The Whatmore families of Ludlow Part 2 - John Watmore and Elizabeth Ward
The second of the children of William Watmore and his wife Catherine Butcher to take up the new opportunities available in the town of Ludlow was John Watmore, born 1776 at Stottesdon.
John Watmore married Elizabeth Ward on 18 February 1797 at Ashford Carbonell near Ludlow. They lived in Raven Lane, Ludlow, where John was a Shoemaker. Elizabeth died aged 64 in November 1836 and John moved into the Hosiers Almshouses next to St Laurence’s Church and he remained there for the rest of his life. He died there aged 80 in 1856.
John and Elizabeth Whatmore had a large family of children all baptised in Ludlow. They were Elizabeth 1797, Sarah 1799, Henry 1801, William 1803, Jemima 1804, John 1805, Ann 1807, Mary 1809, Edward 1811, Thomas 1813 and John 1815.
This fine drawing of Raven Lane, Ludow is by the artist William Albert Green. It is the copyright of his son Edwin Green by whose kind permission it is reproduced here. William Green was born in 1907 in Birmingham and moved to Ludlow in 1952 where he died in 1982. He worked in pencil and in water colour, but in later life he concentrated on pen and ink drawings. His life story can be read at this link, where there are more of his drawings and an opportunity to purchase copies: www.ewgreen.org.uk
We know more about some of the children of John and Elizabeth:
1. William Whatmore, born 1803, son of John and Elizabeth, married Mary Jones on 27 June 1832 at Ludlow. They lived at Ludlow until at least 1855 where William worked as an agricultural labourer. By 1861 they had moved to Ladywood, Birmingham where William was employed as a mason’s labourer. Their children, all born at Ludlow, were Ann 1833, Mary 1835, Elizabeth 1838, John Samuel 1840, William 1842, Edwin 1845, James 1847, Emma 1849, Herbert 1852 and Alice 1855.
Elizabeth Whatmore, daughter of William and Mary, born 1838 married Thomas Swain.
John Samuel Whatmore, son of William and Mary, born 1840 married Hannah James. They lived in Birmingham and at Hanley Castle and at Malvern. John Samuel is described in the censuses as a Baker, Confectioner and Bread and Biscuit maker. John Samuel died in 1917 in the Kings Norton Registration District and Hannah died the same year in the Birmingham Registration District. Their children were Alice Louisa Whatmore born 1874 who married Arthur Yates, George Frederick Whatmore born 1876, William John Whatmore born 1877 and Arthur Henry Whatmore born 1885.
Edwin Whatmore, son of William and Mary, born 1845 married Sarah Jane Cook in 1868. They lived at Leckhampton, Cheltenham where Edwin was a baker. Sarah Jane died in 1889 and Edwin remarried in 1893 to a Fanny. Edwin died, aged 56, in 1901. Edwin had three children by his first wife – Annie Whatmore 1870, William Whatmore 1873 who was a brass finisher and who married an Annie Manning, and Mary Whatmore 1877 who married a John William Stanton.
Herbert Whatmore, son of William and Mary, born 1852 was an Iron Roof Fitter and seems to have moved about a lot. In 1881 he was at Cliffe in Kent, in 1891 at Darlaston and in 1901 at Wednesbury. He married Esther Prentice in 1877 in the Bromsgrove Registration District. Herbert died in 1922 in the West Bromwich Registration District and Esther in 1930 in the Walsall registration District. Their children were William Whatmore 1879 and Amy Whatmore 1881.
2. Jemima Whatmore, born 1804, daughter of John and Elizabeth, had an illegitimate son George Whatmore, born at Ludlow in 1839 who died the same year. A Jemima Whatmore married in the Ludlow Registration District in September Quarter 1844. Since Jemima is an uncommon name in the Whatmore family, it would seem that this was the Jemima born in 1804. Her spouse would have been Thomas Colton, Henry Davies, Benjamin Powell or Thomas Rawlings. Unfortunately, in the 1851 census there is no Jemima with any of those surnames. There is however a Jemima Meredith of about the right age, married to a Thomas and living at Ludlow. The GRO shows that a Jemima Powell married a Thomas Powell in the Ludlow Registration District in March Quarter 1848. I suspect that our Jemima married Benjamin Powell, and when he died soon after the marriage, remarried to Thomas Meredith. Jemima Meredith died in the Ludlow Registration District in December Quarter 1870 and although her age at death of 55 doesn’t quite fit, Jemima Meredith is shown in the 1851 census as 45 which is a reasonable match for the Jemima born 1804. Perhaps she shed a few years as she got older!
Ludlow Painting by the Rev. Edward Williams Copyright: Shropshire Archives and reproduced here by their kind permission.
3. Edward Whatmore, born 1811, son of John and Elizabeth, married a Mary. They lived at various locations in Herefordshire and by 1861 had settled at Luston, where Edward was employed as a painter. Edward died at the age of 56 in 1866 and Mary died aged 62 in 1874.
The children of Edward and Mary were
Emma Whatmore 1838 who married someone with the surname Clayford and went to live in Marylebone, London,
Alfred Whatmore 1842 who married an Agnes and lived at Dorstone, Herefordshire and later at Bradford where Alfred worked as a railway porter. Their children were William Whatmore 1866, Clara Whatmore 1868 and Edwin Whatmore 1870);
Charles Whatmore 1846 who died in 1867,
Harriet Whatmore 1849,
Maria Whatmore 1852 and died the same year
Sophia Whatmore 1857.
4. Thomas Whatmore, born 1813, son of John and Elizabeth, married Sarah Yapp on 9 November 1840 at Leintwardine. In 1841 they were living at the New Inn, Cheney Longville and Thomas was working as a tailor. In 1851 Thomas and Sarah were at the Plough Inn, 17 Raven Lane, Ludlow, where Thomas was the innkeeper and also a tailor. By 1861, Thomas had been appointed as the Warden of Hosyers Almshouses in Ludlow, with Sarah as the Matron. Thomas and Sarah were still at the Almshouses in 1871. Thomas died in 1878 and Mary moved to nearby Stanton Lacey. She died in 1884. Thomas and Sarah had one child – Jane Whatmore, born 1841 at Wistanstow. She worked as a dressmaker and in 1881 she was at home aged 39, with her mother.
Hosyers Almshouses Ludlow Photograph by Peter Saunders and reproduced here by his kind permission
5. John Whatmore born 1815, son of John and Elizabeth, went down to London and married Maria Mudge in 1843 in the Kensington Registration District. In 1851 they were at Paddington and John was employed as a coachman. In 1861 John was lodging at St Leonards in Kent and working as a coachman. His wife was not with him and since she died the following year, it seems possible that she was a patient in a hospital somewhere. John remarried in 1863 in the Kensington Registration District to a Sarah Wren. In 1871 they were living at the Coach House, Addison Road, Kensington and they were still there in 1881. John died in 1890 in the Dartford Registration District, presumably at the home of his married daughter at Bexley Heath. Sarah died in 1919 in the St Olave Registration District (Southwark). John had no known children by his first wife. By his second wife he had Kate Elizabeth Whatmore born 1865 at Kensington who married Alfred Joseph Ebrey and lived at Bexley Heath, Kent.
Ludlow is one of the most beautiful towns of England. It has a huge ruined castle which was the headquarters of the Council of the Marches,many half timbered buildings and wealth of fine Georgian houses. It is also well known for quality of its restaurants.
Pictures of Ludlow can be found at these links:
http://www.teme-valley.co.uk/ludlow2.htm
http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk/shropshire/ludlow1.html