THE MATERNAL ANCESTORS: THE POTTERS, WHO WERE WEAVERS AND TAILORS FROM CULMSTOCK AND BIRMINGHAM...

 MATERNAL ANCESTORS: THE POTTERS…

INTRODUCTION:

Gran Hedges/Madeley was born in 1884, as described in the article about her life elsewhere on this blog, but what of her ancestry? She was born as Florence Lilian Potter in Birmingham but her family had moved north some years before that and her own father, John Francis Potter had been born in Bristol. Her grandfather Robert hailed from the Culmstock area of Somerset, near Wellington where the family took part in the weaving industry. 

In the 1881 census Nan’s father was a lithographic printer, aged 19 and he was living with parents Robert and Mary Ann at 30 Blucher Street, Birmingham. His siblings were Annie L 14, Emily Elizabeth 9, Ada Edith 4 and Arthur W 1. The interesting information here is where the individuals were born…

ROBERT & MARY ANN POTTER FROM CULMSTOCK…

Robert was a tailor from Culmstock in Devon, his wife was from either Sandford or Banwell in Somerset, John had been born in Bristol and sister Annie had been born in Weston Super Mare… 

In the 1871 census, Robert, aged 37 was living at 30 Blucher Street but at number 29 there was a tailor’s shop, run by a chap named Lewis Barnett who was from, er, Poland… 

Living with Robert and Mary Ann at that address were John Francis, 9 years old, Ann Louisa, 4 and Robert William, who had been born at Bath, presumably not in one… 

However, there were lodgers too: Robert Cowin and wife Margaret from Douglas on the Isle of Man, sons Robert and William, born in Liverpool and a daughter Minnie from Salford. Another guy named John Groom lodged there too, a tailor from Shropshire… 

ROBERT'S FATHER IS BORN...

Robert was born on 18th April 1833 and on 14th January 1860, the 26 year old married Mary Ann Voisey, 21 in Rockwell Green in the Wellington district of Somerset and both were wool weavers from Culmstock. A year later, on the census form, their daughter Caroline was said to be 6 months old, born around 17th October 1860.  

ROBERT IS BORN...

TWO IMAGES OF ROCKWELL GREEN, WHEN I VISITED SOME YEARS BACK...

Robert’s wedding had been at Prescott Baptist Church in Culmstock where his father’s name, Mark Potter was included on a hand-written form, whilst Mary Ann’s father was named as William Voisey, a weaver, as expected… Mary Ann’s mum was called Charlotte and the family had lived in Rockwell Green.

THE WEDDING...

PRESCOTT BAPTIST CHAPEL, CULMSTOCK.
NOW IT IS IN PRIVATE HANDS...

The intriguing part of this story is that Robert’s daughter Caroline is no longer with them in 1871, having died at just 11 months old. John was Bristol born in 1862, so a 55 mile move northwards had been made from Wellington already. Perhaps Robert was learning tailoring there, after being employed as a weaver in Culmstock… Then Annie was born in Weston in 1867, so perhaps the family decided to look for tailoring work in Birmingham, where the money was better, or maybe they simply wanted a new start…

THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT CAROLINE HAD DIED...

JOHN FRANCIS & SUSANNAH MARY ANN POTTER:

In 1891 John Francis Potter’s own family was living at 52 (5 Court 6) Suffolk Street in Birmingham and he was still a lithographic printer. His wife Susannah Mary Ann had been born in Brum in 1864 and children Florence Lilian (my Nan) was then 6, Albert R was 4 and Robert was 2. (52 Suffolk Street itself might just have been some kind of pub, possibly the Boat Tavern, later the Midland Inn, for the main character living there was a licensed victualler.) 

LIKELY JOHN FRANCIS POTTER, THE GREAT GRANDFATHER...

Tailor Robert was still at Blucher Street, his wife Mary Ann was a shopkeeper, daughters Emily, 19 and Ada, 14 were French polishers, whilst Arthur was 11 and William was 7. Living with them was a niece from Bristol called Annie Sanger, a 17 year old tailor. 

ANNIE'S PARENTS' WEDDING INFORMATION...

Niece Annie was the daughter of Elizabeth Braddick Potter from Culmstock, who had married a mason, William Albert Sanger in 1869, who was living in Stokes Croft, Bristol, a part of the A38 road, which of course runs south towards Wellington and Culmstock. Annie would marry one Tom Hook, a bootmaker from Pucklechurch…

Next door was a Russian widow called I believe, Fanny Rigal… 

In 1901 my Nan was a 16 year old ticket assistant and her father John was by then a sign-writer and decorator. Albert R was then a 14 year old stained glass painter, whilst Robert was 12, Edith May 9 and Horace Victor was just 3 weeks old. They lived at 7 Ellis Street in the city at that time.

NAN'S FATHER WAS A SIGN WRITER/LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTER:
CHECK OUT HIS HANDWRITING...

68 year old Robert was still at Blucher Street, still a tailor but his wife was described as a shopkeeper/huckster, whilst 24 year old Ada was still at home and still a French polisher, whilst 21 year old Arthur was a tailor’s merchant’s clerk. 

Ten years on and John was 49, his wife was 47 and Edith May was a 19 year old press worker at a cycle manufactory. Strange that, as my paternal grandfather was involved in the cycle industry in Birmingham too…  Horace Victor was 10 and the reduced family was living at 4 Alma Terrace, Bromsgrove Street, with John being described as a sign painter.

BROMSGROVE STREET...

John was living with Susannah at 257 Sherlock Street (2 Court 21) certainly from 1921-23 but then he passed away in 1923, aged just 61…

SHERLOCK STREET...

Susannah is found at 3 Laburnum Place, Birmingham in 1929, along with Florence Hesketh, Louisa Bilson and Olive Blanche (no, not Olive Branch…)

She died in 1945…

FLORENCE LILIAN HEDGES, NÉE POTTER WITH ME AT BAMVILLE ROAD, WARD END, BIRMINGHAM...