The early life & parents of Mary Benson 1843-1931

Introduction

Mary Wright (nee Benson) was the wife of James Wright and they were my 3xgreat grandparents. It took me quite a while to locate the marriage record of James and Mary in the Yorkshire Gazette (1861), as I could not find a record in the parish records of parishes that I thought they may have married in. This newspaper record told me that they were married at St. Olave's Marygate, York - I have yet to look through this parish's records to see if there is any extra information about this marriage e.g. who were the witnesses? Also, when I started this research in 1999, I was not accustomed to ordering marriage certificates - I also have not yet got this certificate though I do know its reference number. This may give me some extra interesting information.

The first clue that Mary Wright was born Mary Benson came when looking through the Acomb Census records - in the old fashioned way of scrolling through microfilm at York Library. Here I found in the 1881 census that John George Wright, the eldest son of James and Mary Wright was living in Acomb with his grandparents George and Eliza Benson. This showed me that Mary Wright was the daughter of George and Eliza Benson.

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John George Wright seems to have been close to the Benson family as he named one of his children "Benson". Unfortunately he died in infancy:

From the baptismal register of Edward-the-Confessor Church, Dringhouses: bp. Jan 1 1885, Benson Herbert, son of John George & Annie Elizabeth Wright, North Lane Dringhouses, builder.

Yorkshire Gazeette 22/12/1888:

Death of John George Wright's son Benson Herbert aged 4.

The children of George & Eliza Benson

Mary Benson was the eldest child of George & Eliza Benson. I was able to piece together their family details from parish records, the IGI, census records and the newspaper indexes at York library. It appears that George and Eliza had 9 children, with 3 dying in infancy. The remaining 6 children all had children (issue) of their own (I will detail these descendants in the next post). What's also notable from this pedigree is that Eliza's maiden name is GOWLAND - this was first evident to me when I saw that George and Eliza had used this name as a middle name for two of their sons.

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From what I can gather (more info to come in later posts), George Benson was born in 1818 in Acomb but left at some point prior to 1841 to apprentice as a baker in York (this was with his future wife Eliza's father). George and Eliza married in York between Oct-Dec 1841 and had five children in York:

IGI search on Familysearch.org

bp. 18 Dec 1842, Mary, daughter of George & Eliza Benson, St. Michael's Spurriergate, York.

bp. 6 Jan 1845 Thomas Gowland, son of George & Eliza Benson, St. Michael's Spurriergate, York

bp. 6 Jan 1845 Elizabeth, daughter of George & Eliza Benson, St. Michael's Spurriergate, York

bp. 17 Jan 1847 Eliza, daughter of George & Eliza Benson, All Saint's Pavement, York.

George Gowland Benson - known to have been born in 1849 from census records, but I cannot find his baptism in either parish records or the IGI. They then moved around 1851 to Acomb and had four more children:

baptisms MF 624 Acomb Parish Registers

bp 2 Nov (b 27 Sept) 1851 - William Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

bp 2 Nov (b 27 Sept) 1851 - Martha Emma Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

bp 3 June (b 9 May) 1861 - Frederick Thomas Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

bp 5 Oct (b 19 Aug) 1866 - Florence Anne Eliza Benson, son of Geo. & Eliza, Acomb, farmer.

The deaths of Eliza and Florence Anne were confirmed from death records in the York newspaper index. Thomas Gowland is presumed to have died by 1851 as he no longer appear in the census.

What did George Benson do after returning to Acomb?

The census records show that George Benson worked as a farmer after returning to Acomb in 1851 until his death in Acomb in 1897 (according to the York newspaper index). Between 1851-1881 he and his family lived on front street apparently at the corner of gayle/gale lane. This is what each census record says (I won't post each of these images just yet as they will take up too much space):

1851 - farmer of 87 acres,

1861 - farmer of 120 acres

1871 - farmer of 100 acres employing 2 men

1881 - farmer

1891 - now living on gale lane at the corner with front st, still a farmer

In 1901, Eliza Benson is now a widow and living at 21 albert street, Acomb. She is living with her second eldest daughter Elizabeth who appears never to have married. She is also living with her grand-daughter Florence Anne Benson, named after her youngest daughter who died in infancy. This grand-daughter was born in Filey and I have now found out from the 1911 census that she is the daughter of Elizabeth. I'll write more about that in the next post.

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Eliza Benson died on the 8th August 1906 (again, according to the York newspaper index) - 7 years to the day after husband.

some extra background on the Bensons of Acomb

The next few posts will be about the Benson family of Acomb - both their ancestors and descendants (as far as I can trace both). The majority of people with the name "BENSON" living in Acomb throughout the nineteenth century are related to one another and are descended from one man - William Benson who was born in Whixley in February 1722. One year after he was born, his parents and siblings all died within one month of each other and he moved to Acomb. Presumably William was the only survivor of an infectious disease that came through Whixley and was sent to live in Acomb with a relative.

William Benson's two sons, William (b1752) and John (b1754), went on to become the progenitors of two large branches of the Benson family. There are many interesting individuals in this family including historians, architects, emigrants, publicans, farmers and many others. It's amazing to think that all of these descendants owe their lives to one male Benson baby suriviving a pox or some other disease that swept through Whixley in the early 18th century.

In addition to the usual sources of evidence, I have additional information about the Bensons of Acomb from other contemporary researchers such as Mr Brian Kingston. Interestingly, one of the Benson family - a George Benson - was a local historian who also left several notes about his (and by extension my) family history. I will write more about this George Benson later. He has several published volumes (some of which I own) as well as having left some personal notes to the York City Archives (Acc108 - also available as a copy on microfilm at the London Family History Centre.

The next post will detail the first Benson to whom I'm related - my 3xgreat grandmother Mary Wright (nee Benson) b. 1843.

Mary Wright (nee Benson) 1843-1931.

My 3xgreat-grandfather James Wright was married to Mary nee Benson. They were married, according to the announcement in the Yorkshire Gazette, on 24 Mar 1861 in St. Olave's Church, Marygate.

James and Mary went on to have 10 children (4 boys, 6 girls) including my 2xgreat-grandfather Henry Wright. (click image below to enlarge).

Mary Wright (nee Benson) died 23 years after her husband on the 29th April 1931 in Acomb. This information was gleaned from the monumental inscription on the gravestone of St. Stephen's Churchyard, Acomb.

