First World War Wouldhaves

Several Wouldhaves were involved in military service during the first world war.  Several returned home from their service to their country but unfortunately there were fatalities.  We will be documenting those we have found in our research over a number of blogs.  One of the fatalities of the war at sea was Frederick Wouldhave (FR104)

Frederick Wouldhave (FR104)

Frederick was born on 10^th October 1880 and baptised in St Stephen’s, South Shields, on 29^th March, 1882. His parents were Thomas (TH103) Wouldhave and his wife Louisa formerly Blair.

Thomas and Louisa had married in Gateshead in April 1869 and they lived in South Shields.  Thomas was born in Leeds in 1838, his father, Thomas (TH101), was a cabinet maker. Thomas however did not follow the family tradition of cabinet making but worked in the iron industry on the South Tyne.  In the 1901 census, at the age of 63, he was a church caretaker.  His death is registered in the first quarter of 1911, aged 73.  Louisa was born in South Shields and died in the fourth quarter of 1924.

Frederick (Fred) was a labourer in the Shipyards in the 1901 census and his service record (National Archives, ADM242/0010/01/1148, see above) with the Royal Navy indicates that he joined up on 19^th February 1903 for a period of 12 years.  In the 1911 census he was on board HMS St George at Clee, Great Grimsby, as a stoker in the engine room.  The advent of war in 1914 resulted in Frederick continuing in service after his twelve years.

In November 1916, Frederick was promoted to Leading Stoker on HMS Conquest (a C-class light cruiser, seen in the photograph above).  On firing practice in the North Sea off the Thames estuary on 13^th June 1917 HMS Conquest hit a mine. This caused serious damage to the ship, specifically the forward engine room, and caused a number of fires including in the "stokers' bath room". 

The report of the Court of Enquiry into this incident is available to view in the National Archives (ADM137/3790).  According to the Captain’s report the ship was mined at 11.40 on 13^th June.   The enquiry concluded that no blame was attached to anyone on board the ship, although later comments suggested that the ship had been manoeuvred unnecessarily close to known dangers. 

In the mining of HMS Conquest, 7 crew were killed, 10 seriously wounded, including Frederick, 10 slightly injured (five of whom remained on duty), and a further 20 crew were very slightly injured and remained on duty. From the casualty lists, Frederick suffered multiple burns.

All the viable casualties were passed onto a trawler (HMT Marlow) and thence to RNSQ Shotley. The Conquest was towed by HMS Curacao toward Chatham. Although Frederick’s service record states that HMS Conquest was sunk by the mine, this was not the case and it was towed back to dock. 

Frederick was treated for his burns but died of his injuries 8 days later on 21^st June. He was buried in Harton Cemetery, South Shields.  His mother, Louisa, was named as his next of kin.  Her address at the time was 312 South Parmerston St, Tyne Dock.  Frederick’s name is recorded on a war memorial which was originally in St Mary’s Churchyard, South Shields, but is now at Tyne Dock.

From Barnard Castle to Massachusetts Part 2

Thomas Wouldhave (TH102) emigrated to Massachusetts in the early 1840s with his wife, Anne (nee Race), and their very young son, John.  Thomas had been born and raised in the area of Barnard Castle anbd many of its now historic features would be familiar to him.  The modern photos show the octagonal Market Cross or Butter Market, which is little changed from its construction in 1747, a gift from Thomas Breaks to replace the Toll Booth that formerly stood there.  The church is also in the photos,  taken on a gloomy day. More information about and images of Barnard Castle can be found at the website http://www.barnardcastlelife.co.uk/index.html

 

Thomas had six children who survived to adulthood.

John Wouldhave (JO108)

Thomas’s eldest son John was born in 1840 in Barnard Castle.  He became a shoemaker and at the age of 21 was a volunteer in the Civil War.  He appears on the Civil War Volunteers list 1861-1865, one of the thirty six men who volunteered from Assabet Village.  He enlisted on the 18^th October 1861 and was a Private in the 26^th Regiment,  Massachusetts, Company E, an infantry unit fighting for the Union which mustered in September and October 1861.  He was mustered out on 26th Aug 1865 at Savannah, GA.

