|
|
SHELVOCK / SHELVOKE / SHILVOCK ONE NAME STUDY |
|
|
|
SHELVOCK / SHELVOKE / SHILVOCK ONE NAME STUDY |
|
|
Shelvock
Location Origins
of the Family Name Where
& When? A
History of Shelvock Manor The
SHELVOKEs A
Brief History of Halesowen Demography
and Statistics Commonwealth
War Graves, Memorials Researchers
and Family Contacts Data
Bank SHILVOCK
One Name Study: "Most
Wanted"
SHELVOCK
- The Music |
How a English Family Name Almost Became ExtinctForeword: Other webpages on this Study website cover the occurrence of the SHELVOCK family name in more detail. Apart from some SHILVOCKs who occasionally used the name SHELVOCK, and those who left England as SHILVOCK and as a result of US immigration processes founded a whole new branch of US-based SHELVOCKs, this story applies to those families still in Shropshire in the C19th and those who can directly trace their heritage back to Shropshire from present-day Canada, Australia, Wales & other parts of the UK. This is mainly the story of John SHELVOCK & Susannah DAVIES whose destiny was to find each other, and through their resultant family unknowingly helped to preserve a family name that was close to extinction in the UK. Based on available records, the Shropshire SHELVOCKs seemed in decline through the centuries up to the C19th. The records from the start of General Registration still see the family name hanging on in that county and the area immediately adjacent in Staffordshire. Earlier records suggest a small cluster of apparently related family groups, especially in the Oswestry Hundred, which included the traditional family area between Oswestry and Shrewsbury towns. These families, except that of John & Susannah SHELVOCK, became extinct as the C19th progressed, so that all C20th records, with one exception, can be traced back to the family of John & Susannah. This exception may be a SHELVOKE or a SHILVOCK, but is yet to be confirmed.
Research so far has identified two possible brothers born in the 1790's to unidentified parents. Candidates for parents who may have been married by 1794 are sought, unless a common-law marriage. These may be James SHELVOCK & Sarah LLOYD of Kinnerley. The "younger brother", James SHELVICK or SHELVOCK, a Labourer, was born about 1795 and probably died in Oswestry aged 83 in 1878. He married Mary FURBUR in 1818 at Whittington, near Oswestry. There were at least 7 children from the marriage, but only two boys: John SHELVOCK (c1818), Maria SHELVOCK (c1818), James SHELVOCK, Sarah SHELVOCK & Jane SHELVOCK (in the period around 1830), Mary SHELVOCK (c1835) & Ann SHELVOCK (c1837). No further records have been found for John & Maria. James, the son, a Farmer's Servant, died of Encephalitis in 1855 aged 24; he was unmarried. Sarah died aged 19 of Consumption. In 1850, Jane SHELVOCK married Thomas FURBUR, possibly a cousin. (The FURBUR family including 3 children were still in Whittington in 1861). Mary died aged 4 months and Ann died aged 8 months. Without known issue from John, this line apparently became extinct. What possibly links the above family with the family and descendants of John & Susannah is that a child of Jane SHELVOCK, then FURBUR, named John, was born in 1860 and appears to have been adopted by John & Susannah as a SHELVOCK. Why this is occurred is unclear as Jane was still married to Thomas FURBUR as evidenced in 1861. No other Jane is known and a birth record for John (as a son of John & Susannah seems lacking). There are family stories of a hunchback named John, and perhaps John & Susannah were better placed to look after him? It is unclear why no father was mentioned. It seemed that John & Susannah were suffering from the SHELVOCK genetic propensity for girls and premature deaths of boys as they had six girls and no boys by that time. Perhaps it was a family gesture through adoption to provide a male heir for that side of the family, or there's an important piece of the puzzle missing? The "older brother", John SHELVOCK, a pumpmaker, was born about 1794 at Asbaston/Osbaston. He died aged 61 at Llanymynech in 1855. In 1826 he married Sarah BAGLEY (sometimes recorded as Mary) at Prees; they had at least 6 children, but again only two boys - John SHELVOCK (c1827), Martha SHELVOCK (c1828), Thomas SHELVOCK (c1830), Elizabeth SHELVOCK (1832), Sarah SHELVOCK (c1838) & Ann SHELVOCK (c1843). Sarah, the wife, died in 1847 as a result of labour (no child recorded). Of the girls, no history has been found for Martha & Elizabeth. Sarah, the daughter, died