Ch:11- Rev. John Bee Wright

ANCESTRY  OF  THE  WIFE  OF  PHILIP  NOTT -  MARTHA  JANE  WRIGHT

(My grateful thanks to Mary Zerner for her invaluable contribution in finding information on this family of ours)

NB. Click on images to view higher resolution images.

Martha Jane Nott nee Wright was the daughter of John Bee Wright and Martha Rowling of Norfolk, England. Martha was born 15 July 1849 in  Norwich, Norfolk.

Martha Jane Wright

Her father’s place of residence was Vauxhall Street in  the suburb of Heigham in Norwich,  and his occupation was shoemaker.

John Bee Wright

Birth record of Martha Jane Wright

address: Vauxhall Street, Julian Place, Heigham, Norwich

Map of Norwich showing area where John Wright lived, opposite Chapelfield Gardens

Map of Norwich showing Vauxhall Street with Julian Place (where they lived when married in 1848) written across all of buildings bordering Vauxhall Street, Julian Street (including Back Julian Street), and Chapelfield Road bordering Chapelfield Gardens; and Portland Place, opposite Julian Place, on the left side (adjoining "Square") where they were living in 1851 Census (ref: Geo Plunkett Maps of Norwich)

The ‘Hunts Directory of E. Norfolk 1850’  lists John B. Wright in Vauxhall Street, Norwich, boot and shoemaker, one of numerous boot and shoemakers listed in Norwich.

 

Map of Norwich and Aldeby in Norfolk

Map of Aldeby and surrounding towns

John Bee Wright and Martha Rowling had four issue:

1. Martha Jane Wright b.1849 Norwich, Norfolk, UK -d.1911 Brisbane Qld Australia, married Philip Nott in London 1870; emigrated to Brisbane Qld in 1873; issue 11- see Nott chapter 8

2. John William Wright b.1850 Norwich, Norfolk UK- d.1936 Buffalo, Erie County, New York State, USA; married Hannah Lane in London Dec. 1871; emigrated to NY in Jan 1872-
in the census records, he was a printer (see obituary and photos below) 
Two issue- (a) William S.G. Wright 1874-1970 (married Lottie S.- no issue), both buried with parents in Wright burial plot in Prospect Cemetery 
(b) Hannah May Wright b. May 1882, married John R Neal (b.1883) before 1905. John Neal, a floor layer, and his wife lived in the village of Kenmore (a few miles north of Buffalo) for all of their lives (Census records). John died in 1953 and Hannah May died in 1977, both buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery Buffalo (see below). They had three daughters, Margaret E. Neal b. 1905 d.1991 (buried Forest Lawn cemetery with parents; married __ Sherry); Dorothy M. Neal  b.c.1907, married Robert Weisenberg; Elizabeth M. Neal b.c.1916 married Charles Tiffany. (1920 US Federal Census records and father's death notice- see below)

3. Plessie Wright b.1857 Navenby Lincolnshire UK- d.1923 Orchard Park, Erie Co. NY, USA; married 1. Edward J. Carpp (d.1883) bef. 1880 Hamburg, Erie Co.NY, married 2. Allen K. Hoag c.1911 (brother-in-law- d.1922); emigrated to NY with mother 1871; no issue

4. Ellen/Nellie Elizabeth Wright b.1859 Navenby Lincolnshire UK- d.1908 Orchard Park, Erie Co. NY, USA; married Allen K. Hoag c.1878 ; emigrated to NY with mother in 1871; one issue- Martha/Mattie L. Hoag b.1880 East Hamburg, Erie Co. (living with parents in 1905 Census- a school teacher). On 9 July 1905, Mattie married Carlton E. Hambleton (1880-1937), son of Pember E. Hambleton and Minerva Atterbury. Carlton died 8 September 1937. Mattie died in 1955 and they are buried together in Woodlawn Cemetery Orchard Park. 
No issue of Carlton and Mattie Hambleton are recorded in any of the Census records.

JOHN  BEE  WRIGHT'S  PARENTAGE

John Bee Wright was born 10 April 1828 at Aldeby a very small village 16 miles ESE of Norwich in the County of Norfolk, near the border with Suffolk, UK. 

Source- his obituary in the Genesee Conference Methodist Episcopal Church Annual Minutes. Ref: Official Minutes and Journal of the … session of the Genesee Conference 1894”, page 148-149, New York Public Library:

“Rev. John Bee Wright was born Aldeby, Norfolk, England April 10, 1828 and entered eternal rest from Hamburgh New York on June 16, 1894.”

In the baptismal record in the Parish of Aldeby, County of Norfolk, John 'Bright' Wright, mother named as Eleanor Wright, no father named, was born 10 April and baptised 13 April 1828, abode given as Aldeby, Norfolk. John was therefore illegitimate.

(Source- Familysearch.org- Norfolk Bishop's Transcripts, Archdeaconry of Norfolk)

The middle name of "Boright" or "Bright" is written in the baptismal records. Boright is a surname that is found in Norfolk/Suffolk although very uncommon, however, Bright is more commonly found. 

It was common for illegitimate children to be given their sire’s name as their middle name, but, as there was no named father on the record, Eleanor may have chosen her mother’s maiden name which is unknown at this time.

Curiously, in a second baptismal record, in the same cleric’s hand, a correction has been made to the name ‘Boright’. It appears to obliterate the ‘o’, to spell ‘Bright’, or ‘B.right’:

However, John's record of death states that his father was named ‘John Bee Wright’ and his mother was ‘Ellen Elizabeth Wright’, and, on his marriage certificate, he names his father as ‘John Bee’, labourer, not John Bee Wright.  

Death Record:

Marriage Record:

As information given on marriage records are supplied by the persons themselves, they are a more reliable source than death records supplied by a third party. It would explain the origin of the middle name he only seemed to use in his adult years, mostly after he became a minister in the 1850's. Maybe he used his middle initial of 'B' and converted it to recognise his natural father's name.

The source of the name of 'Bright' remains a mystery.

According to his obituary (see last chapter for full transcript), John claimed, “In early life, he was without parental guidance from a young age”, yet, at the age of 13, in the 1841 Census he was living with his uncle William Wright in Heigham, Norwich, his mother Eleanor having married five years earlier, in 1836, to a man named Benjamin Sones (not his father).
John spoke of the spiritual guidance of a Miss Becket, his “earliest friend who took him two miles to Sunday School with dinner in her basket for both. Under her influence he very early gave his heart to God". 
John's obituary also stated that at the age of ten he began to speak and pray in public. This was two years after his mother’s marriage.  It appears to indicate a Wesleyan influence which became his focus in life, so maybe he was living with his uncle in Norwich by the age of 10, as there were strong Wesleyan followings in the Heigham area of Norwich at that time, and his uncle William Wright was a Wesleyan as indicated by the baptisms of his children in the 1830’s.

It is not known if he even knew his father, however, the following records indicate his father, a man named John Bee, as named in his marriage record, lived in Aldeby until at least 1836. Aldeby was a very small village.

Population of Aldeby- 1801= 448-   86 houses

                                    1821= 475-   68 houses         

                                    1841= 554 - 105 houses

St Mary's Church Aldeby

JOHN BEE

John Bee Wright’s marriage record, stating that his father was named John Bee, was correct.

DNA tests have shown a match between this descendant of John Bee Wright’s daughter Martha Jane Nott nee Wright and descendants of John Bee’s brother William Bee b.1805, and of John Bee’s father James Bee’s siblings, (Mary) Ann Bee and Elizabeth Bee. 

The death record of John Bee (see below) shows he died of consumption on 13 July 1839 at Blundeston, Suffolk, aged 36, viz. b.c.1803, a labourer. However, he was buried in Aldeby. Blunderston was a few kms east of Aldeby, across The Broads.

Author, Bruce Haley, wrote that, ‘about a quarter of all deaths during this general period between 1838 and 1840, have been attributed to tuberculosis or consumption.’ (The Healthy Body and Victorian Culture, 1978)

John was the husband of Elizabeth Bee nee Marjoram of Aldeby.

Mary Bee, John’s first daughter by Elizabeth, was born in September 1835 at Aldeby, only a month after his marriage to Elizabeth Marjoram in Aldeby in August 1835 (notably, a year before Eleanor Wright was married). A second daughter named Esther after John’s mother, was born in June 1837 at Blundeston, but sadly died in November that year. Another daughter named Esther was born at Blundeston on 6 June 1839 just a month before John’s death in July. She was baptised a year later on 28 June 1840 at Blundeston. Sadly, she also died at the early age of just 15 years, in 1855 at Aldeby. By 1841, Elizabeth Bee was back living in Aldeby.

Another Esther Bee died in Aldeby in 1832 aged 58 and was John Bee’s mother, his daughter’s namesake.

The fact that John Bee married his wife only one month before the birth of their first daughter proves he has form, as he also impregnated Eleanor out of wedlock, Eleanor being just 19 years of age at the time, and John aged 25 years when John Bee Wright was born in 1828.  

 John Bee's death and burial records:

(GRO- Ref.1839/Sept Quarter/Vol. 13/p.277/District of Mutford Suffolk)

Although John Bee died at Blundeston in 1839, he was buried in his hometown of Aldeby.

Map of Blundeston in Suffolk and Aldeby in Norfolk, about 8 kms apart, across the Broads

Marriage record (Ancestry.com):

In the 1841 Census, Elizabeth Bee, widow, aged 30, was living in Aldeby, described as an agricultural labourer, with two infant children, Mary Bee, and Esther Bee.

In the 1851 Census, Elizabeth Bee, 43, widow, charwoman, born Aldeby, Norfolk, was still living in Aldeby with her daughter Esther Bee, 11, scholar and pauper. Daughter Esther’s birthplace was listed as Blundeston in Suffolk, only a few miles east of Aldeby, across the Broads, which is where her father John Bee died. Daughter Mary Bee, age 15 (16) was working as a servant for a school mistress and her father at Burgh St Peter near Aldeby. In the 1871 Census, Mary Bee, 35, unmarried, born Aldeby, was the housekeeper of William Thorpe a retired farmer, living in Wenhaston Suffolk. 

Notably, there seem to be numerous connections between these families living in Wenhaston in Suffolk, and Aldeby and Haddiscoe in southern Norfolk.

In 1861, Elizabeth Bee was working for James Futter and family as a housekeeper. In 1871 she was living alone, and died before the 1881 census.

John Bee was born and baptised at Haddiscoe in May 1803, son of James Bee and Esther Pulham. Haddiscoe was about 3-4 kms north of Aldeby.

James Bee married Esther/‘Easter’ Pulham in Haddiscoe on 25 March 1794. She was ‘of this Parish’, but James was from another Parish, named Gelderston which is about 5-6 kms west of Aldeby:

Esther Pulham was born at Gillingham, Norfolk 17 April 1774 to William Pulham and Mary (Lilleston). (Gillingham is adjacent to Gelderston).