John married Abbie C Reed, daughter of Jason and Mary Reed, in Greenfield, Franklin, Mass on 27^th November 1866.  Abbie was 18 years old, born in Massachusetts and John 24.

Although we have not found information about their children, their grandchildren (Raymond A Wilson and Robert A Wilson) were with them in the 1900 census in Summer St, Maynard Town, which they rented. John’s occupation was given as Capitalist. They could all read, write and speak English.

John was awarded a military pension as an invalid from 25^th July 1870. He entered a Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea, Mass on June 15^th 1903 and died on 17^th July 1903 at the age of 63 years. He was buried in Enfield, Hartford, Connecticut. The Death Return states he suffered from paralysis of many months duration, contributory factors were dementia and heart disease, also of many months duration.  His widow, Abbie, was awarded a pension following his death (file dated April 29^th 1908).

Elizabeth A Wouldhave (EL124)

Elizabeth was born in about 1844 and married Albert S Stewart/Stuart on May 27^th 1870, aged 23 years.  (We haven’t yet found the exact date of her birth). She became Elizabeth Wouldhave Stewart and had children Ella Maria and George William. She died of heart disease on 29^th September 1886, aged 42, housekeeper and resident of Maynard, Mass. She was buried in Glenwood cemetery.

Hannah Wouldhave (HA112)

Hannah was born in 1849 (we haven’t yet found the exact date of her birth). She married Samuel Wilson, a farmer aged 25, on 15^th August 1868 in Stow, Mass.  She died 10^th February 1888, aged 39 years and was buried in Glenwood cemetery.  

Thomas Wouldhave (TH107)

Thomas was born in 1852.  He married Mary Wilson on 12^th December 1874 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Mass.  Mary was 21 years old, the daughter of David and Margaret Wilson. Thomas was said to be 22 years old and a machinist. Their first child, Thomas Jnr was born 10^th Nov 1875 and registered in Cambridge, Mass.  Thomas’s occupation was machinist. Their second child, Amy M Wouldhave  was born in 1877.  Amy married John J Doyle on 22^nd November 1897 in Boston, Mass.

Thomas died 11^th September 1901 in a Massachusetts Hospital  and was buried in Glenwood Cemetry, Maynard, Mass, aged 51 . The primary cause of death was uraemic poisoning (kidney failure) with chronic Bright’s Disease (Nephritis). 

Maria J Wouldhave (MA134)

Maria J was born in 1855.  She married Samuel G Saunders on 13^th September 1874 in Maynard. She was aged 19 and he was 20 years old. They had a daughter,  Mabel Estella, who married in 1896.  

Robert Wouldhave (RO105)

Robert was born on 18^th October, 1857 in Stow, Middlesex, Mass. He married Bertha Louise Nippel, who was born in Germany.  In the 1920 census they are living in South Glenwood, Garfield, Colorado.  Bertha immigrated to the United States in 1867 and was naturalised in 1870. They owned their own house with the help of a mortgage. They had no occupation in the census data.

Robert died on 21^st February 1930, aged 71, and is buried in Pioneer Cemetery.

Wouldhaves in North Shields Part 4

John Wouldhave (JO104) Violin Maker

John was born on 16^th November 1805 and christened at Christchurch on 26^th January 1806. He was the fifth son of Richard (RI051) and the third son of Richard’s second wife Eleanor Whately. 

At 19 years of age he married Isabella Heslop (aged 18yrs) on September 19^th 1824 in St Hilda’s, South Shields.  Isabella’s parents were William Heslop and Elizabeth (nee Scurfield). Presumably the Heslop family were living in South Shields at the time. The witnesses for the marriage were John’s sister, Jane, and Thomas Heslop, Isabella’s brother (born 1805).  

