Ancestors of Winster :The family of George Samuel Lowe 1854-1898

From the early pages of this book where I was struggling to find enough information to fill a double page, Im now at the point where a double page really can only just barely scratch the surface of the stories regarding the people involved.
I will likely add some "story" type pages into this book to cover certain aspects more fully, although by the end of this generation the ties to Winster are almost at an end. - it seems a pity to end the book without adding the generations to come though so I will continue for one more generation - doing a page for my Great Grandparents John Lowe and Susan Wheatcroft.

I need to backtrack and do a page on Lydia Hawley who was George Samuel Lowe's mother. She was born in Winster and it appears her family had lived there for generations. I havent done much research on the family to date, so I hope I can get at least one page on the Hawleys done before I need to get this book published.

George Samuel Lowe came from a very small family, unusual in the mid 19th century. He was the second son of George Lowe of Ashover and Lydia Hawley of Winster.  The family lived in Wensley, which is only just over a mile from Wisther. Like many others in the area, George was  Lead Miner.
George married Mary Jane Boam, daughter of Thomas Boam of Winster ion 21st March 1875. Thomas and George Lowe sr were both Lead Miners, so this is likely how the George and Mary Jane met. From the 1871 census it seems that George Samuel  did not follow in his fathers footsteps. As a 16 year old he is listed as an Agricultural Labourer. George and Mary Jane married at St John the Baptist church in Winster in March 1875, and it appears at some point the family did live in Winster as first daughter Lydia Eliza was born there and baptised there just two months after her parents marriage . I have been unable to find baptism records for Elizabeth and Mary Ellen, who born in the same year could have been twins. George Thomas and William seem to have been born in the Wensley area, but by 1881, the family had moved to Cheshire, and George Samuel had joined the Railway. The 1881 census has them living at Smithy Green, Bredbury Cheshire. George Samuel is a Railway Guard. This is where the next few children are born, but by the time Samuel Edwin is born in 1887, the family are back in Derbyshire. and in the 1891 census they are living in Little Rowsley, a village which had a large population of Railway workers.
The family made the move to Derby city before 1895 as Herbert is born there. 29 Drage Street would remain the family home for many years.
Sadly George Samuel died young, aged just 54 in 1898 and Mary Jane was left to bring up her family alone, though by this time her eldest daughters were adults. By 1901 Henry, Elizabeth, John and Samuel Edwin were all working helping to support the family. Eldest daughter Lydia and her husband lived just 3 minutes walk away in Chester Green Road , and Mary Ellen also lived 3 minutes walk away in Mansfield Road. Mary Jane had already lost several children in their childhood- and tragedy would strike the family though during World War 1. 3 sons would serve their country- Henry, John and Herbert. Unfortunately neither Herbert nor Henry would return, Herbert being killed at Gallipoli on August 21st 1915 and Henry being killed on the first day of battle at the Somme in 1916.
It is  understood  that John was present when Herbert died  and narrowly escaped death himself. Mary Jane, mother of 12 children, of whom 6 pre deceased her, still had at least  23 grandchildren by the time of her death in 1919. All lived in close proximity to the family home at Drage Street

