THE LITTLEMORES

notes by P John Partington

The Littlemore family from which our own family is descended has been traced as far back as the early part of the sixteenth century in Frodsham, Cheshire, where a William Littlemore was born “in 1526”.  This William had five children – Hugh, John, Randall, George and Ellen (further details below).  There were at least two contemporaries of William having children in Cheshire in the mid 1500s – John and Robin.  While they may well have been brothers of William, it is equally possible that they were cousins, or a combination of both.  It looks unlikely from this distance that we shall ever be sure.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM LITTLEMORE  (1526 - aft.1563)

William’s first child, Hugh, was born before 1558.  He married Marjorie (surname unknown) with whom he had four children – William in 1583, Thomas in 1585, Marjorie in 1588 and Thomas in 1590 (details below).  Hugh was buried on 17 April 1593 and Marjorie on 14 April 1606, both at Frodsham in Cheshire.

Little is known about William’s second child, John, also born before 1558.  He is believed to have married and had children, and to have been buried in Runcorn on 20 March 1599/1600.

William’s third child, Randall, was born in about 1557 and baptized at Frodsham.  A carrier (or yeoman?), he married (name unknown).  He and his wife were buried in Hampshire, on 3 January 1628/9 and 29 January 1627/8 respectively.

William’s fourth child, George, was baptized at Frodsham on 30 April 1563.  He apparently married, had children, and died in Chester on 22 April 1609.

William’s fifth child, Ellen, was baptized at Frodsham on 3 February 1564/5.  On 18 July 1590 in Chester she married Thomas Tylston “of Chester”.  She died in 1630, having been widowed at some point previously, and was buried at Chester.

 

THE CHILDREN OF HUGH  (c. 1550 - 1593)

Hugh’s first child, William, was baptized at Frodsham on 11 August 1583.  On 19 June 1610, still in Frodsham, he married Ann Higgenson.  The couple had five children, all baptized in the village:  William in 1611, Alice in 1614, John in 1616, Thomas in 1620 and Elizabeth in 1623 (details below).  Ann died in 1633, and William lived on until 1662, being buried, still in Frodsham, on 20 February 1662.

Hugh’s second child, Thomas, was baptized at Frodsham on 17 November 1585.  He died aged just two, and was buried in Frodsham on 27 January 1587.

Hugh’s third child, Marjorie, was baptized at Frodsham on 3 January 1589.  On 13 July 1629 she married Richard Deane;  nothing further is yet known of her.

Hugh’s fourth child, Thomas, was baptized in Frodsham on 19 February 1591 and buried there in 1652.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (1583 - 1662)

William’s first child, another William, was baptized in Frodsham on 9 May 1611.  On 6 June 1640, still in Frodsham, he married Elizabeth Edge, with whom he had at least five children – the four whose names are known being William born in 1642, John in 1647, Joseph in about 1651, and Samuel in about 1654 (further details below).  Elizabeth died in 1661, and William himself died on 16 June 1663;  at his burial the following day he was recorded as a “yeoman of Kingsley”.

William’s second child, Alice, was baptized in Frodsham on 18 January 1614.  Nothing further is known of her.

William’s third child, John, was baptized in Frodsham on 16 March 1616.  On 17 December 1643, in Aston, he married Margaret Perry.  They had children (details not yet clear).  Margaret was buried at Frodsham on 6 December 1647, and John in March 1661 – recorded as a “yeoman, of Acton”.

William’s fourth child, Thomas, was baptized in Frodsham on 7 December 1620.  He died there the following year, being buried on 22 October, “of Netherton”.

William’s fifth child, Elizabeth, was baptized in Frodsham on 8 June 1623.  Nothing further is known of her.

 

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (1611 - 1663)

William’s first child, another William, was born in 1642.  He succeeded his father as yeoman farmer at Frodsham and died in 1694.

William’s second child, John, was born in Frodsham in August 1647.  On 30 March 1673 he married Ann Leeveslie in Warrington.  The couple had at least one child, William, born in about 1685 (details below).  Ann died in 1706 and John in February 1729, both still in Frodsham.

