Thursday, April 5, 2018

John and Ann Hughes of Wordsley, Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England



     From the beginning of this blog, I am stating it is conjecture that this is John Hughes, son of William Hughes and Mary Bourne (or Green).  I have gone through the census reports from Wordsley for several decades tracing this particular John Hughes.  The birth year and place of birth do match; however, the only documents I have, to date, are census reports.  Oddly, the marriage, birth and death documents are not available on the web for Wordsley--even for a fee.  It is my hope that someone who descends from the one daughter who married or another family researcher will stumble upon this blog and lead me in the right direction.

1841 United Kingdom Census
Wordsley, England

     John Hughes, the oldest son born to William Hughes and Mary Bourne Hughes, was baptized on July 27, 1828 in Wordsley, Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England.  John was present on the family's 1841 United Kingdom census report, age twelve.

     I have been unable to locate a 1851 United Kingdom census for John.  Possibly he was employed as a boatman for his father and was out on the Stourbridge Canal moving a boat full of materials from town to town.  He would have been about age twenty two.

1861 United Kingdom Census
Showing both John and Samuel Hughes

1861 United Kingdom Census
Showing daughters Mary and Ann Hughes
    
      It is with the 1861 United Kingdom census report that I am going out on the proverbial family tree limb.  I noticed that there was a John Hughes enumerated several lines down on the same page as my paternal 3x great grandfather, Samuel Hughes.  The age of this John Hughes is in the range of Samuel's brother.  He was a boatman and was born in Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England.  The family was living in a house on Bell Mills Lane in Wordsley.  John was married to a woman named Ann, who was born about 1828 in Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England.  Moving forward to the next page there are two daughters enumerated to the family, Mary Hughes, age three years, born about 1858 and Ann Hughes age three months, born in 1861 probably in Wordsley.  Where John met Ann is unknown and I have not found a marriage certificate for them.  Whether she lived in Wordsley or he met her in another town while he was running his boat is unknown.

1871 United Kingdom Census

1871 United Kingdom Census

      The 1871 United Kingdom census shows that the John Hughes family was still in Wordsley and living in a house on Bell Lane, perhaps the same street with a name change.  The oldest daughter, Mary is not enumerated with the family.  Ann, age ten and a third daughter, Jane, age three born in 1868 in Wordsley are present in the home.  John may still be doing boatman work with his father; however, he is listed as a farm laborer on the census.  I have found that often men had two jobs fitting them in when they could.  John's father, William Hughes was still alive, living in Wordsley and was a boatman.  It would not be unusual for John to occasionally help his aged father.  By this time both of John's brothers, Samuel and William had moved to West Hartlepool, England.


1871 United Kingdom Census
Joseph Bramah Cochrane

1871 United Kingdom Census
Mary Ann Hughes enumerated with the Cochrane Family

     Mary Hughes, in the neighborhood of age thirteen, is MIA; however, she reappears in the 1881 UK census, so I ventured back out on the 1871 UK census and found a ten year old Mary Ann Hughes, living in Wordsley as a servant and helping in the family as a nurse.  It certainly was not unusual for a family to "farm out" a child during this time in England or, for that matter, in the United States.  Although the age is off by several years, this could be John and Ann Hughes' oldest daughter.  Perhaps this family does not know or care about her actual age. I want to add that this Mary Hughes was born in the Kingswinford, Staffordshire area and was the only Mary Hughes enumerated in  Wordsley on the 1871 census.  Just on the chance she may have traveled to West Hartlepool with her two uncles, I did check there and came up with nothing.

     I have had an interesting time with the family Mary is enumerated with--the Cochrane family.  Apparently they were captains of the iron industry.  There is plenty of information on them on the net.  Mary Ann Hughes is enumerated with the Joseph Bramah Cochrane family, a household that moves around the Staffordshire area from census to census.  They are only in Wordsley for the 1871 census and as you can see, they do have a number or servants.  Several nurses....Mary Ann being the youngest.  The wife of Joseph died in 1872.  Was Mary Ann taking care of the baby, children or a sick wife.  She was probably assisting them all.  As I followed Joseph B. Cochrane through several decades of census reports, he always had numerous service people living in his home.  Needless to say, a family of wealth.  Another interesting feature of this Cochrane family is that Joseph's mother's maiden name was Hughes.  I do not know if she was any relation....generations back....however, of interest.  Also, if this is "my" Mary Hughes, she had a middle name--Mary Ann.


