Home 06 May-2019 issue
Wither-Lancashire - 1
The pieces of the story so far:
Richard and Susanna Withers had 5 children
namely Henry (born 1781), Maria (born 1784), Richard (born c. 1790), James and
Samuel.
Richard lived in Wexford, Ireland earlier in his life and was previously known
as Baker. He changed his name at some point prior to the birth of his 5
children for reasons not yet established.
Of the children, Henry was born in Dublin and
baptised at Eustace Street Presbyterian Church, Dublin in 1781.
Maria was born in 1784 at Rathfarnham, Co
Dublin, Ireland where her father Richard was serving as an army officer.
Richard died before 1798 and in 1798 his brother, Maria's uncle, Thomas Baker,
died leaving legacies to each of Richards 5 children. A brief summary of Maria's
life is as follows:
Maria Withers born 1784 Dublin
26 June 1798 Maria Withers married James Thomson in London (license). and again
on 9 July 1798 (banns) both in Old Church, St Pancras. Aged 14.
5 Feb 1826 Maria Thomson Married her second husband Matthias Thomas O'Hara at St
James Parish Church, Bristol. Aged 42.
1841 Census, Bristol, Duke Street. Mathias(48) listed as a Surgeon and Maria
O'Hara (47) (should be 57) his wife living here.
(note listed on the same census page for Duke street is Jane Withers(35)
1851 Census, Bristol, 12 Duke Street. Matthias (57) listed as non practising
surgeon and Maria O'Hara (58) (should be 67) his wife
Maria died December 1854 in Bristol aged 70
In the 1850s Duke Street became the modern Dove Street South.
There is a problem with accuracy of Maria's ages. the 1841 and 1851 Census
entries do not match the ages in the earlier records.
See here for further
important details on Maria.
Henry died in 1806 aged only about 24 years. He was known to be lodging in Bristol in 1802 for about a year and a half. He served in the marine service of King George the Third and was at sea between when he left his Bristol lodging until a few months prior to his death. He died in Tottenham Court Road, London around December 1806.
Samuel Withers Married Elizabeth Symons in St. Johns Parish church, Bedminster on 31 May 1802 and in 1804 Samuel Hicks Withers was born and baptised in St. Augustine-the-less in Bristol on 24th September 1804.
John and Jane Withers nee Reed were married on 23 December 1797 in St Johns Parish church, Bedminster and both witnessed Samuel and Elizabeths marriage. John Withers relationship to Samuel is not yet established. On 5 May 1799 John and Jane Christened their son James Hicks Withers in Bristol.
The first use of the family name Hicks so far
discovered was in 1799
with John and Jane's son James
and as there is also a local family called Hicks
in Bedminster at this time there may be
some link with the Hicks family.
In
the Census
of 1811 Samuel Withers and his wife Elizabeth were living in Lower College
Street, Bristol. The Census, responded to by Elizabeth, reveals 2 trades
people, 1 Otherwise (not a trades person), 3 males and 2 females. This Census
is from the Parish of St. Augustine-the-less in the centre of Bristol.
Samuel Hicks Withers grew up and worked in Bristol as a veterinary surgeon. On 26 June 1826 he married Martha Howell Lancashire in St James Bath.
Elizabeth Hicks
Withers was born on the 21st August 1827. She was Christened in St.
Augustine-the-less on 28th October 1827.
Hicks Withers was born in 1828 at Ham Green.
Martha Lancashire Withers was born
on June1830
and baptised on
26 June 1830.
Samuel Withers who was born in 1832.
(referred to from here on as Samuel Jnr)
Robert Withers was born
on 10 March 1834 and baptised on 1 April 1834 at St
Augustine the less. Robert lived until the age of 8
but died in June 1842 and was also buried at St Augustine the less.
Richard Withers was born and
baptised on 18 September 1835 again at St Augustine the less. Sadly Richard only
lived for 3 months and died
in December and was buried at St Augustine the less on 24 December 1835.
