Wheelhouse Families of Yorkshire

Wheelhouse Families of Yorkshire Research Project

June/July 2012

By Greg Ramstedt

The Thomas Barker and Elizabeth Wheelhouse family of Rotherham, Yorkshire

I am beginning with the marriage of 16 April 1788 in Rotherham, Yorkshire of Thomas Barker and Elizabeth Wheelhouse.  My goal is to find the origins of Elizabeth Wheelhouse.  The Barker family lived at Jesus Gate (College Street) where Thomas Barker was a plumber and glazier[1], occupying his shop under James Turton and later Thomas Bagshaw.  Thomas has been in Rotherham at least since his apprenticeship began in 1774 under John Walton of Rotherham, plumber and glazier.[2]  They had six children: John (1789), Samuel (1791; my ancestor), Elizabeth (1792), Jane (1793), William (1798) and Thomas (1801).

Thomas Barker is buried 15 May 1802 in Rotherham and left will written on 10 December 1801 and proved October 1802 in the Exchequer Court of the Archbishop of York in which he mentions his property in Cowdale (near Buxton and Chelmorton), Derbyshire.  His under tenant at Cowdale is Thomas Wainwright.  Indeed, there is a long-standing presence of Barkers at Cowdale and Staden, but I have not been able to assign a place in their pedigree where Thomas belongs.  So the background of Thomas Barker before his apprenticeship began in 1774 is still unknown.  I hope to offer a discussion of the early Barker family later.

Elizabeth (née Wheelhouse) apparently carried on the plumbing and glazier shop after the death of her husband in 1802, probably with the help of her oldest children John and Samuel.  The Land Tax Assessments list her as “widow Barker.”  She had her will prepared on 4 January 1810.  She is buried in Rotherham on 16 June 1814 at age 55.  This given age of 55 is very important in my effort to find her origins.  So we are looking for an Elizabeth Wheelhouse born about 1759.  Her will is proved 7 January 1815 in the same court.  I also found Elizabeth Barker’s Death Duty register entry.  It mentioned her son John Barker specifically.  Then under “Value of Annuities and Bequests brought forward” it records, £153 2s.  The rate of duty is £1 10s 7d.  The last date recorded is 7 Jan. 1817 which is exactly two years after the probate date, but still well before her youngest surviving son William’s twenty-first birthday. 

Elizabeth Barker’s will makes James Pears of Rotherham, currier, and Thomas Law of the same, draper,  executors of her children, and she desires that her son John Barker, who is not yet 21 when it was written in 1810,  “carry on the Trade or Business of a Plumber and Glazier which I now carry on.”  John seems to follow in his mother’s place for a very short time following her death, which can be seen in the Universal British Directory for 1814-1815 which has John Barker, plumber and glazier, in Jesus Gate (now College Street).  The directory for 1816-1817 does not list John, so by then he presumably has left.

Elizabeth gives “my son Samuel Barker my Silver Pint, one Silver Table Spoon and three Silver Tea spoons.”  To her “Daughter Jane Barker, one of my best Beds Bedstocks, Bedding and furniture thereto belonging, a Pair of mahogany Drawers, Seven Mahogany Chairs, and Carpet in the Dining Room, my best sett of China, one silver Table Spoon and six Silver Tea Spoons.  To “my son William Barker, one Silver table spoon and three Silver Tea Spoons.”  Her trustees are to “receive the Interest of the sum of Five Hundred pounds which I have owing me upon Security of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal” and use the money to educate all of her children until they are age 21.  The Leeds and Liverpool Canal when completed in 1816 improved the commercial and transportation link between Liverpool and the growing industrial areas of Yorkshire, especially Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford.  There was a vigor trade in limestone, coal and textiles[3].  I assume that this canal was particularly important for the Barker’s plumbing and glazier business.  When Samuel reaches age 21, he is to be given £140 of the £500.  The interest of the residue of the said £500 is to pay for the maintenance and education of her children Jane and William Barker until they are 21.  When Jane is 21, she is to receive £160 of the residue of the £500.  Then when William is 21, he is to get whatever remains of the residue of the £500.

In the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough, Archives and Local Studies Section, are four deeds that mention Jesus Gate and these Barkers:

1.  There is a mortgage by demise for 1000 years dated 26 February 1791[4]  with James Turton being first party, Thomas Bagshawe Sr. of Rotherham, butcher, being second party, and it is for £62 for two messuages in Jesus Gate where Thomas Barker is tenant.

2.  Then on 25/26 February 1808 is a lease and release[5] with James Turton the first party, Louisa Birks of Sheffield spinster (mortgagee) the second party, Thomas Bagshawe of Rotherham, butcher (only child and sole executor of Thomas Bagshawe Sr.) the third party, and Thomas Chambers of Thorncliffe Iron Works, iron founder (trustee for 3) the fourth party.  It recites the previous document of 1791 where £20 is still due for Thomas Bagshawe Sr.’s estate.  Now it is for two messuages in Jesus Gate where Mrs. Barker is tenant.  Of course, Elizabeth Barker’s husband Thomas had died[6].

3.  An 1843 abstract of title[7]  was drawn up for the Thomas Bagshawe property in College Street (formerly Jesus Gate) and it covered the years 1768-1842.

4.  Finally, another document[8]  mentions Thomas Law, linen draper (who is an executor of Elizabeth Barker’s will), and recites the will of Thomas Bagshaw (died 1842).  It refers to four messuages in Jesus Gate with yards, warehouses etc. (390 square yards) that Mrs. Barker formerly occupied.  A plan is included with this document.

I wasn’t certain that I had the right marriage for this family until I looked in The British Newspaper Archive[9] digital newspaper collection.  Here we find:

The Leeds Intelligencer, 22 April 1788, page 3, column 3:

Thursday was married, at Rotherham, Mr. Thomas Barker, plumber and glazier, to Miss Elizabeth Wheelhouse, of Rawcliffe.

