Heroes and Rebels in the Family Tree—Hannah Sheldrake

 

Hannah Sheldrake

At the age of about 48, Nelson Wooltorton (1805-1870) married a very young (18) bride, Hannah Sheldrake, who was herself one of 16 children from the neighbouring village of Alburgh. In 17 years of matrimonial bliss Nelson and Hannah had 9 children! [James Wooltorton was born in 1855 and died at age 6 months] Nelson appeared in 1861, aged 56, with Hannah his 26 years old wife and 4 children aged 8 and under; 10 years later and poor Hannah Wooltorton at age 35 was a widow with 4 more children added to the 4 she already had! Her husband, agricultural labourer Nelson had died in January 1870, aged 65.

In the 1871 census Hannah was described as a pauper-- not too surprisingly with 8 children  in the household, only one of whom was bringing in a wage.  

Hannah’s oldest son William Wooltorton, the lad who was bringing in the only family income in 1871, was born 9 months prior to the marriage of Hannah and Nelson. He was baptized on September 21, 1856 in the Parish Church in Alburgh, Norfolk and Nelson and Hannah are listed as the parents. Up until the age of 18, he was listed in the British census as William Wooltorton.  Sometime after his 18^th birthday, William began using the name William Sheldrake and did so the remainder of his life.  It is unknown whether the stigma of his father’s name Wooltorton from the trial and hanging of Nelson’s mother Elizabeth Cully may have caused him to change his name. [Elizabeth Wooltorton nee Culley was tried and found guilty for the attempted poisoning of her uncle Tifford Clarke, and death of Mr. Clarke’s servant’s son.  Nelson was only 10 years old at the time, but he became infamous at the trial as he testified that he carried the poisoned food to his uncle Clarke’s home.] William is not known to have married and he lived with his mother throughout the remainder of her life. 

George, aged 20, was the second eldest son at home in this 1881 census; 4 years later he was in court for assaulting Herbert Whitehead. The Whiteheads, whilst not as bad as the Skinners, the Calvers, the Seamans or the Oakleys were reasonably well known in the Harleston courts and judging by the turn-out at the funeral of a Mrs Whitehead, which seemed to consist largely of Whiteheads and Wooltortons, this sounds like a family scrap that got out of hand. Our lad got off free, case dismissed!

In the 1891 and 1901census, Hannah Sheldrake was living with William and her grandson Arthur.  Arthur was the base-born son of Hannah’s youngest daughter Mary Ann Wooltorton, who was 19 years old at the time of Arthur’s birth.  Some family tree’s show his father to be William Charles Smith, but none provide documentation to substantiate that claim.  In any case, Mary Ann was listed as a 27-year old spinster at the time of her marriage to Alfred Catchpole on December 25, 1896.  At no time before or after her marriage was Arthur known to live with his mother.  Hannah Sheldrake continued to raise Arthur until he was old enough to join the military where he served as a Lance Corporal in the 2^nd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment.  He served alongside his cousins Private Benjamin Christopher Wooltorton and Corporal Ernest Robert Wooltorton throughout the Great War. Obviously influenced by his many uncles, who had also served, particularly his uncles Command Sergeant Major Charles Wooltorton and Robert Jeremiah Wooltorton. By the time of Arthur’s marriage, to Ellen Elizabeth Ogilvie on November 3, 1915, he was 27 years old and still serving as a soldier in the military.  He listed his father as Charles Wooltorton who was, in fact, his mother’s step-brother.

Having lost her husband back in 1870, it seems Hannah had been finding some comfort and support elsewhere in the intervening years. After all, Hannah was a young woman in her early 30’s when Nelson died so perhaps it is not too surprising that after she became a widow, she added three more children to her clutch, making a total of 11 children.

In 1887, one of these post bereavement babies, Henry then aged 13, helped himself to the watch belonging to the Alburgh Blacksmith. An expensive item silver watch, valued at 30s, it was kept hanging on the wall of the blacksmith shop. Eventually confessing to the local constable, Henry got 6 strokes of the birch for his opportunistic theft.  In the end, Harry Henry Wooltorton grew up and served in the Royal Garrison Artillery serving honorably through the Great War earning the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service.

By 1901, Hannah Sheldrake (having added a few years to her age and now stating herself to be 70) was described as suffering from Parkinson’s Palsy. In spite of this, this very impressive lady won here self a nice cash prize of 7s 6d for having the second, best garden in Denton in 1894! Her son, William Sheldrake, still single, was still at home looking after his mother with the help of a housekeeper, Agnes Lighting, whilst her grandson, 12 years old Arthur Wooltorton was also in the household.  Hannah Sheldrake died in Denton, Norfolk on January 22, 1903 at the age of 66 years.

Hannah and Nelson Wooltorton’s son George, lost his son during the Great War when he was killed in the battle of Shaiba, Basra, Mesopotamia (currently Iraq).  Corporal Ermest Robert Wooltorton died on April 14, 1915. George stayed in the area of Denton and worked, as was almost inevitable, on the land as his father had done before him.