A William ‘Pollum’ married Mary Lilleston at Chedgrave, adjacent to Loddon, a few kms north of Aldeby in 1757- they were illiterate which would explain the phonetic spelling of Pulham as Pullom:

They had a daughter named Mary baptised 22 August 1762 at Gelderston (adjacent to Gillingham).

Other issue, all born at Gillingham: Elizabeth b.1768, Mary b.1768, Anne b.1769, Sarah b.1788. 

Mary Pulham married John Fisk in 1787 at Burgh St Peter (next to Aldeby), witnessed by her sister Elizabeth Pulham.

Elizabeth Pulham had a "base born" daughter, Mary, in April 1790 at Aldeby. 

Therefore, the Pulham family were all living in the vicinity of Aldeby when Esther married James Bee in 1794.

Map showing Aldeby in relation to Geldeston, Gillingham and Chedgrave

William Pulham died/was buried at Gillingham 15 April 1777:

James Bee and Esther Pulham had numerous children- five (including John) at Haddiscoe between 1794 and 1803 (mother recorded as Esther Pulham); four at Burgh St Peter (near Aldeby- NB. mother’s name recorded as ‘Lydia’ Pulham) between 1805 and 1809; and four at Aldeby (mother recorded as Esther Pulham) between 1811 and 1817.

James Bee was recorded as a ‘labourer’ in the later baptisms.

(DNA match between descendants of John Bee b.1803 and William Bee b.1805)

James Bee died in 1836 at Blunderston, but buried at Aldeby, aged 71, which was the same place of death as his son John Bee in 1839. After his wife Esther’s death in 1832, he may have gone to live with his son John. The age at death appears to be incorrect, as James was baptised in South Elmham, Suffolk in 1779, but may have been born earlier.

Death/Burial record of James Bee at Aldeby

Map showing Haddiscoe, Burgh St Peter, Wheatacre, in relation to Aldeby

Death/ burial record of Esther Bee nee Pulham in 1832, aged 58 (b.1774):

As mentioned, James Bee appears to have been born in 1769 at St Margaret South Elmham in Suffolk, a few kms SW of Gelderston where he was living at the time of his marriage to Esther Pulham in Haddiscoe (just north of Aldeby). Gelderston is adjacent to Gillingham which was the birthplace of his future wife Esther Pulham.

Map showing South Elmham, Aldeby, Haddiscoe, Gelderston and Gillingham

The baptism record of James Bee does not give the date of birth which may have been earlier (as suggested by his death in 1836 at age 71, ie. b.c.1765.)

James Bee appears to be the son of Richard Bee and Anne Bridgewell who were married at South Elmham in 1757. 

There are DNA matches between the descendant of John Bee, and two sisters of his father James Bee both naming parents as Richard Bee and Anne Bridgewell.

 

Richard and Ann Bee had issue at South Elmham:

Susanna Bee b.1757

James Bee b.1762 d.1764

Elizabeth Bee 1764-1863 (2x DNA matches)

Ann Bee 1766-1850 (DNA match)

James (William) Bee 1769-1836 (DNA match)

John Bee b.1771

Charles Bee b.1771

Upphia Bee b.1777

 

According to Ancestry family trees, Richard Bee died at South Elmham in Dec.1810, and Ann Bee nee Bridgewell died at South Elmham in Feb 1806. (unverified).

 

Ann Bridgewell appears to have been born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1727 (according to Ancestry family trees):

Richard also appears to have been born at Newcastle-upon Tyne in September 1723 (according to Ancestry family trees)

However, the question that comes to mind is why two people from Newcastle in Northumberland would move to the small village of South Elmham in Suffolk which is not explained, so these records may be incorrect.

If the record is correct, then Richard Bee’s father Richard Bee (Senior) was born 30 April 1699 St Andrews Newcastle-upon-Tyne, died/buried 6 Sept 1730 St Andrews, married Susannah Jobling 22 January 1720 at All Saints Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Susannah bap. 6 July 1702 All Saints to John Jobling).

Richard Senior (b.1699) was born to Benjamin Bee (1672-1736) and Sarah Raw (d.1708) married 1 Sept 1695 at St Andrew, Newcastle.

Benjamin was baptized 24 June 1672 at Newcastle to Richard Bee and was buried 17 Feb 1736 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Therefore, without further proof, such as DNA, these records of the Bee family at Newcastle-upon-Tyne remain speculative.

ELEANOR WRIGHT, and SON JOHN  WRIGHT'S  EARLY  YEARS

John Wright's father, John Bee died when John Wright  was just ten years of age. Maybe that is the reason John stated that he was left ‘without parental guidance from a young age’. It may also refer to his mother, Eleanor, sending him to live with his uncle William Wright in Norwich shortly before or after her marriage to Benjamin Sones in 1836.

As the name ‘Eleanor Wright’ is a very common name in Norfolk, the process of proving her identity has been complicated, but there are two main sources used in identifying the correct Eleanor- one is the village of Wenhaston (and the adjacent village of Thorington) in Suffolk which turns out to be the birthplace of all of Eleanor’s siblings and her mother Elizabeth, providing an important link; and the other was a DNA match between descendants of Eleanor and her sister Maria Wright of Aldeby, and a second DNA match with a descendant of Eleanor’s paternal grandmother’s brother, providing irrefutable proof of a family link between these families.

In 1841, John Wright was only 13 years of age, but finding where was living in 1841 was quite a mystery for a long time, as there are numerous 'John Wrights' aged 13 to 15 living in Norfolk. However, once again, the key was finding his uncle William Wright living in Heigham in Norwich, identified by his birth in Wenhaston, with whom John was living. It is possible that his mother Eleanor’s husband may have rejected her illegitimate son living in their household, resulting in his living with his uncle and learning his uncle’s trade of shoemaking, an apprenticeship that took 6-7 years. At the age of 20, John married his wife in April 1848, abode named as Vauxhall Street. The 1850 Hunt’s Directory shows John listed as a shoemaker in Vauxhall Street, Heigham, just down the road from his uncle in Mill Street off Vauxhall Street, and in the following census in 1851, John was described as a shoemaker with his own establishment in Vauxhall Street employing 15 men.

Apart from John Bee Wright’s baptismal record naming his mother as Eleanor Wright, there are a few further records of Eleanor.

On 1 November 1836, eight years after the birth of her son John Bee Wright, Eleanor married Benjamin Sones (also spelt Soanes), an agricultural labourer living in Haddiscoe, just north of Aldeby. They were married at Aldeby. 

Notably, in the second record, the Parish clerk has not only incorrectly written their surname as Jones instead of Sones, but he has also written James Jones/Sones instead of Benjamin Sones as the groom, however, Benjamin’s ‘signature’ (his mark) corrects and confirms his Christian name. Their witnesses were James Sones, Benjamin’s younger brother, and Charlotte Sones (either an aunt born 1785, or a sister/sister-in-law).

Map showing proximity of Haddiscoe to Aldeby, and Toft Monks (Benjamin's birthplace)

Eleanor’s identity is revealed in the 1851 Census in which her birthplace is named as Weneston/Wenhaston, Suffolk, aged 42, ie. born 1809. She was named as Elenor Sones wife of Ben Sones, living 'by Blacksmiths':

1851 Census

There are also two children named in the 1851 Census, sons, James aged 10 and Benjamin aged 7. 

In the previous 1841 Census, a daughter Charlotte is also named with the Sones family- in 1851 Charlotte aged 14, was working as a house servant for a builder named King and his family at Beccles just over the border in Suffolk.

1841 Census

Baptismal records show that their children, Charlotte was baptized 1 October 1837, James was born 9 April 1840 and Benjamin was baptized 1 October 1843.

Eleanor Soanes nee Wright was buried 20 April 1852 aged 43 (b.1809) in St Mary Haddiscoe church cemetery.

 

Photos of St Mary Haddiscoe church

courtesy of Mary Zerner

Gravestone of Eleanor Soanes (NB. surname written as Soones)

Photo courtesy of Mary Zerner

Badly damaged, but reads:

In Memory of 

Eleanor

wife of 

Benjamin Soones

Died  April --, 1852

Aged 43 years 

Sadly, for Benjamin, their daughter Charlotte died 22 July 1863 aged 25 and son Benjamin (jnr) died 9 July 1864 aged 20, both buried in St Mary Haddiscoe churchyard, next to their mother Eleanor, all on the RHS of the church facing the tower.

 

Graves of Charlotte and Benjamin-

again, the surname is written 'Soones' instead of Soanes

Photos courtesy of Mary Zerner

Their son, James Soanes, would emigrate to Australia in 1870 with his wife, Mary Colgate (married Lambeth in 1863), and children, Alice aged 4 (born 1866 Loddon District) and twins James Benjamin and Eleanor Plessy, aged 1 (born early 1869 Greenwich). Tragically, both of the twins died on the voyage, Eleanor in September and James in November. (Seven other children, five infants below 1, died on the voyage, plus one adult).

Mary also gave birth to a baby onboard named William Soanes, on 30 October.

They arrived in Rockhampton, Queensland, on the ‘Royal Dane’ on 19 November 1870 having sailed from London on 30 July, and settled in Mackay. It would also appear that they had had another daughter named Elizabeth Wright Soanes who was born and died in the December qtr 1867 in Loddon District (ie. at Haddiscoe), named in honor of Eleanor’s mother.

Their eldest daughter Alice Soanes would marry Alfred Hucker in Mackay, both of whom share the family grave.

James and Mary would have further children in Mackay: Henry Soanes b.1873 (m. Mary Mitchell), James Soanes b.1876 (m. Annie Sophia Thorpe), Mary Ellen Soanes b.1878 (m. Frederick George Brownsey), Frederick Alfred Soanes b/d.1881, George Soanes b/d. 1882, Florence Esther Soanes b.1883 (m. Peter Roy), Arthur Edward Soanes b.1889 (m. Eliza Andrew Tait).

Mary Soanes (nee Colgate) died 22/9/1893 at Mackay, leaving her husband to raise several young children, and James Soanes died 15/12/1915 Mackay, both buried in Mackay City Cemetery.

Benjamin Sones/Soanes was born 7 June 1810 in Toft Monks, just NW of Aldeby (between Aldeby and Haddiscoe), to William Soanes and Susan Tye (married in Toft Monks in July 1803), other children named: William Sones b. Sept 1803, Elizabeth b.1806, Stephen b.1809, Thomas b.1816 and James b.1819, all born in Toft Monks.

Benjamin’s elder brother William Sones (b.1803) married Eleanor’s sister Elizabeth Wright (see below) in 1826, but died in 1832.