I was very excited to find this, and particularly to learn that Elizabeth was from Rawcliffe.  I hoped that the next step would be easy.  Find where Rawcliffe is located and with luck find the christening about 1759 of Elizabeth and learn the names of her parents.  Unfortunately, this great clue of Rawcliffe, like the great clue of Cowdale for her husband, have not led to anything conclusive.  Both Thomas and Elizabeth’s origins remain a mystery.

Wheelhouses of Rawcliffe near Snaith and of Kippax, Yorkshire

What follows is my effort to track down Wheelhouses of Rawcliffe and other possible candidates for my Elizabeth Wheelhouse.

According to the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales by John Marius Wilson (1870-1872)[10], there are four Rawcliffes:

1.  Rawcliffe, a village and a township-chapelry in Snaith parish, West Riding of Yorkshire.  It is three mile east by north of Snaith and 1,630 people are living in 384 houses there.  This is closest to Rotherham, so a good place to look first.

2.  Rawcliffe, a township in St. Olave-Marygate and St. Michael parishes, North Riding of Yorkshire.   It is 2 ½ miles northwest by north of the City of York.  It population in 1851 was just 48, and in 1861 was 115.  There are only 19 houses here.  So this would be the next place to look for Elizabeth Wheelhouse’s christening.

3.  Rawcliffe (Out), a township-chapelry in St. Michael-on-Wyre parish, Lancashire.  Its population is 771 and there are 135 houses. 

4.  Rawcliffe (Upper)-With-Tarnacre, a township, with a village, in St. Michael-on-Ware parish, Lancashire.  The population is 682 people in 117 houses. 

The last two Rawcliffes, both in St. Michael-on-Wyre parish, Lancashire are actually quite far afield from Rotherham, so I don’t see them as needing to be checked for my Wheelhouses.

So, are there Wheelhouses in Rawcliffe in Snaith parish, West Riding of Yorkshire?  The short answer is ‘yes there are, but well after the time of my Elizabeth.’  The following searches were performed using microfilm in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City:

1.  Parish registers for the chapelry of Rawcliffe, in Snaith parish, 1689-1916[11]:  This is a typescript index of baptisms, and I did not find any Wheelhouse christenings from 1708 to 1805.  I checked burials from 1753 to 1803 and again there were no Wheelhouses. 

2.  Parish registers for Snaith, 1558-1901[12]:  No Wheelhouse baptisms were found in the range of years that I checked, which was from 1746 to 1793.  However, by the 1820s there is a presence of Wheelhouses in Snaith.

3.  I checked the surrounding chapelries within Snaith parish and around Rawcliffe chapelry, and did not find any Wheelhouse families in the 1750s and 1760s.  Some of these parishes and chapelries have been extracted and appeared in the old IGI (International Genealogical Index), and can now be found with the Historical Records on the familysearch website[13].  Once I discovered the batch numbers, I could do isolated searches by parish.  I check Airmyn chapelry in Snaith from 1740 to 1778 without luck.  Then I looked in Hook chapelry in Snaith but again no Wheelhouses were found.  Drax parish is located immediately north of Snaith, but nothing was found.  Goole and Carleton chapelries also had no Wheelhouses in this time period.

4.  The Bishop’s Transcripts for Rawcliffe run  from 1631 to 1878, but there are huge gaps.  For instance, it jumps from 1640 to 1757, 1758, then onto 1773-1792.  I don’t think that I looked at 1757 or 1758.  My Elizabeth was supposedly born in 1759, and I already checked the parish register.

5.  The Land Tax Assessments for Rawcliffe township near Snaith, 1781-1825: No Wheelhouses were found from 1781 to 1794, but some years are missing in the sequence.

6.  Parish chest material, 1719-1865, survives for Rawcliffe near Snaith: Given that there were no Wheelhouses in the mid-18^th century in Rawcliffe according to the parish church records and according to the Land Tax Assessments, I didn’t see a need to look in the various churchwarden’s accounts, overseer’s assessments, apprentice indentures, settlement examinations, constable accounts, etc. that make up the parish chest contents of this parish.  It looks like a very rich sources of documents, though.

The family that was found in Snaith is that of James Wheelhouse, surgeon, and his wife Mary Ann Aaron, but they are well after the time period where I hoped to find my Wheelhouses.  They married on 12 August 1820 in Drax parish, Yorkshire.  The marriage record gives James as age 27 and Mary Ann as age 18, the daughter of John Aaron.  (Mary Ann was born 5 March 1802 and christened 13 March 1802 in Drax, Yorkshire.)  Their first child is William St. James Wheelhouse, chr. 12 May 1821 in Snaith.  Then came Marianne Margaret Wheelhouse, chr. 4 May 1823, followed by Claudius Galen Wheelhouse, chr. 19 Jan. 1827, and finally Arthur Wheelhouse, chr. 21 Dec. 1829, all in Snaith.  Arthur is buried at age 14 days on 25 Dec. 1829.

James Wheelhouse left a Prerogative Court of York (PCY) will that was written 6 May 1831 and proved in 25 Aug. 1832.  James at age 36 was buried 26 June 1831 in Snaith.  He is referred to as James Wheelhouse, surgeon and apothecary of Snaith, Yorkshire.  He mentions his estates at Snaith and Cowick.  He refers to his wife Mary Ann, and to three children: William St. James, MariAnne Margaret, and Claudius Galen.  He mentions nieces and nephews, but not by name.  His ‘dear mother Hannah Wheelhouse of Kippax, York, widow’ is also mentioned.  The will includes a codicil.