Ancestors of Winster : The family of Thomas Boam 1829-1898

Heres another page for the Winster Book

Thomas Boam was the second son of  Thomas Boam . Like his father before him he was a Lead Miner. Lead mining had declined significantly by the mid 19th century, however in the area around Wnster there were still productive mines, including that of Mill Close which didnt close until 1939.
Our first record of Thomas comes in the 1841 census where he is living with his widowed father of the same name and his siblings Martha and John.  Thomas’ mother Ellen had died in childbirth when he was just 6 years old. The family lived next door to Ellen’s brother Thomas Fryer, and his wife and family. Its probable the Fryers gave Thomas’s father assistance in rasing his children, as unusually, he did not remarry until well after his children were grown.
Thomas married Mary Wilson, on Feb 12 1849 at St John the Baptist church in Winster, however for reasons unknown at he time of the 1851 census she was living with her parents outside of Winster and Thomas is living alone, though still in Woolleys Yard, the street he had been born in, and the street his father still lived in.
Why both Thomas’ first 2 children are born in 1852 and 1844 in the Manchester area of Lancashire  is a mystery, however other members of the Boam family had lived in Lancashire at one time or another . All the remaining children though, were born in Winster, and the family are residents of Woolleys Yard for decades afterward , according to census records, right next door to his father Thomas who by 1861 had remarried the younger sister of Thomas’s own wife Mary making a very confusing family connectionwhere Thomas was not only son, but brother-in-law to his father!!
Thomas only had 2 sons,George, and Benjamin,but tragically Benjamin was to die young, in an accident at Mill Close Mine.
A George Boam (possibly Benjamins brother), was the first to venture in to recover the bodies.
Records show Thomas is still living in Woolleys yard in 1871, 1881 and 1891.
His wife Mary died in 1884. Of his 8 children  6 lived to adulthood, and as mentioned youngest son Benjamin died aged 23. Of the two youngest daughters, Lucy died within a month of birth and is baptised just a week before her death, and Harriet died aged 2 years.
Elizabeth is still living in 1871 at the time of the census , and in 1881 appears to be working as a servant for the Bates family in the Edinburgh Hotel in Salford, Lancashire. She married Richard Tatlock but died without issue.
His surviving 4 children though provided him with at least 37 grandchildren. In 1891 Thomas has grandson George Heathcote, 9 year old son of Eliza Boam staying with him in Woolleys Yard.
Thomas died in 1898, 14 years after the death of his wife Mary. He is buried in St John the Baptist churchyard with Mary, and their youngest daugther Harriet  and grandson Lewis Edwin Boam, who was a son of George, and who died during World War 1. He was killed while a Prisoner of War in Poland. Their Gravestone is in the churchyard beside his son Benjamin.
The transcription of the gravestone reads:

In Affectionate Remembrance of Mary,Wife of Thomas Boam of Winster,who died April 11th 1884.Also of Harriett, daughter of the above who died April 3rd 1872.Also of Thomas Boam..... died April 28 1898 .Also of L/Cpl Edwin Boam, interred at M?glowitz Oct 18 1918, Aged 27.

Ancestors of Winster: The Family of Thomas Boam 1803-1874

2 pages in 2 days. Im on a roll!
This is the promised page on Thomas Boam my 4x Great Grandfather whose 2nd marriage meant his son's sister in law was also his step-mother!!- Yes I know that is complicated!!
Thanks to Dawn Scotting for her research on this branch of my family because I dont think I would ever worked it out myself!!
Not to mention its hard to distinguish when your 5x, 4x and 3x great grandfathers are all named Thomas Boam!!

Thomas Boam was the second son of  Thomas Boam and Martha Walker. He was baptised at St John the Baptist at Winster on 18th September 1803 and lived his whole life in Winster. He was a Lead Miner by trade.
Thomas married Ellen Fryer at St John the Baptist on 26th January 1826 and she would bear him 4 children, but died on the same day the youngest child James was born so I have surmised, that she died giving birth to James. She died on September 7th 1835, and was buried on September 10th. Baby James was baptised on September 8th and then there is no further record of him so perhaps he was buried with his mother. No burial record for him can be found. Thomas was left to brng up his 3 children, aged 8, 5 and 3 . In the 1841 census he is living in Woolleys Yard, and appears to be living next door to his brother in law Thomas Fryer, Ellen's older brother, so perhaps the Fryer family helped look after the children while Thomas was at work. Of course by the time of the 1851 census the children were much older. Living with Thomas are youngest son John aged 19 and daughter Matha, now married, and her husband Daniel and their 2 daughters Ellen and  Esther. Thomas was a grandfather by 1849 when he was only 46.  on 12 Feb 1849 son Thomas marries Mary Wilson, daughter of William Wilson at St John the Baptist in Winster.  Confusingly in the 1851 census, Mary is living with her parents in St Werburgh in Derby, and Thomas jr is living alone in a house near his father in Woolleys Yard.
The connection to the Wilson family though is to take on a much more powerful meaning, as the next mention of Thomas Boam senior is his 2nd marriage.   Thomas marries Sarah Wilson the youngest daughter of William Wilson - yes the same man who is the father in law of son Thomas.!  Sarah is 38 years younger than Thomas, in fact she his 9 years younger than Thomas’s youngest child! This makes Sarah Wilson both the sister in law of Thomas Jr, but also the Step mother!!
Thomas Sr. must have had plenty of life left in him because Sarah provided him with another 7 children between 1858 and 1874, including Sarah’s first child Mary who was baptised with the surname Wilson but who Thomas claimed was his daughter in each subsequent census.
The two Thomas Boam families lived next door to each other in Wooleys yard until the death of Thomas Sr. in 1874 Sadly Thomas would never live to see the birth of his youngest son Alfred Albert who was born in October 1874, 5 months after the death of his father.