In the 1861 Census- Haddiscoe: Benjamin Sones, 50, ag lab, born Aldeby, Charlotte Sones, 23, dau, James Sones, 21, son, Ag lab, Benjamin Sones, 17, son, blacksmith apprentice, all born Haddiscoe; and Harriet Sones 20 niece (dau. of Thomas)

·        NB. neighbour in Haddiscoe is Eliza Weeds, head, widow, 43, school governess, born Halvergate Norfolk, and her son Charles, 21, ag lab, Ann, dau, 17, dressmaker, Caroline, dau., 13, scholar, all born Haddiscoe

Eliza Weeds (nee Garwood) was the widow of Charles Weeds of Haddiscoe- they married in 1839. Charles Weeds b.1808, d.1849, was the brother of John Weeds who married Maria Wright, sister of Eleanor.

In (April-May-June qtr) 1869, Benjamin Sones married widow Eliza Weeds (nee Garwood).

Notably, this was after the deaths of two of his children, and his remaining son James having left for London to emigrate to Australia.

1871 Census- Haddiscoe, Loddon District: Benjamin Soanes 61, Eliza Soanes 52 wife (born Halvergate); Ann Youngs 28 (her) daughter (m. widower Aaron Youngs in 1870); Mary Youngs 10 (step) granddaughter, Aaron Youngs 5 (step) grandson.

1881 Census-Thurlton, Loddon; Benjamin Soanes, 70, ag lab, born Toft Monks, and Eliza, wife, 63, born Halvergate, and Selena Middleton granddau 7.

Benjamin Soanes died at Thurlton, adjacent to Haddiscoe (see map), in 1888 aged 78.

The following record in the 1864 White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory for Haddiscoe records Eliza Weeds (nee Garwood) as a schoolmistress in Haddiscoe.

HADDISCOE-1864:

(NB. the James Bee, wheelwright and post office, would appear to be the elder brother of John Bee, or could be a nephew).

The directory also gave a description of Haddiscoe in 1864, and in particular, the church of St Mary:

FAMILY TREE OF JOHN BEE WRIGHT

The following family tree of John Bee Wright, son of Eleanor Wright, has been constructed using all of the evidence available (Census, BDM/parish records, DNA), which will be explored in detail below:

DNA link

The modern science of genealogical DNA testing is proving useful in establishing relationships in the past when records were irregular. 

I, the author of this blog, a descendant of Eleanor Wright and her son John Bee Wright, have an autosomal DNA match with a descendant of the Wrights of Aldeby and Topcroft (named Sarah). I also match with her mother (Jocelyn). My DNA cousins, Jocelyn and Sarah, are descendants of John Weeds and his wife Maria Wright who were living in Aldeby as shown in the various census records.

ie. John Weeds and Maria Wright (m.1838); parents of William Weeds married 1870 Charlotte Long; parents of Alice Weeds who married William Deeth; parents of Ethel Laura, etc.

Ancestry.com has estimated a relationship of 4^th-5^th cousins. 

In scientific terms, we share a total DNA of 30.2cM (centiMorgans), with single continuous segments of 23.3cM in Chromosome 15, and a further single segment of 6.9cM in Chromosome 3. 

Chr	Start Location	End Location	Centimorgans (cM)	SNPs
3	61,427,186	65,254,630	6.9	880
15	74,265,117	90,901,413	23.3	2,622

This indicates a relationship of between 4 and 6 generations ago. Direct descendants of children of 4xGreat Grandparents would be 5^th cousins, and 5x Great Grandparents would be 6^th cousins, etc. A 4^th cousin inherits an average of about 35cM (with a possible range from 0 to 127cM) and a 5^th cousin would average about 25cM (with a range of 0 to 94cM), and 6^th cousins share an average of about 21cMs (range 0-86cM), so our shared DNA is in that area, and suggests a relationship about 5^th cousins.

Given that John Bee Wright’s mother Eleanor Wright was my 3x Great Grandmother (and born 1809), we must be looking at her parents, William and Elizabeth Wright, my 4x great grandparents and their issue, confirming our DNA match as 5th cousins.

As DNA evidence is irrefutable, and sharing 23cM’s in one single segment is enough to make the claim that Eleanor Wright is the sister of Maria Wright, both daughters of William and Elizabeth Wright, as revealed in the census records.

A further DNA match with a descendant of William Wright’s mother Mary Goddard’s brother will be explained later in the section on the Goddard family.

And, as previously discussed, I have a DNA match with a descendant of John Bee's brother William Bee (sharing 11cM= 5th cousin), and John Bee's father James Bee's sister Elizabeth (sharing 11cM= 6th cousin), and further matches with two descendants of James's sister (Mary) Ann (sharing 13cM and 9cM= 6th cousins).

THE EVIDENCE LINKING THE WRIGHT FAMILY OF ALDEBY

The marriage of John Weeds and Maria Wright in 1838 Aldeby, witnessed by John’s brother Charles Weeds, (the husband of Eliza Weeds nee Garwood who remarried to Benjamin Sones):

In the 1841 Census, John and Maria Weeds (nee Wright), 25, are living with her parents William Wright, 65, Ag Lab, and his wife Elizabeth, 65 at Aldeby, plus their children Marion 2, and Sarah 8mths.

Their neighbours, Richard and Elizabeth Clemments and two children Louisa Sones and Maria Sones, are identified as Maria’s sister Elizabeth Wright (see below) and her children by her first husband, William Sones (brother of Benjamin Sones).

1841 CENSUS

In the 1851 Census, John Weeds and Maria, aged 38, and children, Maryann 11, Sarahann 10, Louisa 9, William 5 and Robert 3, plus a lodger, are living at No 12 Burrows Green Aldeby, and William Wright, 75 and Elizabeth 74 are living at No 10 Burrows Green Aldeby.

Places of birth given as: William Wright at Topcroft Norfolk, and wife Elizabeth at Weneston (Wenhaston) Suffolk, while daughter Maria was born at 'Thurenten' (Thorington) Suffolk which is adjacent to Wenhaston, and John Weeds born at Thurlton, adjacent to Haddiscoe, just north of Aldeby. 

Map of Wenhaston and Thorington in Suffolk

Notably, the family living between the Weeds (no.12) and William and Elizabeth Wright (no. 10) is Richard Clemments (53) and Elizabeth (46) and her daughter Louisa Sones (23) and Louisa's son John Sones (2), living at No 11 Burroughs Green. Significantly, the birthplace of Elizabeth Clemments is Wenhaston, Suffolk. On further research, Elizabeth is established as another daughter of William and Elizabeth Wright (see below for details). 
The Clemments were also living next door in the 1841 Census, in which Elizabeth had a second child named Maria Sones, 10, b.1831 (see above) living with them. 

1851 CENSUS

In the 1861 Census, John Weeds had died, and Maria Weeds, 49, Widow, born Thurington/Thorington was living with her sons William 15, Robert 13 and George 5, and her aged parents William Wright, 'father', 85, born Topcroft Norfolk and still listed as an Ag Lab, and Elizabeth, 'mother', 85, born Wenhaston Suffolk, all living on the Yarmouth Rd, Aldeby- the main road to Great Yarmouth, and Toft Monks. 
There is a burial record for John Weeds at Aldeby, 17 April, 1860 aged 48.

1861 CENSUS

The Clemments, Richard and Elizabeth, and grandson John Sones, were still living in Burroughs Green (at No.2) in 1861.

In the 1871 Census, Maria Weeds, 60, was still living in Yarmouth Rd, Aldeby with her youngest son George, 15. She is described as an Ag Lab’s widow. 
Her parents, William and Elizabeth Wright, had died in 1861 and 1862 respectively- see death records below.

Maria Weeds nee Wright died before the 1881 Census.

ELIZABETH CLEMMENTS, nee SONES, nee WRIGHT

Further information on the Wright's daughter Elizabeth who married (1.) William Sones in 1826, and married (2.) Richard Clemments in 1835; and her issue by William Sones- Louisa and Maria Sones.

In the 1841 Census, Richard and Elizabeth Clemments were living with her children Louisa and Maria Sones, next to the Weeds and their parents, William and Elizabeth Wright

As previously mentioned, in the 1851 Census, at No. 10 Burroughs Green, William Wright, 75, born Topcroft and wife Elizabeth Wright, 74, born Weneston/Wenhaston.

Next door at No. 11 Burroughs Green, Richard Clemments, 53, and his wife Elizabeth, 44 (b.1807), born Weneston/Wenhaston Suffolk, her eldest daughter Lousia Sones, Unmarried, aged 23 b.c.1828 Aldeby and Louisa’s son John Sones aged 2 (illeg.).

At No.12 Burroughs Green, John Weeds and wife Maria Wright and 5 children.

The fact that Elizabeth Clemments nee Wright was born at Weneston/Wenhaston Suffolk, as was her neighbour Elizabeth Wright, indicates they were mother and daughter.

In 1851 Maria Soanes, 19, born Aldeby, was a general servant living in Great Yarmouth, at The Quay, working for Margaret Davies, 24, gentlewoman, and two other residents: William Denny unmarried 21 (no relationship to Margaret Davies given in the record), a Chemist’s assistant; and Livinia Carter servant, 13.

In 1861, Maria Sones, 30, born Aldeby, was living in Hall House (probably at Hall Quay on the River Yare) in Great Yarmouth, with her cousin Sarah Weeds, 20, born Aldeby, both employed as domestic servants by William J. Foreman 36, shipowner and merchant and his wife, and daughter 12.

Maria Sones (“daughter of William Sones, labourer”) married in April 1866 to Thomas Etheridge, widow (with an 11 mth old son, James, by first wife Caroline Walker), in Great Yarmouth;- one issue: daughter Caroline E. Etheridge b.1874 at Buckenham, Parish of Blofield, died 1947 Cambridge (m.1897 Jonathan Ellis Goodrum).

Thomas and Maria Etheridge were still alive in the 1901 census, but no death records found.

In the 1861 Census, Richard Clemments, 65, ag lab, and wife Elizabeth, 56, born Wenhaston Suffolk, and grandson John Sones were living at No 2 Burroughs Green, while widow Maria Weeds and her parents, the William and Elizabeth Wright, had moved to Yarmouth Rd Aldeby which is closer to Tofts Monk and on the main road to Yarmouth.

Burroughs Green, in Aldeby, is a narrow lane bordered by farmland, in the middle of the Parish of Aldeby, close to Toft Monks and Haddiscoe.

Burroughs Green, Aldeby, Norfolk

Notably, Elizabeth’s daughter Louisa Sones is not listed in the 1861 Census. In the 1871 census, Elizabeth Clemment’s eldest daughter Louisa (42, b. Aldeby in 1828) was the wife (? no record found) of William Wiseman 41, railway carman, and living with her son, John Sones 22, ‘stepson’ of William Wiseman, born Aldeby, and Rosey (Rosetta) Sones,17, ‘step daughter’ of William, born Aldeby, living in Wellesley Road Great Yarmouth.