William’s third child, Joseph, was born in about 1651.  His father, who died when Joseph was twelve, specified in his will that Joseph was to be brought up by his elder brother William till he was fourteen – the usual age of apprenticeship.   Few apprenticeship records survive from that time and it is not known who his master was, but he seems likely to have served as a whitesmith or gunsmith.  By 1681 he was a committed Quaker and was living at Kingley, a township just to the south of Frodsham itself and still within Frodsham parish.  A‘gun maker’, he was married on 12 April 1687 at the Quaker meeting house at Newton, also in Frodsham parish, to Hannah Williamson.  Joseph and Hannah had at least ten children, the eldest surviving being Jacob, born in 1689, and another being Esther (further details below). A document of 1699 describes Joseph as a smith of Frodsham.  He became overseer of the poor at Kingsley in 1690 and at Frodsham in 1696, implying that the family moved to Frodsham between those dates.  When Joseph’s elder brother, William, died in 1694, he referred to him in his will as ‘Joseph Littlemore of Frodsham, whitesmith’.  By 1712 Joseph and Hannah had moved to Preston on the Hill, about three miles east of Frodsham but within the parish of Runcorn.  Joseph died at Preston on 23 April 1721 aged about seventy and was buried at Newton burial ground three days later.  His widow then moved to live in Frodsham, perhaps with son Jacob, where she died three years later.

William’s fourth child, Samuel, was born in about 1654.  Nothing further is yet known of him.

Another child of William’s was buried at Frodsham in 1657;  nothing further is known.

 

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN  (1647 - 1729)

Only one child of John’s is yet known:  a William, born in Christleton in about 1685.  He married Sarah Carefoot and had at least one child, another William (see below), born in 1715.  Sarah died, in Frodsham, in 1723;  William’s date of death is unknown.



THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (c. 1685 - aft. 1713)

William’s son William was born in Christleton in 1715.  On 5 May 1737 he married Hannah Birtles in Warmingham.  The couple had at least one child, John, born in 1752 (below);  nothing further is yet known of them.



THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (1715 - aft. 1750)

William’s son John was born in 1752.  He married Elizabeth Hobson on 10 September 1772 in Middlewich, Cheshire.  The couple had at least two sons – John (date unknown) and James, born in 1795 (details below).  John senior died in 1832.



THE CHILDREN OF JOHN  (1752 - 1832)

William’s first son was a John, of whom no details are yet known.

William’s second child, James Edward, was born in 1795.  In 1814, still a minor and therefore needing the consent of his parents, he married Hannah Faulkner at Linslade.  The couple had eleven children – Amelia baptized in 1814, Elizabeth in 1816, Deborah in 1818 (dying in infancy), another Deborah baptized in 1819, John in 1822, Mary Ann in 1824, Anne in about 1829, followed by Sarah, James and Jane baptized in 1832 and William in 1834 (further details below).  A boatman, James was sentenced to four months’ hard labour in 1824 for “stealing four sacks of oats and four sacks of beans” from the canal wharf.  Ten years later,  Hannah was pregnant with William when James died, “drowned in the Grand Junction Canal Tunnel at Paddington”.  He was buried on 12 April 1834.  Nearly thirty years later, in 1861, Hannah was still living in Linslade.



THE CHILDREN OF JAMES EDWARD  (1795 - 1834)

James’ second child, Elizabeth, was baptized in Linslade on 10 November 1816.   On 25 November 1833 she married William Cook, still in Linslade.

It seems that James’ third child, Deborah, was baptized on 21 April 1818, but died in infancy;  and so his fourth was also named Deborah, being baptized in 1819.  She married George Fryers on 4 October 1836 in Linslade and had at least seven children – Harriet in about 1840, James in about 1844, Elizabeth in about 1847, John in about 1852, William in about 1856, Hannah in about 1868 and Amelia in 1861.  In 1871 they were living at Birdsey Cottage, Old Road, Chelsea, Linslade;  Deborah was a straw-plaiter and George a railway labourer.

James’s fifth child, John, was baptized in Linslade on 6 January 1822.  On 29 October 1841 he married Mary Dew in Linslade Parish church;  his residence at the time was given as Chelsea (an area of Linslade), and his occupation as “labourer”, and both he and Mary were illiterate.  John and Mary had eight children:  Ann born in about 1846, Amelia Elizabeth in 1849, John William in about 1852, George Thomas in about 1854, John Richard in about 1856, Mary Dew in about 1858, Jane Ada in about 1861 and Emily H in about 1864 (see below).  In 1849 John was working as a labourer, and living at 69 Grove Street, Camden Terrace.  In 1851 John & Mary were living with their first two young children at 45 Ferdinand Street, St Pancras;  John was working as a ‘platelayer’.  Ten and twenty years later the family were at 3 Grange Street, St Pancras – John working as a ‘railway pointsman’ and ‘bindsman in railway’.  In 1881 John & Mary were living at 367 Kentish Town Road in London with their daughter Amelia Elizabeth and her family:  John is described as a “picture-frame maker”.  Ten years later they were in almshouses in St Pancras – both described as “retired railway servants”.  It seems from the Registry Office index that they died in 1891 and 1893 respectively.

