Great x3 Uncle John Edworthy

My Great x3 Uncle John Edworthy (1845 - 1910), was a carter, farm/agricultural labourer, step-father of one, father of ten, and the elder brother of my Great Great Grandfather William Edworthy (1852 - 1911).

John was born in Oct/Nov/Dec 1844 in Lapford, Devon, to William Edworthy (about 24), a farm labourer, and Mary Edworthy (nee Harris) (about 21).

On 22nd December 1844, John was baptised in Lapford.

John was the second of eleven children (four daughters and seven sons) and the eldest son:

• Ann  1841 - 1882  (41)
• John  1844 - 1910  (65)
• Elizabeth  1849 - 1917  (about 68)
• William  1852 - 1911  (about 59)
• George  1854 - 1876  (22)
• Samuel  1856 - 1920  (64)
• Ellen  1858 - 1934  (75)
• Lewis  1861 - 1943  (82)
• Frederick  1863 - 1943  (79)
• Frank  1866 - 1929  (63)
• Mary Harris  1869 - 1939  (69)

1851 Census:

As a young teen, John left the family home to find work. By 1861, he was living with and working as a carter at the 168 acres Coombe Farm, for farmer Thomas White.

1861 Census:

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1870, John (about 26), a carter and agricultural labourer, married Grace Mitchell (about 20), a young single mother of one, in the district of Crediton, Devon.

Grace had one son, born before her marriage, when she was only seventeen:

• William Mitchell  1867 -

John and Grace had ten more children (five sons and five five daughters):

• John 'Jack'  1871 -
• Sydney  1873 - 1874  (3 months old)
• Lucy Ann  1875 - 
• Ruth  1877 - 
• Alice  1879 - 1902  (22 years old)
• Mary Jane 1881 - 
• Charles 'Charlie' James  1887 - 
• Ernest Mitchell  1889 - 1916  (28 years old) 
• Walter  1892 - 1917  (25 years old) 
• Florence Maud  1894 - 

Sadly John and Grace's second(/third) son Sydney passed away, at only three months old. He was buried in February 1874, in East Worlington, Devon.

Their middle daughter Alice also passed away prematurely, aged twenty-two, in 1902. I do not know the cause; however, their youngest daughter Florence, aged nineteen, in 1913, entered the Devon and Cornwall Sanatorium for Consumptives. Her disease had developed in May 1913, she was admitted to the sanatorium in December 1913, and was discharged three months later in March 1914, 'V.M.I [likely very much improved] able to do light work'. What ailed Florence? Well 'consumptives' were individuals who suffered from a wasting disease, especially pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Did her older sister Alice succumb to the same/or a similar disease? 

Their fourth(/fifth) child and second daughter Ruth would go on to marry her first cousin William Gilbert John Edworthy, son of John's younger's brother William.

1871 Census:

In the 1870's, the young Edworthy family added to their income by having boarders. 

1881 Census:

1891 Census:

1901 Census:

In Jul/Aug/Sep 1910, John passed away, aged sixty-five, in the district of Crediton, Devon.

By 1911, John's widow Grace went to live with their son Charles James, and his wife and young son, in Copplestone, near Crediton.

All of John's surviving adult sons served in the army - three in the First World War. Sadly two were killed in action...

Older son Jack (original service number: 2829. later service number: 3893) enlisted as a private, in the 4th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, in January 1894 (his age is given as eighteen; however, he would have been twenty-three). His service record gives a brief physical description: as a young man, Jack was 5' 5'', had a fresh complexion, fair/light brown hair and grey eyes. 

He was appointed as a drummer in October 1897. He transferred to the reserves in August 1902 and was discharged in February 1906. He was too old to re-enlist or be conscripted during the First World War. However, he lead the way for his younger brothers to join the army.

In December 1903, Charlie (service number: 7558), aged nineteen, enlisted as a private, in the 1st Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment. His service record gives a brief physical description: as a young man, Charlie was 5' 6 1/2'', had a fresh complexion, brown hair and grey eyes. 

Charlie originally served for a period of three years. He served at 'Home' (eg England) from December 1903 - February 1905. Then in India for two years, from February 1905 - February 1907. In February 1907, he transferred to the reserves. With the outbreak of war, seven years later, in August 1914, Charlie found himself immediately called up, and promoted to Lance Corporal. However, he did not leave 'Home' for France until August 1916, when he was promoted again to Lance Sergeant. He was again promoted, in December 1916, to Sergeant. He served in France for two and half years, from August 1918 to February 1919 (with two furloughs - on in June/July 1918 and another in September 1918). He transferred again to the reserves in 1919; and was finally discharged from the army in 1920.

