Franche near Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

Found a most interesting record in the Kirkdale Quarter Session records.  One Alice Etheridge, wife of Richard Etheridge (who is absent from her) and their three children; namely Sarah aged seven years or thereabouts, George aged five years or thereabouts and Jane aged three years or thereabouts poor persons have come lately to inhabit in the township of Toxteth Park and have actually become chargeable to the Inhabitants thereof, not having done any act to acquire a Settlement therein, nor produced a Certificate owning them to be Inhabitants elsewhere; and it appearing to us the said Justices, on Oath, that the last legal Settlement of the said Alice Etheridge and her said three children is in the Township, Parish or Place of Wolverley in the County of Worcester...and we do hereby order and require you the said Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the Township of Toxteth Park aforesaid, forthwith to remove and convey the said Alice Etheridge and her said three children to Wolverley aforesaid and them deliver over to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor thereof...to provide for them according to Law. 14 Sep 1832

and a note at the bottom: Appeal entered & respited

And another record in the order books of the General Quarter Session of the Peace on Monday 21 Jan 1832 held at Kirkdale reads Upon the Appeal of the Inhabitants of the Township of Wolverley in the County of Worcester to Order made by Thomas Molyneux and William Wallace Currie Esquires, two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace and Quorum in and for the said County of Lancaster, under their Hands and Seals, bearing Date the fourteenth day of September last, for the Removal of Alice Etheridge wife of Richard Etheridge (who was absent from her) and their three children namely Sarah aged seven years or thereabouts, George aged five years or thereabouts and jane aged three years or thereabouts poor Persons out of the Township of Toxteth Park in the said County of Lancaster into the Township of Wolverley aforesaid, the same Order by this Court by consent of both the said parties, set aside and this Court doth award and adjudge unto the said appellants the sum of fourteen pounds seven shillings an seven pence and for the costs charges and expences which they have been put unto and have incurred in sustaining the said Poor Persons and doth hereby order and direct the Churchwardens and overseers of the Poor of Toxteth Park aforesaid forthwith to pay the same to the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of Wolverley aforesaid or one of them immediately on demand being made there of.   

So it appears that Alice is back in Liverpool area, without her husband.  Is this the 'escape from France dressed as a nun' from the family story? 

How cool to name and give ages of all the children.  Listed are Sarah 7 years, George 5 years and Jane 3 years.  

We have Sarah's christening in 1825 in Liverpool 1832-1825 = 7 years.  

George appears as 30 years old in 1861 Census, (born 1831) 42 years in 1871 census (born 1829), 52 years in 1881 census (born 1829), 68 in 1891 census (born 1823) and 70 in 1901 census (born 1831).  Hmm...none of these fit very well with him being 5 years old in 1832...that would make him born in 1827. 

Jane appears in 1841 census as 12 years old... which makes her birth in 1829.  Which fits with her age as 3 years old in the 1832 poverty order.

And Silvey isn't listed in the poverty record, but is 10 years old in the 1841 census...Was Alice pregnant with Silvey and that is why she couldn't support herself and the children?

So, now that we have dealt with their ages...why is Wolverley determined to be their 'last legal residence'?  What is Wolverley to them? Did they move from Liverpool to Wolverley prior to moving to France?  Was Richard Etheridge working in Wolverley?  Why wouldn't he have his family with him?

I still cannot find any reason that an iron monger would have moved to France in that time period.  There is just nothing in history that would be a reason for that move.  

So as I studied this family further I find that George Etheridge married Roseanna Bishop in Kidderminster, Worcester.  She was born in Kidderminster.  So, there is a tie to Worcester.  When I mapped Kidderminster and Wolverley I found that Wolverley is about three miles due north of Kidderminster. Interesting, so even though the order to move them was appealed and respited, did they move there anyways?  Why would George end up there when his mother and sisters stayed in Liverpool with his mother's second husband, John Moore? 

I found a George Hetheridge in the 1851 census a 'roler of iron' born in Liverpool, living in Stourbridge, Worcester in 1851.  Stourbridge is about 7 miles north east of Wolverley.  

As I looked at some old maps of Kidderminster and traced the roads from Kidderminster to Wolverley I found a small area labeled Franch or Franche.  Suddenly, I understood that they never lived in the country France.  They lived in the little village Franche between Kidderminster and Wolverley.  

Only Moore; Never DeBarcy

 So, I took a side trip with Marian DeBarcy.  All of the records that we have during her life indicate that she was born in Liverpool. All the records also give her surname as some variant of Moore.  What if she really was Mary Ann Moore born in Liverpool?