This is observable by going to the church and looking - or at York Reference Library there is a pamphlet detailing all of the records (ref = Y929.5 Baxter)

The inscription reads:

"In loving memory of

AMY / The dear and much beloved child / of JAMES AND MARY WRIGHT / born June 7th 1877 / died December 6th 1883 / it is well with the child ... it is well : KINGS.IV.26 /

Also JAMES WRIGHT / father of the above / who died 9th December 1908 / aged 72 years / 'thy will be done' /

Also MARY WRIGHT / wife of the above / died 29th April

1931 / aged 88 years / 'at rest' /

Also LUCRETIA HUNT / daughter of the above / passed away 18th May 1940 / aged 56 years"

I pieced together the later life of Mary Wright (nee Benson) primarily from the 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses as well as some trade directories. You can read more about what I found out about this at this earlier page.

In 1861, the newly married couple are living with James Wright's parents in the parish of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, York - the only information given about Ann is that she is '18' meaning she'd have been born around 1843 and that this was in York. By 1871, the couple had moved to "Poplar Villa" a house located on Skew Balk Lane - what is now the Wetherby road - leaving Acomb. For the next 30 years, James and Mary lived between Poplar Villa (sometimes called Poplar Grove) and the Marcia Inn which is located just off Acomb Green. James Wright worked as a market gardener, brick manufacturer, victualler and apparently a foster carer for disabled children during this time.

Further information about their life at Poplar Grove can be gleaned from a document listing the previous owners given to me by the current owner of the property. (Or at least the owner as was when I knocked on the door in 1999!). When I visited, the owner showed me how he had modified the building and demonstrated which walls were original - perhaps I shall be able to find a photo at some point. The owner also mentioned to me that he would occasionally find in the garden clay smoking pipes - these may have been Mary's as women were just as likely as men to smoke pipes in the 19C .

On this paper the following is written:

"POPLAR GROVE

20th Aug 1883 - James Wright of Acomb, gardener, admitted tenant of half of close of land called the Pasture

20th Dec 1899 - 10 acres of land loaned by Mary Wright from Robt Holtby (land previously held by her husband James Wright) - 30 pounds a year rent (between 1883 & 1899 James Wright declared bankrupt).

25th July 1909 - Mrs Wright buys 5 acres of land for 775 pounds (= southern half of house Pasture close).

19th Aug 1912 - Land valued at 775 pounds

20th Aug 1920 - Another 4 acres (= northern half of house Pasture close) bought for 305 pounds

31st Oct 1925 - Mrs Wright sells land to Mr W Wright of Knaresborough for 1100 pounds.

1st May 1926 - Mr W Wright sells property to Mr E Atkinson for 1900 pounds. Mrs M. Wright then 'of' 18 Albert Terrace, Acomb.

7th May 1927 - Atkinson sells property (in 2 blocks) to Hinchcliffe for 1700 pounds."

I believe Mr E Atkinson is Edward Atkinson, the husband of James and Mary Wright's daughter Mary Ellen Wright (b.1871). The Atkinson family later ran an off-license in Blossom Street, York and their descendants still live in York. I'm not sure who Mr W Wright is, but he is likely to be James and Mary Wright's son William Wright (b 1874). I'm also not sure who Mr. Robert Holtby is - I can't find him in either the 1891 or 1901 census in Acomb.

1911 Census

It is interesting that James Wright suffered financial difficulties during his later life, though he seems to have got this sorted several years before he died in 1908. This may be why Mary Wright herself, and not James, is named as victualler of the Marcia Inn in 1890 -

In the 1911 census Mary Wright is living as a widow at "The Poplars, Acomb" and her given occupation is market gardener. The building is said to have 12 rooms. She is living with 3 servants (Ellen Bland aged 30 domestic servant b.York; James Duff aged 10 gardener b. Kirk Hammerton; Arthur Coggrave aged 19 born Howden) and 3 boarders (George Cairns, aged 76, retired farmer, born Alnwick in Northumberland; Frederick Robert Bateman, aged 36, male nurse, born in Easington, Durham.). I cannot transcribe the third boarder. His name appears to begin with an H. and his last name is Lucas (I think). I cannot decipher his occupation or birth place. Unfortunately, the 'disability' column is blanked for the 1911 census (due to the 100 year disclosure rule). I have a feeling that this individual may be one of the patients that the Wright family occasionally housed at Poplar Grove. This may explain why a male nurse is living at the property.

The transcriber of the 1911 census thinks that this person is a "Harold Lucas", occupation "Private Means", born "Hitchin" - but I am not so sure about the first name or the birthplace. "Private Means" seems to be true and is commonly seen on the census.

I may in the future try and find out more about the other individuals living at the property. Interestingly, of her 10 children she lists 2 as having died. I know her daughter Amy (b.1877) died aged 6, but I do not know which of the other children it is that died (I may also look into this later).

Mary's post WW1 life in Acomb

I don't have much information about Mary Wright from 1911 until her death, other than the document above that states that in 1926 she was 'of' 18 Albert Terrace. I don't know why the 'of' is in inverted commas. This suggests that perhaps this wasn't the permanent residence of Mary. (In the 1911 census a mother and daughter are living at 18 Albert Terrace - Ellen and Mary Galland. They have no known connection to the Wright family).

I do not yet have the death certificate of Mary Wright - this would be useful to get as it would tell me where she was living when she died. (I have not yet found the reference to this). I did however find an entry to the index of the England & Wales Probate Calendar which is an Index of Wills:

"WRIGHT Mary of Parkhurst 65 York-road Acomb Yorkshire, widow, died 29 April 1931, Probate, York, 20 May 1931 to William chief clerk railway estate office and Florence Bulmer (wife of John William Bulmer). effects 2205 pounds, 3 shillings, 6 pence."

The William named here is presumably Mary Wright's son - the same one who bought and sold Poplar Grove five years previously. Florence Bulmer is I presume her 2nd youngest daughter (listed as Flory or Florie on the censuses). I will need to order the will to find out if these two were the only beneficiaries of the will. If so, I wonder why she only gave money to two out of the eight living children. -nb. 65 York Road, Acomb, is now a TSB Lloyds bank. I wonder what the Parkhurst refers to - perhaps a previous name for the house?

What's interesting to me is that my grandmother (Doreen Wright) was born a few years before her great-grandmother Mary Wright died. It's funny to think that my grandmother whom I grew up with may have spent time with her great-grandmother who was born in 1843!

In the next entry I shall detail the early pre-marriage life of Mary Wright (nee Benson).