Next brother, seventeen-year-old Ernest (service number: 4890), a farm labourer, enlisted as a private in the 4th Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment. Ernest originally signed up for a term of six years; however, he (or someone else?) purchased his discharge after only three months. Ernest's service record gives a brief physical description: as a young man, Ernest was 5'4 3/4'', had a fresh complexion, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He either re-enlisted or was conscripted during the First World War. He was killed on 1st July 1916, aged twenty-eight.

Younger brother Walter was a private in the 9th Battalion, the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He was killed on 6th December 1817, aged twenty-five.

The younger Edworthy brothers (my first cousins three times removed on my father's side) are remembered on the Bow War Memorial, alongside my Great x3 Uncle Harry Sandford (from my mother's side of the family). (https://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Bow/BowWarMemorial.htm)

Bow War Memorial honouring my Cousins Ernest and Walter Edworthy and Uncle Harry Sandford

Grace outlived her husband by twenty years. In Apr/May/Jun 1930, Grace passed away, aged eighty-three, in the district of Crediton.

Great x3 (Half?) Aunt Ann Cobley (formerly Edworthy; nee Harris)

My Great x3 (Half ?) Aunt (also my Great x4 Aunt by marriage) Ann (1841 - 1882) was a housewife, mother of three; the eldest (possibly half) sister of my Great Great Grandfather William Edworthy (1852 - 1911), and the first wife of my Great x4 Uncle Samuel Cobley (1829 - 1916).

Ann was born in Apr/May/Jun in 1841 in Lapford, Devon, the illegitimate daughter of Mary Harris (about 17).

On 13th June 1841, Ann was baptised as Ann Harris, in Lapford. Her mother's name is listed, but not her father's.

Ann's father may have been Mary's future husband William Edworthy (about 20), a farm labourer. 

Around 1841, William's older brother George lived for some time with the Harris family in Lapford (as shown on the 1841 Census) and would soon marry Ann's older sister Mary, meaning it was likely younger siblings William and Mary knew each other in 1841, if not earlier.

Ann is recorded on the 1851 Census as being William's daughter and has his surname of Edworthy; however, when she later married in 1860, she was once more calling herself Ann Harris and her father's name not listed.

1841 Census:

On 26th September 1844, when Ann was three years old, her mother Mary (about 20) married William Edworthy (about 24), in Lapford. At the time, Ann's mother Mary was around seven months pregnant with her second child, a son called John.

Ann had ten younger (half?) siblings:

• Ann  1841 - 1882  (41)
• John  1844 - 1910  (65)
• Elizabeth  1849 - 1917  (about 68)
• William  1852 - 1911  (about 59)
• George  1854 - 1876  (22)
• Samuel  1856 - 1920  (64)
• Ellen  1858 - 1934  (75)
• Lewis  1861 - 1943  (82)
• Frederick  1863 - 1943  (79)
• Frank  1866 - 1929  (63)
• Mary Harris  1869 - 1939  (69)

1851 Census:

Though Ann Edworthy on the 1851 Census, by 1860 Ann was once more going by Ann Harris.

On 31st March 1860, Ann (about 18) married Samuel Cobley (about 30), an agricultural labourer, in East Worlington. The name of Ann's father is not recorded. But a witness to the marriage was an Elizabeth Edworthy - probably an aunt or cousin, rather than Ann's younger (half?) sister Elizabeth, who would have only been eleven or so at the time.

Samuel (1829 - 1916) is also my Great x4 Uncle. He was the youngest brother of Great x3 Grandmother Grace Nott (nee Cobley) (1828 - 1890). Hopefully this tree explains the link...

Ann and Samuel had three daughters:

• Mary Ann  1863 -
• Emily  1870 -
• Jessie  1876 -

They would bring up their young family in East Worlington.

1871 Census:

1881 Census:

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1882, Ann passed away, aged about forty-one, in the district of Crediton, Devon. She was buried on 27th December 1882 in East Worlington.

Ann shares a gravestone with her mother Mary and younger (half?) brother George, at St Mary's Churchyard, East Worlington. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207067738/ann-cobley)

...

Ann left behind a widower, Samuel (about 53), and three young daughters, Mary Ann (about 19), Emily (about 12) and Jessie (about 6).

Her daughters seem to have first found work as domestic servants. Ann's middle daughter Emily, a domestic servant, would live with her paternal Uncle William Cobley and his family, at the Black Dog Inn, in Washford Pyne, where Uncle William was the innkeeper/publican. Emily later married her first cousin Walter Cobley. 

Ann's daughter Emily passed away in 1939; at that point the Cobley family had reportedly run the Black Dog Inn for 150 years (so since approximately 1790) and were directly descended from Uncle Tom Cobley! 

Well at least according to the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette of 12th May 1939:

...