This James Wheelhouse can be traced to his christening on 23 Oct. 1791 in Kippax, Yorkshire as the son of James Wheelhouse.  This is what the Wheelhouse family of Kippax looks like:

James Wheelhouse of Kippax married 1 May 1774 at Whitkirk, Yorkshire to Hannah Farrer of this parish with witnesses William Broadbent and Joseph Farrah[14].  Their children christened in Kippax are:

1.  William “Whelas,” chr. 5 Feb. 1775

2.  Hannah Whealas, chr. 18 May 1777

3.  Ann Whelas, chr. 14 Feb. 1779

4.  Sarah Wheelas, chr. 15 Apr. 1781, died 1 Feb. 1784

5.  Mary Wheelhouse, chr. 25 Dec. 1783

6.  Sarah Wheelhouse, chr. 13 Jan. 1788

7.  James Wheelhouse, chr. 23 Oct. 1791

Mary A. Wheelhouse, widow of Mr. James Wheelhouse of Snaith, died on 22 Dec. 1879, age 77, at Cossington, Leicestershire[15].  The eldest son Sir William St. James Wheelhouse was an MP for Leeds and died at 2, Gray’s Inn, London, in March 1886.  He had registered his arms at Heralds’ College “as of Snaith, Yorkshire.[16]”  Claudius Galen Wheelhouse became a well-known Leeds surgeon.  He died at Filey on 9 April 1909 age age 82[17].

The conclusion is that the Wheelhouses of Snaith do not originate in the parish and actually are traced back to Kippax, Yorkshire, much further to the north.  So my effort to find my Elizabeth Wheelhouse in Rawcliffe near Snaith has come to naught.  Of course, she may have just been living there and not been born there.  In any case, this Rawcliffe is now off the table.  So onto the Rawcliffe up by the City of York.

Wheelhouses of Rawcliffe near the City of York: St. Michael-le-Belfrey parish with link back to Hedon in Holderness

According to The Imperial Gazetteer[18], there is a township called Rawcliffe within two parishes just outside the City of York, to the northwest.  The two parishes are St. Olave-Marygate and St. Michael.  The City of York itself is in East Riding of Yorkshire, and this township of Rawcliffe and the two parishes are in North Riding.  The Gazetteer indicates that St. Olave-Mary-Gate “is a township and a parish in the district of York . . . [that] lies adjacent to the NW side of York city.”  The population in 1851 was 677 and in 1861 was 966, this with 171 houses.  The parish “contains also the townships of Clifton and Rawcliffe, and part of the township of Heworth.   . . . The living is a perpetual curacy, united with the perpetual curacy of St. Giles, in the diocese of York.”

After some looking in the Family History Library Catalog, it appeared that these two parishes are actually listed under the City of York.

St. Michael’s is actually St. Michael-le-Belfry and there are Bishop’s Transcripts of baptism, marriage and burial records available from 1631 to 1830[19].  I found no Wheelhouses, but there is a gap from 1758 to 1760, which is right when my Elizabeth Wheelhouse was supposedly born.  Still, there is no evidence of a Wheelhouse family baptizing children here at this time.  I can’t say there are no Wheelhouses in St. Michael-le-Belfrey, because I was looking just at baptisms in the Bishop’s Transcripts.  There are some interesting marriages in the parish[20].  The most interesting item is the marriage on 27 Nov. 1788 by license of Charles Wheelhouse of this parish, cabinetmaker, and Mary Wilkinson of St. Cuthbert’s parish, spinster.  This shows that in the year that my Elizabeth Wheelhouse married Thomas Barker, there was another Wheelhouse in one of the two parishes that comprised Rawcliffe, just outside York city.  I have not found a Charles Wheelhouse yet who could be the one who married in 1788.  The York Marriage Bonds and allegations Index, 1613-1839[21], indicates that Charles Wheelhouse was from St. Michael Le Belfrey parish and was age 36 (so born in about 1752), and Mary Wilkinson was from York St. Cuthbert Peasholme and was age 36 (so born in about 1754).  The bond/allegation is dated 18 Nov 1788 and it indicates they married in St. Michael Le Belfrey.  A Charles Wheelhouse is buried 26 March 1790 at Holy Trinity, York.

I don’t know who this Charles Wheelhouse is, but here are some clues.  In Holy Trinity Goodramgate parish in York are two marriages that may suggest a connection for Charles.  In 1779 Edmund Aspinall marries Catherine Wheelhouse of Delpike parish.  Then in 1782 Edward Marsh married Mary Wheelhouse of Delpike parish, and one of the witnesses is Charles Wheelhouse.  The time period is about right, and the location of York is about right.  In the footnotes are the full details[22].  I found a reference to Delpike: York Trinity Goodramgate with St. John Delpike and St. Maurice without Monk Bar.  In York there is a St. John Micklegate parish and it is extracted on the IGI, but this doesn’t seem to be the same thing as St. John del Pike.  Also, St. Maurice and Holy Trinity Goodramgate are also on the IGI, so all the Wheelhouses should be there (except for the burials which the old IGI extraction program never did).

It turns out that Catherine, Charles, James and Mary Wheelhouse are all mentioned in the will of their mother Elizabeth Wheelhouse of York which was proved in 1784[23].  Elizabeth is a widow, and it appears that her husband is Robert Wheelhouse of Hedon in Holderness.  Hedon in Hoderness is located in East Riding quite some distance from York.  Nevertheless, after his death about 1762, his wife and children must have moved to York.  Since Robert’s estate was settled by administration, rather than by a will, we don’t learn much about him[24].  Alas, there is no daughter in this family named Elizabeth, so my theory that Charles Wheelhouse and my Elizabeth Wheelhouse might have been brother and sister is not working.  So much for the lead from St. Michael Le Belfrey parish.