The Family of John Fryer 1777- 1841

In a continuation of my book about my ancestors who hailed from Winster in Derbyshire, here is my page about my 5x great grandfather John Fryer who was a shoemaker like his father before him.
Interestingly he moved away from Winster, but his daughter Ellen Fryer married back into the village!

This one was a bit hard to complete as I knew so little about him. Thankfully we are now moving toward the time of better records and John lived just long enough to be part of the 1841 census, and he did appear in the 1835 Pigots Directory for Derbyshire.

John Fryer was the eldest son of Henry Fryer and Ann Twigg. He was baptised at St Johns in Winster on March 14th 1777. Like his father took up Shoe making as an occupation.
This is proven by the 1841 census where he, aged 64 (his age in the census is rounded down) is still working in the industry.
According to the 1835 Pigots Directory of Swanwick John and his son Joseph were both working as Shoemakers in the Village of Swanwick Derbyshire.
Though born in Winster, at some point before 1798 when he married Ellen Vickers, he moved to Edensor, Derbyshire which is about 9 miles from Winster..
His eldest child Joseph was born there, but later the family moved elsewhere in Derbyshire as subsequent children are born in Pentrich, and then Alfreton which close to Swanwick where the family were living in 1841.]
I have only confirmed the birth of 6 children to John and Ellen. I believe the Ann Fryer aged 20 living with the family in 1841 is the illegitimate daughter of Mary Fryer.
The two younger Joseph Fryers I assume are also grandchildren.
John Fryer would have been an artisan making new shoes as this was the definition of a cordwainer.

In the mid-1800s shoemaking was still very much a cottage industry. Shoemakers worked individually, collecting raw material from a manufacturer and then returning the finished product in return for payment. The work was carried out by hand, usually in a workshop in the shoemakers’ own home. Other family members, including wives and children, were often engaged in assisting the shoemaker. As the sewing machine was not invented until 5 years after John Fryer died, all the shoes he made would have been hand stitched.


John died on the 3rd September 1841 and was buried 2 days later at Alfreton Derbyshire. His wife Ellen died just 15 months later, and also is buried at Alfreton.

Though John himself left Winster, his daughter Ellen was to return when she married Thomas Boam, continuing the family history in the village which had for so many generations been home to her ancestors.

The family of Thomas Boam 1768-1822

This page for my Families of Winster book  was probably the hardest to make so far because I know so little about Thomas Boam , my 5x G Grandfather - he is the last generation before civil registration and censuses teach us so much more about our ancestors.
He probably was a Lead miner, like his sons and grandsons but I can find nothing to confirm that. He may have lived in Woolleys Yard as his descendants did, but again, nothing I have found confirms this - so the page below is simply what I know of him and his family and Winster, where he lived his whole life.

Thomas Boam was born in 1768, and baptised on 23rd October 1768 at St Johns the Baptist Church in Winster, the son of James Boam and Ann Allen.  He was the 4th child and second son of the couple. Little is known of his early life, however a large proportion of the population of Winster was employed in the nearby Lead Mines. Certainly Thomas’ sons James and Thomas and those of several generations following him, were Lead Miners.
On 29th June 1790 Thomas married Martha Walker, who was the daughter of Adam Walker and Sarah Ohme, also of Winster.
Very soon after their marriage their first son James was born, and was baptised on 28th December 1790 .
Thomas and Martha went on to have at least 6 children including one who died as an infant in 1808.
Both Thomas and Martha died in the same year 1822 . Martha died first on the 4th  June and was buried in St John the Baptist churchyard 2 days later on 6th June of that year.
Just a few months later in October, Thomas also died and is buried in the same churchyard as his

Winster changed considerably during the term of Thomas’ life. Mining had brought immense prosperity. Between 1720 and 1770, Winster's population had grown to more than 2,000 and over 20 inns had sprung up. Most of the houses, now standing in Winster, date from those times. But the huge amounts of ore extracted eventually rebounded on profitability. By the late 18 century, the London Lead Company found their Derbyshire operations too costly and sold their Peak District concessions in 1778.