1871 Census:

However, the only baptism record found for a Rosetta Sones is a Rosetta baptised in Aldeby 29 April 1855, daughter of Maria Sones ‘widow’, no father named. This would appear to be Louisa’s younger sister Maria, who was aged 24 in 1855.

The record information on this Rosey (Rosetta) Sones is rather confusing. When Rosey Sones married 13 October 1872 to John Frederick Long (a widower), her father was named as 'William Sones', shepherd, the same name as her grandfather.

The marriage record, also claimed she was living 'With Aunt Mrs Wiseman’ (viz. Louisa Wiseman- yet, in the 1871 census record, Rosey had been described as William Wiseman’s ‘stepdaughter’).

Marriage 13 October 1872 of Rosetta Sones:

It would therefore appear that Louisa raised her sister Maria’s daughter Rosetta along with her own son John Sones. As Maria was working as a general servant in Yarmouth in 1851 and 1861, she would not have been allowed to keep a child at her employer’s residence. Although Maria married in 1866, her daughter Rosey continued to live with her aunt Louisa, as shown in the 1871 Census, and in her marriage record in 1872.

In the 1881 census, William Wiseman, 52, carman/rail, and Louisa Wiseman, 52, born Aldeby, were living in Great Yarmouth with her mother (his "mother-in-law") named as Elizabeth Sones (not Clemments?), aged 77 (born 1804), widow. The place of birth is difficult to read and looks like ‘Swainston’ Suffolk, a mistake: 

In the 1891 Census, Louisa and William Wiseman were living in Great Yarmouth with her two grandsons, Albert Soanes 10, and Herbert Soanes 7. Her mother Elizabeth was no longer with them.

In the 1901 census, Louisa was a widow working as a laundress at her home in Norman Lane.

William Wiseman died aged 71 at Great Yarmouth in November 1899; 

Louisa Wiseman, died aged 82 in March 1909 at Great Yarmouth Workhouse;  both buried in Yarmouth Cemetery (Louisa in an 'unconsecrated grave').

Louisa’s son, John Soanes, aged 28, (b.c.1849) married Maria Tripp in Great Yarmouth 12 May 1877. No baptism record found (possibly John Soans, June qtr 1850, reg. District Loddon, v.13 p.205).

Louisa Sones was baptised 16 Nov 1828, at Alburgh parish (near Aldeby and Topcroft, but in Census records, Louisa always named birthplace as Aldeby), father William Sones and mother Elizabeth Wright.  Maria Sones was baptised 9 Oct 1831 in Aldeby, father William Sones and mother Elizabeth Wright.

In September 1826, Elizabeth Wright had married William Sones, the father of her two children (Louisa and Maria) and brother of Benajmin Sones (husband of Eleanor Wright), at Aldeby:

Witnesses named as Elizabeth Sones (sister of William and Benjamin Sones) and Charles ? (illegible).

William Sones died just six years later in 1832, aged 29 (b.1803).

 

William’s baptism record at Toft Monks in 1803, shows the same parents as for Benjamin Sones/Soanes, husband of Eleanor Wright (ie. William Soanes and Susan Tye):

Richard Clemments married Elizabeth Sones, spinster (?), in the Parish of Aldeby, 8 June 1835, witness Maria Wright.

So, the facts, including the important fact that Elizabeth Wright was born at Wenhaston, indicate that Elizabeth is another sister of Maria and Eleanor Wright, all daughters of William and Elizabeth Wright.

Richard Clemments died and was buried at Aldeby 28 March 1862 aged 68 (born c.1794.)

There is no record of Elizabeth’s whereabouts in the 1871 Census, only in the 1881 Census when she was living with daughter Louisa Wiseman.

As Elizabeth was not living with the Wisemans in the 1891 Census, nor is she listed elsewhere, presumably she had died between 1881 and 1891.

There is a record of a death of Elizabeth Soanes (the name she used in the 1881 Census) in Yarmouth, on 1st August 1887 aged 89 (V.4b p15), at the Yarmouth Workhouse, described as the "widow of William Soanes, a general labourer of Yarmouth"; buried in Yarmouth New Cemetery on 4th August; and although the name is correct (albeit her name by her first marriage, the name she used in the 1881 census), the stated age of 89 is incorrect by about 6 years (viz. should be 83), but it is possible that the Workhouse records had recorded her age incorrectly.

The question is, why would she have been in the Workhouse and not living with her daughter Louisa and her husband? Was it because of the state of her health, or their financial position, that they were unable to look after her? Or is this record not relevant?

Conclusion:

Eleanor Sones nee Wright was born 1809, Wenhaston, Suffolk, and died 1852 Haddiscoe, Norfolk.

Maria Weeds nee Wright was born 1813, Thorington near Wenhaston, Suffolk.

Elizabeth Clements, nee Sones/Soanes, nee Wright was born 1804, Wenhaston, Suffolk, and died (?) 1887, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Their parents were named as William Wright born c.1776, Topcroft, Norfolk, died 1861, Aldeby, Norfolk, and wife Elizabeth born c.1776, Wenhaston, Suffolk, died 1862, Aldeby, Norfolk. 

WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH WRIGHT

No marriage record has been found for William Wright and Elizabeth, so her surname remains unknown. Records from the parishes of Wenhaston and Thorington in Suffolk, do not exist before about 1813/14, however, as their daughter Maria was baptised at Thorington, near Wenhaston in Suffolk on 27 February 1814, born 15 June 1813 (see below), and mother Elizabeth's birthplace is named as Wenhaston in the Census records, as is the birthplace of the first three of her children William, Elizabeth and Eleanor (born 1803-1809), also revealed by the Census records, one would presume that they married there, and records below indicate a marriage about 1802/03 (see section on their eldest child, William Wright jnr b.1803/04)

(NB. As John Bee Wright was baptised by his mother with the middle name of 'Bright', that may indicate it was her mother Elizabeth's maiden name)

There is also a birth and death for a son named John Goddard Wright in 1819, to William and Elizabeth Wright, baptised at Thorington (The name 'Goddard' named after William's mother, and 'John' after his father):

St Peter's Church, Thorington

Entrance & tower of St Peter's, Thorington

Tower, St Peter's Church

(photos courtesy of Mary Zerner)

St. Peter’s Church Wenhaston

(The walls of the church are covered in early 15^th century paintings depicting the Day of Judgement)

William and Elizabeth Wright each reached a grand old age, with William dying in November 1861 and Elizabeth the following September 1862, both buried in Aldeby:

The family tree of the family of William and Elizabeth Wright:

TOPCROFT-   birthplace of William Wright, and the Goddard family

Eleanor, Maria and Elizabeth's father, William Wright states he was born at Topcroft, Norfolk, c.1776 in the Census records. 
Topcroft is a few kms west of Aldeby.

A baptism record for William Wright, 1 April 1776, son of Jonathan Wright and Mary his wife, at Topcroft:

Map of Aldeby, Haddiscoe, Toft Monks, Loddon, Blundeston, Topcroft, Wenhaston and Thorington. Also, Kirby Cane and Beccles (& Topcroft)- see Goddard family below

There are no further records of issue of Jonathan and Mary Wright in Topcroft, but they may have moved elsewhere (possibly Wenhaston, but no records available there).

The marriage of Jonathan Wright and wife Mary Goddard took place at Topcroft in the same year as the birth of William less than 3 months later, on 17 January 1776, after Banns on 17th, 24th and 31st December 1775:

The record reveals that Jonathan was from the Parish of Moulton near Yarmouth, which would appear to be Moulton St Mary, about 10 kms west of Great Yarmouth on the other side of The Broads (below Acle on the map), and wife Mary Goddard was from Topcroft. She was baptised at Topcroft 14 Nov 1756 to James and Mary Goddard.

James Goddard married Mary Symonds on 9 July 1754 at Topcroft. 
They had issue, all born at Topcroft:
James Goddard bap. 25 Sept 1754
Mary Goddard bap.14 Nov 1756
Elisabeth Goddard bap. 16 April 1759  
William Goddard bap. 10 July 1763, m.1. in 1783 Ann Spalding (d.1785); m.2. Ann Atkins at Aldeby (issue 3 daughters and 4 sons born between 1789 and 1807 in Aldeby, including a son named John Goddard b.1807 Aldeby, whose descendant is a DNA match with the author, a descendant of Eleanor Wright- see below).

James Goddard died/buried 5 January 1808 at Topcroft, aged 77 (born c.1731).

Marriage 1754

Death 1808

DNA MATCH between Goddard descendants

Once again, a DNA match has been found between a descendant of William Wright (via daughter Eleanor Wright and her son John Bee Wright) son of Jonathan Wright and Mary Goddard, and a descendant of Mary Goddard's brother William Goddard. They are estimated to be 4th-6th cousins by Ancestry.com.

A male descendant of William Goddard, named M. Goddard, shares the following DNA with the author of this blog:

 

Shared DNA: 40 cM across 2 segments

Unweighted shared DNA: 45 cM

Longest segment: 34 cM

M. Goddard, of Australia, descends from William Edward Lucien Goddard b.1865 France, d.1931 Sydney; son of Captain William Goddard born 1835 Beccles Suffolk, who got his Masters certificate in the Merchant Service in 1861, travelled regularly between London and Sydney Australia, married Susan Alice D’Arcy 1864 in Sydney, and died 1898 in Sydney; son of John Goddard b.1808 Aldeby Norfolk, married Susan Warnes 3 April 1826 in St James Pockthorpe Norwich, but living in Kirby Cane in 1851/61/71 Census’; son of William Goddard (brother of Mary Goddard) b.1763 Topcroft married Ann Atkins in June 1788 at Aldeby; son of James Goddard and Mary Symonds of Topcroft.

Proof of descent

Captain William Goddard (born 1835 Beccles) and his wife Susan (D’Arcy, born NSW) and family were living at Poplar in London, England in the 1871 census, which shows where the various children of Captain William and wife Susan were born, including son William E[dward] in France, and daughter Alice born in New South Wales (as was her mother), and two born in Poplar, London, and the youngest at sea. It also shows that William Goddard, Master Mariner was born at Beccles Suffolk.

William’s sister Elizabeth A(nn) Goddard, 44, was living with them. She was born 15 May 1826, bap 21 May 1826 at Saint John Sepulchre church Norwich, parents named as ‘John Goddard, servant, and Susanne’, one month after their marriage. Curiously, she was re baptised Elizabeth Ann Mary Goddard in Aldeby on 10 April 1832 (or 1830?) but born on the same date, 15 May 1826 (as in Norwich), daughter of ‘John Goddard, labourer, and Susan Warnes’.

