Frances Dickinson

We've recently returned from Italy, where we caught up with Zoe. It was lovely seeing her. We also had a great time exploring Italy. As far as I know, we don't have any Italian ancestors, but who knows...the Romans surely left some descendants in Britain. There were certainly Romans soldiers stationed in Lancashire, and they can't have spent all their time building roads. Walton le Dale was apparently a major Romano-British settlement.

Which brings me to the subject of this post, Frances Dickinson, who lived in Walton Le Dale with her first husband, Thomas Ward. Frances, the daughter of John and Margaret Dickinson (nee Ainsworth) was baptised at St Laurence church in Chorley in January 1780. A number of Dickinson and Dicconson families lived in the Chorley area (which includes Standish, Wrightington and Charnock Richard) at this time.

Interior of St Wilfrid's Parish Church, Standish
(courtesy of Alexander P Kapp)

Thomas and Frances were married on November 9, 1802 at St Wilfrid's parish church in Standish, the same church where John and Margaret were married. The church, built betweeen 1582 and 1584,  is noted for it's ornate Tudor ceiling (visible on the picture.)

On the parish register, Thomas was described as being "of the Parish of Bolton", but this doesn't necessarily mean that he was born there. It's interesting to note that Margaret Ainsworth was also said to be "of the Parish of Bolton when she married John Dickinson. Frances was "of this Parish", ie Chorley. She signed the register with an 'X'. Richard Dickinson, her brother, was a witness along with a Robert Ainscough.

Thomas and Frances' first son, John was baptised as St Laurence in Chorley in March 1803. At some stage the family moved to Walton Le Dale, where Margaret (1805), Esther (1807) and Richard (1809) were born.

Frances was only 33 when Thomas died in 1813 (cause unknown). How she managed alone with four children can only be guessed. In 1818, 5 years after Thomas' death, she gave birth to another child, Frances (also known as Fanny). In the parish register the officiating minister at her baptism records only Fanny Ward, widow, as the mother, with no father named.

In May 1829 Frances remarried, to William Tomlinson, a widower. The banns of marriage were read at St Mary's Eccleston (not far from Chorley), and both were said to be living at Wrightington, near Eccleston. Perhaps Frances had moved back to the Chorley area to be closer to her family. The marriage, on May 29, also took place at St Mary the Virgin, Eccleston. Robert Dickinson was one of the witnesses.

According to census records, William was born in Lancaster in about 1792, which makes him quite a bit younger than Frances. It seems likely that he is the same William Tomlinson who lived in Walton Le Dale for several years with his first wife, Ellen Porter. He was a labourer and later a weaver. They were married in Walton Le Dale in 1816 and their children John, Richard, Mary, Catherine and Ellen were all born there. Baby Ellen died a few days after her baptism in February 1828 and her mother Ellen died in August 1828. Note that if this is the same William who married Frances Ward, then he would have been already married when the younger Fanny was born in 1818. Was he her father? We'll probably never know.

After their marriage Frances and William moved to Salford. In the 1841 census they were living in Mason Street with Richard and Catherine Tomlinson and Esther and Fanny Ward. By 1851 all the children had moved on - Esther, still single, was living with Catherine Tomlinson in Butler St, Manchester, and Fanny seems to have married a George Hayes from Manchester and had three children of her own.

Possibly Frances Tomlinson's mother Margaret also lived with them for a short time. A Margaret Dickinson, aged 64, was buried at St Laurence, Chorley in December 1832. Her abode was said to be Manchester. However, since I don't know for sure when Margaret was born, this is just speculation.

Frances died at the age of 81 in Salford in 1861. This makes her one of the longest-lived of our ancestors prior to the last century. Her second marriage was also a long one, at over 30 years. William appears to have lived on until 1866. I'll describe what happened to Frances' other children in a later post.

A family friend?

While I was looking for photos of the 50th Queen's Own Regiment I came across this image in The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Gazette (copied with their permission). He's not quite family, but never mind. He served Her Majesty in all the same places as David Whybrew, so perhaps they knew each other.

'Pokeno'
Mascot of HM 50th 1863-76
Proudly wearing his New Zealand Medal

The text from the Gazette reads:
“POKENO” – Dog, HM 50th
This little lad was found in the deserted Maori village, after which he was named, in late 1863  – a starving pup found and adopted by Private John Pigg. He served throughout the Waikato Rebellion -charging with HM 50th in the engagement at Rangiawhia (22nd Feb 1864); and in the West Coast Campaign, being with the piquet of HM 50th when it repulsed a major Maori assault at Nukumaru (25thJan 1865).

He later served in Australia, England, and finally in Ireland, where at Kinsale, Dublin, on 20th Oct 1876, at the respectable age of 13, this gallant little veteran of the Maori Wars and faithful follower of HM 50th, passed away peacefully in the company of  his best friends. The Regimental Pioneers made his headstone, and his little grave, on the green in front of the new married quarters, was always well tended and often found adorned with flowers. The path running next to it down to the town was named “Pokeno Street” in his memory.

David Whybrew's military career - part 2

After the Whybrews left Adelaide (taking Eliza with them but leaving Harriet with Susan's family) they were initially stationed in Bristol. In 1871, at the time of the census, they had moved to the military base in Aldershot, in Hampshire. Susan and Eliza (listed as 'Emily' on the census) lived at Redan Gardens.

According to David's military records, they were in Colchester in 1872. Here David was re-vaccinated against smallpox, with the recorded comment "Result - perfect". Surprisingly, in 1874, at the age of 35, David contracted measles, but fortunately recovered within nine days. (I'm still trying to decipher the word written under "treatment" on this record - it would be interesting to know what was used).

A few months later the 50th regiment was moved to Dublin. Alice Whybrew was born in Ireland in September 1875. Life as an army wife must have been difficult for Susan. It seems from David's records and brief newspaper accounts at the time that the troops and their families were seldom in one place for long, being stationed in Birr in September 1875, Connagh in 1876 and another place (Kinsale?) in 1877.

From Ireland some of the regiment transferred in 1878 to Edinburgh in Scotland and then to Dundee, where they were involved in keeping the peace after an uprising of Catholics. It's unlikely that David was among them. Rose Whybrew was born in Canterbury, Kent, late in 1877, and it seems from his records that David transferred to the 3rd Battalion of the East Kent Militia in January 1878.

At the time of the 1881 census, David was a Permanent Staff Sergeant with the East Kent Militia, and was in the barracks on census day. Susan and four children,  Eliza, Alice, Rose and John (born late 1879 in Canterbury) were living in  Bulwark Lane, Dover (St Mary the Virgin), Kent. They appear in the census as "Wibram" - perhaps an indication that Susan never learned to write well.

In 1883, at the age of 44, David enlisted for another 5 year term with the East Kent Militia. He retired from the army after this, and became a labourer in Colchester. Ironically, he suffered his worst recorded injury at this time. According to the Essex Standard, March 14, 1891 -

 David Whybrew, aged 52, a labourer employed in the Royal Engineers' Department, and residing in Burlington Road, broke his ankle bone and the small bone of his foot. Whilst repairing the small water tower at the Barracks he missed his footing and fell to the ground, a distance of 14 feet. He was conveyed to the Hospital. 

This tallies with the 1891 census when he was listed as a patient in the Essex and Colchester hospital. He and Susan continued to add to their family, with Ellen (Nellie) born in Colchester in 1890 and Ada in 1895.

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You can find out more about David and Susan Whybrew and their family in my book Susan: convict's daughter, soldier's wife, nobody's fool.
It's available on Amazon and other online books stores