Of the four sets of my Maternal Great Great Grandparents, two names remain missing: those of the father of my Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Ann Waddington, and the father of her husband, Joseph Jolly (but Joseph's story can be told another time). For a while, I couldn't ascertain who Elizabeth Ann's mother was either, though I had a strong suspicion. Eventually my suspicion proved to be correct.
Ellen Waddington was born in Wheelton on July 8th, 1841. Her father was Thomas Waddington born August 27th, 1811 in Heapey, and her mother was Jane Gabbott, born November 13th, 1809, in Whittle-le-Woods. Thomas and Jane were married on March 1st, 1840, and had just three daughters: Mary, born April 3rd, 1840; Ellen; and Jane, born February 21st, 1845.
The Waddingtons were cotton mill workers, and moved around the Chorley area presumably as their employment dictated. In the 1841 Census, Thomas, Jane and Mary were living in Bank Row, Wheelton. Thomas was recorded as a Cotton Weaver, and Jane shows no occupation, probably busy enough looking after baby Mary, just one year old. Ten years later, the 1851 Census shows the Waddingtons living at Malt House Cottages in Wheelton. Both Thomas and Jane are shown as Hand Loom Cotton Weavers, daughters Mary, 10, Ellen, 9, and Jane, 6, are recorded as Scholars.
I haven't been able to establish exactly where Malt House Cottages were, but I suspect that they may have been somewhere near, or part of, what is now Malthouse Farm, Whittle-le-Woods, beside the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, and closer to the township of Wheelton than Whittle. Many villages had Malt Houses, where malt was stored and processed for the making of ale, which people drank throughout the day largely because it was safer to drink than water. Today there is little obvious evidence of 19th Century mill activity in this area, but in the 1850's cotton and other mills were prolific along the canalside. It is also possible that Malt House Cottages refers to another place, where we find the Waddingtons ten years later.
The 1861 Census shows the Waddingtons' address as simply "Wallcroft" in Wheelton, and details occupants of three dwellings. Today, Wallcroft Farm is just outside Wheelton township. The farmhouse was built in the late 1500's, and for many years was known as Wallcroft Farmhouse, Malt Farmhouse, and other names, and eventually became most commonly known as just Wallcroft. In the early 1600's Wallcroft was the home of St. Edmund Arrowsmith, a Catholic Priest who was arrested in 1628 for being just that, and was subsequently hung, drawn and quartered at Lancaster. Wallcroft fell into disrepair for many years but was purchased in the 1790's* and renovations began, the new owner focusing the works on the five bedroom farmhouse, converting it into three separate houses (*see footnote below). Living at Wallcroft in 1861 were Thomas and Jane, both recorded as hand loom cotton weavers, and their three daughters, Mary now 21, Ellen now 19, and Jane now 16, all recorded as Power Loom Cotton Weavers. Also living with them was Elizabeth Ann Waddington, age 1, whose relation to Head Of Household (Thomas) was recorded as "Grand-daughter", born in Blackburn.
The Waddingtons made their way into Chorley sometime over the next ten years, and in 1871 we find them at 40 Livesey Street, Chorley. In the house on census night were Ellen and her parents, Thomas and Jane (listed as Jenny), Elizabeth Ann, now 11 and at school, and Lucy Ellen Hodkinson, age 1, listed as Thomas' Grand-daughter also. Thomas was working as a Cotton Twister, and 'Jenny' has no occupation. Ellen, now 29, was still single and working as a cotton weaver. Ellen's sister Mary had married Grimshaw Hodkinson on October 12th, 1865, and was now living in Heywood. As well as Lucy Ellen, Mary and Grimshaw had two boys, Thomas age 5 and James age 3, and I suspect Lucy Ellen was probably just visiting her Grandparents on census night. Two female boarders were also listed in the household, but I haven't been able to find young Jane Waddington in the 1871 census.