The Benson Family of Acomb

It has been a long time since I have had any free time to pursue family history. I started researching over 10 years ago before so much genealogical material came available online. If I was to start now, I could have done nearly all the work in a fraction of the time it took! Ironically, the information that I have yet to unearth regarding my family is still (hopefully) contained in libraries and archives. Unfortunately I do not have the time to visit them - I also happen to live on a different continent to those repositories.

Nevertheless, I do possess a lot of notes and findings that I have yet to publish on this website. I have been very slow to do this as other things keep getting in the way, but I am hoping over the next few weeks to start putting more on this website. This should help me organize my thoughts and material, and also allow others to read it.

I am going to start with the Benson family of Acomb. In previous posts on this website my writing style was to discuss how I went about finding the material related to each ancestor. However, since some of this stuff was collected 12 years ago - I have no idea how I came across some of it. Perhaps writing it up will jog my memory!

I am descended from my 3xgreat-grandfather James Wright who was born in York, Yorkshire, in 1836. He married Mary Benson in 1861 also in York at St. Olave's Church, Marygate. Here is the wedding announcement in the Yorkshire Gazette of 1861:

The next few posts will detail more about the Benson family who have quite extensive connections with Acomb, and led me to learn much more about early 19C and 18C rural English social history.

Thomas Green - 1911 census

Here is the census image for my grandmother Mary Jane Green's parents and her older siblings.

Her father is Thomas Green and her mother Mary Jane (nee Phipps). The census confirms that they were married in 1896 but also reveals that Mary Jane has had 7 children of which only four have survived - Wilfrid (who seems to go by the name Frank according to this census), Ethel Lavinia (whose middle name is the same as Mary Jane's youngest sister Lavinia Phipps), Norman and Dora. Therefore 3 of her children must have already died in infancy.

I believe that Thomas Green may have been married once before Mary Jane and had a daughter Elizabeth with this previous wife. I presume that this first wife died, but I do not yet have the full information.

My grandmother doesn't appear in this census as she was born in May 1911 whereas this census was taken in April 1911.

All of Thomas & Mary Jane's children were born at Watling St., Brownhills where they are currently living in a place known as "Thacker's buildings" which has four rooms. The other information matches that from previous censuses with Thomas being a coal miner and having been born in Wellington, Shropshire whereas Mary Jane was born in Coseley, Staffs.

The Wright family in 1911

Please click on the 'Wright' tab on the right hand side to find more information about my great-grandfather Harold Wright, his parents and family. The 1911 census does not add to

o much extra information to what I already knew - All four children were born in Acomb, Henry Cecil Wright b1897, Harold b1900, Ethel b1902 and Kathleen Maud b1905.

In 1911 the three younger children were at school and Henry (named Harry on the census) is an apprentice cabinet maker. Their father Henry Wright (b1868, Acomb) is working for North Eastern railways as a wagon maker. This census also confirms that Henry and Ada Wright had only four children all of whom survived. They are living at Gale View, Acomb in a house with 5 rooms.

John Driscoll (comedian) in 1911

My great-grandmother was Mary Driscoll who was born on Curzon Street, Birmingham on 23rd October 1883. Her parents were John Driscoll and Mary Lines who were both born in Birmingham also. According to their certificate of marriage which took place on 25th December 1882 they were born in 1859 and 1860 respectively and were both living on Great Lister Street, Duddeston. At this point John Driscoll is described as a goods porter. However, in the 1881 and 1901 censuses he was described as a negro comedian or simply comedian. He obviously did other jobs as in 1891 he was a brass turner and at the birth of Mary Driscoll in 1883 he was a gas fitter. I'm not 100% positive about his birth date as in the 1881 and 1891 censuses his birth date would be 1862ish whereas according to the 1901 census it would be 1865ish.

According to the 1911 census, John Driscoll and his wife Mary are living at 28 Tennant Street, Birmingham in a house with 3 rooms that is also described as a 'shop'. John is described as a comedian working in the 'stage' industry, whilst Mary is involved in 'domestic work'. Interestingly they have been married for 28 years which agrees more or less with their marriage date of December 1882. However, they both claim to be 45 meaning that they were born in 1866 although as pointed out above their marriage certificate puts their dates of birth 6-7 years earlier.

They are living with two children Ada (aged 13) and Agnes (aged 8), but it also states that they have had 13 children in total but only 4 are living. That means that in addition to Ada and Agnes and my great-grandmother Mary there must be one other living child whom i do not yet know the name of. I don't know where this child is living or why he or she does not appear in the 1891 or 1901 censuses. The only child of the 9 who died that I know the name of is Clement John who was born around 1900 and appears in the 1901 census, but whose death record I've found in the register of deaths for 1902. I know from family information that Ada Driscoll did not marry and went on to run a boarding house for people involved in the theatre in the centre of Birmingham. I have found a marriage record for an Agnes Driscoll to a Sidney Jones in Birmingham in 1924.

There is lots of work still to do on the Driscoll family including filling in details about the children of John and Mary Driscoll. Church records and further birth certificates will help this. Also, I know that John Driscoll was the son of Dennis and Susan Driscoll from census records (click on the Driscoll tab on the right to find out more), but I need to see more church records and birth certificate work to find out further details of this family.

The Wilkes family in Castleford

I have previously researched the history of my Wilkes ancestors back to around 1800 in West Bromwich. I have yet to fill in some gaps in what happened to my more recent Wilkes ancestry - in the pedigree shown I've added in the extra information I've acquired recently in red.

According to the 1901 & 1911 census, John Thomas Wilkes and his wife Eliza Beatrice Wilkes had three children (John Thomas, Pollie and Elsie) in West Bromwich before moving to 5 Grafton Street, Glasshoughton (Castleford) between 1907 and 1911. They had a second son, Albert, in 1912 born in Castleford although I have yet to get the birth certificate. Albert was the only son to survive infancy.

It appears that John Thomas Wilkes died aged 39 in Castleford in late 1916 as I have found a death record for this event though I have yet to get the certificate. Eliza Beatrice Wilkes remarried a John White in early 1919 - I knew she remarried a White as my grandfather remembers Eliza Beatrice as being called 'Granny White'. I don't know yet what happened to Eliza Beatrice and John White after this time.

Of the three surviving children, Elsie Wilkes who is my great-grandmother married David Hughes and moved to York. I do not know very much about Albert Wilkes and his family though there is a family story that while he was young Albert saved some boys from drowning in a lake or brick pond. It will be interesting to search local newspapers to see what happened. I'd also like to find out more about Albert Wilkes' life.

