A Shore Thing

The inspiration for this story is the #52Ancestors prompt “Unexpected”. I have come across many unexpected and surprising stories while researching my family history, so there is plenty of choice.

I discovered my ancestor Elizabeth Shore many years ago, but I only recently discovered her birth and the story of her childhood family because it did not take place where I expected.

A Somerset Family

Elizabeth Shore married Jesse Flower on 14 June 1770 at the parish church of Farmborough, Somerset, by licence.  One of the witnesses was James Tidcombe; when I first found this record, the name did not seem significant.  Elizabeth put a mark in the marriage register, whereas Jesse signed his name.

James Tidcombe's significant signature

Elizabeth and Jesse lived in Timsbury, Somerset, not far from Farmborough.  They had 8 children born between 1771 and 1789: John, Ann, Alexander, Barbara, Jesse (who died young), Benjamin, Jesse (my ancestor, whose story I have told previously) and James.   Jesse was a carpenter, where many men in the area were coal miners.

After extensive research, including first linking her to the wrong family, I discovered a baptism for Elizabeth Shore, on 15 December 1751, in the church of St Philip and Jacob, Bristol, Gloucestershire.  She was the daughter of Josiah Shore and Elizabeth.  I then struggled to find any other relatives or a marriage for Josiah Shore and Elizabeth anywhere nearby.

Staffordshire and Worcestershire?

I found one possible marriage for a Josiah Shore and Elizabeth, but the location was unexpected and nowhere near Somerset.  21-year-old Josiah Shore, a potter from Kingswinford, married 22-year-old Elizabeth Skidmore of Old Swinford, in Wombourne.  All of these places are on the western outskirts of Birmingham in the West Midlands, about 90 miles from Bristol.  I needed to link a marriage near Birmingham with a baptism in Bristol.  Lucky for me, Josiah Shore is an unusual name, so there were not many likely records to investigate.

I found the following nine children of Josiah and Elizabeth:

Name	Baptism Year	Place / notes
Mary Shore	1748	Kingswinford, Staffordshire
Henry Shore	1750	Old Swinford, Worcestershire
Elizabeth Shore	1751	Bristol, Gloucestershire
Josiah Shore	1754	Worcester, buried 1756 Worcester
Joseph Shore	1756	Worcester, buried 1768 Farmborough
Ann Shore	1759	Old Swinford, Worcestershire
Benjamin Shore	1762	High Littleton, Somerset
Josiah Shore	1764	Farmborough, Somerset
Abigail Shore	1768	Farmborough, Somerset

At that time, it was unusual to find a family moving around so much.

How do I know that this is all one family?

The areas around Kingswinford, Worcester and Bristol were all linked to pottery in the mid eighteenth century.  Potters were thought to have been more mobile than some occupations at the time, so this fits with Josiah and his family moving around for his work. However, I am not sure why they ended up in Farmborough, Somerset as it is not known for pottery.

I can link some members of the family via marriage witnesses.  This is where James Tidcombe becomes important.

Elizabeth’s older sister Mary Shore married James Tidcombe, 16 May 1768, Farmborough.  As previously mentioned, James was one of the witnesses of Elizabeth Shore’s marriage.  James Tidcombe also witnessed a second marriage for Josiah Shore senior, to Martha Sage, in 1778, and a first marriage for Benjamin Shore, to Martha Adams, in 1781.  Sister Ann Shore was the other witness for Benjamin’s first marriage.

Henry Shore witnessed his brother Benjamin Shore’s second marriage in 1794.

A Richard Skidmore witnessed Henry Shore’s marriage to Sarah Hall in 1778.  In turn, Henry Shore witnessed Richard Skidmore’s marriage. Richard, Henry’s first cousin, was the son of Elizabeth Skidmore’s brother Richard, had moved from Old Swinford to Bristol.

Endings

Elizabeth Flower, nee Shore, lost her husband Jesse in 1792.  He was buried at Timsbury. Widowed Elizabeth survived nearly 30 years more, gaining at least 15 grandchildren in that time.  Elizabeth was buried at Timsbury on 17 March 1820.

Uncovering this unexpected story has encouraged me to search more widely for other “missing” ancestors and to pay more attention to who witnessed their marriages.

Notes on lineage: Me > Dad > John Edward Blake > James William Blake > James Jesse Blake > Catherine Elizabeth Flower > Jesse Flower > Elizabeth Shore