John and Isabella had three children who survived beyond childhood, Elizabeth 1825, Richard 1826 and Eleanor 1830.  The family were living in Church Way, North Shields (just opposite the church) in 1833 and 1835 according to the burial information of two of their children who died in infancy. While they were living in Church Way, John and Isabella, together with their children Elizabeth, Richard and Ellen (Eleanor?), were listed in North Shields’ outdoor poor who were examined at Tynemouth Workhouse on 15^th October 1834 (from the Correspondence of Tynemouth Poor Law Union National Archives MH/12/9156/3-5). John is listed under the column for totally disabled, having a long illness. There is no indication of what the illness was. Tynemouth Workhouse was described by a directory of 1827 as an extensive building, pleasantly situated at a short distance north of the church (Christchurch).  It was situated on Preston Lane and later became Preston Hospital.   Many of my family were treated at this hospital and I was born there. The site is now housing and known as Haswell Gardens.

From the census information in 1841 John was living in Church Street and his occupation was Common Tiler. Sometime after this he became a violin maker since that is his occupation in later census information.

In 1851 and 1861 John was living in 64 Clive Street, which is near the docks, his occupation was Violin Maker and he was reported as being deaf (in 1851 census only).  Isabella’s occupation was Straw Bonnet maker.The photographs below show a violin made by John Wouldhave with his signature on the back.  Many thanks to Trudi for providing these photos of the violin that she still uses today.  She thinks the violin dates from around 1870.

In 1871 John and Isabella were living in 115 Bedford Street with William Oliver, their grandson, aged 15, occupation labourer. (William's father, a joiner, was a widower in 1871 and probably unable to look after his children easily, but we haven’t found the connection between William Oliver and the Wouldhaves at this point.) In later years William was a member of the Merchant Navy and he was decorated in the first world war. (National Archives BT351/107016)
John is still listed as a violin maker and Isabella as a straw bonnet maker.

John's death, at the age of 72, was recorded in 1877 in Bedford Lane, Tynemouth District, and he was buried on 21^st May. Isabella is in the 1881 census, she is an inmate of the Tynemouth Workhouse with her occupation given as Charwoman. Her death was recorded in Tynemouth district in 1888 aged 78 years (although calculations would indicate she was nearer 82 years).

Children of John and Isabella

• Elizabeth married Joseph Brand, a mason, in 1844 in Tynemouth and they can be found in both the 1861 and 1871 census in Willington.  They had several children including Isabella, Margaret, Elizabeth, Roger, John Wouldhave (who emigrated to Canada in 1910), Ellenor, Edward and Joseph.
• Richard married Isabella Jobes in 1847. Isabella was the daughter of John Jobes and Mary Ann (nee Clennet) and was christened in July 1827 in Tynemouth.  John was a coal miner living in Percy Main in the 1841 census.  Percy Main Pit, also known as Howdon Pans colliery, was about one and a half miles from North Shields. They did not have any children and Richard died aged 23 in 1849.  The Tyne Examiner and Mercury described him as a Mariner of Chirton. Isabella later married William Nixon in 1851, he was also a mariner.
• Eleanor was a straw bonnet maker in the 1851 census. She married William Watt in 1853.  William may have died in 1864 - there is a death recorded in the registers for Tynemouth. We have not been able to find any further information about Eleanor at this stage.

Wouldhaves in North Shields Part 3

Richard Wouldhave (RI102) was christened on Aug 10th 1832, the sixth child of Richard Wouldhave (RI101), mariner and Isabella Arkel, and their first son.

In 1841 the family is living in Milbourne Place in North Shields (census data).  Also close by are his grandmother, Hannah Arkel, aunt, Elizabeth Arkel, and his uncle John Arkel, a grocer.  

Richard’s father died when he was about 12 years old and he was living with his mother at 18 Middle Street, North Shields in the 1851 census; his occupation is Boat builder.