I know more about Pollie Wilkes as I have a copy of both her birth and marriage certificates. The birth certificate (born 4th May 1902, West Brom) is not one that contains any family information, so I think it was not the official birth cerificate but simply a register of a birth certificate entry (it is a copy obtained in 1971 for what reason I don't know).

The marriage certificate is interesting and shows that she married a William Haigh, a miner, son of Amos Haigh, a miner, on the 26th March 1921. The witnesses are Harry Haigh and Lena Crosswaite. The Haighs live at 25 Temple Street Castleford and Polly Wilkes at 65 Grafton Street - presumably with her mother Eliza Beatrice and step-father John White.

John Thomas Wilkes in 1911

My great-grandmother was Elsie Wilkes (b1908), the daughter of John Thomas Wilkes (b1878) and Eliza Beatrice Evans (b1881). The Wilkes and Evans families were living in West Bromwich for the second half of the nineteenth century, and I have previously traced the Wilkes line back to the beginning of that century in that area (click on the Wilkes tab for more information). I knew that there were also two older children - John Thomas b1900 who died in infancy, and Polly (b1902). I also believe there to be a youngest son called Albert who I had thought to be born pre 1911. I also knew that the family moved at some point between 1902 and 1911 to Castleford, but I was not sure when.

In the 1911 census, I find John Thomas and Eliza Wilkes living at 5 Grafton Street, Glasshoughton, in a house with 4 rooms. It is a traditional terraced house that the majority of coal miners would have lived in - John Thomas is working as a coal hewer. They have been married for 11 years, which tallies with the marriage certificate that I already have - they also have had 3 children with only 2 surviving. Both Polly and Elsie are listed as having been born in West Bromwich, meaning that the Wilkes family must have moved to Castleford after 1908. This also means that Albert Wilkes must have been born after 1911 and in the Castleford area - there is a reference to an Albert Wilkes being born in the June Qtr of 1912 in the Pontefract district (which includes Castleford) so it is likely that he was born then. I shall also do a post sometime soon about Albert Wilkes's namesake and John Thomas' elder brother Albert Wilkes , a footballer who played for Aston Villa and England.

John William Hughes in 1911

John William Hughes

From the 1901 census I found out that my great-grandmother's father was called John William Hughes and that she (Catherine Annie Hughes b1897) had two brothers Mathew (b1895) and Zachariah (b1900). He was born in 1872, but he did not know where as the census stated NK - not known. He was married to Margaret Annie Carr (b1871), the daughter of Mathew Carr and Ann Padley. I found out this information after consulting Catherine Annie's birth certificate and the marriage certificate of John William Hughes and Margaret Annie in May 1893.

Also from the marriage certificate I know that John William's father was Zachariah Hughes - I have previously traced the family of who I believe to be the correct Zachariah Hughes here, however, I need to find a birth record that associates John William with Zachariah.

In the 1911 census, I find John William Hughes living at Landsale Cottages (or Landsdale Cottages), Greenside, Ryton-upon-Tyne. The house had 2 rooms and he is still a coal miner/hewer. He is living with a new wife called Elizabeth Hughes (b1881, Dunston), to whom he has been married for 8 years meaning that he married her in 1903. Elizabeth Hughes has had four children, one of whom has died. The three surviving children are Elizabeth (b1902), Winnie (b1904), and John William (b1910). The first two children were born in Dunston and then John William was born in Greenside, Ryton. Therefore, as Zachariah was born to Margaret Ann Carr in 1900, she must have died between 1900-1902. Interestingly, two of John William Hughes' children with his previous wife - Mathew Hughes and Zachariah Hughes - are also living there but Catherine Annie is not.

I found Catherine Annie Hughes living in the same town, Ryton-upon-Tyne at 1 Holborn House in a house that has 4 rooms. She is living with her mother's parents Matthew and Ann Carr and three of her uncles - Matthew, Joseph and John Carr. Strangely, she is described as being a servant rather than a grand-daughter. All of the Carr men are coal hewers. The other interesting information from this census is that Ann Carr (nee Padley) has had 11 children and four have died. Other than Catherine Annie's mother Margaret Annie, I knew that Ann had had 8 other children, so that means that there are 2 further children who likely died in infancy that I do not yet know the names of.

The most useful piece of information here is that I have found out that John William Hughes was born in Consett, Durham in 1872/3.

Morris Hughes in 1911

Morris Hughes was my 3xgreat grandfather born in 1856 in Bilston, Staffordshire. Here he is pictured with his wife Mary Gray who was born in Cawood near York in 1862. They were married in Normanton, Yorkshire in October 1881. They had 10 children - David, Jane, Mary Ellen, Charles, Morris, Harriett, Elizabeth, Laura, another Morris and Evelyn.

I looked up the recently released 1911 census. In it I find Morris and Mary Ellen Gray living at 16 Regent St, Castleford in a house with 4 rooms. Their unmarried daughters Mary Ellen (34), Elizabeth (25), Laura (12), Evelyn (7) and son Morris (10) are living with them. They have been married 31 years, and Morris is still working as a coal hewer underground.

I still cannot find a record of a death certificate for Morris, and haven't searched the church records. It will be interesting to find out how and when he died.

Thomas Curley - 1911 census

Background
My grandfather Cornelius Curley's parents were Thomas Curley and Mary Driscoll. Thomas Curley's parents were Thomas Curley (b1859) and Jane Hennigan (b1863). I have a longer post detailing what I have found out about Thomas here.

In short this is what I know:

- he was born in 1859 to Michael and Margaret Curley in Birmingham.

- in 1861, aged 2, he is living in Greens' Hill, Birmingham with his parents. He is the eldest child with a younger brother John.

- in 1871, living on Bath Row, Birmingham with his parents and 3 more younger siblings (Mary Ann, Jane, William - John is not listed)

- in 1881, his father has died and Thomas is living with his mother and five younger siblings (Michael and John in addition to 1871) at Myrtle's Row, Birmingham. He is now a spoon and fork polisher.

- he married Jane Hennigan on 24th Feb 1888 at St. Catherine's Church, Birmingham. Thomas' occupation was spoon polisher and he lived on Beak Street.

- in 1891 I cannot find him with 100% certainty (see previous post above). This would be the census where I should find him living with his son Thomas (my great-grandfather).

- in 1901, he is living on Hackers Bldng, Holliday Street and is a jeweller's polisher and has 6 children - Mary Ann, Margaret, Jane, Jonah, Michael, William P.