By the end of the 18th century, most of the mines had closed, with only two continuing to operate into the 19th century. Population returns dramatically reflect the industrial decline. In 1789 the population had declined to little more than 1000 and by 1801 there were only 750 people in the village

The Family of James Boam 1740 - 1799 6x Great Grandfather

This page will replace the previous Boam pages I had done as the first Boam page in my series as I unfortunately discovered an error in my previous research and the James I thought was this James was not !- That James had died as a child but his death record had previously gone un noticed.

My James - it appears was an illegitimate son of Sarah Boam from Darley Dale and we arent positive who her father is, though it could be Hugh Boam - I believe these people are all descendants of Henry Boam or his siblings from my earlier post but more research will have to be done to prove it

This is the journalling from the layout above.

It is thought James Boam is the illegitmate son of Sarah Boam of Darley Dale. Sarah was probably the daughter of Hugh Boam from the same village, however records are not clear enough to be sure.
James was baptised on 9th March 1740 at St Helens Church in Darley Dale. Where he spent his childhood is unknown but he married Ann Allen in St John the Baptist Church, Winster on 14th May 1764.
James and Anns first 3 children were born in Winster, James and Samuel in 1764 and Thomas in 1768, however Samuel sadly died in the same year Thomas was born.
What James occupation was is unknown but it is clear that the family came upon hard times because in 1769 there is a Removal order for James, his wife Ann and their children James and Thomas. The removal order dated 18-01-1769 for "James BOAM  -  wife Ann and children James abt 4 and Thomas abt a  a year". to be removed from the parish of Winster, back to Darley Dale, where James had been born.
The removal order would have been based on the  poor law Act of Settlement and Removal. The Settlement Act allowed for the removal from a parish, back to their place of settlement, of newcomers whom local justices deemed "likely to be chargeable" to the parish poor rates.  Each person had a Parish of Settlement. This was the parish that a person was entitled to live in , and the Parish would often take responsibility for the poor in their own parish, however they did not want responsibility for those who were from elsewhere.
Clearly James and his family needed financial aid and could not provide for themselves at this point in time.
 It is unknown if the Removal Order was enforced, but in any case by 1771 James and Ann and their family were back in Winster, as all the remaining children were born there.
It is likely James gained employment in the Lead mines in the area. Winster was a village with man lead miners in its population. Mining brought immense prosperity to the town . Between 1720 and 1770, Winster's population had more than doubled to 2000  and over 20 inns had sprung up.
James was buried on Christmas Even 1799and is buried at St John the Baptist churchyard in Winster along with his wife Ann who  died just over 3 years later in February 1803.

The Family of Henry Boam 1650-1697

ADDENDUM  
Unfortunately - after creating this layout evidence came to light to prove that my line of the Boams might not extend down from Henry and then through James 1679 as previously thought.
more research is ongoing ...




- In preparation for my trip to the UK next year I decided to embark upon a book covering my Winster based families.
Im starting with the Boams and will cover the Wilsons and others I can find enough information on before I go

The hard thing about doing layouts and books about these ancestors is I know very little of their day to day lives so stories are limited and the layouts are basically just covering facts which can be a bit dry and boring.
Hopefully the book will end up not being too boring!!
Im starting with Henry Boam born 1650 in Bakewell. It was his sons who appear to be the first in the family to move to Winster.