How would we find out?  Well, I looked for any variation of Marian/Mary Ann/Mary that was anywhere close to her age in both the 1841 and 1851 censuses (the two prior to her appearance in 1861 with Charles Taylor at 10 Cleveland Square).   For as common as her name is, there weren't very many of them.  

So then I started working through each of the records, trying to determine what happened to each of these girls.  Did they die young?  Did they marry someone other than Charles Taylor?  Did they have any brothers named George or sisters named Silvia as was mentioned in the 'escape from France' story?  

One family in the 1841 census for Toxteth Park stood out:

• Alice Moore 35y
• Jane Moore 12y
• Silvey Moore 10y
• Mary Ann Moore 4y

But the most interesting part about this record was that Jane and Silvey were marked as born in 'Foreign Parts'; Not Liverpool, not Lancashire, not even England, Ireland, Wales or Scotland.  Foreign Parts!

But where?

Found an Alice Etheridge who married a John Moore in 1836 in Liverpool, which was too late for Jane and Silvey to be theirs...but then I noted that Alice was a widow!  Next search turned up a Richard Eathridge, Iron monger who married Alice Tomkinson on 11 April 1821 in Liverpool.  That fits! Then we find Silva Tomkinson (why Tomkinson instead of Etheridge or Moore?) married to James Devine 21 Oct 1849. 1851 Census shows her as born in France, but a British Subject. 1861 census also indicates that she was born in France.  She died in 1869.

George Etheridge also in the 1861 census shows a birth place in France, and also noted that he is a British Subject. However, other censuses indicate he was born in Liverpool.  

So now we have Alice Tomkinson who married Richard Etheridge in 1821 in Liverpool.  Then a daughter Sarah born to them in Liverpool in 1825.  Then a George, Jane and Silvey all born in France.  Then Alice married John Moore, a sawyer in 1836 in Liverpool and had Mary Ann born 1837, Alice 1839, John 1841, Ann 1843 and a Catherine 1845.

I love the GRO Online Index that shows mother's maiden names for all the birth records.  And in it I found an entry for a Mary Ann Moore in 1837 with a mother's maiden name of Tomkinson.  The actual birth registration says:

#256 Mary Ann  born 9th November 1/4 past 1 o'clock p.m., female.  Father: John Moore, a sawyer.  Mother: Alice Moore formerly Tomkinson. Informant: John Moore, father, Herculaneum Potteries South Shore, Registered 4th December; Registrar J. Fellyers, registrar.

So now we know that Marian DeBarcy is really Mary Ann Moore, born in Liverpool 9 Nov 1837 to John Moore and Alice Moore, formerly Tomkinson.  She never had the surname DeBarcy!

A connection between Shaws and Taylors?

I received an email about Mervyn Pratt today.  He married Mrs. Adelaide Shaw’s oldest daughter, Maria Ann Shaw.  Mervyn had already moved to New York, but came back to Liverpool, apparently just to marry Maria Ann for his trip was very short.

And I realized something…Mary Ann Moore de Barcy and Maria Ann Shaw.  Don’t know if there is any relevance or not but if so, Maria Ann Shaw was born 1855, which is right about the time we’d be expecting Mary Ann Moore de Barcy to be leaving France as ‘a young lady’.

The flip side of it is the possibility that Mary Ann Moore de Barcy really had lived in Liverpool all her life and knew Adelaide Williams (married: Shaw) before either got married.

The catch is, that Mary Ann DIDN’T name one of her daughters Adelaide…unless it was one that died…which I haven’t been able to track yet.  On the other hand, one of Adelaide’s sisters is named Alice, and one of them is named Maria.

Nellie Taylor Garrick

So I found Nellie Taylor b. 1880 in Liverpool.  She married James Gordon Garrick and they had a daughter Marjorie Howard Garrick in 1910.  In 1911 her sister Esther was living with them. She worked in a Confectioneri's shop.

James Gordon Garrick died 1914. Probate administration for the estate (valued at over £7000) went to his widow, Nellie Howard Garrick.

Nellie died in 1942. Probate administration for the estate valued at over £4000 went to Marjorie Howard Baugh, wife of Arthur William Baugh.  Arthur died 1947.  His estate, valued at £723, ws administered by his widow, Marjorie Howard Baugh.  Clearly the money was from James Gordon Garrick.

I cannot find any other children for Nellie and none at all for Marjorie.

It looks like Garrick might have been married previously and have grown children when he married Nellie.  Nellie never remarried (surname is Garrick in Will Calendar) and so far I haven't found another marriage for Marjorie either as she dies 1987 with the surname Baugh. Wonder what happened to her estate?  I'd like to see if she had any pictures of the family!