Wheelhouses of Rawcliffe near the City of York: St. Olave parish, including links back to Seacroft and Leeds

Then there is St. Olave’s parish, York, and believe it or not, there is another Wheelhouse presence in this parish, but it also goes nowhere.  The Bishop’s Transcripts are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for St. Olave with St. Giles’ Church in York[25].  They run from 1626 to 1891[26].   I definitely found the right place because the entries refer to Rawcliffe, Marygate, Clifton, etc.  I searched for Elizabeth Wheelhouse from 1749 to 1767 and there were no Wheelhouses at all in this time period.  I also searched unsuccessfully for Wheelhouses in St. Olave’s-Marygate York, which runs from 1538 to 1900[27].

The Parish Register of St. Olave, York: 1650-1785[28] does, however, include some Wheelhouses.  Here are some entries which seem to form a family[29]:

1.  John Wheelhouse, [BT laborer], and Elizabeth Swan, botp, by lic.,  Mr. Hook, married 17 Feb 1731/1732

2.  [    ] [BT John], s of John Wheelhouse, of Boudam, buried 16 Nov. 1735

3.  Eliz: dau of John Wheelhouse, of Boudam, baptized 23 Nov 1735

4.  [    ] [BT Isabel], wf of John Wheelhouse, of Boudam, buried 9 July 1736

5.  John Wheelhouse and Isable Beedland botp, lic, married 23 Aug 1736  [In Holy Trinity Goodramgate parish, York, is buried 19 Aug. 1755 Isabella, wife of John Wheelhouse from Marygate parish.]

6.  Martin Wheelhouse [BT of Bowtham], buried 9 Nov 1744.  [Presumably married 1718.  See footnote 33.]

7.  John Wheelhouse, taylor and aledraper [s of … Wheelhouse of Seacroft nr Leeds] aged 63 yrs on day he died, the 7^th, after a few hours illness, at the Bird in Hand, Bootham.  Bur in chyd.  Buried 9 Jan. 1771

8.  Robert, s of Richard Wheelhouse, died on the 11^th of fits age 9 months.  Of Burton Stone.  Buried 13 Apr 1779.  This Robert and his father Richard do not seem to fit into the above family, but since they are in the Rawcliffe/St. Olave area about the time that my Elizabeth Wheelhouse is supposed to be there, I should be on the lookout for the father Richard.

John Wheelhouse (1708-1771) of Boudam (current spelling not yet known) is well established in St. Olave’s parish.  According to the parish chest records[30] he had church pew #47.  In 1755 John Wheelhouse is assessed for his house and ‘moate’ in the hamlet of Marygate, and this continues in 1757, 1758, 1759.  He is paying the church rate in 1761, 1763, 1765, 1766, 1768, and in 1771 his yearly rent is £11.  Of course, John dies in 1771.  In 1772 the same property is listed under “Jno Wheelhouse daughter,” then in 1773 at Marygate it is “Jno Wheelhouse daughter now Pinder.  In 1774 and 1776 the same property is under Matthew Pinder.  He disappears by 1778 when the property is listed with Mr. Bosamworth who remains there in 1785, 1787, 1790.  All these entries are at Marygate.  On 20 November 1774 at Saint Olave, York is married Matthew Pinder and Mary Overend.  Mary must be John’s daughter, and she must have been previously married to a Mr. Overend.

So John’s origins are at Seacroft near Leeds.  Seacroft is a chapelry in Whitkirk parish, thought it gained parish status in 1846.  Indeed, Seacroft is a little northeast of various parishes forming Leeds.  In particular, I see on the IGI a large number of Wheelhouses in St. Peter’s parish in Leeds.[31]  Some of the spellings are Wheeless, Wheelas, Wheelis, Whelous, Wheelhouse, etc.  This Leeds area certainly has a high concentration of Wheelhouses, and a few of the other disparate Wheelhouses appear to be from this area, since Seacroft, Garforth, Aberford and Kippax are all fairly close.[32]  See the footnote #32 for details, but it looks like the Wheelhouses of Rawcliffe near Snaide come from Kippax and Whitkirk, and the Wheelhouses of St. Olave’s York (where there is a second Rawcliffe) come from Seacroft in Whitkirk parish, and both of these branches may link into the many Wheelhouses of Leeds.  All this is by supposition based on geographic proximity, and is proposed mostly as a hypothesis to be tested.  In other words, a detailed pedigree of all the Wheelhouses in the Leeds area needs to be constructed to see if the Garforth, Kippax, Whitkirk, Seacroft, and Rawcliffe near York, and Rawcliffe near Snaide somehow tie together.  Proximity around Leeds suggests that it is possible.

Still, I do not see my Elizabeth Wheelhouse being connected with this John Wheelhouse of St. Olave’s York, and indeed she appears to come along a full generation after him.  So we’ve dead-ended on Rawcliffe in St. Olave parish and St. Michael Le Belfrey parish.  We cannot rule out the York area for my Elizabeth’s origins, as there are other Wheelhouse events in other York parishes.[33]

Wheelhouses of Sheffield: a proximity search of parishes around Rotherham; linked to the Isle of Man and Portugal??

We have been unable to locate my Elizabeth Wheelhouse in the Leeds, York, and Snaith areas, so what is left?  Let’s go back to her 1788 marriage with Thomas Barker in Rotherham and consider a five or ten miles proximity search around Rotherham.  This requires us to ignore the whole Rawcliffe clue and just use the old genealogy technique of checking surrounded parishes. 

It turns out that there is a very strong candidate with Elizabeth Wheelhouse, christened 4 July 1760 at the Cathedral of St. Peter, Sheffield.  Sheffield is a little west of Rotherham and is a very reasonable distance.  She is the daughter of Francis Wheelhouse.  My Elizabeth was age 55 at her death in 1814, and would be born about 1759, so this looks good, except for the strong likelihood that the Elizabeth of 1760 actually married another man, Abraham de la Pryme (1758-1825). 

