Edward BLACKSHAW was one of at least six sons of Robert BLACKSHAW and Sarah SNEATH who had married in Caythorpe in 1791. He was baptised in Claypole, Lincolnshire on 17th August 1796 - the same day as his brother, John.
Edward married Maria DAYBELL in Wigtoft on 3rd July 1821 witnessed by Samuel DAYBALL, Hannah SHARP and Hannah JACKSON. Maria had been baptised in Aslackby on 26th June 1802 and was the eldest daughter of Samuel DAYBELL and Rebecca HAM who had married in Horbling on 29th March 1800. Their first child, Rebecca, was born in Millthorpe where Maria's parents were living at that time and was baptised at Aslackby on 25 January 1822.
Following the death of Robert, Edward's mother, Sarah, remarried to James OGDEN in Claypole on 4th August 1823.
Edward's family soon returned to Wigtoft and their second daughter, Sarah Ann, was baptised there on 23rd August the following year. Their first son, Samuel, was baptised on the 29th December 1824 and his brother, Edward was baptised on 21 July 1826.
Soon after this the family moved to the Drayton area of Swineshead where a daughter, Maria, was born and baptised on 30th October 1828. After moving to the Asperton area they had one son, Joseph, on 3rd January 1831 and another, Robert, on 31st January 1833. These were followed by three more daughters; Mary born at Ladyland on 26th July 1835, Elizabeth Frances on 7th June 1837 and Hannah on 5th May 1839.
By the time of the 1841 Census Edward (a farm labourer), Maria and the six younger children were living at Longlands in Swineshead. Their two eldest daughters had also left home. Rebecca had moved to Alford some 26 miles away and was working as a servant for Ellen LINDSEY, a bonnet maker who lived on Bridge Street. Sarah was 28 miles away in Strubby where she worked as a servant in the household of the farmer William KELK.
Their oldest sons were nearer to home, Samuel was working for the cottager John RICHARDSON and his family on Dowby Road in Swineshead while another son, Edward, was still working as servant in Wigtoft.
Just a few weeks later their daughter, Alice, was baptised in Swineshead on 26th June 1841. By this time the family were living at Black Jack.
On 1st September 1842 their eldest daughter, Rebecca, married William MARSHALL in Swineshead. The marriage was witnessed by her father Edward and by her sister Sarah Ann. She and her husband settled in Wyberton where they lived for more than twenty years and had ten children.
At this time Edward's mother, Sarah OGDEN, had been widowed again and was still living in Claypole along with her youngest son, Thomas BLACKSHAW. Edward's brother, John, was living in Lavington following the death of his wife, Sarah WARRENER. His oldest brother, Robert, was living in Navenby with his wife, Rebecca TWELVES and three of their four children while his other brother, Samuel was living in Southwell, Nottinghamshire with his wife, Hannah COOK, and four of his seven children.
On 3rd May 1843 Edward's daughter, Sarah Ann, married Henry BRUCE in Wigtoft where the family settled in a house on Asperton Road.
On 30th April 1844 Edward and Maria had a daughter Susanna but sadly she died a few days later and was buried on 3rd May.
At some point the family became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) and this was to change completely the course of their lives. It is thought that in 1847 Edward's oldest son, Samuel, emigrated to the USA where he worked in St Louis, Missouri. Just two years later he was followed by the rest of the family, leaving behind his married sisters, Rebecca and Sarah Ann.
The family sailed from Liverpool on the 29th January 1849 on board the Mormon ship, the 'Zetland' as part of a group of 358 Saints. Also on board was Maria's brother, Joseph DAYBELL, his wife, Alice WRIGHT and five of their children.
The 'Zetland' was a large ship - a square-rigger less than a year old and weighing 1283 tons. The voyage lasted 63 days and the passengers arrived in New Orleans on the 2nd April. Three days later they boarded the steamship 'Iowa' and headed for St Louis but cholera broke out soon after leaving.
Edward BLACKSHAW died from cholera within six weeks of his arrival in St Louis but the rest of the family went on to make a new life for themselves within the Mormon church. Samuel, his eldest son, returned to England in 1853 where he married Millicent TEMPLE on 24th May. They returned to America in September that year where they went on to have seven children. The first to arrive in America, he died in Middletown, Montgomery Co in Missouri about 1870.
His brother, Joseph, settled in Greene Co, Illinois where he was a Deputy Postmaster in Berdan. He married twice and had ten children. The third brother, Robert*, settled in Montgomery Co in Missouri with his English wife, Anna, and his nine children where they were living in 1880.
Elizabeth married William WARING on 22 October 1853 and they also settled in Illinois where they had twelve children before she died in 1879.
The two youngest daughters, Hannah and Alice married two brothers, George and Henry SLEIGHT - sons of Richard SLEIGHT and his wife Ann LAMB from back home in Swineshead. Hannah and George married in St Louis on 27th August 1856 and settled in Berdan, Illinois with their six children. Alice and Henry married about 1868 and also lived in Greene Co, Illinois with their son, John. By 1900 Alice (now widowed) was living in Montgomery City with her son and his young family.
