Rev. 6 April 2008, Gen. 243

DESCENDANTS OF ROBERT GREAVES AND CHARLOTTE GREEN OF BRADFIELD, YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND

GENERATION 1

Robert Greaves (1) was born in 1818, and died 4 Aug. 1850 in Owlerton, Sheffield, Yorkshire. He married Charlotte Green about 1842 (between the date of the 1841 census and the birth of their first child in 1843). She was born in 1819 and died in 1886. Both Robert and Charlotte were born in the very large civil parish of Bradfield (near Sheffield), whose boundaries extended between the Derwent in the northwest, the Don in the north, and the Rivelin to the south; the river Loxley runs through the middle. Thirteen separate villages and settlements, in addition to the villages of Bradfield, were included in the civil parish named Bradfield.

The 1841 census shows Robert living at Booking Hill in Bradfield parish. He was a forgeman. Robert and Charlotte and their two sons had moved to Owlerton in Sheffield by 1850. Their daughter Alice was born in Owlerton in that year. All of the familiy’s homes were in the Owlerton and Hillsborough area of Sheffield from 1850 on. By 1850, Robert Greaves had changed his occupation and had become a butcher, although he held that occupation for no more than 4 years. He had been a forgeman until 1846 or later.

The cause of Robert Greaves’s death on his death certificate at the age of 32 was “consumption of the lungs”. This term at that time was used not only for tuberculosis but also for other serious and fatal damage to the lungs. The metalworking occupations were recognized to cause great damage to the health. For example, in Friedrich Engel’s “The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844”, it is stated that Sheffield deaths of metalworkers frequently occurred following symptoms of “Spitting blood, unusual loss of flesh, and all the usual symptoms of consumption of the lungs”. Later, “Forgemen in the British Iron Industry 1750-1850”, (C. Evans, 1999), confirmed that in that period “many iron forgemen died before the age of fifty”. Recently, the Sheffield Occupational Health Service included the following occupations in 1999 in the list of “Jobs with an increased risk of death from respiratory disease”: … “furnacemen, smiths, forgemen, furnace opperators.”

The 1851 census on 30 March 1851 lists Charlotte Greaves and her children living at 143 Penistone Rd., Owlerton. Her occupation is given as shopkeeper, and it is possible that she continued running the shop where her husband had been a butcher before his death. A lodger, Francis Coates, was living with them. In the 1861 census on 7 March 1861, they were living in Wisewood, in the Loxley valley just above Hillsborough. Wisewood had a water-powered forge and rolling mill, just like Little Matlock. Charlotte had married her lodger and they had a baby son, Fred Coates. (R‑1)

Children – Greaves

+2. Walter V. Greaves, b. 1843, m. Sarah Anne Marriott.

+3. William Greaves, b. 4 April 1846, m. Mary Marsden Helliwell, 2 Aug. 1871,

4. Alice Greaves, b. 1851.

GENERATION 2

CHILDREN OF ROBERT GREAVES (1) AND CHARLOTTE GREEN

Walter V. Greaves (2) was born about 1843 in Stannington, Bradfield, Yorkshire. He married Sarah Anne Marriott, daughter of Robert Marriott and Mary ‑‑‑‑‑‑. She was born about 1846 in Wooley or Wingfield or Brackenfield, Derbyshire (all 3 places were given in various censuses). They were in the 1871 census for Bradfield, Yorkshire, living with her father, a widower, agricultural labourer. They were in the 1881 and 1891 censuses for Wadsley, Ecclesfield, Yorkshire. Their last 3 children were still living with them in 1891. He was a scale forger in 1871, and a steel warehouseman in 1881 and 1891.

Children – Greaves

+5. Arthur V. Greaves, b.c. 1867, m. Ann ‑‑‑‑‑‑.

6. Alfred W. Greaves, b.c. 1869.

+7. Mary Ellen Greaves, b.c. 1871, m. William Crompton.