Richard (RI102)married twice, firstly to Jane Jackson at the Salem Chapel, Hood Street, Newcastle, in the second quarter of 1852 and secondly to Ann Webster in the third quarter of 1868 following the death of Jane in 1866. Jane was the daughter of George Jackson, a master mariner in North Shields and Ann was the daughter of Thomas Webster, shipwright of North Shields.

In the 1861 census Richard is living in Coble Dean, Chirton with his wife, Jane, and their son Richard (RI103).  In 1871 the family is at the same address in the census.

In 1881, Richard and Ann are living in Grey Street, North Shields.

In 1901 Richard is living in Jarrow, at 2, St Peter’s Square.  They have boarders living with them, a father (widower)from Herfordshire, and his two sons working in the shipyards by the name of Phillips, as well as their granddaughter Mary A Halby.

Children

Richard and Jane had five children, three of whom died in infancy. 

Richard (RI103), born in 1856, married Ellen Wells in 1875.  He had various occupations connected to the sea; shipyard labourer, seaman, waterman, mariner and steamboat fireman.  They had 10 children.

Anne Wouldhave, born 1885, married Campbell Watson Bannerman in 1885 and they had 4 children.

Richard and Ann had three children, only one of whom survived to adulthood.  Margaret Jane Wouldhave was born in 1870 and married Patrick Hely in 1899.

Most of Richard's children were christened in the Middle St Mission, a Methodist Chapel.  His mother Isabella was a chapel keeper and was living in the Chapel Yard, Middle Street in the 1871 census.  This would suggest strongly that Richard converted to Methodism sometime before his marriage in 1852, since the Salem Chapel in Hood Street was part of the Newcastle Methodist circuit.

Boat building

Information indicates that in 1873 Richard built two ships at Coble Dean, the Coble Dean, a sailing vessel rigged as a sloop and the Rising Sun, a wooden barge.

Richard became a partner with William Johnson in 1875 and they moved premises to the Low Lights at North Shields.
Wouldhave and Johnson launched their tugs at the Low Lights up until 1884 when the Fish Quay was extended. The modern photograph shows the fish quay at North Shields which is on the site of the original Wouldhave and Johnson dock.

Tugs built by Wouldhave and Johnson, North Shields.

The following is a list of wooden tugs powered by steam paddles built by Richard Wouldhave & William Johnson at North Shields:

(Information from http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/index.html This site includes many photographs of the ships built by Wouldhave and Johnson)

1875	Adonis
1875	Meteor
1876	Alice
1876	Aristocrat
1876	Livingstone
1877	Electric
1877	Quickstep
1877	Selina
1877	Skylark
1877	Wakendam No 9
1878	Brighton
1878	Stag
1879	George 1st
1879	Omonoria
1879	Stefano
1880	Comet
1880	Cruiser
1882	Granite City
1883	Electric
1883	Victory
1884	Wellington
1884	William Findley
1884	William Wouldhave
1885	General Gordon
1885	Pera

Richard Wouldhave also appears to have built the following tug in his own name at North Shields:

1879 Olga

Additionally, one of the boats built by Richard was a lifeboat for Mr James Young, magistrate and shipowner, who presented it to the authorities of the port of Bilbao as a charitable gift in 1883.  Mr Young was awarded the Spanish Order of Merit in recognition of his gift by the Spanish Society for saving life. This honour was conferred on him by the King of Spain. The Spanish named the boat the James Young. (Reported in the Shields Daily Gazette, 7th July 1884)

Richard died in 1907 in Mildred St, Darlington.  He is buried in Preston Cemetery, North Shields in the Methodist section. Ann died in 1926.

Wouldhaves in North Shields Part 2

Richard Wouldhave (RI051), a mariner who settled in the area after returning from the ship HMS Pandora (see blog October 2015) married Anne and then Eleanor Whately.  His first wife Anne died soon after their second son, Mason, died in infancy.  There is an inscription in Christchurch (see modern photo below) that reads “Sacred to the memory of Anne, the wife of Richard Wouldhave of North Shields, mariner, who departed this life Nov 17^th 1796 aged 21 years. Also one of their children who died in infancy”.

