When I first started researching my Whatmore ancestors some seven years ago, I knew very little about them. My father and grandfather had been born, like myself in Sheffield and there was a family tradition that my great grandfather Joseph Whatmore had been brought up in Hampton Loade in Shropshire. We also knew that he was illegitimate and that his mother had been a Sarah. On my first visit to the Family Records Centre in London, I therefore took out the microfilm which covered Hampton Loade in the 1841 census. Unfortunately no Whatmores were shown living there. I decided to try the hamlet of Hampton on the other side of the river Severn and great was my excitement when I found a James and Ann Whatmore. There was no Sarah with them but  I managed to find Sarah in the 1851 census married to Benjamin Vale ( which I knew was correct) and with the family was a Joseph Vale – obviously my great grandfather. Sarah’s birthplace was given as Quatt, Shropshire and her age pointed to a birth about 1826. With trepidation I checked for a baptism on the IGI hoping that her parents would be James and Ann, and so they were. 

Hampton is in the parish of  Chelmarsh and when I checked for Joseph’s baptism I found it listed on the IGI as at Chelmarsh on 25 June 1843. I hastily checked for other James and Ann Whatmores living in Shropshire at that time, but found none in the vicinity so it seemed clear that I had found Sarah’s parents. A further proof was that the first child of James and Ann of Hampton, had been a Lucy and a Lucy Whatmore (an uncommon name at this time in the Whatmore family) had witnessed the marriage of Sarah to Benjamin Vale in 1846.

In the census the ages given for James roughly tallied  but his birthplace was given as both Kinlet, Shropshire and Bewdley, Worcestershire. At that time there were no records for Ribbesford (the parish church for Bewdley) on the IGI so it was not until I was able to visit the Worcestershire Record Office some time later that I was able to find James’ baptism on 26 April 1795 at Ribbesford – parents Thomas and Anne.

 James, although baptised at Ribbesford, had in fact been brought up in Kinlet. He is next to be traced at Neen Savage in south Shropshire where he married Ann Lowe on 23 December 1819. James and Ann lived initially at Neen Savage after their marriage and their first child Lucy (always known as Louisa) was baptised there in 1820. As an agricultural labourer, it seems that James had to keep moving about in search of work, so he and family are next found at Highley.  James’s wife had been born in 1802 in Highley into a family which had once been wealthy – indeed one of her ancestors had been Lord of the Manor. There was still some money in the family as Ann’s brother Thomas owned the Court house in Highley, and this is probably where James and Ann were living when their son William was born in 1823. The Court House still exists in Highley. It is built of the local white sandstone and it has a large stepped external chimney. It is likely that the local manor court was held there at one time. Although it is clearly an ancient building, the first time it appears in the records as the ‘Court House’ is in 1814. The tithe map of 1839 show lands consisting of 5 plots attached to the property, stretching down to the high Street.

The Court House, Highley  Copyright: Rhys Whatmore

By 1826, the family must have been at Quatt on the other side of the river, for this is where Sarah was baptised in 1826. James and Ann’s next child was Caroline whose baptism has not been traced.  In 1831, the family was back at Highley and then in 1834 they were at Hampton, Chelmarsh where James remained until his death in 1877. He was buried at Chelmarsh on 23 August 1877 

 The last of operating  ferries on the river Severn is at Hampton/ Hampton Loade and further information about the ferry can be found by following this link:

http://www.hloade.free-online.co.uk/village.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/2004/01/hampton_loade_ferry_gallery_01.shtml

http://www.photoshropshire.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1652

One of the census returns gives their address as Hempton House. A farmer and his family and several other families had the same address, so I assume the farmer lived in the main house, and the other families in cottages on the farm. The house which is a substantial half-timbered building, still exists. You can stay at the house on a bed and breakfast basis and if you would like to do this, please follow this link for further details:

http://www.visitbritain.com/EN/accommodation/detail.aspx?Sec=Accommodation&TowPosCd=&Reg=&Rad=5&PageSize=10&SortKey=Acc10&Page=2&Pid=28409

  

 Hampton House, Hampton, Chelmarsh     Copyright: Rhys Whatmore

 Ann went to live with her married daughter Lucy at Alveley across the river. Ann died in 1884 and was buried with her husband at Chelmarsh.

We now turn to the fortunes of the children of James and Ann.

Lucy Whatmore

Lucy Whatmore born 1820,  married George Head on 9 May 1843 at Alveley. George was one of the sons of the landlord of the Red Lion Inn, Alveley. The pub still exists and stands right on the county boundary. The pub is in Shropshire and the car park is in Worcestershire. It was run by the Head family for several generations. For further details follow this link: http://www.aaron.ukuconnect.com/redlion/index.html

Lucy obviously didn’t like her name and was always known as Louisa. As such she witnessed the marriage of her sister Sarah at Kinver in 1843. Curiously the name opposite her mark is Louisa Whatmore rather than Louisa Head. I can  only assume that the vicar asked who she was and she simply said that she was Louisa, Sarah’s sister and as she was illiterate, she was unable to tell that she had been recorded in her maiden name.

Louisa and George lived initially at Arley, but thereafter lived in the parish of Alveley. George was a Farm Labourer. He died in 1886 and  Louisa in 1904.

Their son William Head, born 1853 married Elizabeth Whatmore of Stone, Kidderminster, whose line stretches back to John the Waterman of Arley.