1881 United Kingdom Census

     The 1881 John Hughes United Kingdom census has an interesting piece of information on it; however it is illegible :-(  John's mother-in-law, eighty three year old Mary (Presdee?) born in Wordsley is living in the house.  Also, a lodger, Elizabeth Hughes, a twenty nine year old, unmarried woman, born in Wordsley, is enumerated.  Another new face is eight year old Emily Hughes who is listed under Elizabeth.  My guess is that Emily is Elizabeth's daughter born out of wedlock.  So many questions arise with this census....how I wish I had access to the Wordsley marriage, birth and death records!

     Additionally, this census lists all members of the John and Ann Hughes family as having been born in Wordsley.  The various forms of employment are of interest.  John is a general laborer, Ann a charwoman, Mary and her sister Ann are employed in the glass industry in Wordsley as etchers, Jane is a school teacher and Elizabeth is working in the warehouse of the ? Glass Works.  The name of the actual glass works is illegible.

     Ann Hughes' mother's married name is a mystery.  The census reader for ancestry lists it her as Mary Presdee.  I have gone through earlier Wordsley census reports page by page and found no Presdee surname.  Could it be Presder, Fresdee, Fresder Tresdee, Tresder.....?  

       Elizabeth Hughes.  She could be John's youngest sister, Mary E. Hughes.  The age would be right on target, as would the birth in Wordsley.  Was she Mary Elizabeth Hughes and called Elizabeth rather than Mary?

     So many revelations....no answers.....


1891 United Kingdom Census
    
               The John Hughes family is enumerated within the Wordsley area in 1891, however, the actual street is difficult to read.  This page seems to be a hodge podge of streets or places.  John is employed in an iron foundry doing something with pipes.  Daughter, Mary, is employed as a glass decorator in one of the many glass factories in the area.  Wife, Ann, and daughter, Ann, are not employed outside the home.  Daughter, Jane, is MIA; however, she does reappear in the 1901 United Kingdom census.

1901 United Kingdom Census

     John Hughes, died, probably in Wordsley, between 1891 and 1901.  Ann Hughes, age seventy three is enumerated as a widow and living in a house on High Street in Wordsley.  All three daughters are at home with their mother.  Mary and Ann are employed in one of the local glass factories as glass decorators and Jane, who has returned home, is a local school mistress.  


     There is a marriage record in Wordsley for a Jane Hughes, daughter of John who married George Moore, son of David Moore.  The wedding took place on December 23, 1903 in the Parish Church, Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England.  I have not been able to find the married couple on the 1911 United Kingdom census report.  Yet another broken link.  Did Jane meet George Moore through her teaching or perhaps, although I have cropped the 1901 census report, there is a Moore family living beside the Hughes family on High Street.  Could George be a relation of the head of that family?

     

1911 United Kingdom Census
       
     Mary and Ann Hughes continued to live together in 1911.  It appears that their mother, Ann Hughes has died between the 1901 and 1911 census reports.  The two single women have turned to the local church for a place to live and work.  They are enumerated in The Rectory, Wordsley, Stourbridge.  Only Mary is employed as a servant/cook for the inhabitants.  I have wondered if Ann has had some medical issue over the years as she is often not employed on the census reports and again, on this one, she is listed as a boarder.  I imagine that her sister is paying her way with her work as the rectory cook.  Both women were listed as born in Wordsley and have lived their lives in that town. 

     To date, no found census report for Jane Hughes Moore in 1911. 

     The story of this piece of the Hughes family ends here.  The 1921 United Kingdom census reports are not available.  And, as mentioned earlier, I do not have access to any Wordsley documents.  Is this the family of my paternal 4x great uncle or have I researched and blogged about someone else's family.  Hopefully, one day, an email will pop up in my mailbox with that answer.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.
© 2018, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser


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