Back to the 1880s, and the years directly following Ann's death...

Two years after his wife's death, Samuel remarried. In September 1884, Samuel (about 54), a widower and agricultural labourer, married Elizabeth Bennett (nee Crossman) (about 47), the widow of agricultural labourer George Bennett, and mother of four:

• Henry Crossman  1857 - (an illegitimate son born before her first marriage)
• John Bennett  1871 -
• Mary Ann Bennett  1874 -
• Clara Bennett  1876 -

Mary Ann and Clara, some fifty plus years later, attended the funeral of their step-sister Emily Cobley (they are listed under their married names of Mrs H Petherick and Mrs J Saunders).

1891 Census: 

1901 Census:

By 1901, Samuel, in his early seventies, was working as the caretaker of Affeton Castle, East Worlington. Though it has castle in its name, the building is in fact a restored late medieval gatehouse, and in the late Victorian period was used as a hunting lodge by the knighted Stucley family.

Affeton Castle, near East Worlington

In the 1900's, Samuel's second wife Elizabeth passed away.

By 1911, an elderly and twice-bereaved Samuel was living with his daughter, Emily and her family at the Black Dog Inn, Washford Pyne, Devon. By this time, Emily's husband (Samuel's son-in-law and nephew) Walter, following his own father's death, had taken over as innkeeper (and farmer).

1911 Census:

On 30th December 1916, Samuel passed away, aged about eighty-seven, at the Black Dog Inn, Washford Pyne, Devon. He outlived his first wife Ann by nearly twenty-five years.

Black Dog Inn, Washford Pyne, was run by the Cobley/Rattenbury family for several generations.

(...William Cobley, brother of Samuel and Grace, had married his employer's daughter, Sarah Rattenbury. Upon his father-in-law's death, William became innkeeper. Upon William's death, his and Sarah's son Walter took over. Walter married his Uncle Samuel's daughter, his first cousin Emily. Walter and Emily's son then took over...)

Great x3 Uncle Charles 'Charlie' James

My Great x3 Uncle Charles 'Charlie' (1883 - 1965) was a rabbit catcher/trapper/dealer, father of two, and a younger brother of my Great x2 Grandmother Lucy Vernon (nee James) (1868 - 1897).

Charles was born on 1st April 1883 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, to Henry James (about 46), an agricultural labourer, and Louisa James (nee Edwards) (about 34), a housewife.

Charles was baptised on 13th May 1883 in Morchard Bishop. At the time of Charles' baptism, the family lived at Watcombe/Whatcombe [farm or more likely cottage].

Charles was the sixth of eight children (four daughters and four sons):

• Lucy  1868 - 1897  (29 years old)
• Bessie  1869 - 1945 or 1956  (77 or 86 years old)
• Edwin  1875 - 1896  (21 years old)
• Louisa  1878 - 1966  (87 years old)
• Emily Maude  1880 - 1967  (86 years old)
• Charles  1883 - 1965  (82 years old)
• Francis Robert  1886 -
• Gilbert 1889 -

Charles and his siblings grew up in Morchard Bishop.

1891 Census:

When Charles was a young teen, two of his older siblings passed away in their twenties. In July or August 1896, Charles' older brother Edwin passed away, aged only twenty-one, in East Worlington. Less than a year later, in March 1897, Charles' eldest sister Lucy passed away, aged twenty-nine, of TB, in Kennerleigh. I wonder if brother and sister both succumbed to the same disease.

By his late teens, Charles was working as a rabbit trapper. He lodged with the Gale family, headed by butcher Charles Gale, in Lapford.

1901 Census:

Charles may have been close to his sister closest to him in age, Emily, for it was him - rather than their father Henry - who gave Emily away at her wedding in Exeter in 1904.

Alas Charles came up against the law an several occasions...

Firstly, on Christmas Eve (24th December) 1901, he was fined 11s, at Chumleigh, according to the ground game act. Was he catching rabbits when/where he shouldn't have been?

Secondly, he was found not guilty of unlawfully and maliciously wounding (with a piece of glass) one Arthur Ash, with intent to do him grievous bodily harm, at North Tawton, on the 27th July 1904. 

What had happened? 

Essentially it was a pub brawl. 