- on the 26 Dec 1904, he is present at the marriage of his son Thomas Curley to Mary Driscoll and his occupation is described as metal polisher. His son's residence is 3 Holliday Street.
In order to fill in the gaps of Thomas' life I shall need to get the birth and marriage certificates of some of his children, as well as get church records.

What the 1911 Census says

I managed to find Thomas still living on Holliday Street. He is living with Jane and he says that they have been married for 30 years (it was actually 33 years by this time). The children living with him are Jane 19, Jonah 13, Michael 11, William 9, Bernard 8, Peter 6 and Martin 1. Jane Hennigan was 49 years old at this point ! Thomas is described as a spoon and fork polisher, working in a factory.

The census also says that Thomas and Jane had only 7 children all of whom are alive - I know that they had had more by this time, so I'm thinking that they did not completely understand the question and just put down how many children were living at their house, not how many they had had in their marriage.

This census matches very nicely with the 1901 census, meaning that I can now list the children as:

Thomas b1884-5?

Mary Ann b1885

Margaret b1891

Jane b1893

Jonah b1899

Michael b1900

William b1901/2

Bernard b1903

Peter b1906

Martin b1910

From family information, there were also children called John and James - these may be the older children on the 1891 census where I think I've found Thomas with his parents but I'm not sure. This census lists the children as being - John b1879, Thomas b1886, James b1888 and Margaret b1890. The children's names match family information and the birth dates are within an acceptable margin of error, but unfortunately there is no Mary Curley despite her being aged 4 years old or so at this time. Also the father's name is William (not Thomas). I thought that this might be an error made by the enumerator (which is possible) as his age and occupation are both correct and Jane's name and age are correct - but it is possible that there was another Curley family with the same wife's name and many of the same children's names with similar birthdates living in the same area !. I'll have to dig around to be more certain.

The nicest thing about the 1911 census is that it confirms that the family living on Holliday Street are my Curleys, as at Thomas's wedding in 1904 he was living at the same address as the family are living in 1911.

Cornelius Curley - 1911 census

I have just found out about the early release of the 1911 census. I thought that I would get what information I could from it, as my writing up of my older genealogy information is on the back burner. I'm not sure why clicking on the census images doesn't make them bigger - i'm working on that.

I have found my grandfather Cornelius Curley (b1905) living in Birmingham in the 1911 census

with his younger brother John Thomas (b1907-8?) and sister Doris Mary (b 1909). At least 9 more sons were born to their parents (Thomas Curley and Mary Driscoll) after this date - at least that I'm aware of. I also believe an elder sister, Mary was born in around 1906-7 but did not survive. The background to the family is here and here [or just to click on the CURLEY tab on the sidebar to get all relevant info].

To shed extra light on how many children Thomas and Mary had, this census has three columns that state: 1) number of children born alive, 2) number of children still living, 3) number of children who have died. Thomas entered '3' for all 3 columns and then appeared to cross out the last one for the number who died. Meanwhile, it appears that the enumorator has drawn an arrow from the '6' in the column of "number of years of marriage" into the cell that has "number of children born alive". Unfortunately, this muddies the waters - did Thomas and Mary have 6 children in 6 years of marriage and only 3 survived until 1911? did they have 4 children and only Mary died (as I had previously believed), or did they only have 3 and all survived? I don't know the answer to this yet.

The occupation of Thomas is given as a cycle polisher as per the birth certificate of Doris Curley in November 1909 on this birth certificate. Mary is additionally described here as being employed in domestic work.

Interesting information is given about where they were living - they are at 22 Tennant Street, Birmingham, and their house has apparently 3 rooms in total. This information is signed by Thomas Curley. In November 1909 they had been living at 7 Back 88 Bishopsgate Street, but it was not uncommon for poor people like the Curleys to move around and anyway Tennant Street comes off of Bishopsgate Street (Tennant Street runs parallel with Broad Street in the middle of Birmingham).

Here is a picture of Thomas and Mary Curley with several of their children. Cornelius in standing on the top row, second from the left. 3rd and 4th from the left are John and Doris.

This is interesting extra information - though the major steps in the Curley research would be for me to fill in a lot of gaps - e.g. I can't find Thomas Curley in the 1901 census, and I have not yet gotten any church records for the Curley family.

new posts coming

Hello all. This website attracts a surprisingly large amount of traffic. Unfortunately, other commitments have meant that I haven't been able to do any updating. I'm still about five years behind in putting online what I've already researched about mine and my wife's family history. At least I have enough material for a while. I'm going to try and put together some newer posts over the next couple of months. In the meantime, I thought I'd simply list here some names that I shall be looking at in those posts - then people who search for these names will find this site and be interested.

My Yorkshire genealogy: I'll be going into more detail about my BENSON, GARBUTT, GOWLAND, SMURFITT, MAWLAM ancestry. That's mainly around YORK, NORTH RIDING OF YORKSHIRE, KIRKBY WHARFE, & KILBURN.

My wife's genealogy: This will take longer but will include - CHAMPAGNE, LANDRY, BLANCH, TORBORG, SCHROEDER/SCHRODER, DRECKMANN/DREKMANN.... amongst many others, covering MINNESOTA (RICHMOND COUNTY), SASKATCHEWAN (HUMBOLDT & MUENSTER), QUEBEC (MONTREAL), SAINT PIERRE ET MIQUELON, NEW BRUNSWICK (WESTMORLAND COUNTY), FRANCE (NORMANDY, BASQUE, AIX), GERMANY (HANNOVER).... and several others I can't think of just yet!


Hoepfully at least some of this I'll get to in 2009

Pictures of the Hughes family

Here are some pictures that I recently found of who we believe are Morris Hughes and Mary Gray - my grandfather's great-grandparents. Morris was born in February 1856 in Bilston, Staffs and married Mary Gray in October 1881 in Castleford. Mary was born in Cawood, near York in 1862. I had previously believed that Morris and Mary had had 9 children (David, Jane, Mary Ellen, Charles, Morris, Harriett, Elizabeth, Laura, and another Morris). This information was gleaned mainly from census records, with the last one available being the 1901 (where Morris was aged 1). Recently, however, a relative has been in touch to let me know that her grandmother was an even younger daughter of Morris Hughes and Mary Gray - Eveline who was born in 1903. My great-great-grandfather was David, who was the eldest child.

I don't know when or where these pictures were taken, but they appear to be taken at least after 1906 as Morris seems to be at least 50.



