Quite a bit can be found on Francis Wheelhouse on the Internet.[34]  The dates and generations don’t seem to line up very well from what I see on the Internet, but I will set it out as I found it.  Probably some adjustments will need to be made.  Elizabeth (1760) had a brother Francis Wheelhouse (chr. 1758) but he may have died young since the father supposedly had another Francis Wheelhouse born in 1780.[35]   The first Francis (I) would have been born around 1700 and with a first marriage had the second Francis Wheelhouse (II) (born 23 or 27 May 1733 in Sheffield—died 11 March 1814 Lisbon; buried S. George’s Cemetery, Lisbon).  Francis (II) (1733-1814) was a watchmaker in Sheffield and lived there until about 1780.  A couple of his handicraft watches are referred to as part of auctions if you search for him using Google.   Supposedly, Francis (I) (bn. ca. 1700) married a second time had had the son Francis (III) (born 1758 in Sheffield) and Elizabeth (1760 in Sheffield). 

According to these Internet sources, Francis (II) (1733-1814) was the watchmaker and lived in Sheffield until 1780, then moved to the Isle of Man.  The Ballasalla Cotton Spinning Mill in Malew, Isle of Man, was rented in 1780 to two men from Sheffield, Abraham de la Pryme, merchant, and Francis Wheelhouse, watchmaker.  The de la Pryme family had come from Yprés in Flanders.  Abraham was born in Sheffield in 1758 and died in Liverpool in 1825.[36]   

Francis (II) (1733-1814) supposedly married twice, first to Emma, and secondly on 16 July 1780 at Braddan, Isle of Man, to Anne Barker, daughter of Abraham William Barker and his wife Susannah.  (I don’t see any connection with Thomas Barker (died 1802) referred to at the beginning of this paper).  Anne Barker was born in Kent in 1763 and died in Lisbon in 1811.[37]  Francis (II) and Anne had three children.

1.  Francis Wheelhouse (IV) born 1780 in Malew and died 1841 in Lisbon.  He married Gertrudes Rosa do Carmo Almeida e Silva.  They had a son, Jeremias Wheelhouse e Silva who married M. Guerra Esteves Alves.[38]

2.  Abraham Wheelhouse (1782 Malew—1855 Lisbon) married 1819 in Lisbon to Elizabeth Oom (1789—1868).  Their children were: George (1819—1888) and Georgina (1824—1896).[39]

3.  Charlotte Barker Wheelhouse (1787/9 Malew).

What I found indicates that Francis Wheelhouse (II) (1733-1814) had a half-sister Elizabeth (1760) who married on 2 Nov 1783 at Kirk Malew, Isle of Man with Abraham de la Pryme (1758-1825).[40]  It makes more sense that it would be his daughter rather than his sister.  Elizabeth (1760) would then be a daughter from the first marriage, which may have been to a woman named Emma.[41]   This fits a lot better chronologically.  They had children: Elizabeth (1784) and Mary (1790).[42]

So it looks like the Elizabeth Wheelhouse who was baptized on 4 July 1760 at St. Peter’s Cathedral Sheffield is spoken for in marrying Abraham de la Pryme (1758-1825).  Elizabeth, Abraham’s wife, died 1 Jan. 1799 at Malew, Isle of Man.  The Oom submission to Ancestry.com Member Trees[43] indicates that Elizabeth was born on 5 June 1760 at Malew, Isle of Man.  It is interesting that here we have an exact birth date, and in Sheffield we have a christening date.  I thought that Francis Wheelhouse only became involved with the spinning mill at Malew in 1780.  The birth and christening dates seem to fit very well, but I question whether Elizabeth was born in Malew rather than the more likely Sheffield.

In any case, it looks like the Elizabeth Wheelhouse who was baptized in 1760 in Sheffield really did marry Mr. de la Pryme and therefore would not be available to marry Thomas Barker in 1788.  Another hypothesis fails the test.

There are some additional unattached Wheelhouses in Sheffield.[44]  At St. Peter’s Cathedral Sheffield we see several spellings of the name: Woolehouse is very common, Whoolhouse, Wolhhouse, Whelis and Willis.  There is a Joh’es Woolehouse christened on 14 Jun 1663 at St. Peter’s Sheffield, the son of Francis Woolehous.  His sister, Martha Woolehouse is christened 4 April 1660 at the same place.  It looks like there are deeper Wheelhouse roots in Sheffield, and Francis is a popular name in that family.

There is the Elizabeth Wheelhouse who was baptized 20 May 1753 at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Sheffield, the daughter of John Wheelhouse.  The fate of this Elizabeth (1753) is unknown to me, and her birth year does not line up with the calculated birth year of my Elizabeth Wheelhouse, which is 1759.  It is likely that Elizabeth (1753) would have been too old to be the wife of my Thomas Barker.  This John Wheelhouse also had two other daughters:  Sarah (chr. 1755) who likely married Andrew Berwick in 1775, and Mary (1754).[45]  I have nothing further at present to follow with this family.

Concluding Observations: where to move forward from here

We have looked at four plausible Wheelhouse groups—Snaith, York, Leeds and Sheffield—and none of these lines of investigation so far have brought me to my Elizabeth Wheelhouse (1759-1814) who married in 1788 to Thomas Barker of Rotherham. 

I am aware of all the Wheelhouses in the Halifax and Spofforth areas, but my clues don’t lead me to those areas.  My clues may be wrong.  Perhaps Rawcliffe is a mistake for Lightcliffe or Radcliffe or something else.  I could try other spelling variations of Rawcliffe.  I could look for Wheelhouses in Derbyshire, which is just south of Rotherham.  I could check Rawcliffe in Lancashire.  There is a Betty Wheelas baptized 10 June 1759 at Fewston, Yorkshire, the daughter of George Wheelas.  She died a month later.  The names Betty and Elizabeth are sometimes interchangeable.  The Fewston Wheelhouses can be found submitted by several people on ancestry.com’s Member Trees.  Fewston is close to Otley, Ilkley and Kirby Overblow, and not so far from High and Low Bishopside (next to Pateley Bridge), and all of these places have Wheelhouses as well.