Richard had the following children who survived into adulthood

v  Richard b 1794 from the first marriage

v  John b 1805, Jane b 1808 and Mary b 1810 from the second marriage.

Richard (RI101)

Richard was born on 30^th November 1794 and christened at Christchurch on 4^th October 1795.  He married Isabella Arkle in 1819.  In the 1841 census he is living in Milburn St and his occupation is Shoemaker.  Four of his children are living in the same dwelling, Jane, Richard, George and Eleanor. Richard’s 80 year old widowed mother-in-law, Hannah Arkell nee Hallowell, was also living in Milburn Place at this time with two of his daughters, Ann and Isabella, living with her. Milburn Place was a complex of streets in the west of the North Shields which formed one of the earliest expansions of the town. The larger houses had views of the harbour and the south. 

Richard died in 1844 and is buried in Tynemouth General Cemetery. His death certificate states that he died of Dropsy of the Heart which we would now probably describe as Congestive Heart Failure.  His address at the time of his death was given as Dotwick St.  Dotwick Street was named after the Durtwick Sand.  It connected to the Bull Ring and Milburn Place.  There were a chain of Temperance cafes in this area.  Richard’s wife, Isabella (IS102), was a Chapel keeper, although there is no evidence that Richard was a Methodist or ‘took the pledge’.

Jane (JA051)

Jane was born on 18^th October 1807 and christened at Christchurch on 8^th May 1808.  She married Robert Richardson on 15^th August 1830.  There are two Robert Richardsons with wife Jane in the 1841 census for North Shields;  since one of these families is in the same dwelling as  Eleanor Wouldhave (mother of Jane) and her granddaughter, Elizabeth (daughter of John), it would seem likely that this is the correct family.  They are living Behind Collingwood St with their children William, Eleanor and Jane.  Robert’s occupation is given as Custom House Officer.

John (JO104)

John was born on 16^th November 1805 and christened at Christchurch on 26^th January 1806. He married Isabella Heslop on September 19^th 1824 in St Hilda’s, South Shields.  Witnesses were his sister Jane and Thomas Heslop. They had the following children who survived childhood.

Elizabeth 1825, Richard 1826 and Eleanor 1830

From the census information:

In 1841 he was living in Church Street and occupation was Common Tiler.

In 1851 and 1861 he was living in 64 Clive Street, occupation was Violin Maker and he was reported as being deaf.  Isabella’s occupation was Straw Bonnet maker.

In 1871 John and Isabella were living in 115 Bedford Street with William Oliver, their grandson, aged 15, occupation labourer.(We haven’t found the connection between William Oliver and the Wouldhaves at this point.)  John is still listed as a violin maker and Isabella as a straw bonnet maker.

His death was recorded in 1877 in Tynemouth District. Isabella is in the 1881 census, she is an inmate of the Tynemouth Workhouse with her occupation given as Charwoman. Her death was recorded in Tynemouth district in 1888 aged 78 years.

There appear to be some of John’s creations as a violin maker still in existence.  Some have been offered for sale on various websites and date from around 1868.

Mary (MA052)

Mary was born 13^th October 1809 and christened at Christchurch on 8^th July 1810.  The only other information recorded in the registers is a Mary Wouldhave marrying William Murray, a Blacksmith, in Christchurch in 1837.  The census information is inconclusive as to this being the correct Mary.

Wouldhaves in North Shields Part 1

North Shields was originally a small fishing village.  Christchurch served people from Whitley Bay to Wallsend and was known as the parish church of Tynemouth.  It is situated in the centre of North Shields. The first recordings of Wouldhaves in the church registers of Christchurch are for the period 1642-1680.  They include Nicholas Wouldhave, James Wouldhave (who married Mary Bell) and Mr Robert Wouldhave of Shields.  So far we have not been able to bring them into one of the family trees.

From the late eighteenth century onwards, North Shields grew from a few houses, farms and cottages to a manufacturing town, port and retail centre.  It is probably for this reason that Thomas Wouldhave (TH041) moved from Newcastle to this area.