Here is a picture of my grandfather's grandfather David Hughes who was born in 1882 in Whitwood. Here he is in his WW1 uniform. He was in the KOYLI (King's Own Light Infantryman) regiment.

Who witnessed the Wrights and why ?

Background
In the last post, I discussed searching for the baptism of my 4xgreat-grandfather John Wright in 1804. His place of birth as given by the census was 'Dringhouses', which covers 3 different adjoining parishes on the Southwest corner of the City of York. I am quite confident that I have found the correct entry - a John Wright son of Thomas Wright. This is based on it being the only baptism of a John Wright at the right time in the parish that I knew John to live in (Holy Trinity Micklegate). However, as the marriage entry for John Wright to Ann Calvert in 1829 did not give the name of his father, I want to have another record to link John Wright to Thomas Wright to be completely satisfied.


Did Thomas Wright live until 1841?
What I ideally would be able to do is find some record that has John Wright and his wife Ann Calvert, that link directly to Thomas Wright', or at least the other children that Thomas had. I suggested in the last post that perhaps the banns would help here. As I don't have access to that yet I thought about other possible routes. One thing I thought about was whether I could find Thomas Wright in the 1841 census. If he had lived until then, he would be at least 66 (his first child Jane was born in 1793 so his earliest possible birthdate would be 1775). There would therefore be a good chance that he would not be alive, but I thought it would be worth a try. Therefore I searched for "THOMAS WRIGHT" "Born 1765 +/- 10 years". I gave a wide margin for the date of birth due to the unreliability of ages in the 1841 census, and the possibility that Thomas didn't marry and have his first child until his late twenties. Using this criteria there were 15 Thomas Wrights born between these dates living in Yorkshire in 1841, and one living in Holy Trinity Micklegate! As there were no other Thomas Wrights living in any other York parish, I think there is a good chance that this is the Thomas Wright assuming he lived until 1841! A good test of this would be to search the burial records in the parish to see if Thomas did die between 1810 (the last time I have a definitive record for Thomas, at the baptism of his son James) and 1841.

The Thomas Wright I found was aged 77, which is a little older than I anticipated, but also suspicious as people were not meant to write the exact age only put their age down to the nearest '0' or '5'. Thomas is living with a Sarah Wright aged 75. Now, I already know that the Thomas Wright I am researching was married at least twice (to Ann Shaw on 12/2/1793 in Acomb and to Jane Morris between 1796-1799 at some place unknown). I think he may have also remarried to another Ann between 1810-1813, based on finding a baptism of a Henry Wright in Holy Trinity Micklegate to a Thomas and Ann Wright in 1813. However, there is no way to be sure if this is the same or another Thomas Wright. Thus, if the Thomas Wright in the 1841 census is indeed the right one, then it appears he has remarried again. Working from this hypothesis, I searched for a marriage between a Thomas Wright and Sarah in York between 1813 and 1841. I found in the IGI a record for a marriage in the neighboring parish:

"25/10/1829, Thomas Wright & Sarah Smith, St. Mary Bishophill Junior, York"


Can I get a witness?




Although this research is somewhat speculative at the moment, I think that it is very plausible that this is the Thomas Wright I'm interested in for three reasons. Firstly, Thomas Wright is living correct parish and is a 'farmer' - exactly the occupation that is described in the Dade registers of his children between 1793-1812. Secondly, John Wright and his wife Ann Calvert are living just down the street and are listed on the very next census page. Thirdly, when I re-examined the census image I noticed that living next door to Thomas Wright was a 'Robert Bellerby - aged 30'. I also then saw that living next door to John Wright was another 'Robert Bellerby - aged 63'. This was strange, but the name also rang a bell with me - I then remembered that I had seen the same name on the marriage record of John Wright and Ann Calvert in 1829 at St.Mary Bishophill Junior, as Robert Bellerby was a witness to their marriage. Both Robert Bellerbys are gardeners like John Wright.

While I don't have proof yet that this Thomas Wright is the father of John Wright, there certainly seems to be strong connections. The next steps for me would be to get details of marriages, births and importantly deaths to map the life of Thomas, his wives and family. Unfortunately, this Thomas didn't live until 1851 so I cannot look to see if he was born in Patrington, where I believe he was born according to the Dade Baptismal Registers of his children. Another thing I could try would be to follow the lives of the other children of Thomas Wright to see if I can connect my John Wright to Thomas Wright. Also, doing some research into the Bellerby family of this area may also be helpful - perhaps the link was more than friends, perhaps they were related in some way.

Eighteenth Century Wrights

Background
My 4xgreat-grandfather John Wright was born in Dringhouses, York, in approximately 1804. I found this information from the 1841-1871 censuses where he was described as a gardener still living in Dringhouses. In 1829, he married Ann Calvert, and they had 7 children together between 1831 and 1844 including my 3xgreat-grandfather James Wright in 1836. In this post I shall try and find out more about the early life and parents of John Wright.

Weighing up the baptismal evidence of John Wright
The first step in finding out more about the early life of John Wright was to find a baptism. As I've mentioned previously, this part of York at this time had 3 parishes that were very close in distance. Thus, if someone moved only a small distance then they may move from one parish to another. Therefore, one needs to search the registers of St. Mary's Bishophill Junior, St. Mary's Bishophill Senior and Holy Trinity Micklegate when looking for a baptism in the 'Dringhouses' area. When I first researched this family, I only found the one record for a John Wright - he was baptised on Sunday June 10th 1804 at Holy Trinity Micklegate, the son of Thomas Wright a farmer at Dringhouses. This is also corroborated by two other family history researchers who had been studying the Wright family and had come to the same conclusion that my John Wright was the son of this Thomas Wright (and whose research I trust!). Another positive was that Holy Trinity Micklegate was also the parish that on John Wright's marriage record in 1829 he was registered as being from - hence why I searched these registers first. Unfortunately though, the marriage record for John Wright and Ann Calvert did not record their father's names so I cannot cross-check that I have the correct baptism. I therefore do not have a direct record other than the baptism with 'John Wright son of Thomas Wright' upon to prove the link. However, as John Wright and Ann Calvert were married by banns (this is where the announcement of intent to marriage was read out for 3 consecutive Sundays in the parish church of each individual), I may be able to get these registers to check. I also need to think if there is anything else in the local records that may help me here, as well as consulting with others who have worked on this line to see what records they have looked at.