There may be other parishes around Rotherham which are not in the old IGI, but it looks like most of them are included.   I did a radius search using maps.familysearch.org for all the parishes within five or six miles of Rotherham, then I check the Library Catalog and Phillimore’s Atlas & Index of Parish Registers to see which ones had been extracted and should be on the IGI.  The great majority are on the IGI.   It looks like Greasbrough begins in 1747 and the film is available, but the IGI begins in 1768.  I did not find any Wheelhouses in Greasbrough from 1747 to 1767.  Sheffield St. Paul starts in 1768 but the IGI begins in 1793, and there are problems with the online catalog.  I did not check Sheffield St. Paul because I am interested in christenings before 1768.  In Derbyshire, Eckington microfilms run from 1559 to 1997, but the IGI only starts in 1800.  I was surprised to found two Wheelhouse families having children in Eckington, that of George Wheelhouse and his likely wife Rebecca Darby (married 1743 in Peak Forest, Derbyshire), and William Wheelhouse and his wife Mary White (married 7 Jan. 1749/1750 in Eckington).  I checked from 1750 to 1763 and neither one of them had an Elizabeth.  Each had several children, though.

FindMyPast and ancestry.com have Yorkshire church Wheelhouse records available in addition to what is found in the Historic Records on Familysearch.org.  There are 7,843 Wheelhouse ‘hits’ on FamilySearch.org, but many are repeated records.  There are 65 christening hits and 64 marriage hits for Wheelhouse and Yorkshire on ancestry.com beginning in 1538, but again there is some duplication of names listed as a child and as a parent.  On the Origins.net I looked at Yorkshire Marriage Bond (1613-1839) and the Prerogative & Exchequer Court of York Probate Index (1688-1858) as well as the York Peculiars Probate Index (1383-1883).  I see 60 Wheelhouse records in the Parish Record Collection (1538-2005) for Yorkshire’s West Riding alone on FindMyPast.co.uk, but as of now there are no hits for North Riding and East Riding.  In a similar record collection of marriages on ancestry.com there are 108 Wheelhouse marriage hits, and 262 death/burial hits for all ridings.  There are 6,366 hits on The Genealogist.co.uk website for Wheelhouse and Yorkshire.  It appears to be too much to try to trace all the Wheelhouse families of Yorkshire, but I hope my research has added something that may help other people.

There are also lots of Wheelhouses in ancestry.com’s Member Trees, and familysearch.org’s Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File, and with Geni.com and other online sites.  I’ve looked some of these families over, but certainly could do so in more detail. 

The surname Wheelhouse generally comes from the West Riding of Yorkshire.  There was a Willelmus de Whelehous, carpenter, in 1379 in York.  It must come from a person who lived or worked around a water or milling wheel[46]. 

I’m hoping this blog helps inspire further research into the Wheelhouse family, and that someday we will find the family of origin for the Elizabeth Wheelhouse (1759-1814) who married Thomas Barker in Rotherham in 1788.  

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[1] According to a post on Rootschat (http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,538094.0.html)  by “youngtug,” dated Saturday 11 June 11, “The Latin for lead is plumbum, hence a plumber is a worker in lead.”  “The Glazier would mean that he fitted glass in windows, it had always been a plumbers job because the glass was held in with lead . . ..”  Plumbers made and fixed lead items like pipes, gutters, roofing, etc.  There is a classic essay called “The Plumber” by Anthony Trollope, published in 1880, in which he describes the unfortunate reliance on plumbers to keep your kitchens and roofs in good repair.  See http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/The-Plumber-by-Anthony-Trollope.htm

[2] Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811 (Found on ancestry.com)

20 Oct. 1774 John Walton of Rotherham in Co. York, plumber & glazier [is master], Thomas Barker [apprentice]

[3] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds_and_Liverpool_Canal

[4] Rotherham Metropolitan Borough, Archives and Local Studies Section (213/C/30/9)

[5] Rotherham Metropolitan Borough, Archives and Local Studies Section (213/C/30/10)

[6] According to “The London Journal of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures, and Repertory of Patent Inventions”, conducted by Mr. W. Newton of the Office for Patents, Chancery Lane, vol. XLIII (conjoined series), London, 1853: New Patents Sealed under Patent Law Amendment Act, 1853, page 464, #1079. Thomas Chambers and John Chambers, of the Thorncliffe Iron Works, near Sheffield, for certain improvements in kitchen sinks.—May 3.  This is a Google book.

[7] Rotherham Metropolitan Borough, Archives and Local Studies Section (213/C/30/11)

[8] Rotherham Metropolitan Borough, Archives and Local Studies Section (213/C/91/29)

[9] www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

[10] Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, by John Marius Wilson, 1870-1872, published by A. Fullarton &Co., Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Dublin, and New York.  Vol. V, page 678 for Rawcliffe.

[11] Film 1912283, item 15 includes transcripts of baptisms 1692-1911, marriages 1689-1804, and burials 1753-1811.

[12] Transcript of baptisms, 1559-1901, marriages 1537-1871 is on film 1,912,294; the actual manuscript church registers baptisms 1727-1785 is on film 1,912,284 items 7 – 9.

[13] www.familysearch.org

[14] GS film #98543  (GS=Genealogical Society of Utah, now known as FamilySearch.)

[15] The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England), Friday, 26 Dec. 1879 (issue 4631) has her death notice.

[16] According to The Hull Packet and East Riding Times (Hull, England) for Friday, 8 Dec. 1882 (issue 5121), William was knighted at Snaith by Queen Victoria “on occasion of the opening of the new courts of law.”  An article reviewing the achievements and death of Sir William is found in The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Tuesday, March 9, 1866 (issue 14950).  It says he remained a bachelor his whole life. 

