Samuel Cotterell's name and occupation as recorded on his son, Edmund's, marriage certificate
I've made a little progress on my Worcestershire based ancestors. I was aware that my 4 x great-grandmother was Elizabeth Lewis who married Samuel Cotterell at Kidderminster, in 1782. I have now found her baptism dated 4th February 1757 showing that she was the daughter of Richard and Mary Lewis. Mary's maiden name was Rook/Rooke/Rooks.

Mary Rooke was born in approximately 1734, the daughter of Thomas Rook and Sarah Payton who married in Kidderminster on 30th May 1726.

The eldest of four, Elizabeth Lewis appears to have been Richard and Mary's only daughter. Two sons, who were probably twins, were baptised on 23rd October 1759 but sadly William died on the 24th and Francis on the 25th. This was also the day both boys were buried. Their youngest son, named Richard after his father, was baptised in October 1760, less than three months after Mary's husband had died so life must have been tough for her.

The Payton surname was prevalent in Kidderminster from as early as the beginning of the 17th century when an Elizabeth Payton was baptised in 1620. The Rooke name appears in the town just a little later.

Kidderminster is known for the manufacture of carpets, which began during the 18th century and developed out of a well established cloth industry. I don't know what my Lewis, Rooke and Payton forebears did for a living but I do know that Samuel Cotterell was a weaver so I think it very likely he was connected to one of these industries.

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The Cenotaph in Whitehall
I took this photograph when I visited London in June 1980
In remembrance of...

• 4732 Private Henry James WEAVER (my great-grandfather) - 2/1 Bucks Battalion, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
  Born 3 October 1882 in Curry Rivel, Somerset. Died 8 September 1916. Killed by accident during bomb practice. Buried in Merville Communal Cemetery Extension in France. Commemorated on the War Memorial in Curry Rivel and Tavistock War Memorial in Devon. Left a widow, Florence (nee Smale) and an unborn daughter.


• 2007216 Sapper George HARVEY (Harvey's great-grandfather) - 9th Battalion, Canadian Engineers.
  Born 23 July 1884 in Newlyn, Cornwall. Died at No. 9 General Hospital, Rouen, France. Died of a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Buried in St Sever Cemetery Extension in Rouen. Commemorated on the War Memorial in Newlyn and on a stone on the side of the Primitive Methodist Church in Newlyn. Left a widow, Lizzie Annie (nee Thomas) and two daughters under the age of 10.


• Lieut.-Comdr. (E) Charles Henry MARTIN R.N. (my great-uncle) - Royal Navy.
  Born 1 May 1903 in Twerton-on-Avon, Bath, Somerset. Died 9 April 1942 off Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka). Went down in H.M.S. Hermes. Lost at Sea. Commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in Devon. Left a widow, Nellie Gertrude (nee Hibbitt).

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The churchyard pathway at Curry Rivel, Somerset, leads out onto the Green

My 3 x great-grandmother, Ann Weaver, has been an enigma for quite some time but more recently I've made some progress with a little help from another family historian along the way.

Ann was born in 1830 in the village of Curry Rivel in Somerset. She was the daughter of a cordwainer or boot and shoemaker. She gave birth to my 2 x great-grandfather, William Henry Weaver (known as Harry), in 1848 when she was eighteen and unmarried. I still don't know who Harry's father was as he isn't recorded in any documents.

Ann appears to have lived with her parents until 1856 when she married a soldier, John Willshire, who had previously fought in the Crimea. They married in nearby Taunton and then left the area and were living in barracks in Canterbury shortly afterwards. Harry remained in Curry Rivel with his grandparents. John and Ann had a son in 1858 but sadly Ann was widowed in 1864. John had been medically discharged from the army three years beforehand due to phthisis pulmonalis, otherwise known as tuberculosis of the lungs. Their son attended the Royal Military Asylum in Chelsea to complete his schooling.

Ann married again in 1866. Her second husband was Charles Cleverly who was almost ten years her junior. He had various occupations ranging from a farmer's boy, a carter, groom and omnibus driver. Charles and Ann lived in the Saint John area of Westminster. For some reason Charles was not with her in 1881 when the census was taken but Ann had her youngest son at home and was making a living as a shirt maker, something it seems she'd been doing for at least a decade.

Ann died of apoplexy (a stroke) on 17th May 1885, aged 54. She'd only suffered briefly and her husband, Charles, was with her when she died. Charles remarried in 1887 and was still alive in 1891 but he disappears from the records after this.

What became of Ann's sons? Harry followed in his grandfather's footsteps and, after a short time working as a journeyman shoemaker in Drimpton, Dorset, he returned to Curry Rivel where he lived and worked until he died in 1944 at the ripe old age of 95.

Ann's younger son, William John Willshire (probably known as John), stayed in London and worked as a clerk. The London lifestyle was likely much less healthy and he died aged 40 having married his second wife less than two weeks beforehand.

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