James’ sixth child, Mary Ann, was baptized in Linslade in 1824.  On 12 December 1841, still in Linslade, she married Edward Secret.  Twenty years later the census recorded her in Linslade with her widowed mother, described as a “straw-plaiter, wife of stable helper”;  her own daughter Elizabeth was with her, as was her neice Jane Berry (née Shelley), a “boatman’s wife”, with young children Ann & Amelia.

James’ seventh child, Sarah, was born in the late 1820s, and baptized with her siblings James & Jane on Christmas Day 1832.  In 1843, also on Christmas Day , she married William Eames in Leighton Buzzard.  The couple had seven children – Mary Ann in 1844, William James in 1846, Harriet in 1849, Henry in 1851, John in 1854, Philip in 1859 and Benjamin in 1862.  In 1879 the family moved to the United States, and the following year were living in Detroit, Becker, Minnesota.

James’ eighth child, Anne, was born in about 1829.  On 5 April 1847, in Leighton Buzzard, she married Jeremiah Guess.

James’ ninth child, James, was born on 11 January 1831, and baptized in Linslade on Christmas Day the following year.  In 1853 he married Hannah Birch, and in 1861 was living with her at Weedon Bec;  James was a railway engine driver.  The couple had six children – Emma born in 1854, Lucy Jane in 1856, Helen Ada in 1858, Martha Lindsey in 1862 and George H & James Edward in 1867 (details below).  In 1873 the family emigrated to the United States, and in 1880 were living in Detroit, Becker, Minnesota:  James was working as a farmer.  Hannah died in 1881, and James continued to live in Detroit until his death on 24 March 1914.

James’s tenth child, Jane, was born in about 1832, and baptized at Linslade on Christmas Day 1832.

James’ eleventh child, William, was born on 10 August 1834 in Linslade.  On 2 April 1858 he married Sarah Birch, the sister of his brother James’ wife Hannah, in Market Harborough.  The following year they were living in Aldred Road, Walworth, Surrey when they had their first child, a daughter named Sarah after her mother– but Sarah (senior) died shortly after giving birth, on 20 March.  On 25 November the following year William married Emily Weston, with whom he had five further children – Emily E born in 1862, Avis Maud Mary in 1868, Albina in 1873, William Douglas in 1874 and Augusta A in 1880. (Details of all six children are below.)  In 1862, at the time of Emily’s birth,  William’s occupation is given as “Viewer, Military Stores”.  In 1871 William & Emily were still  in Westminster, London;  but by 1881 he was working as an innkeeper at the Bear Inn in Burwash, Sussex;  ten years later he was a farmer at Little Daws.  He died there on 20 March 1913.
 

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN  (1822/3 - 1891)

John’s first child, Ann, was born in Camden Town in about 1846.  In 1851 she was living with her parents at 45 Ferdinand Street, St Pancras, and ten years later at 3 Grange Street.  Nothing else is known of her at present.

John’s second child, Amelia Elizabeth, was born on 1 September 1849 at 69 Grove Street, Camden Town, and baptized on 14 June the following year at St Pancras Old Church.  In 1851 she was living with her parents at 45 Ferdinand Street, St Pancras and ten years later at 3 Grange Street.  Family memory has it that she sang at the Crystal Palace before Queen Victoria.  On 5 October 1870 she married Harry Alfred Pavey at Pancras Registry Office;  she was living at the time at 3 Grange Road.  They had seven children: Mary born in about 1873, Harry A in about 1878, Amelia Annie in 1879, Harold Gilbert in about 1882, Charles Allen Dew on 10 May 1883, Arthur Eli in 1886 and Ralph in about 1890.  The 1871 census records Amelia and Harry, and their young firstborn, living at 65 Prince of Wales Road with Harry’s parents:  Harry was recorded as a ‘blind-maker’.  The 1881 census records the family at 367 Kentish Town Road, sharing the house with Amelia’s father’s family. In 1891 and 1901 the family were living at 318 Kentish Town Road, with Harry working as a picture-frame maker.  In 1911 she and Harry were living at 110 Highgate Hill in Upper Holloway, with unmarried sons Harry Alfred and Ralph Edgar. Amelia was widowed in 1914, and spent her later years with her son Arthur and family at Endon Vicarage.