So what of the family left in England? Edward's mother, Sarah Ogden was buried in Claypole on 11th August 1853 having lived with her youngest son, Thomas, for many years. Thomas, who never married, was himself buried in Claypole 24th January 1879.
Edward's other brothers had married and raised families. Robert had become a bricklayer and stone mason and, with his wife, Rebecca, stayed in Navenby with their four surviving children. He was buried there on 20th December 1871.
John's had two sons before his wife, Sarah WARRENER, died at an early age. John stayed in Lavington and in 1861 was still living there with his younger son, Joseph and two grandchildren. He died in 1867.
Samuel and Hannah remained at Easthorpe in Southwell where he was a higgler selling coal. In 1861 they were still living there with their sons, Samuel who was a cordwainer and Thomas who was a gardener. Hannah died in 1867 and Samuel went to live with his daughter, Sarah. She had married in 1852 to a draper called Samuel GRUNDY and by 1871 they lived in Stapleford in Nottinghamshire with their six children. Her brothers, Samuel and Thomas were both married by now and they and their families were also living in Stapleford. Their father, Samuel, died and was buried in Southwell on 3rd May 1872.
Three of Edward's children had remained in England. By 1871 his oldest daughter, Rebecca MARSHALL, her husband, William, and at least four of their children had moved to Skirbeck and were still living there ten years later. His son, Edward, died in Wigtoft on 23rd February 1859. Sarah Ann BRUCE also remained in Wigtoft where she raised her own family and died there 28th November 1884.
Some contact between the families in England and America was maintained and when around 1890 Alice, the daughter of Sarah Ann BRUCE, came to America she was able to write home with details of the address of her Aunt Alice SLEIGHT.
* Page created by William F. Bishop
Photographs of BLACKSHAW Descendants
SARAH ANN BLACKSHAW (1823-1884)
Sarah Ann BLACKSHAW was baptised in Wigtoft, Lincolnshire on 23rd August 1823 - the second child of Edward BLACKSHAW and Maria DAYBELL who had married in Wigtoft on 3rd July 1821.
By the time of the 1841 Census she had left home and was working 28 miles away in Strubby where she worked as a servant in the household of the farmer William KELK.
On 3rd May 1843 Sarah married Henry BRUCE in Wigtoft. Although by this time her family had moved to nearby Swineshead, the marriage was witnessed by Maria BLACKSHAW and William COOK. Henry was baptised in Bicker on 3rd January 1818 and was the son of John BRUCE and his wife Susanna. Henry's family had moved to Wigtoft between 1823 and 1826 but by 1841 they were also living in Swineshead. It may be that the two families had been friends for many years.
After their marriage Henry and Sarah settled in Wigtoft in a house on Asperton Road where they were to live until Henry's death. TheIr first child, Maria, was baptised in Wigtoft on 7th March 1844. She was followed by a daughter, Sarah Ann, on 3rd August 1846 and a son, George, on 10th December on 1850.
By 1851 they were living on Asperton Road with Sarah Ann (age 4) and George (3 months). Maria had already died and George died the following year.
Another daughter, Rebecca, was born on 3rd April 1853 and her sister, Elizabeth, was baptised on 7th March 1855. In 1858 they had another daughter who they called Maria. She was baptised on 17th May 1863 - on the same day as her younger sister, Alice. Sadly Maria was to die in 1868.
Their youngest daughter, Hannah, was baptised on 21st October 1866.
By 1871 the three eldest daughters had left home and I do not know the whereabouts of Sarah or Elizabeth. Rebecca was working as a general domestic servant for the widow Mary WATSON at 15 & 17 Bridge Street, Boston. Sarah and Henry were now living on Asperton Road with their youngest daughters Alice (7) and Hannah (4).
On May 14th 1877 Rebecca BRUCE married a farm labourer John Thomas MARSH in the parish church at Dunholme. Their son, William, was baptised on 11th January 1880 in Welton - close to the home of John's family.
Henry died on 3rd August 1880 and Sarah moved from Asperton Road to a joiner's shop on the road to Swineshead Drayton where she worked as a seamstress. In 1881 her youngest daughter Hannah (14) still lived with her and worked as a domestic servant.
Nearby, on the Fosdyke to Swineshead, daughter Alice (17) was working as a kitchen maid in the household of Joseph HEATH, the Vicar of Wigtoft. Alice married Frank COOPER in Bicker on 12th September 1887 and they went on to have ten children. They lived in America (possibly in Missouri) for a time, and, probably around 1890, she wrote a letter home to her sister Hannah with family details and giving addresses for her Uncle George BRUCE and for her Aunt Alice SLEIGHT.
Henry's younger brother, George, had emigrated to America. He had married Sarah (WHITEHEAD?) and had at least ten children including a son, Robert, born in 1870 who died on 11th February 1890. By this time the family had settled near Wellsville and Robert's death was recorded in the local newspaper.
Sarah BRUCE died on 3rd November 1884 and was buried alongside Henry in the churchyard at Wigtoft.