 1^st Baptism of Elizabeth Goddard at Norwich 1826: 

2^nd baptism at Aldeby, 1832 (or 1830?):

William Goddard’s baptism at Lowestoft, Suffolk, 7 December 1835, born 26 January at Beccles- notably a Non-conformist/Wesleyan baptism, by John Willis Minister:

William’s Master Mariner certificate, states his place of birth as Beccles, but his address as ‘Kirby Cane near Beccles’. Kirby Cane links him with his father John Goddard who lived in Kirby Cane by 1851. Kirby Cane is a few miles west of Aldeby, in Norfolk, but on the same road as Beccles just over the border in Suffolk (see map above).

Another sister, Maria Goddard was born 13 February and baptised 17 Feb 1833 to ‘John Goddard and Susan Warnes’ at Aldeby, and was living with her parents at Kirby Cane in the 1851/61 Census records, when she married John Cox, a miller, in 1867 at Kirby Cane. By then, her father is described as a labourer on her marriage record.

There is also a baptism 18 May 1837, for Ruth Goddard, parents named as John and Susan Goddard, a Non-Conformist baptism at Lowestoft Wesleyan church, by Minister John Willis, the same minister as in William’s baptism, a third sister.

As Elizabeth was baptised in 1826 and Maria in 1833 both in the Anglican faith, and William in the Wesleyan faith in 1835 as was his sister Ruth in 1837, that would indicate that they adopted the Wesleyan faith around that time. Rev. John Willis (commenced Wesleyan ministry 1807, died 1860), a minister in the Wesleyan Methodist church was stationed at Lowestoft in the late 1830’s.

There is no record of John Goddard in the 1841 census, however, Susan Goddard 35, children, Maria 9, William 7 and Ruth 5, were listed as paupers at the Shipmeadow Workhouse in Suffolk, and the ages would appear to indicate this is the family. In the same census list for Shipmeadow, their eldest daughter Elizabeth Goddard aged 15, was working as a servant for a 75 year old farmer at Shipmeadow, named Thomas Spalding and his daughter. John Goddard is not listed at the workhouse, but as he was a ‘seaman’ in the 1851 census, he may have been at sea. The workhouse, about 3 kms west of Beccles, was built in 1764 for the ‘Relief and Employment of the Poor in the Hundred of Wangford’ comprising 27 parishes including Beccles, and Ellough where Susan Goddard nee Warnes was born. The Wangford Poor Law Union formally came into being on 25 June 1835 and took over the workhouse. This may be where Susan was educated and trained as a ‘school mistress’ and daughter Maria as a ‘teacher’, their occupations in 1851. In a later interview (below), William would say that he became a seaman at the age of 13, ie. 1848, probably following his father John’s occupation.

In the 1851 Census, John Goddard, wife Susan and daughter Maria were living in Kirby Cane. John is described as a ‘seaman’, while his wife Susan was a schoolmistress and daughter Maria a teacher. John Goddard’s place of birth was Aldeby, as was his daughter Maria. His wife Susan was born at Ellough in Suffolk, a couple of kms south of Beccles. John was 43, (ie. born c.1808) at Aldeby:

Similarly in the 1861 Census, living at Kirby Cane, although John, 53 is now described as an Ag. Labourer, his wife is still a school mistress:

In 1871 John is a widower aged 63, labourer at Kirby Cane. Susan died 1868 at Kirby Cane.

Baptism of John Goddard April 1807 in Aldeby to William Goddard and Ann (late Atkins) his wife (the youngest of seven children):

John Goddard died and was buried at Kirby Cane Parish May 29, 1876.

John’s father William Goddard died at Aldeby, 2 June 1841, abode ‘Heckingham Union House’ aged ‘80’.

By 1835 the Heckingham workhouse had gained a reputation as being the most disorderly, inefficient and corrupt of the Norfolk Hundred workhouses, in a highly critical report by the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner. “Four hundred and fifty paupers were congregated in this house; the aged and infirm and able-bodied men, women and children, having common yards and day-rooms. Some pretence of employment existed in a sacking manufactory, and in labour farm, of ten acres, hired by the incorporation; but the paupers were seldom kept in work. In 1842, the workhouse master was dismissed after being discovered replacing cheese in the inmates’ diet by cheap broth, and selling off for his own gain honey and plants produced at the workhouse.”

John’s mother Ann Atkins, had died in April 1832 aged 67, at Aldeby. Ann was William Goddard’s second wife, his first wife Ann Spalding whom he married in 1783 in Aldeby, having died in 1785. William Goddard married Ann Atkins in June 1788, and they had seven children in Aldeby (viz. Maria 1789, William 1791, Rachel 1793, George 1797, Eleanor 1802, Martin 1804, John 1807).

John’s father William Goddard was born to James Goddard and Mary Symons in Topcroft, baptised 10 July 1763, and was brother to Mary Goddard who was baptised 14/11/1756 Topcroft and married Jonathan Wright, parents of William Wright. The DNA link between William and Mary’s descendants prove this is the correct William Goddard.

Captain William Goddard

Captain William Goddard, son of John Goddard and Susan Warnes, died 3 December 1898 at Ashfield Sydney and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney, parents named as John and Susan (Goddard):

Name:	William Goddard
Death Date:	1898
Death Place:	New South Wales
Father's Name:	John
Mother's Name:	Susan
Registration Year:	1898
Registration Place:	Ashfield, New South Wales
Registration Number:	12847

William married Susan D’Arcy in 1864 in Sydney (985/1864). She was born in NSW in 1837.

William continued to sail international waters as captain, mainly between London and Sydney, and it would appear, he was sometimes accompanied by his wife and family, as shown in the 1871 London Census, which revealed the different birth places of his children, including the youngest ‘at sea’ and William in France. While he was working, their main residence was London, but he retired to live in Sydney with his family.

Several glowing obituaries appeared in the Sydney newspapers, as well as a couple of interviews:

Clarence River Advocate, Tuesday 6 December 1898, p3:

Daily Telegraph Sydney, 3 December 1898, p9

 

The following article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Thurs 21 January 1897 p3, was an interview on his retirement, the year before his death:

page 2

Captain William Goddard’s son, William Edward Lucien D’Arcy Goddard, born 1 Oct 1865 at Fontainebleau, France, died 12 Feb 1931 North Sydney, and buried in Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium,

Father: William Goddard, Mother: Susan Alice Goddard.

Known as ‘D’Arcy Goddard’. (see Find-a-Grave entry)

The DNA match to Eleanor’s descendant, M. Goddard is a descendant of William Edward Lucien D’Arcy Goddard.

JONATHAN WRIGHT, HUSBAND OF MARY GODDARD

As Jonathan Wright was married to Mary Goddard in 1776 at Topcroft, he must have been born before 1755. As we have seen in their marriage certificate, Jonathan was from the “Parish of Moulton near Yarmouth”.

Looking through the original Parish records for Moulton St Mary, no baptismal record was found for Jonathan Wright.

 It should be noted the parish record book was in very poor condition.

There are a couple of other records for Wrights at Moulton St Mary in the early to mid 1700’s, who may be related. As the name William features in Jonathan’s descendants, the following may (or may not) be relevant:

Issue of John Wright and ? Green:

1. William Wright born 9 July, bap 10 July 1737

2. Christian Wright (dau) bap 22 March 1729

As there is a big gap between William and Christian’s baptisms, one would expect there were further children, possibly baptised elsewhere, although there are no appropriate baptismal records for a Jonathan Wright in any parish in Norfolk.

There are several further records of baptisms of the issue of a John Wright and Elizabeth Taylor in the 1780’s onwards, who may be related to the above family of Wrights.

Moulton St Mary Church 

(On Manor Hall Farm in Reedham Road, Moulton St Mary)

Moulton St Mary's church is no longer a functioning church, but is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The Norman style tower dates from the C12th, the nave and chancel from C14th, and Tudor south porch is C16th, and the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt in the 1870's. The octagonal font dates back to C13th, the benches and pulpit in the chancel date from the C17th and on the walls are C14th wall paintings.

JOHN BEE WRIGHT,  living with Uncle WILLIAM WRIGHT after his mother's death

As we have already discussed, shortly after Eleanor Wright’s marriage to Benjamin Soanes in Haddiscoe in 1836, we find her son John living with his uncle William Wright in Heigham in Norwich in the 1841 Census. Whether this was because Benjamin Soanes did not want his wife’s base-born son living with them, or because John was about to be apprenticed as a shoemaker to his uncle William, is not known. Unfortunately, the 1841 Census is short on detail.

In the 1841 Census, a John Wright aged 13 (b.1828) was living with a William Wright aged 35 and wife Ann and two younger children, William aged 7 and George aged 5, at Mill Street, Heigham in Norwich (John Bee Wright's home in 1851).

The following 1892 map of Heigham shows the area of Crooks Place, with Mill Street (marked in RED) between Essex and Chapel Streets. It crosses with Vauxhall Street. The red asterix marks Portland Place where John would be living in 1851, so only a short distance from his uncle's house. (ref: Geo Plunkett maps)

There is a large gap between John's age of 13 and the other two children aged 7 and 5, indicating that John is not their child. This is confirmed by William and wife Ann's marriage record in 1830 (see below).

And the most important link is that William Wright is a shoemaker, John's future occupation. 

(Also at the house, coincidentally,  is a Catherine Riches aged 28- a relation of John Bee's future wife's family?).

1841 Census- Mill Street, Heigham, Norwich

The 1851 Census with this family still living in Mill Street, Heigham  gives us the most important clue to William's true identity- William Wright, 48, was born in 1803 at WENHASTON, SUFFOLK, the birth place of Eleanor Wright and her mother Elizabeth Wright and Eleanor's elder sister Elizabeth (Clemments), and adjacent to Thorington where younger sister Maria Wright was born in 1813 (our DNA match), and where they lived until at least 1819 when youngest child John Goddard Wright was born.

William is described as a MASTER SHOEMAKER, as were his two sons and two lodgers/employees.

1851 Census- Heigham, Norwich

By the 1861 Census, William Wright, 57, widower, was living by himself in Foster's Row Heigham,  his wife Ann having died, and his two children moved on, having also been trained as shoemakers

(A record for an Ann Wright, buried 5 May 1856, Lakenham aged 52, born 1804, is probably her.) 

William is no longer in the 1871 Census, suggesting his death. (No appropriate death record found in Norwich, unless he moved to Yarmouth to live with his son, as there are a couple of appropriate records there.)

In the 1861 Census, it would appear that William's eldest son, William Wright b.1833, was living with his wife Harriet in Great Yarmouth, working as a shoemaker. William Wright married Harriet Whitlock late 1855 in Norwich. At the time of the census, they had no children.

William's wife Ann would appear to be Ann Vervil who was born at Thurton/Chedgrave which is near Lodden, about half way between Aldeby and Norwich, daughter of Joshua Vervil (variously spelt Varville, Virvel), labourer, and Mary Ecclestone (they had numerous children baptised in Chedgrave in June 1811, and one in 1813).

