Yorkshire to Sydney by Clipper

This story is inspired by the 52 Ancestors prompt “Migration”, and it also covers the recent prompt “Surprise”.

Yorkshire

Joseph Lees was born 23 August 1830 in the village of Gomersal, in Yorkshire, England.  Baptised on 10 October 1830, in Birstall Parish Church, he was the son of William Lees, a clothier, and his wife Rachel nee Gomersal.  A clothier was someone who made and sold cloth and it was a common occupation in West Yorkshire; I have several clothier ancestors.  With the growth of mechanised mills, William eventually moved to working in a mill as a billy spinner.

Joseph Lees was the youngest of six known children of William and Rachel.  His older siblings were Mary, William, Samuel, Rachel Gomersal and Sarah.  Joseph would not have known any of his grandparents, three died before he was born and the fourth died when he was less than a year old.

The Lees children all appear to have been educated, those who married signed the marriage register with a confident signature.

In 1841, Joseph and his brother Samuel were living in the household of a Thomas Sigston, a retired Cloth Manufacture. Next door was their uncle, Edward Gomersal, Rachel’s only known surviving sibling.  The rest of the Lees family, except for brother William, lived on the other side of Uncle Edward.  Brother William was newly married to Martha Firth.

How do you spell that?

 

This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors prompt “Challenge”.

Early life

Martha Guntrip and her family have been a challenge to research because of an uncommon difficult to spell surname.  I have come across quite a few variations including Gunthrip, Gunttripp, Gunthorpe, Gantrip and others.  Also complicating matters, the family lived near the border of two English counties, Oxford and Buckinghamshire, so record in both locations need to be searched.

Martha Guntrip was born around the end of 1772 or early 1773 in Bicester, Oxford, England.  She was baptised on 27 January 1773 in Bicester Parish Church.  Her baptismal record was indexed under the name “Cundiff”, although I think it is fairly clear that it is indeed “Guntrip” in the original record.

Martha was the daughter of Thomas Guntrip and Elizabeth Rhodes (or Roads), one of four known children.  The other three were Thomas, Elizabeth and Richard.  I have not yet found Elizabeth’s baptismal record and I wonder if the spelling or indexing is problematic.

Bicester was and is a busy market town and it was developed extensively during Martha’s lifetime, including the building of the New Buildings where she lived. The town was also important for horse racing and hunting, so would likely have had the rich and famous of the time passing through.

Marriage and Family

On 1 May 1797, Martha Guntrip married Joseph Elston in Bicester.  Martha signed the marriage register with a confident signature, so she must have had some education and was used to writing.  I have previously written about the evolution of the Elston surname.

Joseph Elston was either a sawyer (according to the 1851 Census and his newspaper death notice) or a surveyor (Martha’s newspaper death notice).  I can see that the two occupations would look similar in cursive writing, I am not sure which is correct – another challenge.

Martha and Joseph had at least 4 children, Joseph, Elizabeth (my ancestor), Ann and Harriet.  All four survived infancy, married and had children.

In the 1841 Census, Martha and her husband Joseph appear to be living apart.  Whether that was because they were separated, or for family, health or financial reasons, I don’t know.  It is challenging and frustrating to find records that give a hint of an intriguing story but no more than that.

Martha was living with her 4-year-old granddaughter Theresa East, daughter of Harriet, in New Buildings, Bicester Market End.  They were part of a larger household that included her daughter Elizabeth and her husband glazier John Smith, along with their children Charles, John (my ancestor), Thomas, Elizabeth, and baby Emma.  So, Martha may not have been living with her husband, but she was surrounded by family.

Joseph Elston was also living with a granddaughter, Harriet Smith, aged 13, and was surrounded by family in 1841.  They lived in Launton, a village near Bicester, next door to his and Martha’s daughter Harriet, her husband butcher Henry East, son Caleb and baby daughter Rhoda.

Marth Elston nee Guntrip died on 22 Dec 1844, age 71 and was buried a Bicester.

Joseph Elston outlived his wife by nearly 10 years, dying 22 June 1852, age 80.

In spite of the challenges, I have been able to piece together some highlights from Martha’s life.

 

Notes on linage: Me > Mum > Daphne Madge Smith > John Henry Smith > Harry Smith > John Smith > Elizabeth Elston > Marth Guntrip