Louisa and George had in all six known children. Unfortunately we have no photographs of them or their parents, but we have a photograph of the wedding of Louisa’s grandson Henry Maurice Head (born 1886) and one of his brother Louis Head (born 1891). Another grandchild, Louisa (known as Lavinia and born 1876) married into the extensive Watkins family of Alveley and a further grandchild, Elizabeth Head, born 1880, married her first cousin Herbert Septimus Whatmore of Arley.

The marriage of Henry Maurice Head to Gertrude Cooke  Copyright: Kay Wiseman and reproduced here by her kind permission

 

 Picture 1: Marriage of  Henry Maurice Head  Picture 2: Louis Head

Copyright of pictures: Kay Wiseman and reproduced here by her kind permission

William Whatmore

William was baptised at Highley in 1823  and that is all we know of him. He has not been traced in any of the censuses. He may have died before 1841 or possibly have joined the army, served abroad and never returned to England.

Sarah Whatmore

Sarah was baptised at Quatt in 1826. In 1841 she seems to have been working as a servant at Hartlebury in Worcestershire. In 1843 she brought her illegitimate son Joseph Whatmore to be baptised at Chelmarsh. As there is a family tradition that Joseph was brought up at Hampton in Chelmarsh, it seems likely that his grandparents James and Ann looked after him at first. Sarah married Benjamin Vale at Kinver on 27 April 1845 and by 1851, Joseph was living with his mother and stepfather. Sarah died of cancer on 21 July 1892 at Binnal, Nordley, just north of Bridgnorth. Sarah Whatmore will be the subject of a future post.

 Caroline Whatmore 

Caroline’s baptism has not been traced. She was buried, aged 14 on 5 January 1843 at Chelmarsh.

  Thomas Whatmore 

Thomas was baptised on 25 September 1831 at Highley. He went to live in Arley and there he married Susan Sheward on 21 May 1861. Thomas died on 14 January 1911 at Arley, where he is buried. One of Thomas’s descendants still lives in the village. Thomas Whatmore will be the subject of a future post.

 Ann Whatmore 

Ann was baptised on 23 March 1834 at Chelmarsh. She married John Massey on 13 April 1858 at Alveley where she lived for the rest of her life. She died at the early age of  36 in 1872, probably in childbirth.  John never remarried. He died in 1893. John and Mary had 5 known children.

James Whatmore

 The baptism of James is missing from the Chelmarsh register, but there is an unexpected entry for the baptism of an Ann Whatmore on 26 May 1836, which is the correct year for James’ baptism. Perhaps the vicar was drunk at the time or short-sighted and rather deaf. There is no trace of an Ann Whatmore born about this time. Little James only lived until he was 8 years old being buried at Chelmarsh on the same day as his sister Mary – 28 August 1844 – probably the victims of an epidemic.

 

 Chelmarsh Church in 1790  Painting by Rev Edward Williams

Copyright: Shropshire Archives and reproduced here by their kind permissio0n

Samuel Whatmore

Samuel was baptised on 16 September 1838 at Chelmarsh, although this is recorded only in the Bishop’s Transcripts. Like his brother Thomas, he went to live at Arley. He married Catherine Mary Hardwick of Arley on 10 July 1866 at Kidderminster. Samuel and Catherine lived all their lives in a tiny cottage at Nash End in the parish of Arley. Catherine died in 1904 but Samuel reached the ripe of age of 96, dying on 23 June 1935. Samuel will be the subject of a future post.

 Samuel Whatmore at Nash End, Arley. On his left is his daughter Lizzie Whatmore. In front on the left is his grandson Francis Whatmore and on the right his grandson Thomas Whatmore.

Copyright: Thomas Whatmore of Liverpool and reproduced here by his kind permission.

Mary Whatmore

Mary was baptised at Chelmarsh on 27 December 1840 and died in 1844 when she was only 3.

Harriet Whatmore

Harriet Whatmore was baptised at Chelmarsh on 26 Febraury 1843. She never married but spent her life as a servant to the Bloxham Family. In 1871 she was with the family at Ladywood in Birmingham, working as a nurse. She was still acting as a nurse in 1881 when the family were at Edgbaston, Birmingham and her niece, Hannah Massey (daughter of Ann and John Massey) was working with her as an under nurse. In 1891 the family were still at Edgbaston but Harriet’s role was now that of Cook. By 1901, the Bloxham family had moved to Hythe, Folkestone and Hannah was still working for them as Cook. As Harriet Whatmore’s death at the age of 83 is recorded in September Quarter 1926 in Eltham, Kent Registration District (which includes Hythe) one would like to think that the Bloxham family looked after her and sheltered her in her old age after so many years of service.

 Eliza Whatmore 

Eliza was born at Hampton, Chelmarsh on 14 April 1846 but died when she was 19, being buried on 16 January 1846.  For some strange reason, she is shown (rather than her sister Harriet) as being in the Bloxham household in the 1881 census.)

 I trust I may be forgiven for this rather lengthy post about what may appear to be an unremarkable family. They are of course important to me as James and Ann were my great x 3 grandparents and think that the story of their life depicts quite well the lot of a ordinary labouring family in Victorian times, moving from place to place in search of work, having numerous children and losing many of these at an early age. If they ever had a gravestone, it is long since gone and this account is their only memorial