The following marriage record is for William Wright and Ann Vervil/Virvel at Lakenham, Norwich (bordering Heigham):

And the births of two of their children Maria (b.1831) and William (b.1833) (the eldest Maria must have died before the 1841 Census), were notably in the Non-Conformist Church/Wesleyan Church in Calvert Street, so William and Ann Wright had converted the year after their marriage. However, no baptismal record has yet been found for their son George born 1834.

This conversion to the Wesleyan church was probably the major influence on John Wright's developing interest in the Wesleyan church.

The above record confirms that William (father) was a cordwainer or shoemaker, and that his wife Ann was the daughter of Joshua and Mary Vervil. The record states "William  Wright of New City in the Parish of St Stephen"- New City, significantly, is also Crook's Place (ie Mill Street).
Several of the Vervil children were baptised at Chedgrave in 1811 (Ann, Mary, Philip, Robert, William and Richard Varville), and Phillis in 1806 (father Joshua, mother named as Mary Ecclestone), Lydia in 1809 (Joshua and Mary Ann Varville) and Sarah in 1813 (Joshua and Mary Ecclestone, father a labourer), while the 1851 Census states that Ann was born at Thurton in 1803, which is very close to Chedgrave, and both near to Loddon. 

Map- Loddon, Chedgrave, Thurton, Thurlton and Aldeby 

The census records prove that William Wright, born Wenhaston c.1803, living in Heigham was the brother of Eleanor Wright, and Maria Wright, and Elizabeth Wright, all children of William and Elizabeth Wright, and that Eleanor’s brother William took over responsibility for her son John and taught him his trade of shoemaking.

John Bee Wright would say that he ‘had but 5 months  formal education’, yet he was highly literate and very intelligent. Where he learnt how to read he did not say. His obituary (see last chapter) stated that John possessed a hunger for knowledge and on being appointed school librarian he seemed to devour every book he handled, and would later gather a rare collection of books from London book stalls. Whether he gained this short formal education in Aldeby, Haddiscoe, or once he moved to live with his uncle in Norwich, is unknown. His uncle William must have been literate to become a Master Shoemaker, and all the siblings of the Wright family signed their own names on their marriage records, unlike their spouses who marked with an ‘x’. So, presumably his short formal education was in Norwich.

JOHN  BEE  WRIGHT'S  MARRIAGE  TO  MARTHA  ROWLING

On April 12, 1848, John Wright  married Martha Rowling at the Parish Church of St Stephen’s in Norwich, an Anglican church. Martha was the daughter of William Rowling and Mary Riches, and was born 20 March 1819 (according to death/obituary records and her baptism record), and was therefore ten years older than her husband John Wright who was just 20 at the time. Both John and Martha were living at Crooks Place Parish of St Stephens, Norwich, at the time of their marriage, which was a short distance from his Vauxhall Street shoemaker’s business. John’s occupation was given as shoemaker, while Martha’s occupation was shoebinder, so she may have been employed by John.

One of the witnesses was Martha's sister Sarah Rowling.

Marriage record of John Bee Wright and Martha Rowling

NB. address given for both as Crooks Place, Heigham, Norwich

NB. John Wright's father named as 'John Bee'

NB. Witness named as Martha's sister Sarah Rowling

Map showing Vauxhall Street- Portland Place buildings on left side; 

Julian Place written over all of the buildings on the right side of Vauxhall Street (where they were living when daughter Martha Jane was born in 1849)

St Stephen's Church Norwich

THE ROWLING FAMILY OF NORWICH

Martha Rowling was baptised 18 April 1819 at Saint George Colegate Church, Norwich and born 20 March 1819 (records below), the date of which is confirmed in her obituary (Source: .Genesee Conference Methodist Episcopal Church Annual Minutes. Ref : Official Minutes and Journal of the … session of the Genesee Conference , 1903- p.151-152)

NB baptismal date in record above differs to original record above

Saint George Colegate Church, Norwich

Martha's parents, William Rowling and Mary Riches were married 26 February 1809 at Saint James Pockthorpe Church in Norwich.

The church is now a puppet theatre

Therefore, William and Mary must have been born pre 1790.

William Rowling and Mary Riches had several children between 1809 and 1826:

George Row Rowling b. 14 November 1809 (bap. 19 November at Saint George Colegate, son of Willam Rowling and Mary Riches)- no further records found

Mary Ann Riches Rowling b. 27 June 1811 (bap. 30 June 1811 at Saint George Colegate, dau. of William Rowling and Mary Riches); married John Catchpole, Widower and labourer at St Mary at Coslany 28 Sept 1845. She was witness to sister Sarah's marriage. (Groom's father, James Catchpole, lime burner, is named, but not Mary's father which is left blank)
William Rowling b.c.1816 (no baptism record found)- see records below

James Riches Rowling, bap. 26 April 1818 at St George  Colegate, but noticeably born 6 months earlier on 13 October 1817, son of William Rowling, carpenter, and Mary Riches; no further records found
Martha Rowling b. 20 March 1819, bap 11 April 1819; married 12 April 1848 John Bee Wright- as above

Plessy Rowling, bap. 13 November 1820 at St. George Colgate Norwich, dau. of William Rowling, carpenter, and Mary Riches; married John Harrison, cook/confectioner, on 21 April 1845  at  St Stephens Church Norwich, 'both of this parish'. John was son of William Harrison, carpenter, witness Sarah Rowling. Plessy's abode: 'New City' St Stephens, which is how Crook's Place was described.
Notably Martha would name one of her daughters Plessy.

Sarah Rowling, bap. 9  May 1824 in Lakenham Norwich (dau. of William Rowlings and Mary); married Isaac Hopkins 19 April 1852 at St Stephens Church  Norwich. NB. same Anglican church in which sister Martha married- Sarah was witness at Martha's wedding.
Amelia Rowling (Rolling) born 14 April 1826, bap. 21 May 1826 by Rev. William Gilpin, Wesleyan Minister at Calvert Street Chapel, Colegate, to parents William Rolling and wife Mary of Crooks Place Parish of St Stephens. No further records found.

According to Martha’s obituary she was converted to the Methodist church in her “girlhood”. From the above baptismal record, it appears that the family converted to the Wesleyan faith around 1826, when Martha was aged 7 years.

William Rowling (Junior) b.1816: 
No baptismal record found, but William's marriage certificate confirms he was son of William Rowling, carpenter, and was living at the family residence at Crook's Place:

The first two children of William (Senior) and Mary Riches were born in less than two years, and James, Martha and Plessy were born in successive years, but there is a noticeable gap between Mary Ann in 1811 and William in 1816. There is also a six month gap between James’s birth and his baptism. This would seem to indicate that the family was not living in this area between 1812 and 1818. This period of absence could be when William was born, and possibly other children.

William Junior's first marriage, to Mary Ann Pocock took place at St Peter's Wesleyan Chapel in Lady Lane (between Bethel and Theatre Streets) in 1839. This church was opened in 1824 by Rev. Wm Gilpin.

William's first wife Mary Ann died in in 1868 (July-Sept Qtr), aged 55, Norwich (FreeBMD).

The 1871 Census record reveals that William had remarried to an Elizabeth. FreeBMD has a marriage record for William Rowling and Elizabeth Broom, marriage date: Jan to March Qtr, 1869 (Vol. 4b, p171) in Norwich. No further records of this marriage found. 

In the 1841 Census, William Rowling (Junior), 25, living in Union Place Heigham, Norwich, dealer in tea, with wife Mary Ann, 25, straw hatter, and son William 9 months and Elizabeth Godfrey 50, housekeeper

1851 Census, William Rowling 35, grocer & draper, born Norwich, living in Upper St, Southrepps (nth Norfolk), with wife Mary, 40,  born Newberry Berkshire, and son William 10, born Norwich.

1861 Census, William Rowling 45, Wesleyan Reform Minister, born Norwich and wife Mary Ann, 48, lodger with Joseph Easter, carpenter, and wife, in Parsons Rd Hendon, nth London (son not mentioned).

1871 Census, William Rowling, 55, Wesleyan Reform Minister, born Norwich, and second wife Elizabeth, 47, of St Faiths Norfolk, ‘visitor’ at Common Row, Skeyton, nth Norfolk, with Henry Bugden and family, farmer.

1881 Census, William Rowling, 66, Wesleyan Reform Minister, and wife Elizabeth 56, living in Distillery Street Heigham, Norwich.

1881 England Census

Rev. William  Rowling and wife Elizabeth living Distillery Street Heigham   

NB. birthplace Norwich

The following records show that William (Junior) was in possession of the Crook's Place property:

Norfolk- Norwich Registers of Electors

Freeholders:

1847- William Rowling (Junior)- Abode: Cross Street Heigham, Qualification: freehold cottages

(Cross Street, now Coach and Horses Street off Union Street, Heigham)

1864- William Rowling- Abode: Queen-street, Crook's Place; Qualification: freehold cottages; Property Situate (when the right of voting depends on Property): Queen-st, Crook's Place

1866- William Rowling- Abode: Queen-street, Crook's Place; Qual: freehold cottages; Property Situate: Queen-street, Crook's Place

1868- William Rowling- Abode: Queen-street, Crook's Place; Qual: freehold cottage; Property Situate (when the right of voting depends on property): Distillery-street

1870- William Rowling- Abode: Queen-street; Qual: freeehold cottages; Property situate: Distillery-street

1871- William Rowling- Abode: Distillery-street; Qual: freehold house; Property Situate: Distillery-street

NB. in the 1871 Census, William's stepmother, Jane Rowling, was still living in Crook's Place, but as a lodger in a cottage facing Chapel street, so it would appear that William sold the Crook's Place cottage the year before, and he moved to Distillery-street (which no longer exists, but appears to be in the area between Pottergate St, St Giles Rd and Dereham Rd, Heigham).

The above records also indicate that William inherited the Crook's Place property, so elder brother George must have died, possibly in infancy.

1892 Map of Crooks Place- Chapel Street and Queen Street, near Mill Street where John Bee Wright lived in 1841. (Geo Plunkett Maps)

Both William Rowling (Junior) and John Bee Wright were first recorded as Wesleyan Ministers in the 1861 census. Whether one influenced the other is unknown.

Riches and Rowling Families

There are many birth records for girls named Mary Riches at Norwich between 1770 and 1790, so pinpointing her parents accurately is not feasible. The fact that second son James was given the middle name of Riches could indicate that he was named after Mary’s father.

There is a record of burials in the churchyard of St Bartholomew's Church, parish of Heigham for:
James Riches, died February 18th 1851,aged 76 years (b.1775), and Martha, wife of James Riches, died October 26th, 1823, aged 49 years (b.1774), Also Martha Riches Syder, their granddaughter, died November 19th, 1845, aged 15 years.
This could be the source of the name of William and Mary's daughter Martha.