Henry BOAM was baptised at All Saints Church Bakewell, Derbyshire on June 30 1650. The baptism register is written in Latin and he is named as Henricus and his father as Samuelus Boam. It is thought that Samuel was born 1623 also in Bakewell, and died 1674 but it is not known who Henry’s mother was.
Little is known of Henry’s life but it is know that he married Joan PLANT at St Giles Church, Great Longstone, Derbyshire on 29 June 1676. Great Longstone is about an hours walk across the hills from Bakewell.
Records are sparse , but it is known that Henry had at least one older sister, Dorothy (1647-1656)
Henry is thought to have had 8 children. Some have Joan listed as the mother but others list no mother, but one assumes she was the mother of all the children.
Records show two sons named Samuel so the assumption is the elder Samuel died and the younger Samuel was named after him.
It was around the mid 18th century and the early stages of the industrial revolution that mining became important to the Derbyshire region, this could be why several of Henry’s children moved their families to Winster.

The Family of Henry Boam 1650-1697

In preparation for my trip to the UK next year I decided to embark upon a book covering my Winster based families.
Im starting with the Boams and will cover the Wilsons and others I can find enough information on before I go

The hard thing about doing layouts and books about these ancestors is I know very little of their day to day lives so stories are limited and the layouts are basically just covering facts which can be a bit dry and boring.
Hopefully the book will end up not being too boring!!
Im starting with Henry Boam born 1650 in Bakewell. It was his sons who appear to be the first in the family to move to Winster.

Henry BOAM was baptised at All Saints Church Bakewell, Derbyshire on June 30 1650. The baptism register is written in Latin and he is named as Henricus and his father as Samuelus Boam. It is thought that Samuel was born 1623 also in Bakewell, and died 1674 but it is not known who Henry’s mother was.
Little is known of Henry’s life but it is know that he married Joan PLANT at St Giles Church, Great Longstone, Derbyshire on 29 June 1676. Great Longstone is about an hours walk across the hills from Bakewell.
Records are sparse , but it is known that Henry had at least one older sister, Dorothy (1647-1656)
Henry is thought to have had 8 children. Some have Joan listed as the mother but others list no mother, but one assumes she was the mother of all the children.
Records show two sons named Samuel so the assumption is the elder Samuel died and the younger Samuel was named after him.
It was around the mid 18th century and the early stages of the industrial revolution that mining became important to the Derbyshire region, this could be why several of Henry’s children moved their families to Winster.

Benjamin Boam 1864-1887 and the Tragedy of the Mill Close Mine

I hope to be lucky enough in mid 2017 to visit the village of Winster where many many of my fathers ancestors once lived. The Boam family have a long history in Winster and many of them were Lead Miners.
In starting some pre-trip research I discovered the story of Benjamin Boam who died in an explosion at the nearby Mill Close Lead Mine .
I hope to photograph his headstone myself in the Winster Churchyard but in the mean time I found the wonderful work of Michael Greatorex who has photographed many if not all the gravestones there including that of Benjamin which you can see here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/winsterderbyshire/3439508390/in/album-72157617740830814/

Benjamin was born  in 1864 in Winster. I have yet to find his baptism record but he was the second son and 5th child of Thomas Boam  and Mary Wilson. Thomas was also a Lead Miner, as was his father also named Thomas.
Benjamins 2 younger siblings, Lucy and Harriet both had died in childhood, so Benjamin was the youngest child of Thomas and Mary at the time of his death.

I created a simple layout for this sad story which is directly taken from a newspaper account of the day.

Benjamin Boam was the 2nd son, and 5th child of Thomas Boam and his wife Mary Wilson. He was the younger brother of my GG Grandmother Mary Jane Boam.  Benjamin was a Lead miner, like is father, and his grandfather and many many of the men in the village of Winster, Derbyshire  where he was born. He was employed at the Mill Close Mine, in nearby Darley, where a shaft had been sunk in 1860 and was one of numerous men who worked below ground in shifts around the clock.
On November 3 1887 the mine would take the lives of 5 of the men of Winster including that of Benjamin Boam
HIGH PEAK NEWS SATURDAY 5TH  NOVEMBER 1887
Shocking Accident at Mill Close Lead Mine  Five Men Killed