8. Walter R. Greaves, b.c. 1874.

9. Marriott F. Greaves, b.c. 1879.

William Greaves (3) was born 4 April 1846 in Little Matlock, Loxley, Bradfield, Yorkshire, and died in 1907 at the age of 60.

As background information on the name of Little Matlock, the explanation given in Sheffield documents is that the local entrepreneur and Unitarian minister Thomas Halliday became involved in 1799, and to attract tourists he called this part of Loxley “Little Matlock” after that attractive area in the Peak District.

He married Mary Marsden Helliwell on 2 Aug. 1871 at the Independent (Congregational) Chapel, Ecclesfield. On the marriage certificate his address was given as Hillsborough and her address was given as Owlerton. They already had a son, Luther, who was born illegitimately three years earlier.

Mary was born in 1849 in Greystones, Ecclesall, and died in 1908 at the age of 59. He mother was Sarah Helliwell who was born in 1821 and was living with her daughter and son-in-law in 1881. Mary’s father may have been George Helliwell, born in 1819, who is shown in the 1857 Sheffield trade directory as a licensed victualler (publican) of the Bridge Inn, Owlerton.

In the 1881 census, William and Mary were living in Hillsborough. He was a scale and spring forger. (R‑1)

Children – Greaves

+10. Luther H. Greaves, b.c. 1868, m. Kate ‑‑‑‑‑‑.

11. Annie Greaves, b.c. 1878.

12. Frank Greaves, b. 1880.

+13. Maurice Greaves, b. 4 March 1884, m. Sarah Jane Wood, 1907, d. 9 Dec. 1915.

14. Bena Greaves, b.c. 1886.

15. Allan Greaves, b.c. Dec. 1890.

GENERATION 3

CHILDREN OF WALTER V. GREAVES (2) AND SARAH A. MARRIOTT

Arthur V. Greaves (5) was born about 1867 in Stannington, Bradfield, Yorkshire. He married Ann ‑‑‑‑‑‑. She was born about 1864 in Clowne, Derbyshire. They were in the 1891 census for 2 Loxley New Rd., Wadsley, Ecclesfield, Yorkshire. He was a blacksmith.

Children – Greaves

16. Henry V. Greaves, b.c. 1890 (Wadsley, Yorkshire).

Mary Ellen Greaves (7) was born about 1871 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. She married William Crompton.. He was born about 1868 in London. They were in the 1901 census for Nether Hallam, Sheffield, Yorkshire, when he was a fruiterer and green grocer.

Children – Crompton

17. John Walker Crompton, b.c. 1896 (Sheffield, Yorkshire).

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM GREAVES (3) AND MARY M. HELLIWELL

Luther H. Greaves (10) was born about 1868 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He married Kate ‑‑‑‑‑‑. She was born about 1869 in Sheffield. They were in the 1891 census for Wadsley, Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, and he was a sheep shear maker. (R‑1)

Children – Greaves

18. Ruth Greaves, b.c. 1890.

19. Willis Greaves, b. 1891.

Maurice Greaves (13) was born 4 March 1884. He married Sarah Jane Wood. She was born in 1885. Maurice worked at Cammell Laird and Co., Ltd., then took part in the early part of the First World War, and died in the Gallipoli campaign on 9 Dec. 1915. (R‑1)

Children – Greaves

+20. Mary Greaves, b. 17 Aug. 1907, m. Hugh Hesketh Jackson.

GENERATION 4

CHILDREN OF MAURICE GREAVES (13) AND SARAH J. WOOD

Mary Greaves (20) was born 17 Aug. 1907. She married Hugh Hesketh Jackson. For many years she was a nurse at Middlewood Hospital, retiring in her late sixties. Hugh worked at Mappin and Webb and at Cooper Brothers, both cutlery firms. The family lived at 32 Bickerton Road, Hillsborough, in the 1930’s and 1940’s, where their children were born. (R‑1)

Children – Jackson

21. Keith Jackson

22. Anthony (“Tony”) Jackson

23. Brian Jackson

Return to Alphabetical Ancestor Listing

Return to Main Page