John’s third child, John William, was born in about 1852.  Nothing else is known of him at present.

John’s fourth child, George Thomas, was born in Camden Town in 1854;  in 1861 and 1871 he was living with his parents at 3 Grange Street, St Pancras.  He is likely to be the George Littlemore recorded in 1881 as living in 40 Princes Street, Swindon, working as a ‘piano forte tuner’, with wife Sarah and children Annie, Maud & John.  In 1901 George and Sarah were at 36 Nilsom Road, Handsworth, Staffs with Annie, and also with fifteen-year old Amelia and twelve-year old James:  George was still working as a piano-tuner and Annie as a “saleswoman, boot trade”.

John’s fifth child, John Richard, was born in about 1856.  Nothing else is known of him at present.

John’s sixth child, Mary Dew, was born in St Pancras in 1859.  In 1861 she was living with her parents at 3 Grange Street, St Pancras, and in 1881 she was living with her parents and younger sisters at 367 Kentish Town Road.

John’s seventh child, Jane Ada, was born in St Pancras in about 1861.  Ten years late she was living with her parents at 3 Grange Street, St Pancras, a ‘scholar’;  and in 1881 she was with them at 367 Kentish Town Road, working as a “Dress Pattern Cutter”.

John’s eighth child, Emily Hannah, was born in St Pancras in about 1864.  In 1871 she was living with her parents at 3 Grange Street, St Pancras, a ‘scholar’;  and ten years later she was with them at 367 Kentish Town Road, working as a “Dress Pattern Cutter”.  She married Robert Tom Wall in 1882/3 and had seven childen – Robert George born in 1884, Frederick in 1886, Ernest in 1889, George in 1892, Gaius in 1896, Winifred in 1898, and Cyril in 1903.

THE CHILDREN OF JAMES  (1831-1914)

James’ first child, Emma, was born in Weedon Bec, Northants, in 1854;  she died the following year.

James’ second child, Lucy Jane, was born in Weedon Bec in 1856.  She moved to the United States with her family and died in Detroit in 1894.

James’ third child, Helen Ada, was born in Weedon Bec in 1858.  She moved to the United States with her family.

James’ fourth child, Martha Lindsey, was born in Weedon Bec in 1862.  She moved to the United States with her family and married Judson Church, a Canadian.  The couple had six children – Florence born in 1893, George in 1895, Charles in 1897, Archie J in 1898, John in 1904 and Edmund in 1907.

James’ fifth child, James Edward, was born in June 1864.  He moved to the United States with his family, and married Minnie Dunn in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.  The couple had two children, both born in Detroit Lakes – Lucy V in 1897 and Donald E in 1899.

James’ sixth child, George H, was born in Weedon Bec on 22 November 1867.  Aged six, he moved to the United States with his family and settled in Detroit, where the federal and state censuses recorded him in 1880 and 1885.  On 4 September 1903 he married Barbara Helena Hage, with whom he had four children – Mary Hannah born in 1904, Jack R in 1907, Margaret Hope in 1909 and Dorothy Marian in 1911.  A railway engine driver like so many of his family, he lived variously in Spokane, Washington, and Park, Montana.


THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (1834 - 1913)

William’s first child (and only child of his first marriage), Sarah, was born in March 1859.  Her mother died soon afterwards, and Sarah appears to have been sent back to William’s family in Linslade – where she died on 16 September that same year.

William’s second child, Emily E, the first of his second marriage, was born on 3 February 1862 at 61 Bessborough Place, Millbank.  In 1881 she was living with her family in the Bear Inn, Main Street, Burwash, Sussex, working as her father’s assistant.  Two years later, in the Pancras area of London, she married Walter Parsons, by whom she had six children – Emily Augusta born in 1883, Florence Beatrice in 1885, Ellen Elizabeth in 1887, Walter William in 1890, Grace Albena in 1893/4 and Eva Madalene in 1899.  In 1911 Emily & Walter were living at Broads Cottages in Burwash.