In 1889 Rebecca and John MARSH had their first daughter, Alice, who was born at Holton-le-Moor. By 1891 the family had moved again to 16 Carlton Street in Lincoln where they were to remain. John was working as a labourer at the Iron Foundry and they had children, William (11) and Alice (2).
On the 6th August 1893 their younger daughter, Ellen, was born. Rebecca was not to recover from this and died the following year at only 41 years of age. Family legend has it that, on her death bed, Rebecca asked her youngest sister Hannah BRUCE to take care of the baby. Certainly, this is what she did! Following Rebecca's death John MARSH, finding himself with two young daughters to bring up, married Hannah on 28th July 1897 at the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Rasen Lane. They had no children but Hannah cared for Rebecca's children as if they were her own.
John and Hannah had a dairy shop on the corner of Burton Road and Wilson Street in Lincoln. In the early days they would fetch the cows back from the common. Later the milk was delivered early in the morning on a pony and trap from a farm in Carleton. The shop is still standing and now belongs to a florist!
Hannah MARSH died in Lincoln on 8th October 1935 but not until she had been reunited with her sister, Alice COOPER, after a gap of almost forty years. Alice lived to the grand old age of 95 years and died in 1959.
Photographs of BLACKSHAW Descendants
Rebecca BLACKSHAW was born in Millthorpe, Lincolnshire - the eldest child of twelve children born to Edward BLACKSHAW and Maria DAYBELL who had married in Wigtoft on 3rd July 1821. She was baptised on 25 January 1822 at nearby Aslackby where Maria's parents were living at the time.
The following year the family move to Wigtoft and within five years had moved to nearby Swineshead Swineshead. By the time of the 1841 Census Rebecca had left home and moved to Alford some 26 miles away where she was working as a servant for Ellen LINDSEY, a bonnet maker who lived on Bridge Street.
On 1st September 1842 she returned to Swineshead to marry William MARSHALL. The marriage was witnessed by her father, Edward, and her younger sister, Sarah Ann. William had been baptised in Wyberton on 28th August 1817 and was the son of a carpenter, Thomas MARSHALL and his wife Ann.
Their first child, Ann Maria was baptised in Wyberton on 5th March 1843 and was followed by a son, Edward, on 9th November 1844. Their next child, Alice, died in early childhood but was followed by a son, William, in 1847.
At some point Rebecca's family became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) and in 1847 her oldest brother, Samuel, emigrated to the USA where he worked in St Louis, Missouri. Just two years later he was followed by the rest of the family leaving behind only Rebecca, her now married sister, Sarah Ann, and her brother, Edward. They sailed from Liverpool on the 29th January 1849 on board the Mormon ship, the 'Zetland' as part of a group of 358 Saints. Also on board was Maria's brother, Joseph DAYBELL, his wife, Alice WRIGHT and five of their children.
At the time of the Census the family were living on Spalding Road in Wyberton - not far from William's parents who were living on West end Road. Their baby son, Joseph, was only five weeks old and was baptised on 13th April 1851.
The family continued to grow with daughters Sarah (1853), Rebecca (1855), Alice (1858) and Mary Elizabeth in 1860. By the time of the 1861 Census the family were living on London Road. William worked as a Gardener and was helped by his two eldest sons. Their eldest daughter had left home but the remaining children (except for 8 month old Mary) were all attending school.
By 1863 the family was complete, following the birth of their son George. Some time after this the family moved to Skirbeck and by 1871 they were living on Skirbeck Road. William still worked as a gardener but his son, William Jnr, was working as a fireman at the oil mill. The two youngest children, Mary and George, were still attending school but the rest of the family had left home. Their daughter, Rebecca, wasn't far away and was working as a Nursery Maid in the household of Robert ROY - the widowed Rector of Skirbeck.
It was probably around 1872 that the two eldest children got married. Ann Maria had married John COOPER from Billingborough and their daughter, Maria Ann, was born in Aslackby around 1873. Her brother, Edward, married Martha WILLIS who had been born in Whittlesea in Cambridgeshire and they settled in Bradfield in Yorkshire where their first child, Willis, was born around 1873.
On the 9th September 1880 Mary Elizabeth MARSHALL married Alfred Dawson BRAY in Skirbeck. The marriage was witnessed by George William BRAY and Betsy SMALLY. Alfred was an Engine Fitter who had been born in Boston.
By 1881 William and Rebecca MARSHALL were living on Charles Street in Skirbeck. William was still working as a Gardener. On Census night they were visited by Alfred & Mary BRAY.
By this time John and Ann Maria COOPER were living in Hacconby with their daughter Maria and two servants; William CLAXTON and James BUNDY.
Edward MARSHALL and his wife were still in Bradfield where he worked as a labourer in the steel works. By now they had six children and also shared their home with Martha's unmarried younger brother, Edward WILLIS who worked as a bricklayer.
To date I have no further information on this family. Even in 1881, I have found very few of them on the Census returns. I wonder whether any of them may have followed the rest of the BLACKSHAW family and emigrated. It would be nice to think of Rebecca's family being reunited with their American cousins...
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