St Bartholomew's churchyard cemetery

(source: http://welbank.net/norwich/hist.html-History of the Parish of Heigham in the City of Norwich by Walter Rye)
If these were Mary Riches' parents, they would have married at a young age (in their teens), and Mary would have been very young when she married William Rowling, possibly 14 or 15 years of age in 1809, which seems unlikely, but possible.

There are other BDM records  of James Riches that could be relevant, or not:
A James Riches married 1 Nov 1725 to Elizabeth Baldwin at St James with Pockthorpe Church, the same church in which Mary and William were married.
A James Riches married 19 August 1773 to Elizabeth Craske at Heigham (the parish they lived in).
A James Riches bap 7 April 1754 at All Saints son of Edmund and Mary Riches. (There are two floor memorials in St Stephens for Edmund Riches' who died in the 1700's- Edmond in August 1740, and, Edmund died later but illegible)
A James Riches bap 17 July 1757 St Augustine, son of Solomon Riches and Elizabeth ( St Augustine, east of St James with Pockthorpe).
A James Riches buried St Stephens 17 January 1828 aged 71, b.c.1757
A Solomon Riches buried St Stephens 10 Sept 1820 aged 85 b.c.1735

Similarly with the name William Rowlings, of which there are several, living in this area at the time.
The earliest Rowling baptismal record in Norwich is for the baptism of John son of William Rowling and wife Alice Jane on 6 January 1648/49:

The important links are:

    1. When John Bee Wright married Martha Rowling in 1848, they gave their residence as “Crooks Place”, Parish of St Stephens, Ward of Heigham, City of Norwich This clue is of great importance in pinpointing this family.

     2. The witness at their wedding was Martha’s sister Sarah Rowling. Sarah Rowling was born in 1824 at Lakenham, which is next to Heigham, on the southern side, and in some early maps, Crooks Place is in Lakenham. Sarah is an important link in the records.

The variety of records available, such as  UK Poll Books, Census records and BDM records allow us to come to some sort of conclusion.

Martha’s baptismal record states that William Rowling was a carpenter. There are a number of Rowlings and Rollings living in this area of Norwich at the time who were carpenters/builders. A family of Rollings, named William and Edmund, were carpenter/builders in the Parish of All Saints, living in All Saints Green in the Census records and UK Poll Books. All Saints Green is a street parallel to St Stephens Street, off Queens Road. They were sons of a William Rollings, also a carpenter in the 1802 and 1806 UK Poll for All Saints. William Rollings' son William was also married into the Riches family, having married Abigail Riches, daughter of Charles Riches in 1844. However, the records of this family do not match ours. Whether they were related is unknown.

I have chosen the records most likely:

Amelia’s birth record in 1826 states that her parents resided at Crook’s Place, Parish of St Stephens (District of Heigham).

UK Poll Books and Electoral Rolls:

1830- William Rowling, carpenter, Freeholder, at Parish of St Stephen, Mancroft Ward

1832- William Rowling, Crooks Place, Heigham

1835- William Rowling, Crooks Place, Heigham

Mary Riches must have died during or shortly after the birth of Amelia in 1826. There are no further records of Amelia so she may also have died.  

Sarah was baptised at Lakenham in 1824. Another family of Rowlings lived at Lakenham, possibly William’s nephew, named John Rowling, also a carpenter/builder, b.c.1800, who had sons named John and William. Lakenham adjoined Heigham and some of Crooks Place is sometimes shown on early maps of this area in Lakenham.

William Rowling remarried to a Jane Cranmer in 1829. He is described as a ‘widower’, and Jane was born in East Dereham, Norfolk c.1791.

Between 1835 and the 1841 Census, William Rowling died.

In the 1841 Census, his wife Jane (spelt ‘June’) Rowling, 50, and daughter Sarah Rowling, 17, were still living in Crooks Place, Queen Street, Parish of St Stephen, District of Mancroft, in the 1841 census. Jane had no occupation listed. They also had a John Rowling aged 37, b.c.1804, living with them, a weaver. His origin is unknown. He is not the John Rowling, carpenter/builder, who was living at Lakenham.

(A second weaver, Sarah Woodhouse aged 17 also lived with them. The next two adjoining houses also contained weavers.) It is possible that John’s given age was incorrect (if he was aged 27, he could be one of the children born during the missing years of 1811 to 1817). There is no sign of this John Rowling in the 1851 census.
There is also a record in the 1841 Census of a Pleasance Rowling (transcribed as 'Hoasance' in Ancestry.com) aged 20, occupation a “Clear Starcher”, a patient in the Norwich Hospital Parish of St Stephen. But notably, Sarah Rowling is also listed as a “Clear Starcher” in the 1851 Census. A Clear Starcher is described as: a laundry worker stiffening shirts and other garments with hot starch in a tumbling machine- called a starcher or clear starcher. 
Presumably 'Pleasance' is Plessy, as Plessy is not recorded in the 1841 census, but when she married in 1845, her residence was described as the 'New City, St Stephens Parish', another term for Crook's Place.

1841 Census- ‘June’ and Sarah Rowling- Crooks Place 

1892 Map of Crooks Place, showing Queen Street

1841 Census-  Martha Rowling at The Lodge, St Martin at Palace Plains, Norwich-

In the 1841 Census, a Martha Rowling, aged 20 (to the nearest 0) was a female servant living with a Mary Bowen aged 80, of Independent means, at The Lodge, St Martin-at-Palace Plains in the eastern side of Norwich.

Martha Rowling would marry John Bee Wright in 1848, both giving residence as Crooks Place, so John Wright  must have resided with his uncle William Wright in Mill Street, and Martha must have returned to the family home by then. Notably, Martha would name her daughter Martha Jane in honour of her stepmother who brought them up from a young age.

In the 1851 Census, Jane Rowling, Widow, (aged 58?) an accountant, b. East Dereham and Sarah Rowling age 27, born Lakenham (occupation unreadable, but looks like “Clear Starcher”), were listed as living in Queen Street, St Stephens.

This is still Crooks Place (see above- Queens Street renamed St Stephens Square). Sarah married the following year.

Definition of a ‘clear starcher”: A starcher who starches curtain, dresses etc with boiled starch

In the 1861 Census, Jane Rowling, 69, Widow, was living alone in 27 Queen Street, an accountant.

In the 1871 Census, Jane Rowling, 79, widow, is living in Crooks Place, Chapel Street as a Lodger with Fanny Thorpe aged 60, needle woman. (Stepson William had recently sold the cottage- see above)

Jane Rowling died in 1874 (June Qtr- Vol 4b p92) aged 83.

The Rowlings of Lakenham:

Also in the 1841 Census, John Rowling, 40, builder, and wife Charlotte are living in the Packhams Buildings in Lakenham (Trafalgar Back Street) with their children John 15, William 12, Elizabeth 9 and Charlotte 7. (Possibly William’s nephew, and the place of daughter Sarah’s baptism)

1851 Census- John Rowling 50, carpenter and builder, born Lakenham, and wife Charlotte 52 and daughter Charlotte 17, dressmaker were living in Lakenham in Trafalgar Back Street. Next door was his son John Rowling 25, foundryman and his wife Jane 22. His second son, William Rowling, carpenter and builder, was living in another part of Trafalgar Street with his wife MaryTuttle. They would have a son named William Tuttle Rowling.

1861 Census- John Rowling, 57 carpenter builder and wife Charlotte 60 were living in Trafalgar Back Street in No. 2 ‘Packhams Buildings’. John Rowling, 38, foundryman labourer, born Lakenham, and wife Jane were living in No.1.

Son William Rowling, 33, carpenter, & wife Mary 35 & son William 10, living at back of Bakers Shop in Trafalgar Street south side.

1871 Census- John Rowling, aged 72, carpenter builder was still living in Trafalgar Back Street.

William Rowling (son of John), wife Mary, and son William Tuttle Rowling 20 carpenter and joiner, were living in cnr of Hall Rd and Southwell St. Hall Road adjoined Trafalgar Street, Lakenham.  

The Will of John Rowling, late of Trafalgar Back Street in the Hamlet of Lakenham, carpenter builder, who died 20 April 1879 was proved at Norwich by William Rowling of 6 King’s Road Lakenham, carpenter the son and sole Executor, Personal Estate under £300.

The Will of William Rowling (son of John) of Harford Street Lakenham (adjoins Hall Rd), gentleman, died 7 Nov 1899, Effects £1,516. 2s.7d., probate to Mary Ann Cooper spinster and Robert Nelson solicitor's clerk.

The Will of William Tuttell Rowling (son of William), late of Hamlet of Lakenham, accountant, died 26 Aug 1887 at 74 Hall Road Lakenham, proved by Mary Augusta Elizabeth Rowling widow & executrix. Personal estate £99

CROOKS PLACE, also known as NEW CITY

The following description appears in ‘A Topographical & Historical Account of the City and County of Norwich ‘by John Stacy (London 1831- online)

It would appear that William Rowling was the carpenter employed in building Crooks Place in the 1820’s and 30’s and lived in one the adjoined houses. As he was described in the Poll Bks as a ‘Freeholder’, he must have owned the house.

 The following is some information on these house rows:

* = Crooks Place, St George Colegate & Calvert Street Chapel (William Rowling), Trafalgar Street Lakenham (John Rowling), and Vauxhall Street ( John Wright’s shoe factory).

The current area of ‘Crooks Place’, covers the area nth and sth of marker, but in early times it covered a much larger area.

St. Stephens Square Crooks Place

The front of the Crooks Place buildings facing St Stephens Square/Queen Street

The rear of Crooks Place buildings, in street called Crooks Place- notice the old stone wall (and below)- part of the old city walls perhaps

The rear of the Crooks Place buildings opposite the ancient city walls- probably built against the city walls in the 1830’s but since demolished for the main road, Queens Road.

The end of the buildings on corner of Crooks Place and St Stephens Square (Queen Street)

No 8 Queens Road from Bull Lane- part of the old city walls in the yard (photo 1934)

Compare with end of Crooks Place, above, which has similar windows and chimneys

The George Plunkett website has the following information:

(http://www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norwich/pri.htm#Queer)

“The road from London led directly to St Stephens Street gate with a tower on either side surmounted by battlements, and with the city arms above the outside arch, which was demolished in 1793. In 1908 the council requested the City Committee make a report on the condition of the old city wall with a possibility of further exposing it to view. Some worn-out cottages were demolished in Coburg Street (opposite Crooks Place), and a small section of the city wall upon which these houses had been built had collapsed. The construction of the Inner Link Road and the widening of St Stephens Street in the 1960’s provided the opportunity of opening up a considerable length along Chapel Field Road (also opposite Crooks Place), together with a smaller section incorporating a tower at Queens Road, known as the eighth tower which stood in the back garden of No 8 Queens road with only its upper doorway and rear wall visible to the public from Bull Lane. Part of the adjoining wall had to be demolished but the tower was allowed to remain.”