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| Part of Livesey Street, Chorley, pretty much as I remember it. Image Courtesy Of Lancashire Lantern (Permission Pending) |
The 1881 census shows the Waddingtons as having moved again, and they are now living at 50 Bengal Street, Chorley. Thomas and Jane (this time shown as Janet) appear to have retired, and Ellen, now 39, is still single, and still working as a cotton weaver, as is Elizabeth Ann, now 21. Also in the house is Mary's sixth child, Mary Jane Hodkinson. The only trace I've been able to find of Jane, now 36, is a Census report of a Jane Waddington, single, 36, weaver, living as a boarder at 9 Pickup Street in Blackburn. The birthplace of this Jane Waddington, however, is shown as Blackburn, not Hoghton, so it's hard to be sure.
On June 3rd, 1882, Ellen married William Gregson, a sizer from Primrose Street, born in Preston in 1834. Less than a year later, on February 15th, 1883, Ellen's father, Thomas Waddington, passed away at the age of 71. It would seem the Waddingtons had moved yet again by this time, as the Probate Calendar records Thomas as "late of 36 Bengal St, Chorley", not number 50. It was not unusual for people to move just a few doors away if a better house became available to rent. According to the Probate Calendar, Ellen and William were now living at 42 Brown St, Chorley, a house I used to walk past almost daily as a child, never knowing it was once the home of my Great Great Grandmother.
In 1891 William and Ellen Gregson were living at 64 Starcliffe Street, Great Lever, Bolton. William was recorded as a Cotton Yarn Sizer, and no occupation was recorded for Ellen. Over the next few years William and Ellen moved to number 99 Starcliffe Street, where they ran a confectionery shop. On September 11th, 1909, William passed away, leaving his effects of £162 11s. 6d to Ellen.
Following the death of her husband William, Ellen moved back to Chorley, I believe to live with her daughter, Elizabeth Ann, who had been married to Joseph Jolly since about 1885 (estimated) and had a son, Fred, my Grandfather, born in 1889. In the 1901 Census they were living at 210 Eaves Lane, Chorley, but I suspect that in 1910 they were living at 33 Stump Lane. Just six months after the death of her husband, Ellen Gregson, nee Waddington, passed away at the age of 67.
On June 3rd, 1882, Ellen married William Gregson, a sizer from Primrose Street, born in Preston in 1834. Less than a year later, on February 15th, 1883, Ellen's father, Thomas Waddington, passed away at the age of 71. It would seem the Waddingtons had moved yet again by this time, as the Probate Calendar records Thomas as "late of 36 Bengal St, Chorley", not number 50. It was not unusual for people to move just a few doors away if a better house became available to rent. According to the Probate Calendar, Ellen and William were now living at 42 Brown St, Chorley, a house I used to walk past almost daily as a child, never knowing it was once the home of my Great Great Grandmother.
In 1891 William and Ellen Gregson were living at 64 Starcliffe Street, Great Lever, Bolton. William was recorded as a Cotton Yarn Sizer, and no occupation was recorded for Ellen. Over the next few years William and Ellen moved to number 99 Starcliffe Street, where they ran a confectionery shop. On September 11th, 1909, William passed away, leaving his effects of £162 11s. 6d to Ellen.
Following the death of her husband William, Ellen moved back to Chorley, I believe to live with her daughter, Elizabeth Ann, who had been married to Joseph Jolly since about 1885 (estimated) and had a son, Fred, my Grandfather, born in 1889. In the 1901 Census they were living at 210 Eaves Lane, Chorley, but I suspect that in 1910 they were living at 33 Stump Lane. Just six months after the death of her husband, Ellen Gregson, nee Waddington, passed away at the age of 67.
What led me to believe that Ellen was Elizabeth Ann's mother was the Waddington Bible. This bible was among the possessions of my Grandmother, Alice Winifred Jolly (nee Cooper) when she died in 1988. 
The first page (with any writing) has the name THOMAS WADDINGTON boldly hand written across it (and sadly mis-spelt). So it's pretty clear that this bible, printed in 1842, originally belonged to Thomas Waddington.
Elizabeth Ann Waddington appears in the censuses of 1861, 1871, and 1881 at the home of Thomas Waddington, and as his Grand-Daughter. I have found neither evidence nor suggestion that Thomas had any sons - he only had his three daughters, Mary, Ellen and Jane. The next page in the book suggests that after Thomas died in 1882, the bible went to Ellen's husband, because his name appears at the top of page, with Ellen's married name beneath. In addition, we found a loose, torn page from another bible inside the bible, with the rest of the family names and birthdates written on it, including Ellen as Waddington, and Eliz(abeth) Ann.