Another way to be completely sure would be to establish if any other John Wrights were born in neighbouring parishes. I found two, maybe three, born in St. Mary Bishophill Junior according to the IGI between 1802-1803. It appears as if two John Wrights may actually be one as the same date (26th September) is given for the baptism of a John Wright son of George Wright, but one is 1802 (from the parish records) and the other 1803 (from an LDS member, so perhaps not as reliable). The chances of these being two John Wrights seem slim and therefore they are probably one and the same. The other John Wright was the illegitimate son of a Hannah Wright (bp 27 Aug 1803). I cannot completely eliminate the possibility that one of these is my John Wright. I could try and start doing this by 'killing them off', i.e. checking the burial registers to see if either of them died in infancy. Alternatively, I could 'marry them off' to another wife rather than Ann Calvert, which would demonstrate that they couldn't possibly be the correct John.

Nevertheless, the fact that my John Wright stated on his marriage record he was from Holy Trinity Micklegate parish and that there was only one John Wright born there at the correct time leads me to believe that this is the correct John Wright for me. It has to be remembered that when moving into Eighteenth Century research, it becomes harder to have more than one piece of evidence that clarify relationships, though this is always the ideal. Currently, I'm happy to think that my John Wright was the son of Thomas Wright, as are the other researchers who have looked into this. I would hope to find extra records to prove this, or to look for records that eliminate those John Wrights baptised at roughly the same time in neighboring parishes.


John Wright in the Dade Registers
The complete transcript from the Holy Trinity Micklegate baptism register reads:

"Born Sunday June 10 1804, John Wright, son of Thomas Wright, farmer at Dringhouses, son of Thomas Wright, farmer at Patterington. Jane daughter of Robert Morris carpenter at Harton neigh Burlington"

In the same register, there were entries for five other children between 1799-1810 for the same parents. There were also three entries for children between 1793-1796 to the same father, but a different mother:

"son/daughter of Thomas Wright, farmer at Dringhouses, son of Thomas Wright, farmer at Patterington. Ann daughter of William Shaw, farmer at Cottingworth."

The last entry of these children in 1795 had Ann's father William Shaw being a farmer at "Pattrington".

These detailed baptismal entries are thanks to Rev. William Dade who proposed the use of the so-called 'Dade Registers', a system of detailed baptism records with much family history information as seen above. The system was discontinued in 1812 when the printed baptism form was introduced thanks to George Rose's Act, but between 1770 and 1812 many Yorkshire parishes used this system. See here for a list. A good tip for Yorkshire research is that if you find an IGI entry for an ancestor in one of these parishes, be sure to check the original entry as you may find much, much more.


Putting the Wright information together
It therefore appears that a Thomas Wright was born in Patrington (a place in Holderness, on the peninsula of the East Coast of Yorkshire, about 50 miles from York) and that he was a farmer and that he had a son Thomas Wright. The younger Thomas Wright at some time before 1793 married Ann Shaw the daughter of a farmer William Shaw who was from 'Cottingworth'. It is a bit difficult to be sure where this place is as there isn't a place exactly of this name today. The most likely candidates are the parishes of East Cottingwith or West Cottingwith which are half-way between York and Hull (Patrington is East of Hull, the other side from York). If this is the right place, one has to wonder why William Shaw then left there to move to Patrington in 1796? It is always possible that he did not and that the entry in the printed copy of the Dade Registers is a misprint or transcription error when it states William Shaw as being from Patrington. The other potential place could be 'Cottingham' which is a parish within Hull itself.

Nevertheless, Thomas Wright the younger and Ann Shaw went on to have 3 children together, after which between 1797-1799 it seems Ann died. Thomas remarried Jane Morris, whose father was Robert Morris, a carpenter from 'Harton neigh Burlington' - or 'Harton near Burlington' in modern parlance. Burlington is an older name for today's Bridlington, which is on the East Coast of Yorkshire about 40 miles from York. Again, it is difficult to be precise where this Harton may be. There is a village of Harton that is only about 4 miles Northeast of York, but this is not near 'Burlington' and yet there is no 'Harton' near to Burlington/Bridlington that I can find. There is a Marton however which is a parish within Bridlington, so perhaps this is another case of transcription error as 'H' and 'M' can often be confused. I shall have to consult the original entries rather than relying on the transcripts that were published by the Yorkshire Parish Register Society. Thomas Wright and Jane Morris went on to have 6 children together between 1799 and 1810.

In the Holy Trinity Micklegate registers I also found another baptism, unfortunately after 1812 when the Dade Registers were discontinued:

'28th April 1813, Henry, son of Thomas & Ann Wright, Dringhouses, labourer in husbandry'.

Now, there were no other Thomas Wrights from Dringhouses having children baptised during this time-period. My working hypothesis is that perhaps Jane Wright (nee Morris) died around 1810 and Thomas again remarried to another Ann and had another child - Henry in 1813.


Thomas Wright and his wives
So far I have only been using baptism records as evidence. Ideally, I need to be using death records and marriage records to reconstruct families and relationships. Therefore, I searched for the marriages of Thomas Wright using the IGI -

1. Ann Shaw - 12 Feb 1793, Acomb.
2. Jane Morris - cannot find yet!
3. Ann ? - cannot find yet, and perhaps never happened!

What leaps out immediately is that Thomas Wright (who we know was the son of Thomas Wright of Patrington in Holderness) married Ann Shaw (who was probably from Cottingworth in East Yorkshire) in 1793 in Acomb. This is the same parish that my Wright family have lived in until the present day after James Wright (Thomas Wright's grandson) moved there in 1868. Between 1793 and 1868, Thomas Wright and his son John Wright had lived in the neighboring parish of Dringhouses. It seems very coincidental that they married in Acomb without any prior connection to it. I still don't know why they married there despite not living or being from that parish. Perhaps if they were married by banns and these registers survive I may get more information, such as which parish they came originated. One reason for marrying in a different parish was if the wedding had to be 'hurried', but this does not seem to be the case here as their first child was not born for 9 months. I remained perplexed as to why they chose Acomb.


What is to be done?
From this long entry, one realises that when doing research pre-1837, things get trickier, but there is still a lot of information out there. My problem is that I am currently quite reliant on already published information that I can access, when I really need to get to the original documents - especially banns, baptisms, marriages and deaths. The only way you can completely understand a family is to know exactly when each individual was born, married and died. This is particularly true when studying a large family with a common surname such as Wright. In family history and genealogy, you can get too caught up with rushing to find out your direct line rather than looking at all related individuals. My next steps with the Wright research will be to review various side branches and cousins to myself to see if they give any extra clues as to what happened to my own ancestors.