[17] The Times, Monday, 12 April 1909 (issue 38931).  This is an article on his life and work, not just a simple death notice.

[18] Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, by John Marius Wilson, 1870-1872, published by A. Fullarton &Co., Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Dublin, and New York.  Vol. V, page 519 for St. Olave-Mary-Gate.

[19] GS film #990913  Entries run from Lady Day (March 25^th or  the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin)1757 to Lady Day 1758, then starts again with Lady Day 1760 to Lady Day 1761. 

[20] From ancestry.com I found Part II: The registers of the Parish of St. Michael Le Belfrey, York:

Vol. II, page 162: William Laverick of St. Maurice parish & Mary Wheelhouse of this parish (otp), by banns, 5 May 1734

Vol. I, page 27: Alison Wheelus, age about 1 year, buried 13 Aug. 1578

Vol. I, page 35: Anne Smyth als Wheelus, begotten by one John Smyth with one Alice Wheelus, chr. 15 Feb 1581/1582

From familysearch.org I found in the Historical Records (GS film #990913):

Charles Wheelhouse married 1788 Mary Wilkinson  [See main text for details.]

William Wheelhouse of Knaresborough, grocer, married 1 Nov 1808 Elizabeth Horseman, otp, spinster, by license.

[21] York Marriage Bonds and Allegations Index, 1613-1839, is found at www.origins.net.

[22] Holy Trinity Goodramgate, York:

Edmund Aspinall of Abberford, gardener, & Catherine Wheelhouse of Delpike par., by license.  3 Feb. 1779 by T. P.  Witns. Edward Marsh and John Aspinall

Edward Marsh, brazier, & Mary Wheelhouse, spr., both of Delpike par., by license, 15 Jan. 1782 by R. F.  Witns. Charles Wheelhouse, Robert Marshall

[23] Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York:

Wheelhouse, Elizabeth of York, Yorkshire.  Proved May 1784.  Will, vol. 128, folio 158, GS film #99745:

She is a widow of the City of York.  Her will is written 10 Jan. 1781.  She is owned £450 by Christopher Shutt of Ryhill in Holderness, on death of Frances Wright of Hedon in Holderness.  It refers to an indenture dated 2 Nov. 1765. Her daughter is Catherine Aspinwell.  Her sons are Charles and James Wheelhouse.  She also has a daughter Mary Wheelhouse.

[24] Exchequer Court of the Archbishop of York:

Wheelhouse, Robert of Hedon, Yorkshire.  Admons. Oct. 1762.  Vol. 106, f. ?.  (It is not on GS film #99724 because it is an administration rather than a will.)

[25] After 1586 St. Olave’s-Marygate was combined with St. Giles to form St. Olave-with-St. Giles.  This is according to the Family History Library Catalog on www.familysearch.org

[26] For St. Olave with St. Giles’ York, christenings, marriages and burials from 1626 to 1822 see GS film #990878.

[27] For St. Olave’s-Marygate, York, 1538-1900, baptisms, burials and marriages for 1538 to 1770 are on GS film #1068539 items 6-12.  I searched for Wheelhouses from 1755 to 1766 and did not find any.

[28] The Parish Register of St. Olave, York: 1650-1785.  Issued to Subscribers by The Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Parish Register Section, 1993.  Its call number in the Family History Library is: BRITISH 942.74 k25pr v. 158.  The record was transcribed by Norman Bedford Pace and it was edited by Barbara Whitehead.  It contains on page xv a very nice map of the parishes surrounding the City of York.

[29] In this book we also see:

Married April 25, 1757 (Banns Mar 27, Apr 10, 24 JB):

William Dickenson, bach, pa St Michael le Belfrey York and Martha Graves spr otp, by JB, he signs [Will Dickseon] she marks, W: Richard Hargitt, Elizabeth Wheelhouse.

[30] Parish Chest Records, 1719-1901 for Church of England, St. Olave with St. Giles’ Church (York, Yorkshire), GS film #210485, items 5-8).

[31] An example from St. Peter’s Leeds is the christening of Aaron Wheelehouse on 30 March 1672, the son of John.

[32] In Origins.net, National Wills Index, from the British Record Society Probate Collection (1320-1858), as part of the “Records found Wills in the York Registry, 1681-1688 – YAS vol. 89” is:

Jan. 21, 1685.  Wheelhouse, John, Garforth, Prob. Act. Fol. 257, Ainsty, bC …  [Garforth is immediately above Kippax and below Aberford, and east of Leeds, Seacroft and Whitkirk.

Also, in Origins.net, York Marriage Bonds and Allegations Index, 1613-1839, there is the marriage of Robert Wheelhouse, age 38, of Aberford, Yorkshire, and Sarah Ward, 38, of Sherburn, Yorkshire.  The bond and allegation is dated 22 July 1819. 

We’ve already seen how the Wheelhouses of Rawcliffe near Snaide go back to Kippax.  Remember the marriage in Whitkirk of James Wheelhouse of Kippax to Hannah Farrer of Whitkirk on 1 May 1774.

[33] Wheelhouses in other City of York parishes:

Joseph Whelhous married 27 Dec. 1708 at St. Savior’s York to Elizabeth Priston

Richard Wilson married 1792 at St. Savior’s York to Elizabeth Wheelhous

John Wheelous married 2 Nov. 1703 at All Saints North Street, York to Mary Towler

Joh’es Smyth married 1 Feb. 1639 at St. Denis, York to Maria Whealhus

Thomas Sanderson (bn. 1753) married 1 March 1774 in York to Elizabeth Wheelhouse (bn. 1753).  [So we need to find possibly two Elizabeth Wheelhouses in the York area who were born about the same time, mine and this one, but of course my Elizabeth may not even be from the York area, so maybe just one Elizabeth needs to be found to go with Mr. Sanderson.]