Within 2 months Martha Howell Withers
died aged 31 and was also buried at St
Augustine the less on 19 February 1836.
Of the children from Martha who survived Samuel jnr is the one we know least about. He is mentioned below in the 1841 Census for his father. In the 1851 Census he is a border at 12 Montague Road in Bristol aged 19 with an occupation of Veterinary Surgeon assistant. On Monday Oct 15 1855, at St John's, Paddington, Samuel Jnr married Frances Winkworth 2nd daughter of Thomas Winkworth of Sussex Place Islington. (reported in the Bristol Mercury on Saturday October 20th 1855). The marriage entry for Samuel Jnr indicates that he was working as a jobmaster in London possibly in the Withers company in London. Samuel Jnr was living in Berkeley Street at the time of his marriage.
Samuel Hicks married
his second wife
Jane Clavel Dean on 8th December 1836 in St James Priory Church,
Bristol. At the time of this marriage Samuel was living near Brandon Hill
in Bristol in the Parish of St. George. By 2003 this area became a Nature Park
near the centre of Bristol.
Samuel Hicks had a further 9 children by Jane.
Mary Jane b.1838 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 27 July
1838.
Frances was born 24 Sept 1839 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 21
October 1839.
Henry born 21 Nov 1840 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 19 Dec 1840.
James born June 1843
and baptised at St Augustine the less on 16 June 1843
William born Jan 1845 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 30 January 1845
Susanna Maria b.1846 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 6 July 1846.
Alfred b.1848 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 18 February 1848.
Edith b.1849 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 4 December 1849.
Lucy b.1850 and baptised at St Augustine the less on 16 December 1850.
In the 1841 Census Samuel Hicks aged 35 was living at Lime Kiln Lane in the parish of St Augustine the Less, Bristol together with his wife Jane Clavel (30) Elizabeth Hicks (13) Hicks (12) Martha (10) Samuel (9) Mary Jane (3) Frances (2) Henry (1). Samuel is listed as a Veterinary Surgeon.
In the
1851
census Samuel
Hicks was living at 30 Park street
Bristol together with his wife Jane and 7 children, Hicks already having
left home. The seven children were in age order eldest first Elizabeth Hicks
aged 23, Mary Jane aged 12, Frances aged 11, Susanna aged 4, Alfred
aged 3, Edith
aged 1 and Lucy aged 3 months. There was another son, Henry (b. 1840) who was
not present at the house at the time of the census. Samuel
is listed as a Veterinary Surgeon and Elizabeth is listed as a Governess whilst
Mary, Frances and Susanna are listed as home tutored. There is no record found
yet of where Martha (aged 21) was at the time of the Census. Two versions are
given for this census. the
first is a copy of the hand written record held at
the local Bristol archives. The
second is a more legible printed version from
LDS FamilySearch.
Between 1851 and 1857 Samuel Hicks and his family moved from Bristol
to Marylebone, London and set up a Job Master business in Marylebone.
Further information about this business can be found
HERE
O
On 17th June 1857 Martha Lancashire Withers married William James Surman (a Lieutenant of the 27th Foot) in St Mary Church, Bryanston Street. Martha is listed as a resident at 24 Bryanston Street.
In the 1861 Census Samuel (57) is listed as a Veterinary Surgeon and a Job Master residing at 24 Bryanston Street, Marylebone together with his wife Jane Clavel (52), Mary Jane (22), Henry (20), Susanna (16), Alfred (13), Edith (11)and Lucy (10). Henry is also listed as a Veterinary Surgeon. Two servants also reside with them. Bryanston Street has now changed beyond recognition from the mid 1800's.
On February 17th 1870 Samuel Hicks arranged the
marriages of both his
Daughters Susanna Maria and Lucy at
St Mary Church Willesden on the same day in
consecutive weddings as indicated on the marriage entries. Susanna married
Edward Ross Wharton, a Fellow of Jesus College Oxford. Edward Wharton came from
Willesden, London And provides a link to future events in Willesden for the family.
Lucy Married Walter Stennett Pritchard a solicitor from Marylebone.