Calvert Family of York

Background
My 4xgreat-grandmother Ann Calvert was married to John Wright in 1829 and lived in Dringhouses, a parish on the South-West border of York. From the 1841-1871 censuses, I knew that she was also born there around about 1803. In 1826 she had an illegitimate child, George Calvert, and had 7 children with her husband John between 1831 and 1844. I also knew that prior to her marriage she had lived in the parish of Bishophill Senior (next to Dringhouses, closer to York) as this was stated on the marriage entry and the IGI entry for her bastard son George.

The Calvert Family
The key in tracing Ann Calvert was to find her baptism. I searched the corresponding parish records (Bishophill Jnr, Bishophill Snr and Holy Trinity Micklegate - HTMK) and found a baptism for Ann Calvert:

"Ann Calvert, born Wednesday 22nd June 1803, baptised Sunday June 26th 1803, daughter of Mathew Calvert, labourer at Dringhouses, son of William Calvert labourer at Acomb, and Elizabeth his wife, descent unknown."

This seems to be the correct entry as there is no other Ann Calvert baptised at the right time in these parishes. There was however, an Ann Calvert baptised in April 1803 in the parish of Holy Trinity King's Court, York, who was the daughter of a James Calvert and Ann Bland. I found this entry when doing a sweep for all Ann Calverts born 1798-1808 in Yorkshire on the IGI index. This is unlikely to be the right Ann Calvert as the parish is not a neighboring one although it is in York. However, I would really like to have one more connecting piece of evidence to be completely sure that the HTMK baptism is the correct Ann to follow. As she married pre-1837 I won't be able to get this from her marriage certificate, and her marriage church entry did not mention her father's name. I shall have to come up with some other secondary confirmation, ideally with her married name Ann Wright connected to either Mathew or Elizabeth Calvert. Perhaps Ann was the informant of death of her parents?

Nevertheless, following the Ann Calvert from the HTMK baptism registers, I found four elder siblings of Ann also baptised. They were, William (1791), Ann (1795), John (1796) and George (1800). Of these, Ann the elder does not appear in the IGI. I'm hoping that my note-taking from 10 years ago hasn't failed me and that she really was in the registers! All of them described their father as Mathew Calvert (a labourer) son of William Calvert (a labourer), except for the eldest child Willliam when both are recorded as 'farmers'. For all children, Mathew's wife Elizabeth is described as 'descent unknown'.

I haven't managed to find too much extra information from parish records, though I have sporadically looked through them. I did do an IGI search for the baptism of a Matthew Calvert son of William which produced one possible match - 25 Feb 1757 in Saint Mary Bishophill Junior. This Calvert line will need much more systematic research of parish registers and other records in the future to get further.

Wright tracks

Background
My grandmother was Doreen Wright, who was born and raised in Acomb in the Ainsty of York. I had traced her Wright ancestry back three further generations - her father Harold Wright (1900-1972, a painter & decorator), her grandfather Henry Wright (1868-1956, railway wagon builder & market gardener) and great-grandfather James Wright (1836-1908, market gardener, brick manufacturer, pub landlord & private care home for mentally handicapped children proprietor!) - all of whom also lived in Acomb. James Wright was not born in Acomb though, coming to the village in about 1868 just prior to Henry's birth. James had actually been born in the neighboring parish of Bishophill Senior. This parish is one of the four along the Western route into York from Acomb. The other three are Holy Trinity Micklegate, Dringhouses and Bishophill Junior. This map is a useful guide to the unusual jigsaw nature of these parishes. In this previous post, I showed how in the 1841-1861 censuses, James Wright is living with his parents John (a gardener) and Ann Wright along with some siblings. I'm not sure of the exact address in each of these as it doesn't appear to be given. To find out about the Wright family of Dringhouses, I had to search through the church registers of each parish as well as using the IGI.

John and Ann Wright
From the censuses I had found the names of 8 children of John and Ann. Looking through the St. Mary Bishophill Senior baptismal register, I found the records for five of the children. The ones I could not find were George (b.1827), Mary (b.1839) and Henry (b.1844). The five entries I did find were quite good giving both the date of baptism as well as the actual date of birth. All of them, which occurred between 1830-1841, listed John Wright as a gardener. From the marriage records of the same parish, I found the following marriage entry:

"John Wright, husbandman, of the parish of the parish of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, bachelor, and Ann Calvert, of this parish, spinster. Married in Church, by banns, 12 Oct 1829, witnesses, Robert Bellerby & Richard Douglas."

Additionally, this marriage notice appears in the York Reference Library Newspaper Index, though I have not viewed it. This gives a lot of background information about John and Ann (especially her maiden name which is another common local surname). The other notable fact is that this marriage took place well after the eldest child George (according to the census) was born. Using the IGI, I found a George Calvert the bastard child of Ann Calvert baptised in St. Mary's Bishophill Senior on 30th July 1826. I still haven't found the baptism entries for Mary or Henry.

Tying up the loose ends
In the next posts, I shall discuss the childhoods and parents of John Wright and Ann Calvert. However, it is worth taking some time to figure out what we still need to know about their adult lives. We have found out that they married in 1829 and had 7 children together until 1844 plus Ann's illegitimate son George changed his surname to Wright and was named as John's son in the census. During this period John was working as a husbandman & gardener, suggesting that he leased the land he worked upon. The 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses confirm that John was a gardener, on 15 acres in 1851. To see if John and Ann were still alive in 1871, I checked that census - I found that they were both living in Dringhouses with John (aged 66) working as a brickmaker and gardener (see image above). These occupations were common to the Wright family, and the Dringhouses & Acomb areas was well known for its brickmaking ponds - [good link to article on 19thC brickmaking in York]. Also living with them is John Wright a grandson (b. 1858) and a servant John Spencer. This grandson appears to be the same one that was living with John and Ann in 1861 ten years earlier. I cannot find either John or Ann Wright in subsequent censuses, suggesting that they died before 1881. A search of the free index of births, marriages and deaths finds that a John Wright b.1804 had a death registered in York in 1880 and an Ann Wright b.1804 had a death registered in York in 1879. Both of these are likely candidates. I'm still not sure whose child the grandson, John Wright, is - he could be an illegitimate child of one of the daughters, a child of an unknown son, or the child of George Wright (Calvert). I don't think it's a son of John & Ann's son James as I think I know all of his children, and it is unlikely to be the son of their other son Henry as he is too young. A look at my notes for the parish records and a search of the IGI doesn't find a good match, so I am left wondering for a bit longer.