D is for DECORATOR

At various times throughout his life, William Richardson’s occupation is listed as Decorator or painter. A family story, passed down several generations, noted he worked on decorating the interior of churches, but nothing is particularly clear.

William was born around 1832 in Newcastle on Tyne, Northumberland. In 1862 he was living in Poynton and on 30 January 1862, aged 30, he married Mary Potts in the Parish Church at Poynton, Chester following banns. Mary was ten years younger. On the marriage certificate William is listed as a decorator.

UK Marriage certificate William Richardson & Mary Potts 1862

The couple moved to London after their marriage and they had a large family, including my great grandmother Annie, born in 1882 and her sister Amy born in 1878. In the 1871 Census he a was listed as a painter, in 1881, he was recorded as a decorator.

In 1888 Mary succumbed to Uterine cancer. William remarried the following year to Caroline Elstone formerly Lelliott. They married in St. John’s Church in Fulham in 1889. William was recorded as a 55-year-old widower, and a church decorator. 

William Richardson born ca 1832 & died between 1904-1908

In 1891, William was away from home, visiting in South Bersted, Bognor West Sussex. He was still recorded as a “decorator” and may have been quoting for a job, or visiting family or friends. William Richardson died some time between 1904 and 1908.

Painters and decorators were experts in their field. They were usually involved in painting and making use of decorative materials to beautify. It would be interesting to know what William's job entailed and if there are any examples surviving. 

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge)

C is for COALMINER or COLLIER

My Leach ancestors were from a long line of coalminers.

John Leach was born in Wales, Hawarden Flint to be exact, way back in 1819. He was the son of William Leach, a collier, and Anne nee Ellis. John followed in his father’s footsteps and headed down the mines. 

Baptism of John Leach in 1819. Courtesy Cheshire Public Records.

Throughout the 18th century, coal mining was industrious in northern Wales however production waned in the 1800s and many Welsh miners migrated eastwards to the coal producing counties of Northumberland and Durham here was a huge demand for coal due to the Industrial Revolution. By 1849 John Leach was working in Durham and married Ann Moore in Brick Garth, Hougton Le Hole. A few years later they migrated to Australia. 

By 1861 the Leach family were residing in Wallsend, near Newcastle NSW, well-known for its coal deposits. It was here my great Grandfather John William, was born in 1862.  John passed away on in 1868 from the miner's lung disease, pyaemia. 

West Wallsend Colliery, 1888. Courtesy State Records NSW

John William commenced work at the Wallsend Colliery when he was 14 years old and he worked there until his death, in his 59th year, in 1920.  My Grandfather Bill remembers waiting at the colliery gate as a young boy and walking home with father and his miner friends. 

Mining was a dangerous occupation in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Fatalities due to accidents and underground explosions were very common and the average life expectancy was short. His death was recorded as tuberculosis which silicosis was often confused with. He left four children aged from 4 to 12 years.

Original birth certificate of John William Leach in 1910. 

 There is more about the Leach family here if you are interested. 

B is for BAKER

My Great-Grandfather was a baker, he baked breads and cooked cakes. 

Ernest Nichols was born in 1875 in Islington, London the son of William Nichols and Jane nee Tucker. By the time he was 16, he was recorded as a Colour Oilmans Assistant. Shortly after, he became apprenticed as a baker.

In 1902, Ern married Annie Richardson, in Dalston. Annie was almost 20 years old, while Ern was seven years her senior. At the time of the marriage, Ern was listed as a baker, and they lived at “Lucerne” in Dale Grove, North Finchley. The year after the marriage, Ernest and Annie had their one and only child, William Robert.

Ern Nichols on the Bakery cart

From the late 1890s, Ern worked as a baker. He was employed by Henry Purvis who ran the North Finchley Hygenic Bakery at 81 High Street.  Purvis was a “high class cook and confectioner” although Purvis died in 1908, Ernest stayed on and worked for the executors. After a decade of marriage Ern and Annie made the decision that changed their lives irrevocably. They resolved to migrate to Australia, tickets were purchased and trunks packed. It would have been a difficult decision, leaving all that was familiar and travelled half way around the world. 

The Purvis Company supplied Ern with an excellent reference stating he was “leaving entirely of his own accord, to try his fortune in a new country.” He was considered “absolutely trustworthy and hard working” who had “an intelligent interest in anything he had in hand.”  

Reference for Ernest Nichols

Ern’s Recipe Book has survived and in it is recorded seven varieties of yeast, recipes for Queen cakes, Madeira Cake, Cornflour Cream Buns, Coconut Mac’s, Cheese Curd etc, all with large quantities suited for a bakery store. 

Ern and Annie originally settled at Tilba on the South Coast, they moved north, where Ern did a bakery run between Tweed Heads and Coolangatta, then eventually settling in Richmond, where he ran the Nichols Bakery and General Store located in Windsor Street, towards the end of WW1. 

Nichols Bakery & General Store, Richmond NSW

The family left Richmond in the 1920s and tried their luck at poultry farming in Schofields and then moved to Riverstone and lived at 20 Castlereagh Street. For some years, Ern was employed in the bakery business working for Charlie Fisher, doing the night shift. During the day he often worked for his son Bill who had established a Service Station in Riverstone. 

When Ern gave up work his asthma disappeared. He had suffered dreadfully throughout his life with the disease, often wheezing for hours on end. Not working with the flour dust in the bakeries must have helped. Son Bill passed away suddenly in March 1958 aged only 54 then Annie died of a broken heart in the December, they had been married for 56 years. 

After a long and fulfilling life. Ern died on the 26 July 1967, aged 92 years old. 

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge)

A is for ACCOUCHEUR and APOTHECARIST

Robert Havens was an ACCOUCHEUR, a person who is trained to help at a birth, more commonly known as an obstetrician. He was also an APOTHECARIST, making and dispensing medicines similar to a pharmacist.

This nameplate was photographed at his cottage in the 1980s but is now 

part of the collection at Braidwood Museum.

Robert Havens was born in 1809, the son of Robert Havens and Janet Crabbe. The family were a distinguished line from Colchester Essex who could trace their ancestry to the 14th century and beyond.

Robert was born in Edinburgh and as a boy in 1822, was apprenticed as an apothecary, to John Stanley of Whitehaven for seven years. Later he was admitted as a Licentiate of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) in 1831.

He stayed in Kendal and got a job at the Dispensary in 1834 and at some stage met Esther Lee. The couple married in Kendal in 1839 and shortly after their migrated to Australia onboard the Orizaba with other family members. In 1840 he was registered by the Medical Board of NSW to practise and in 1842 acquired land in Reidsdale on the outskirts of Braidwood. 

For many years he worked as a doctor and assisted women in childbirth and obstetrics, mostly from his property known as ‘Brookside’. In 1848 he was blinded as a result of a chemical explosion but according to correspondence from one of his daughters, he continued to practise with assistance. Dr Robert Havens died at Reidsdale, in 1885 aged 76 years.

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge) 

Theme Reveal: Pieces of my family

 My family history journey commenced over fifty years ago and continues today. I don't always have a lot of time to devote to my research but my interest has never waned and I look forward to the time I do spend discovering more about my ancestors. 

Over the years I have been keen to participate in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge) but this year I decided I would have a go!! 

Since I made the decision, I have struggled to think of a 'clever' theme, despite some careful consideration. The challenge has commenced today, so I am going to go with something simple. I will be sharing stories about 26 people with occupations starting with letters of the alphabet, from my extended family tree. 

A is for ACCOUCHEUR and APOTHECARIST

B is for BAKER

C is for COALMINER or COLLIER