in 1847 around the same time as her mother, and Ann was found as an unmarried servant in London in 1881. Thomas died of a diseased shoulder and infection at the age of 14, leaving John SHELVOCK as the sole heir to carry on the line. It is assumed John is the one who married Susanah DAVIES and provided the family that is well recorded in documents. The story leading up to this point remains open to interpretation. John SHELVOCK, the apparent sole survivor of his generation with the SHELVOCK family name, married Susannah DAVIES at Llanmynech in March 1852. There were no family witnesses, although one, a John CLEMSON, may have been related to the Mary CLEMSON who witnessed the marriage of Jane SHELVOCK & Thomas FURBUR at Oswestry in 1850. We can only speculate how they met, but Susannah was a daughter of Labourer John DAVIES, and this is perhaps how the young John SHELVOCK, also a Labourer, met his future partner. Susannah was heavily pregnant with their first child, Elizabeth, at the time of marriage. The girl was born a few months later (Llanfyllin RD), but did not survive the year. Shortly after New Year 1853 Susannah became pregnant with their second child, Sarah, who was born in September of that year, also at Llanfyllin RD. At the time of the baby's registration John was working as an Ostler (with horses) and Susannah was working as a help at a Toll Gate at the village of Llansaintffraid-ym-Mechain on the Welsh borders. In April 1855 their third daughter, also named Elizabeth, was born at the farm of Llwyntidmon near Llanmynech. John was registered as a husbandman, no doubt working on the farm. Susannah had, by this time, become a full-time mother (no occupation) but no doubt helped at the farm. By 1856 John had taken up a completely new occupation, retail brewing, and
the family were to be found in the village of Blakenhall, part of south
Wolverhampton. In August of that year twin girls Martha Jane & Mary Ann were
born. Mary Ann did not survive. In 1858 a son, John, was born in Green Lane,
Wolverhampton, but died shortly afterwards. After the brief venture into brewing another change of
direction occurred by 1868. The family were to be found in the hamlet of
Brockton near Worthen, where they settled for the next couple of decades. John
established his long term career in the local lead mines, a feature of the hills
overlooking the Severn flood plain in that part of the county. Mining in John & Susannah continued to be a productive pairing producing many more children. Susannah was also made of stern stuff as she survived until 1904, not only taking care of her own brood, but also the many illegitimate children of her daughters too. Pregnancy seemed to be an everyday part of the SHELVOCK household, although the environment seemed to take it's toll on the newborns with many premature deaths. Mining communities worldwide are notorious for their lawlessness and "work hard - play hard" mentality, and it seems the SHELVOCK girls were well caught up in it, either by accident or by design. What is clear is that the girls pregnancies were handled within the family, and seemed to be an accepted part of everyday life in Brocton. [Social & Historical Note: Until the law was changed in 1885 raising it to 16 years, the age of consent in England was only 13 years. Due to conditions of the times it is unlikely that puberty started as early as it does today. Modern medical opinion is that underweight children would have puberty delayed, with the figure of 7.5 stones given as a minimum weight for puberty in girls. There is no evidence of the SHELVOCK girls conceiving before their 19th/20th year. By the time of 1881 census the Registrar-General noted that one in three girls aged 15-20 were domestic servants. Such girls were subject to both welcome and unwelcome attentions of males in households in which they served. It was also noted in the middle of the C19th that those young people working hardest in the mines, etc. often had the onset of puberty delayed until their 17th or 18th year. In certain trades a quarter of working girls had illegitimate children by the age of 20. Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861) was recommending wages for domestic servants between £7 10s & £11 per year. This had increased to £16 in the 1888 edition. Servants in poorer rural areas would receive less. Men earning more than £500 per year were reckoned as being able to afford three servants. (The English - A Social History 1066-1945, by Christopher Hibbert) ] The couples seventh child, also a daughter, Susannah was born in 1859. With four surviving daughters and two deceased, they must have wondered whether they were ever going to have a boy, which maybe where the apparently adopted nephew John (s/o Jane SHELVOCK/FURBUR, described above) came in. For unknown reasons there was a gap of 6 years before the couple's next child. However, their first son, Jonathan SHELVOCK, born in November 1866, must have been a cause for celebration. Within the next four years the couple had Charles SHELVOCK (1868), then William (1870, who died after a few months). The remaining children were Margaret Jane (1872), Alfred (1873, also died after a few months) and finally Catherine Ann (1876), confirming the tendency for many healthy daughters and boys who died prematurely. So far, all that is known about Jonathan SHELVOCK is that he married 38 year-old widow Mary E. KING formerly ROTHLY in 1910 Merriton, Ontario. Charles SHELVOCK, who married Sarah VAUGHAN, became the sole head of the modern Shropshire family as a result. By the time of Susannah's last child in 1876, three illegitimate children had been born to her daughters. Sarah had daughters Elizabeth (1874) and Ruth (1875), but both died young. Elizabeth had Henry SHELVOCK (1875), who became the head of the modern Canadian family. Sarah, who remained at Brocton, went on to have two more illegitimate children, Alfred William (1880) & Mabel (1882), none of whom survived more than a few weeks. She then married Henry ROWE in 1883 and went on to have more children who survived. Elizabeth, who was a Domestic Servant in Brocton, had a daughter Edith Ethel in 1879 (who married in 1904), who was also raised by her grandmother. Daughter Susannah, who in 1881 was a Cook & Dairy Maid for farmer William SMITH in Baschurch village, had Annie in 1885 (Susannah later married MULLINEX/MOLYNEAUX). Margaret (who married DELVES) had Rose Ellen in 1893 (who married HARRIS in 1927). Both these granddaughters were also raised by Susannah. Of all the daughters of the couple, only Martha Jane (who married PERRY) and Catherine (who married PERKINS) reached their marriage without apparently having borne pre-nuptial children. Brocton family summary:
The modern Thorold families:
Shortly after the death of John SHELVOCK senior in 1908, Henry & Sarah ROWE, and their four children travelled to Canada to join Henry SHELVOCK who had settled there in 1898. They had planned to homestead together, but later land became available in Alberta. Canadian family summary:
According to family stories "adopted John" may have gone to Canada for a time, joining the other family members, but then returned. It appears John SHELVOCK, then an Agricultural Labourer, married Susan PALMER in 1887 and had five children. John SHELVOCK (c1887), Gladys SHELVOCK (1888), Albert SHELVOCK (1889), Sarah SHELVOCK (1890-1) & George SHELVOCK (1894). John SHELVOCK was born around the time of their marriage, perhaps before, and is believed to have had a family in the C20th, but this has not been confirmed. John SHELVOCK remarried in Pontypridd, South Wales, in 1903 to Phoebe MAY & perhaps married again in 1918 (possibly the son John?). Gladys married there in 1911, as did Albert in 1914. Albert seemed to have the SHELVOCK genetic propensity for girls and had three: Phyllis Margaret (1917, married JAYNES), Joan C (1923, married DAVIES) and Joyce Winifred (1925), all at Pontypridd. Sarah & George were born at the Lunatic Asylum at Brocton, where their mother was suffering from "milk fever". George SHELVOCK remained in the Shrewsbury area, married in 1920 and had one daughter Martha (1921), seemingly to ensure that this line also died out. South Wales family summary:
The survival of the modern family, through Charles SHELVOCK & Sarah VAUGHAN, benefited from the rare occurrence of four boys in the first five children, all of whom survived to provide offspring of their own. The remainder of the eleven were girls! After three children, their son Charles Baden SHELVOCK (1902) abandoned his family in England and went to Australia where he settled. His second marriage there founded today's small Australian SHELVOCK family and both a park and street in Koondoola (North of Perth) carry his name. William SHELVOCK also went to Canada, while the remainder of the family remained in the C20th Shrewsbury area. Shrewsbury family summary:
Back to the ONS Home Page / Browse Next Page
|
|||||||||
|
Still stuck? Try the FAQ !
|
||||||||||