Thomas Wouldhave (TH041) married Elizabeth Heart (EL052) in South Shields in 1746.  They were living in North Shields from at least April 1751 when his son, William (the inventor WI050, see blog April 2015), was christened at Christchurch.  The photograph below shows a commemorative window in the church, which was designed for the anniversary of the RNLI; it shows the first boat designed by William.  (Christchurch is currently raising funds to preserve its historic windows and information about donations can be found on their website.)

Thomas’s other children were also christened at Christchurch; Luke John, Mary and Charlotte.  Thomas was a Freeman of Newcastle and a Ropemaker.  His occupation in North Shields was later given as Painter.  His son Luke John (LU050) was also a Freeman of Newcastle,  a Ropemaker and he was also a Painter.  Thomas, William and Luke John are listed in the Newcastle Poll books.

With the exception of William who moved to South Shields after his marriage to Hannah Crow in 1775, we have not been able to find that any of the other members of this part of the family had descendants called Wouldhave.

Richard Wouldhave (RI051), Thomas’ nephew settled in North Shields and married Anne and then Eleanor Whately (see blog October 2015). Richard, a mariner,  was living in the Bull Ring at the time of his death in 1838. The Bull Ring, said to be the home of bull-baiting in the seventeenth century, was the nineteenth century coach terminus.

He had the following children who survived into childhood

Richard b 1794 from the first marriage

John b 1805, Jane b 1808 and Mary b 1810 from the second marriage.

Further generations of this family lived in North Shields and will be detailed in subsequent blogs.

Thomas Wouldhave - Emigrants to Massachusetts

Thomas (TH102) was born in 1817.  His father John (JO101) was recorded as a Dyer and later as a Weaver.  His mother Margaret (MA104), a widow formerly Mason, was John’s second wife (his first wife, Mary (MA094) had died in 1813).  John was listed in Pigot’s directory in 1828 and 1830 as a Dyer in Bridgegate, Barnard Castle. Bridgegate is one of the oldest parts of Barnard Castle, close to the river and the castle, and was also one of the poorest.  It is now a pleasant riverside residential area but in the nineteenth century there was a surge of industrial development and a report in The Times in 1850 indicated that typhus and cholera were common.  There were no surviving children from John Wouldhave’s first marriage but Thomas had several siblings from the second marriage.

Thomas married Anne Race in June 1839 at Barnard Castle.  In the 1841 census Thomas is living with his father and his wife, Ann, in Thorngate, Gainford, which is a few miles east of Barnard Castle (see map).  Undoubtedly times were difficult for the family and Thomas’ brother William was arrested on more than one occasion for larceny and was transported to Australia in 1843 (see blog from August).  Thomas’s sister Margaret was also arrested on a number of occasions and charges ranged from being drunk and disorderly to larceny; she also served time in prison having been sentenced to hard labour. 

Thomas had one child before emigrating, John (JO108) baptised 15th March 1840. The family emigrated in 1842 (according to the 1900 Federal census for John, although we can find no other information on this).  In November 1853 John appears in the US naturalisation records.

According to information from the Maynard Historical Commission, Massachusetts, Thomas was one of the early mill men and ran the first drug store in Maynard in 1865 at 40-44 Main St, Somerset Hotel.  He was a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association from 1859-1867.  In the Maynard Illustrated Almanac (Maynard Historical Society Website) he is listed as a taxpayer in 1878 and was listed in the Maynard and Stow Directory as residing in 1887-8 in Summer St.

Ann died in 1858 and Thomas in 1899.

Thomas’ son John (JO108) was a shoemaker and a volunteer in the American Civil War; he married Abbie Reed in 1866.  Other children of John and Ann include Elizabeth (b. 1844), Hannah(B.1849), Thomas (B.1850), Maria J (or Mary) (b.1855) and Robert (b.1857).  We are still researching information about the family and hope to add further information at a later date.