At the time of the 1871 Census Susanna Maria Wharton (nee Withers) was staying with her Eldest Sister Elizabeth Hicks Peck (nee Withers) in Westbury on Trym, Bristol.
The 1871 Census shows Samuel Hicks Withers (66) living at 24 Bryanston Street in Marylebone with his wife Jane Clavell (61), Henry (30), Edith (21).
The 1873 Electoral register has 2 entries for Samuel Hicks Withers one is for the family address at 24 Bryanston Street, Marylebone and the other is for 119 Mount Street, Marylebone where his Job Master business was carried out. As at 2017 the building is listed. Shop fronts still exist on the ground floor and residences on the upper floors.
The 1881 census reveals the following information:
1. Samuel Hicks Withers was 76 years old and registered as staying at 20 White Rock Place in Hastings together with his daughter Edith then aged 32 and his granddaughter Ida S. Pritchard aged 7 together with 4 servants. White Rock Place was adjacent to the East Sussex Infirmary however neither White Rock Place not the Infirmary exist today.
2. The son Alfred (31), was living at 16 Old
Quebec Street
Marylebone and working in the family Jobmaster firm as a Job Master Veterinary
Surgeon. His family also in residence at the time of the census were his wife
Frederica from Canada (27), Alfred Ross (2), Gordon Stennett (2) and Herbert W
(1). Also in residence were a cook a housemaid and a nurse. (Old Quebec Street
is off Bryanston Street.) Although Old Quebec Street still exists and there are
some old buildings still there, at 2017 there are no longer any residencies
accessible from this road.
3. Also
living in Marylebone but at 47 Upper
Berkley Street was another son Henry aged 40, veterinary surgeon, together with
his wife Edith (aged 30), his daughter Helen E. aged 9, and his mother, Jane Clavel aged 71.
(Upper Berkley Street is 2 roads north of Bryanston Street) At
the time of the Census Susanna Maria was staying with her brother Henry while
her husband Edward Wharton was acting as Tutor to Helen.
Samuel Hicks Withers died at Willesden Green Farm on 16th September 1884. His estate was valued at £72,754 which is not far short of £2M in 2017 pounds.
The 1891 Census shows Alfred living at "Kingsgate" on Shoot Up Hill (which is now part of the main A5 Edgeware Road) together with his wife Frederica (37), Alfred Ross (12), Gordon Stennett (12), Herbert W (11), Clavel H (6), Julia (4), St Claire (3). A niece from Detroit USA, Frances M Rothwell aged 19, is also living with them.
Alfred died in 1912 and further information on Alfred and his family can be found here
Samuel's Hicks Wither's eldest child Elizabeth Hicks died 28th May 1909 and is buried at St Dubricious Church, Porlock Somerset. A brief history of her family is available here .
In 1844 Hicks Withers took out an Apprenticeship
with his Father and Mother to learn the trade of a Veterinary Surgeon.
Hicks training is very likely to have taken place at the Royal
Veterinary College in Camden Town. In the
1851 Census
Hicks is boarding at 19 Hamilton Street, Camden Town. A short distance from
Royal College Street where the Royal Veterinary College was located. Hamilton
Street no longer exists. During the period 1929-1945 its name was
changed to Greenland Road.
Hicks graduated as a veterinary
surgeon in London in April, 1851 and Subsequently moved back to Bristol.
Later that year aged 23 Hicks married 19 year old Mary Jane Surman on 9th December 1851 in St. Mary, Redcliffe ( Bristols most famous medieval parish church ). No record has been found of any children from this marriage. He joined the Army in March, 1854, initially being posted to Bulgaria and then onto the Crimea with the Light Division where he was injured by shrapnel. After the Crimea he was briefly posted to China and then onto India during the Indian Mutiny. Hicks was invalided from India with abscess of the liver. Upon returning to England he joined the 10th Hussars Regiment ( his father-in-law was a Lieutenant in the 15th Hussars) and stayed in service until 1869 when he retired on health grounds aged 41. An account of Hicks army career can be obtained from the obituary.