On the evening of 27th July, Charles was sat drinking at the bar of the Gostwyck Arms in North Tawton. Three lads had been there: Charles James, somebody Moore and Sidney Ash. Another, a witness called Skinner, later became involved. 'Chaffing remarks' were exchanged, which resulted in Charles offering to fight Moore and Sidney Ash. He struck Sidney Ash, knocking him against the wooden partition. Sidney then said he would fetch his brother Arthur Ash, though he did not. Yet soon after in the road they met Arthur Ash, who asked Charles why he had hit his brother. Arthur then stuck Charles in the face. A fight ensued. Later to the court, Arthur showed off cuts to his person and coat that the piece of glass had made. Yet Charles, the defence argued, had not one single cut to his hand, which would have been expected if he was holding tight to and using a piece of glass as a weapon. Charles denied ever having the glass, let alone using it, though he admitted to using his fists after Arthur Ash first struck him. Everyone had been drunk and fighting each other and it was dark. The rumour going around was that it was in fact Skinner (remember him) who was striking Arthur Ash with the glass, having mistaken Arthur Ash for Charles. 

'There was a great degree of confusion and they were fighting one across the other'. So it was argued in their drunken haze, on that dark country road, Arthur Ash and whatever-his-christen-name-was Skinner each believed they were fighting Charles James, but they were in fact fighting each other. And sure drunken brawls were one thing, but bringing a shard of glass to a fist fight was considered beyond the pale. [I'm a pacifist and a teetotaller, I've no idea of the unwritten rules of drunken fights in or outside of pubs. Are there any?]

From the Western Times of 29th July 1904:

From the Western Times of 5th August 1904:

From the Western Times of 21st October 1904:

Interestingly his crime record of 1904 gives Charles' 'degree of instruction' (Can the prisoner read and/or write? N (No), R (Only read), Imp (Imperfectly) or Well)) as 'well'. Though only a poor rabbit trapper, he could read and write well.

In September 1906, before the bench at the Moretonhampstead Petty Sessions, Charles summoned a young man called Henry Long for stealing six of his rabbit traps from Cocktree Farm. Long pleaded guilty and was fined £1.

From the Western Times of 26th September 1906:

By 1910, in his late twenties, Charles was sometimes going by his birth name of Charles James and sometimes under the alais of Charles Scott James or Scott James. He also seems to have knocked a couple of years off his age - giving his age as 25 in 1910, when he would have really been 27. He is also giving his profession not simply as rabbit catcher or trapper but a dealer of rabbits.

By 1910, he had been convicted twice under the Game Law and once the Highway Act (between 1901 and 1908).

In 1910, Charles was again arrested and this time for a more serious offence. He was found Guilty of sending a threatening letter accusing one James Henry Hutchings of an infamous crime to extort money (eg give me x amount of money or I'll tell the police what I saw), on 15th February 1910, and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labourer. 

From North Devon Journal of 24th March 1910:

Charles' 1910 Prison record:

The 1911 Census shows Charles, a prisoner in Exeter prison on New North Road.

1911 Census:

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1915, Charles (about 32), rabbit trapper, married Alice Maud Brend (about 26), a domestic maid and housekeeper, in the district of Barnstaple.

Charles and Alice had two children (one son and one daughter):

• Victor Charles  1920 -
• Beatrice Hazel Valentine  1922 -

(The name Victor grew in popularity after the victories of WWI. The few Victors I have in my family, great uncles and distant cousins, were born in the 1920's.)

At some point around the 1910s/1920's, Charles and his family moved to Saunton, Braunton, on the North-West coast of Devon, where they would live for many years. Charles' older sister Louisa Tonkin(s) and husband Walter also lived in Braunton for a few years around 1939.

In June 1928, Charles found the body of commercial traveller Henry George Gilbert on Braunton sands, near the lighthouse. Gilbert had been out sailing, there had been some sort of accident, and he had drowned. 

(Somewhat eerily, Charles' nephew Leonard James Tonkin(s) (younger son of Charles' sister Louisa) would also find the body of a drown victim. In 1938, Leonard found the body of of 21-year-old Alfred Channon in the River Otter, at the Honiton Swimming Club Headquarters. In this case, the coroner gave a reluctant verdict of suicide by drowning.)

Charles and Alice's marriage may not have been one made it heaven. Charles put a notice in the North Devon Journal of 16th April 1931 that he would 'not be answerable for any Debts incurred by [his] wife':

However, they still appear together on the 1939 census, and by the time of Alice's death in 1948.

1939 Census:

By the early 1940's, Charles and Alice's young adult daughter Beatrice had married and was living in London - where she would live until her death, aged ninety-two, in 2014. And at some point their son Victor it seems may have moved to live in Scotland. However both children returned to Devon in 1948 to attend their mother's funeral.

In January or February 1948, Charles' wife Alice passed away, aged about 58. Her funeral took place on 19th February 1948 at St Brannock's, Braunton. It was attended by family and friends, including Charles' sister Emily and her husband Sam Trigger, and Charles' brother Francis and his wife.

From the North Devon Journal of 26th February 1948:

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1965, Charles himself passed away, aged eighty-two, in the district of Barnstaple.