Martin Wheelhouse married 12 May 1718 at Holy Trinity Micklegate, York to Elizabeth Smith.  There is of course the Martin Wheelhouse who is buried at St. Olave’s York on 9 Nov. 1744.  [Interestingly, the 2 Jan. 1706/07 will of another Martin Wheelhouse of Bishopside, Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire (in Ripon parish), mentions his nephew Martin Wheelhouse (possibly the one marrying in 1718?), so there may be a link here taking us back to Ripon parish.  Pateley Bridge became its own parish in 1811 from Ripon parish, but it is a considerable distance north of the Leeds area, and considerably northwest of the York city area.  So it looks like this Martin who died about 1707 is probably unconnected to the Martin of 1718 and 1744, but it is still possible.]

Elizabeth Wheelhouse is buried 13 Feb. 1782 at Holy Trinity, York

Mary Wheelhouse from Lop Lane, Holy Trinity, York is buried 26 Jan. 1787

Charles Wheelhouse is buried 26 March 1790 at Holy Trinity.  [We are aware of the Charles Wheelhouse who is living in 1782.]

[34] See the Geni submission by Catarina Wheelhouse, dated 20 May 2010.  Someone named Chris Aspin (2010) has written letters by Francis Wheelhouse (1733-1814).  Also, see www.isle-of-man.com under Ballasalla Cotton Spinning Mill of Malew.  http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/21422056/person/1080869501 for Francis Wheelhouse (1733-1814).

[35] Francis Wheelhouse baptized 9 Jun 1758 at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Sheffield, the son of Francis Wheelhouse

[By the way, there is the York 7 July 1725 marriage between Francis Wheelhouse and Jane Pearson, but York is quite a bit north of Sheffield so not likely.]

Francis Wheelhouse, son of Francis Wheelhouse, chr. 18 Dec. 1780 at Malew, Isle of Man.

[I wonder if the first Francis (1758) could be the father of the second Francis (1780), but this family’s connection with the Isle of Man and with Lisbon, Portugal makes it hard to see how they fit together.  Having three Francises in a row also makes it hard.]

[36] Abraham de la Pryme was chr. 18 Feb. 1758 in Sheffield and died 13 Jan. 1825 in Liverpool.  His father was James de la Pryme who married in the Cathedral in Manchester to Elizabeth Greatrex (born 1730) on 15 Jan. 1755.  The Cheshire Marriage Bond and Allegation, 1606-1900, is dated 13 Jan. 1755 and indicates that he is from Sheffield, and she is from Manchester.

Abraham (1758-1825) had a brother James de la Pryme (1755-1828) and another brother (his twin) Francis de la Pryme (1758-1803).  [Francis (1758-1803) first married on 4 Nov. 1782 in Braddan, Isle of Man to Jane Cosnahan (dtr. of Joseph Cosnahan, Vicar of Braddan).  Francis married secondly to Hester Geneste of Douglas (dtr. of Lewis Geneste), Isle of Man.]

[37] Anne Barker, chr. 7 Nov. 1763 at Chilbam, Kent, and died 18 Nov. 1811, age 48, in Lisbon, and buried St. George’s British cemetery, Lisbon.

[38] Francis Wheelhouse chr. 18 Dec. 1780 in Malew, Isle of Man and died 6 Feb. 1841 and buried in Lisbon. 

[39] Abraham Wheelhouse born 1782 in Malew and died 9 March 1855 at Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, Lisbon.  He married 3 April 1819 in Lisbon to Elizabeth Oom (1789 Lisbon—1868 Lisbon).  Their son George Abraham Oom Wheelhouse (1819 Lisbon—1888 Lisbon) married Rose Guistiani (died 1910).  Their daughter Georgina Henriqueta Oom Wheelhouse (1824 Portugal—30 Jan. 1896 Portugal) married José Joaquim Almeida Lima.

[40] http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/21422056/person/1080869501 records Elizabeth (1760) as the half-sister of Francis Wheelhouse (II) (1733-1814).

[41] I have not found a document with Emma’s name to verify that she is a first marriage of Francis.  They may have married in 1752.  One would expect this Emma to have died before Francis (II) was available to marry again in 1780.

[42] Elizabeth de la Pryme (8 Jan 1784 at Kirk Malew).  Mary de la Pryme (26 Nov. 1789 and christened 13 Jan. 1790 at Malew—6 Apr. 1864 Kirk Malew) and married George Hilton.

[43] http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/21422056/person/1080869501 submitted by Alfred_Honey.

[44] Additional unattached Wheelhouses in Sheffield:

John Wolhouse (bn. 1786) married 15 Dec. 1807 in Sheffield to Hannah Haywood

John Wheelhouse married 14 Feb. 1804 at the Cathedral of St. Peter’s, Sheffield to Mary Bright

Robert Wheelhouse married 30 May 1803 at the Cathedral of St. Peter’s, Sheffield to Ann Holdsworth

Thomas Wheelhouse married 15 July 1793 at the Cathedral of St. Peter’s, Sheffield to Mary West

Elizabeth (bn. 1806—buried 6 Feb. 1870) the wife of Thomas Wheelhouse (bn. 1810—buried 2 Oct. 1870).  Both buried in St. Philip parish, Sheffield.

[45] Additional daughters of John Wheelhouse:

Sarah Wheelhouse chr. 26 Nov. 1755 at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Sheffield, and possibly married 28 May 1775 in the same place to Andrew Berwick

Mary Wheelhouse chr. 7 Jun 1754 at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Sheffield.

[46] See A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames by Charles Wareing Bardsley, Genealogical Publishing co., Inc., 1980, p. 805.  Also, A Dictionary of British Surnames by P. H. Reaney, published by Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1958, p. 349.  Also, A Dictionary of Surnames by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges, published Oxford University Press, p. 573.