry Sharman senior died at Ellesmere aged 65 years.

About the same time Ann married her “brother” Barnabas Powell; but that marriage was short-lived as she died the following spring (1892) at Atcham near Shrewsbury, just over three miles from her place of birth. Barnabas remarried that same summer, and died in the autumn of 1896.