From  what  can  be  ascertained  it  appears  that  a  shift  was  commenced  at  midnight  on  Wednesday.  There  would  be  twenty-one  or  twenty-two  men  on  duty.  Before  they  began  work  the  mine  had  been  officially  examined  by  the  deputy,  William  Webster.  He  found  a  quantity  of  gas  in  the  heading,  and  duly  reported  the  occurrence  to  the  company  who  took  the  particular  route in which the explosion happened. The men were in charge of Job Stone, and the company was known as Stones's. They were warned of the presence of gas on going down. It seems they were  engaged  on  the  top  level,  or  84  yards  from  the  surface.  The  distance  they  had  to  travel  underground  was  between  500  and  600  yards  before  reaching  the  face  of  the  rock.  Upon  a  portion  of  the  road  they  would  be  able  to  use naked  lights,  but  were  compelled  to  have  safety  lamps  whilst  at  their  work.  There  were  for  getters  and  two  waggoners  working  in  the  stall  or  heading,  and,  unfortunately,  all  the  six  were  within  measurable  distance  of  the  force  of  the  explosion. Had it happened a few minutes earlier or later the waggoners would have been away from the spot conveying the ore to the exit from the mine. There was nothing perceptible of the approaching  danger  when  the  men  began  their usual  occupation.  Several  shots  of  dynamite charges had been fired. This powerful explosive is regularly used at the mine to blow down the rock, with which the ore is mixed. The heading is about six yards high, and a charge of dynamite
is inserted into a hole which is drilled for it. The charge is fired with "touch", and the men retire out  of  danger,  as  they  consider.  They  would  move  away  to  a  distance  of  about  40  yards.  The  shot went off in the usual manner, and was immediately followed by a terrific explosion of gas. The force of the concussion was felt all over the mine, the head trees, forks, and scores of tons of rock being removed. The fall of bind killed the men, debris covering them.
The shock was not felt on the surface, and it was not until one of the men, Marsden, who is injured, made his way
in the dark to the bottom of the shaft, that the disaster was known. He was the only one spared to  tell  of  the  sad  accident  which  befell  his comrades.  The  men  engaged  in  the  heading  were  Robert  Marsden,  Birchover;  Job  Stone,  Elton; George  Stone,  Elton;  George  Allen,  Winster;  Benjamin  Boam,  Winster;  and  George  Needham,  Wensley.  Boam  and  Needham  were  the  waggoners.  They,  as  we  have  previously  said,  were  unfortunately  along  with  the  other  group  when  the  gas  was  ignited.  The  lights  were  all  blown  out  with  the  force  of  the  explosion,  but  Marsden, though injured, made his way in the darkness to the bottom of the shaft. He signalled
to be drawn out, and then the intelligence became known. He displayed conspicuous bravery by going down the shaft again along with a stoker named George Boam. These two men were thefirst to venture down the mine. They were stated to have felt the effects of the after-damp, but not  to  any  serious  extent.  The  explosion  took  place  a  few  minutes  before  three  o'clock.  It  was some  time  before  any  of  the  bodies  were  discovered.  Lights  were  procured  and  a  search  party  was quickly formed, under the leadership of John Heathcote. He arrived on the premises about five  o'clock,  and,  being  one  of  the  deputies,  organised  the  relief  party.  Messengers  were 
despatched  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Mr.  Joseph  Greatorex,  of  Winster,  the  agent,  who  was  speedily  at  the  mine.  A  verbal  message  was  also  sent  to  Mr.  A.M.  Alsop,  of  Wirksworth,  the  manager.  When  Mr.  Greatorex  arrived  he  took charge  of  the  search  party,  and  went  down, finding  the  deputy  there.  It  was  discovered  that  the  men  were  almost  entirely  buried  in  the debris.  The  bodies  were  fearfully  crushed.  After  the  bind  had  been  removed  the  remains  were  brought  out.  The  first  person  to  be  conveyed  up  the  shaft  was  Job  Stone,  who  could  be  seen  under  the  refuse,  but  was  quite  dead.  In  the  meantime  Dr.  Stubbs,  of  Darley  Bridge,  and  Dr. Cantrell,  of  Winster,  were  summoned,  but  their  services  were  of  no  avail  except  in  the  case  of Marsden,  who  was  bruised  about  the  head.  He  was  taken  to  the  Warren  Carr  Farm,  and,  after  attention,  conveyed  home.  The  men  were  sent  up  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  taken  to  the office.  There  they  were  stripped  and  laid  on  stretchers.  The  bodies  presented  a  shocking  spectacle, being fearfully crushed. It took until seven o'clock to recover all the deceased miners.