Between the ages of 41 and 50 Hicks movements are at the moment sketchy. A memory from Tina, Reginald Hicks youngest child, was that Ham Green Estate was used for the breeding/training of Polo ponies by her grandfather. This is a very plausible occupation for Hicks since it was the 10th Hussars which were responsible in 1869 for introducing Polo to England (from India). The first official Polo match was held on Hounslow Heath in 1869. The year is significant because it is the very year that Hicks was retired from the army. As an Army vet with the 10th Hussars he would not only have been responsible for the health of the military horses but also the regimental Polo ponies. Ham Green was where Hicks was born.
In the 1881 census Hicks is residing with his wife Emily and first child Ethel at 177 Carlton Road, Willesden. His occupation is listed as none. Interestingly in this census he is calling himself Wilkinson and according to his marriage certificate this is 10 years before he got married to his second wife. The date on the marriage certificate implies that the only child born after he married Emily was Reginald but they all do have Emily listed as their mother. Carlton Road no longer exists having been renamed in the period 1929-1945 to Grafton Road NW5.
It is not yet known what happened to his first
wife or when he met his second
wife, the lady called Emily Maria Susannah De Clifford Thornton, but he married
her in 1891 in the Strand, London, when his status was recorded as
widower. At the time of their marriage Emily aged 36, was living at 16 Tavistock Square whilst Hicks,
giving his age as 58, was resident at the Constitutional Club
in Northumberland Avenue. By the time his third daughter Mona was born in 1886
Hicks and Emily were living in Felpham just east of Bognor Regis. A letter
written by Hicks on 4th January 1886 reveals that he claims to have taken the
name Lancashire from his mother for family reasons and appended it to Withers.
Hicks and Emily are known to have still been in
Felpham when Gerald
was born in 1888 but at some point after that he moved to Stockbridge where he
became Lord of the Manor. In the
1891 census Hicks was in residence in Manor Cottage
in Stockbridge where his youngest child
Reginald Hicks was
born in 1892. Hicks wife Emily is referred to in birth certificates as Lancashire
not Withers-Lancashire. Six children are known from Hicks and Emily and they
are Ethel (b.1880)(family nickname Dizzy), Herbert (b.1882)(family
nickname Jum),
Cicely
(b.1884)(family nickname Baddie), Mona (b.1886)(family
nickname Toni),
Gerald (b.1888) and Reginald
Hicks (b.1892).
During 1894 and 1895 he became involved in litigation concerning the
use of the common land attached to the Lord of the Manor estate and as a result
of losing this he became bankrupted. He is listed in Kelly's directory for
Hampshire as living in the much smaller premises of "The Nook" in
1898 and a few years later he left Stockbridge altogether. It has yet to be
established the exact circumstances surrounding his departure from Stockbridge.
The Family story handed down by word of mouth is that he lost most of his money
on gambling. All that has been established at present is that after becoming
impoverished by litigation he pawned the entire manor estate which would
suggest that he had the intention of reclaiming the estate at some future date.
In the event he failed to reclaim the estate and a significant amount of money
was lost.
In the
1901 census Hicks is living in Winchester Road,
Stockbridge with his
wife and children.
After leaving Stockbridge he and his family
moved to Worthing, or to be precise Goring-by-Sea. The exact site of the house
has been identified on the corner of George V Avenue and West Parade but is no
longer standing, having been replaced by a block of flats. Hicks (
by now calling himself Withers-Lancashire) spent his final years living at
"Ingledene", 10 Teville Road, Worthing where a number of letters and
articles were written to the Bristol Times and Mirror on his recollections of
the charge of the Light Brigade. (see Hicks obituary on the photo gallery page )
Hicks died on 31st January 1909.
His Wife Emily Maria
died on 23rd Nov 1935 in Charing Cross Hospital. At the
time she was living at 165 The Broadway, Cricklewood.
Herbert(Jum) emigrated to South Africa.
