Burials St Mary Stilton - WOOD, C 1876 & A 1873

[Neil H]

Only just come across this... I am descended from Henry Wood, the younger brother of Charles Wood.

Some of the info from an earlier post above is incorrect

18.10.1796 charles wood, son thomas/ann
also james Sturtle wood 11.1.1798
phebe  21.10.1799.

There was a Thomas & Elizabeth in Stilton who were the parents of James Sturtle and Phebe, but Charles was the son of Robert and Ann.
----

Here are the notes I made when writing up the family history for Charles Wood:


Charles Wood was baptised on 18 OCT 1796 in Stilton, the son of Robert Wood and Ann English. Robert was a saddle maker who died in 1804. Ann remarried to John Hewerdine in 1808.

Other children were:
MARY BERRY WOOD (6 MAY 1799 baptised)
HENRY WOOD (21 JAN 1801 baptised)
Dies 28 AUG 1801
HENRY WOOD ( 28 APR 1802 baptised)

Similar to his brother Henry, Charles first becomes visible when he is chased by the courts for fathering a child out of wedlock in 1818. Reading the court documents, he and his partner Ann Salman are both required to contribute to the upkeep of the child. Charles is listed as a carpenter at this time. Charles' illegitimate child was born in Folksworth.

The marriage of Charles Wood is uncertain. It wasn't in Stilton as I have examined the Stilton parish register and it is not listed.

The most likely match from the available registers is:
Charles Wood and Ann Tibbut
19 JAN 1819 Peterborough St. John Baptist, Northamptonshire

This is about the right time, in the church where his father was married, and we know his wife was called Ann... the only problem is what happened to Ann Salman? If this is the correct marriage entry, then Ann Salman has been dumped!

After his marriage, Charles returns to Stilton where he and his wife have several children which are listed in the register. Four of his children are baptised between 1820 and 1828, and Charles is listed as a carpenter each time.

KNOWN CHILDREN
MARY ANN WOOD (26 MAR 1820 baptised) 
HARRIET WOOD (30 SEP 1821 baptised)
ELIZABETH WOOD (26 OCT 1823 baptised)
THOMAS WOOD (21 SEP 1828 baptised)
JANE WOOD (~1834)

At some point between 1828 and 1837, Charles becomes an innkeeper. As various members of the family had run inns in the past, this could be an inherited business.

In 1837 there is a theft at the Bell Inn in Stilton. The court transcripts show that Charles was running the Bell at that time. The Bell Inn became famous as the first place in the world to sell Stilton cheese about a century earlier. At this time the most significant inn in the village was The Angel, but the Bell would still be a substantial coaching inn, living off the trade from the Great North Road.

In 1839, a commercial directory of Huntingdon lists Charles Wood as still running the Bell, with his brother Henry as a baker.

On the 1841 census, Charles is listed as a publican. We cannot be 100% sure that he is still running the Bell. However we can see from the census list that James Smith is in residence, who was the post boy mentioned in the court case of 1837. This, and the fact that the address seems to be providing accommodation for drivers of the Stilton mail cart, suggests that Charles is still running the Bell at this time.

The 1840's was a crucial decade for Stilton, as the new railway line took the coaching business away from the village. This is very much reflected in the census entries for Charles. By 1851 he is splitting his time between farming and innkeeping. It is probable that he has left the Bell Inn by this time. Farming 110 acres makes him a significant landowner.

In 1854, a commercial directory of Huntingdon lists Charles Wood as running another inn called “The George".

By 1861, Charles has left the innkeeping trade to concentrate on farming.

Charles dies on 3 FEB 1876 in his 80th year. He is buried in a sizeable box tomb which reflects his prosperity.

[..claire..]

Welcome to RootsChat Neil 

The marriage of Charles Wood and Ann Tibbut does look good ~ it does says Charles was from Stilton in the county of Huntingdon

Both signed register,
Witnesses: T Tibbut and Joseph Waterfield.

claire

[Neil H]

Thanks Claire, good to see the original doc. To answer one of the earlier queries, the inscriptions on the graves are very degraded and when I visited I don't recall being able to make out much. Some I was only able to identify because I had gone to the Archives earlier to see the grave map.

It turns out that a group of the Wood family were all buried in adjacent plots. Charles has the big Dracula tomb. In the vicinity are his brother Henry, and Henry's wife, Sarah Ruff. Also his dad Robert Wood and grandfather Robert Woods. The stone that I haven't marked in front of Charles' tomb is of Ann Hewerdine, his mum.

[mead researcher]

Hello Neil and good to hear from you.
This could mean you are related to my cousin who is descended from Charles Wood, and then Mary Ann Wood.
Mary Ann Wood married Barrett (Borrett) Whitehead 17 Dec 1843 Parish Church, Stilton, Huntingdon, UK Regd. Peterborough.
They had 4 children - Charles Wood Whitehead 1845, Harriet Ann Whitehead 1847, Elizabeth Whitehead 1850, Barrett Whitehead 1852.
Mary Ann and husband plus children left Liverpool on "Ocean Chief" 23/5/1854 and arrived Melbourne, Vic., Australia 14/8/1854. 
Sadly husband Barrett died at sea, also son Barrett died at sea. (have not found any record of this  despite having passenger list).
You may know all of this so I won't go into too much detail.
However Mary Ann, widow, re-married William Henry Anderson in 1862 in Paddington, Sydney, NSW.
They had 1 daughter Emily Augusta Wood Anderson prior to the marriage.  Possibly a further daughter but no documentation held on her.

Mary Ann Anderson formerly Whitehead nee Wood was the great great grandmother of my cousin.....
It's a small world :-)

I had a lot of help and local information from Caroline Kesseler [bookstall@huntsfhs.org.uk] but from what you say I have the wrong parents and DOB for Charles and from that nothing further on the background of Charles.
Which also means I do not have your family line as descended from Henry, brother of Charles.
If you would like further information on this family send me a PM so I can give you my email address.
Mary Ann suffered more than most beginning with the sad events of the ocean trip only to have more tragedy once she was here in Oz.
Hope to hear from you.
Barb in Australia

[Neil H]

Ok, pm sent.

For anyone else who comes across this thread, it may be of interest to know, after talking to other researchers in this area, we think there's a genetic predisposition for the Woods of Stilton to have blonde to light auburn hair. Be useful if anyone could confirm.

Here's the earliest photo I have of this group, it's of Matthew Wood b1864 in Stilton. He was the grandson of Henry Wood the baker. He stayed in the food industry as a butter merchant, moving to Derby and settling in Manchester.