So after Thomas's death this bible moved from Bengal Street to Brown Street, the home of Ellen and William. Now Mary was a year older than Ellen, and could be Elizabeth Ann's mother also, but in 1865 Mary had married Grimshaw Hodkinson, and they went on to have a total of seven children, the first being born in 1866. It seems less than likely that Mary would have had Elizabeth Ann, and left her with Thomas and Jane to marry Grimshaw. Given that in two of the census reports one of two of Mary's children appear to be staying at Thomas's house, there doesn't seem to have been any kind of rift, in which Mary might have abandoned her child and gone off to marry Grimshaw Hodkinson.
Jane Waddington wasn't quite 15 when Elizabeth Ann was born, and by 1871, now 26, she doesn't appear in the Waddingtons' census reports. And as promiscuous as these Victorian English people evidently were, it would have been quite exceptional to fall pregnant as young as 14.
That left Ellen. Ellen was the only one of Thomas' daughters to not leave home in her 20's. Ellen stayed with her parents (and single) until she was almost 41 years old, when she married William Gregson. By this time, Elizabeth Ann was 22 years old and working. And now the clincher: when William Gregson died Ellen returned to Chorley from Bolton, and six months later she also died. The Burial Record from the Parish of Heapey reads "Ellen Gregson, 33 Stump Lane, Chorley". I have in my possession this wallet:
The writing in the wallet clearly says "F JOLLY, 33 Stump Lane, CHORLEY". What this tells us is that Fred Jolly, Elizabeth Ann's son and my Grandfather, was, at some point, living at 33 Stump Lane, where Ellen was living when she died. Fred would have been about 20 when Ellen died and in the 1911 Census he was at St Mark's College in Chelsea, London. Note the printed label/sticker that was inside the wallet. This all led me to believe that at the time Ellen died, Elizabeth Ann and Joseph were living at 33 Stump Lane, and although Fred was probably away most of the time, this was also his home address.
Ellen Waddington fell pregnant around May 1859, at the naughty age of just 17. On February 8th 1860, at age 18, she gave birth to Elizabeth Ann Waddington. The father either didn't want to stick around and marry her, or possibly she didn't want him to. Ellen committed herself to her daughter and her family and worked and raised Elizabeth Ann, remaining single until her child reached adulthood. Only then did Ellen commit to a relationship with a man, William Gregson, marry and move away from her parents and her daughter. When Thomas Waddington died, the family bible was passed to William Gregson. Ellen and William never had any other children, and when William died, Ellen returned (with the bible) to her only child, now Elizabeth Ann Jolly, and lived out the last few months of her life in her daughter's home. The bible remained with Elizabeth Ann and Joseph Jolly until it was, in turn, passed on to Fred Jolly, their only child.
Eventually I was able to get hold of Elizabeth Ann's Birth Cerificate, which proved my theory to be correct. Ellen Waddington gave birth to Elizabeth Ann at 64 King Street, Blackburn.
Ellen Gregson, nee Waddington, was buried in the Parish of Heapey on March 12th, 1910.
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Footnote: Wallcroft - an article in a Wikipedia Mirror Site states that the Farmhouse was built in 1590, whereas the Heritage Listing says "Later C17". The article also says that the conversion to 3 houses took place in the 1970's. I believe this to be a typing error, and that it should read 1790's. The article goes on to say that [after the renovations] the property again fell into disrepair, and that much of the land at the front of Wallcroft was sold off for the A674 by-pass road linking the M61 and M65 motorways. The A674 was built around the same time as the M61, which was opened in 1970. It follows, therefore, that if falling into disrepair and the sell-off of the land happened before the building of the M61 and A674, the renovations could not have been done in the 1970's. The Heritage Listing says "altered and enlarged in late C18 or early C19" which backs up my theory of the "typo".
In the 1861 Census, three households are recorded at Wallcroft, including that of the Waddingtons.
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