Follow Gerald's descendents here
Reginald Hicks moved to London to work in a (Withers) relatives garage. The site of this garage is close to Bryanston Street, one of the family homes in the 1870's. Whilst living at 23 Elm Grove Cricklewood he met Ada Goode who was living in the next road at 9 Ash Grove and married her in 1912 at Hendon Registry office. From my memory of him Reginald Hicks rarely used the name Reginald, within the family at least he was known as Hicks. It was the name Ada called him by.
Hicks and Ada had eight children who grew to adulthood: Marjorie, Reginald, Enid, Arthur Peter, Joan, Gordon, Moreen, and Tina. Between Moreen and Tina there were still born twins.
In 1913 the first of his children, Marjorie, was born, followed by Reginald Hicks (jnr) in 1914. Both of them were born whilst living in Willesden at 29 St Julians Road. On 11th July 1915 Ada Enid was born. At this time Hicks and Ada were living at No.4 Lodge, Totteridge Park ,Totteridge, Barnet. Between 1915 and 1918 Hicks moved jobs and houses because by the time Arthur Peter was born on 3rd April 1917 they were living in Roehampton at Alton Lodge where Reginald worked in the garage as a motor mechanic. Dorothy Joan was born on 5th August 1918 when Hicks and Ada were living at 61 Chryssell Road, North Brixton. It was around this time that Hicks started work as an aero engineer at Croydon Airport. After the Great war Hicks worked at Dees garage in Croydon and lived in their first house in Norbury at 33 Norton Gardens where Gordon was born in 1921. In 1923, Moreen was born, also at 33 Norton Gardens. Tina is recorded as having been born in 1929 at 35 Norton Gardens. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War Hicks and Ada moved to 16 Elgar Avenue, Norbury where they lived for the rest of their lives. Reginald Hicks (Snr) died in December 1974 aged 82. Ada died in 1983 aged 91.
More detail is known about the children of Reginald Hicks and Ada and this is provided on a separate page for each of the children and their families.
Marjorie page
Reginald page
Enid page
Joan page
Gordon page
Moreen page
Tina Page
During one fateful day in the Second World War the three
sisters of Reginald Hicks, Ethel, Cicely and Mona were in
Torquay when
a German bomb landed in Tor Hill Road on 4 September 1942 killing Cicely and Mona. Ethel survived the
incident.
Ethel inherited from Cicely and Mona and
later her Mother.
Interestingly most of the
Reginald Hicks children benefited
from private education, however Hicks was not that well off so it suggests that
there was a benefactor supporting the childrens education. We know that Ethel(Dizzie) was very fond of her
"baby" brother and may well have contributed financially to his childrens education.
Ethel died
on 11 May 1978
aged 97 in Billingshurst, where Beryl lived.
Reginald Hicks brother Gerald stayed in Hendon where his son Leonard Hicks and daughter Beryl (b.1914) were born. Gerald died in Cricklewood aged 30 on 29 October 1918.
Coming back to Samuels other son Alfred who
was born in 1848 (20 years after Hicks), the 1901 census reveals him
living at 11 Abbey Road (the road made famous by the Beatles) aged 53 and
working as a Veterinary Surgeon and Jobmaster (presumed in the family firm ).
Also living with him at No.11 are his wife,
Frederica, aged 50 and from Canada, Gordon, aged 22, single and working as a Jobmaster
(again presumed to be in the family firm), and Herbert, aged 21 single and
a musician.
Herbert later married Stephanie Elgy and on 29
October 1913 Rupert
Alfred Withers was born at 51 Carlton
Hill, Marylebone.
In the 1901 census, Henry Withers is 60 years old and still listed as a Veterinary surgeon, married and resident as visitor at 4 Carlton Hill, Marylebone. His wife is not listed with him in the 1901 census.
investigations ongoing:
Search for info on Samuel Withers parents
filling in details from 20th century.
Work has resumed on this history. Corrections and amendments and additions have
been made to this page. Updates and a change of
format are being made to the family tree. Further family information is being
sought especially from 1700's.
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