Geo Plunkett’s Map of this section of the old city walls, marked in red

NB Bull Lane and Coburg Street, and Chapelfield Road/Queens Road, St Stephens Street

A Brian Ulph wrote a story about his life as a schoolboy in wartime Norwich (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/24/a2721124.shtml)

In which he described:

“I was born in 1936 in a two up two down Georgian slum in Nicholas Street (St Stephens Square/Queen Street) in the “new city”, better known as Crooks Place. This area suffered extensively from bombing although, luckily, those of us living at the St Stephens Square end of the street escaped damage.

At some point during what was to be a long night Dad announced that he badly needed to go to the lavatory but was not prepared to risk life and limb by going into the backyard to use the communal facilities. So he took the “slop” pail onto the stairs, closed the door and, ahem, spent several pence! How he managed that is somewhat puzzling because the stairs rose at a dizzyingly vertical angle and had very narrow treads.”

An 1815 Map of this area shows it was mainly farmland:

The buildings just north of St Stephens Gate were the first to be constructed

(Geo Plunkett Maps of Norwich)

The following 1885 map shows the Crooks Place housing area

The RED asterix mark: St Stephens Square (borders today's Crooks Place) leading onto St Stephens Road; the names of LAKENHAM and CROOKS; New City School

The BLUE asterix marks Chapel Street which crosses over Union Street to join onto Mill Street to the left (where Uncle William lived).

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital bottom centre of map

(ref: Geo Plunkett Maps)

The Wesleyan Ministry in Norwich, 

The Lakenham and Queens Road Chapels

John and Charles Wesley visited Norwich in 1754 and Rev. Charles Wesley preached the first Methodist sermon which was ever heard, in Lakenham in 1754. They continued to have a long association with the Methodists of Norwich, frequently visiting to give sermons. John Wesley was instrumental in having the first chapel in Cherry Lane built.

A website on the Lakenham Old Chapel and Queens Road Primitive Methodist Chapel has the following history:

(http://www.myprimitivemethodists.org.uk/page_id__913.aspx) by Norma Virgoe

Queens Road Chapel 1917

Queens Road Primitive Methodist Church 1907

With the introduction of Primitive Methodism to Norwich, a number of cottage meetings were held, including one at Lakenham which was so successful that a loft was hired for services and in 1823 a simple chapel for 500 people was built at a cost of £360. It was situated in a secluded situation off Hall Road. Right from the beginning, the chapel was popular and very overcrowded and from 1830 onwards, collections were ‘given towards a larger chapel’. The preacher was William Dawson. A constable was employed to protect the congregation from disturbances by rowdy onlookers who gathered outside the building.

The urgent need for more accommodation spurred the congregation to extend the chapel in such a way that it entailed a virtual rebuilding in 1832. Next to it was built a Sunday school and there was also a graveyard on the site.

Lists of class members for 1833 have notes written against some of the names for censure. eg. In 1838, the Quarterly Meeting directed the minister to speak to the Lakenham choir for their disorderly behaviour.

 (ref: Norwich Records Office, FC 73/20, List of members in the Norwich P.M. circuit 1832-41. NRO FC 85/2, Norwich P.M. 1^st circuit minute book, 1833-45; NRO, FC 27/15, Norwich P.M. account book, 1822-33.)

The minister at the chapel (about 1851) was the charismatic Robert Key. He was appointed as one of the preachers at Lakenham Chapel for the year 1850-1 and it was noted that regularly every seat was taken a full hour before the services began. He was stationed there again in 1863, his last post. He was a magnetic speaker and people travelled great distances to hear him speak at camp meetings and also in large chapels of various denominations. His missionary work led to the conversion of thousands and he is credited with transforming the lives and morals of many of the most degraded members of society.

Another preacher whose fame spread beyond Norwich, was a woman, Elizabeth Bultitude, who attended Lakenham Chapel. She became a local preacher by 1831 and in 1833 began almost 30 years as a travelling preacher.

The Chapel was eventually declared to be totally inadequate, and land on Queens Road (Crooks Place), was bought for £200 and an architect engaged to draw up plans for a new chapel. The foundation stones were laid in May 1872 and the building opened in 30 December that year. The 'Norfolk News', 4 Jan 1873, reported the ceremony, describing the chapel as having ‘more pretentions to architectural beauty than any other building in the city belonging to the Primitive Methodist Connexion and is an ornament to the gradually improving neighbourhood in which it is situated.’

(There was also the Chapel Field road Chapel in close proximity to the Queens Road Chapel, near Crooks Place)

The Calvert Street Wesleyan Chapel

The first purpose-built chapel in Norwich was in the parish of St George Colgate, situated in Cherry Lane. The stone-laying ceremony took place in 1869. Wesley himself contributed £270 of the building costs. John Wesley travelled to Norwich in October 1769 and performed the opening ceremony. Members of the congregation at Cherry Lane were often troubled by disorder levelled against them. John Wesley visited almost every year up to 1790 shortly before his death.

Ministers, William Gilpin and William Hinson were appointed to the Norwich Circuit in 1809. It was decided, the increase in the congregation at the Cherry Lane Chapel, Colgate, was so great, the erection of a new chapel was needed. The first stone was laid in Calvert Street in 1810 and it opened in 1811. Between 1811 and 1824 the number of members at Calvert Street increased from 250 to more than 700. Another chapel, St Peter's, was opened in Lady Lane, Parish of St Peter Mancroft. The Wesleyan Methodists presented to the Rev. William Gilpin, superintendent of the Norwich Circuit, a pair of silver cups as a token of gratitude and esteem. The inscription was surmounted by engraved representations of Calvert Street and St Peter’s Chapels, both of which were erected under Mr Gilpin’s superintendence, the former in 1811 and the latter in 1824. In 1823 and 1824, William Gilpin was appointed a second time to the Norwich Circuit with Miles Dawson. Notably, William Gilpin was the minister who signed Amelia Rowlings baptismal record in 1826. This chapel closed in 1966.

(Ref: “A Concise History of the First Establishment of Wesleyan Methodism in the City of Norwich in the Year 1754”, by W. Larkin, 1825, dedicated to the Rev. William Gilpin.- online)

Calvert Street Chapel opened 1811

Calvert Street by artist JS Ladbroke, pre 1825

St Peter's Wesleyan Chapel Lady Lane, opened 1824

CENSUS RECORDS FOR JOHN BEE WRIGHT.

In the 1851 Census,

John Bee Wright was 23yrs of age, born Aldeby, a shoemaker employing 15 men, living in Portland Place, hamlet of Heigham, Norwich. 
He was living with his wife Martha 32, born Norwich, dau Martha Jane, 1 yr, born Norwich, and son John William Wright 4 mths, b. Norwich.

1885 Map of Portland Place facing Vauxhall Street

For an orphan from such humble beginnings, to be employing 15 men in his shoemaking factory at the age of 23 years is quite extraordinary and a testament to his strength of character, intelligence, and personal drive to succeed.

There was an entry in the newspaper which gave a Court report in which a shoemaker in Norwich was charged with stealing a silver watch belonging to a John Wright shoemaker.

The Ipswich Journal (Eng),  Sat, Sept 24, 1853, issue 5968

Charge of Stealing a Silver Watch

A shoemaker from Norwich who said his name was William Webster, was committed for trial on the charge of stealing a silver watch, the property of John Wright, shoemaker.

However, the History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk 1854 does not list John Wright in the list of shoemakers, so he may have either moved to another location or changed his occupation by then.

In the 1861 Census,

John Bee Wright, 35, born Aldeby, was described as a Wesleyan Reform Minister, living in Clint Street, Navenby near Lincoln in Lincolnshire. He was living with wife Martha, 42, b. Norwich,

dau. Martha Jane 11, scholar,

son John William, 10, scholar,

dau.  Plessy, 4, scholar, b. Navenby,

and dau. Ellen E.,2, b. Navenby.

Notably, once John changed his occupation from shoemaker to  minister, during the period 1851 to 1861,  he added the 'Bee' to his name, acknowledging his father.

In the 1871 Census,

John Bee Wright, 42, was living in Appleford Rd, Westbourne Park, Kensington, London. He was described as an Independent Minister, Kensal Road Iron Chapel. 
He was living with his wife Martha, 52, son John William, 20, printer and compositor, dau. Plesy, 14, scholar, and Ellen Elizabeth, 12, scholar.

Next door, lived son-in-law Philip Nott, 31, carpenter, b Gorran Cornwall, and the Wright’s dau Martha Jane, 21, and the Nott’s daughter Flora, 9 months, b. Kensington.

Others in the street were listed as painter, carpenter, excavator, etc.

Westbourne Park, Kensington, was in a newly developed area near Chelsea. John was living at this address at least by 1869, as indicated by the newspaper reports. The maps of London c 1872 suggest that Appleford Road which is near Kensal Green Road was a new development, which may be the reason Philip Nott was living there.

By this time the Rev. John Bee Wright was a very self righteous preacher. Having decided to enforce the ancient law prohibiting work on the Sabbath, he issued summons on several people including an unfortunate crossing sweeper and a poor woman selling oranges who ended up in Newgate. However, his success in the Courts  led him to prosecute  bigger game, and he soon earned the ire of those in the tobacco and liquor trades resulting in threats to his life. He gained a notorious reputation in the London newspapers, which will be explored in the next chapter. To say the least, life became so uncomfortable it was soon time to 'move on' to a safer haven, the USA.

© B A Butler

Email contact:  butler1802 @  hotmail.com  (no spaces)

Link back to Introduction page
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch1-introduction.html

Links to all other chapters on this blog:

Philip Nott and wife Martha Jane Wright- life and marriage in England
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch2-philip-nott-and-martha-jane-wright.html

Emigration to Australia in 1872
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch-3-emigration-to-australia.html

The Nott family settles in Brisbane, Queensland
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch4-settling-in-brisbane.html

Philip Nott- master builder in Brisbane
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch5-master-builder-in-brisbane.html

Philip Nott's community involvement
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch6-philip-nott-community-involvement_24.html

Philip Nott's political life as a Council alderman
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch7-philip-notts-political-life_24.html

Children of Philip Nott and Martha Jane Wright
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch8-issue-of-philip-and-martha-jane-nott_24.html

Philip Nott- family deaths and burials
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch9-philip-nott-family-deaths_25.html

Nott family ancestry in Cornwall England
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch10-nott-ancestry-cornwall_25.html

Martha Jane Wright's parents- Rev. John Bee Wright and Martha Rowling of Norfolk, and their ancestry
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch11-rev-john-bee-wright_25.html

Newspaper accounts of Rev. John Bee Wright, and emigration to New York State in 1871
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch12-rev-john-bee-wright-newspaper_25.html

Deaths, burials, and obituaries of Rev. John Bee Wright and Martha Wright
http://nott-wrightfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/ch13-wright-and-rowling-ancestry.html