William’s third child was Avis Maud Mary, born in Pimlico on 5 March 1868.  In 1871 she was with her family in Westminster;  ten years later she was recorded as a boarder at Claremont House School in Cranbrook, Kent.  In 1887 she married John Thomas Pierson, by whom she had eight children – Alice Maud born in 1888, John Thomas in 1890, Alec Newton in 1892, Avice in 1895, Kathleen Ella in 1897, Joseph William in 1899, Samuel James Alfred in 1901 and Constance Ivy in 1903.  In 1911 the census recorded her visiting her son John and nephew Walter (Parsons) in Small Heath, Birmingham – her occupation was recorded as ‘lecturer’ – a descendant recalls that she “gave speeches on behalf of women s rights and the suffrage movement”;  her husband John was at home in 28 Albert Road, Tonbridge, Kent.

William’s fourth child, Albina, was born in Burwash on 28 June 1872.  In 1881 she was living with her family in the Bear Inn, Burwash.  Ten years later she was with them at Little Daws in Burwash.  In 1895 she married John Button, by whom she had two children – John William born in 1896 and Emily Albina in 1897.  In 1911 Albina and John were at 24 St George’s Street, Ipswich.

William’s fifth child, William Douglas, was born in Burwash, in 1874, and seven years later was living there with his family at the Bear Inn.  In 1891 he was with them at Little Daws in Burwash, working as a “farmer’s apprentice”.  He married Eliza Adams, and had five children – Gwendoline Mabel born in 1900, William John in 1902, Lilian Edith in 1904, Alec Douglas in 1907 and Joseph Newton in 1909.  In 1911 William and Eliza were at Bank Cottages in Burwash.

William’s sixth child, Augusta Eugenia, was born in Burwash on 21 May 1880.  The following year she was with her family there at the Bear Inn.  Ten years later she was with them at Little Daws in Burwash.  In 1901 she married Walter Frederick Whiteman, by whom she had a son, Frederick Francis, born in 1905.  In 1911 the family were living in Framfield, Sussex.

THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH  (c.1651 - 1721)

The oldest surviving of of Joseph’s ten or more children was Jacob, born in Kinglsey on 19 September 1689.  In 1713, and like his father a Quaker, he married Mary James at Newton, in the parish of Frodsham, Cheshire.  Described at the time as a ‘clockmaker’, Jacob seems to have been more of a merchant and entrepreneur than a regular craftsman.  In fact his business dealings seem to have been very shaky at times.  In 1726 Jacob entered into a partnership to lease a quay on the Frodsham side of the river Weaver, clearly for the revenue he might gain from ships unloading there.  In 1727 there were disputes between Jacob and other Quakers about unpaid debts, and on one occasion he was accosted by an aggrieved Friend, who must have been sorely aggravated to have broken his vows of peaceableness.  More than once the elders tried to give Jacob time to sort out his finances, but in 1728 he was officially declared bankrupt, listed then as a ‘clockmaker and potter’.  The following year he was obliged to draw up accounts of his dealings for consideration by his fellow Quakers:  papers survive from this showing that in 1730 he had raised £1,848 from the sale of various properties, and yet his debts had amounted to £400 above and beyond that!  Amongst those he was in debt to were his father-in-law John James (more than £86), his cousin, clockmaker John Seddon (over £43) and his sister Esther.  He moved to Bersham near Wrexham after 1736, perhaps after his wife inherited property there from her recently-deceased father.  Despite his chequered financial dealings he was described as a ‘gentleman’ when he died at Bersham in 1745.  Mary died at Wrexham in 1752.

Joseph also had a daughter, Esther. In 1718 her brother Jacob took on a fellow-Quaker, William Whittaker, as an apprentice, and seven years later he and Esther married at Newton.  It seems that the couple then moved to Chester, where William “fell into evil ways”.  In 1727 he was found “guilty of making a horserace and some disorderly practices”, and it was later stated by other Friends that “William Whittaker dishonours his profession”.  In 1728 they were informed that he had been imprisoned for debt.  He was last heard of in 1730, believed to have been then at Northwich, and he probably died not long after:  when Esther appeared on the list of Jacob’s creditors that same year she was described as a widow.

Other Littlemore Sites       Littlemore Family Tree

John & Liz’s Family History         John & Liz’s welcome page