john thomas wade
John Thomas Wade was born in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire in 1855, the son of Benjamin Wade and Mary Ann Barker. He grew up in a large non-conformist family that attended the Ebenezer Baptist Chapel on Market Street. His father was wealthy enough to send John and his brother to the Turtan Hall boarding school in Gildersome near Leeds and after completing his studies, John returned to Hebden Bridge to work in the family business as a Wholesale Clothier. He married Eliza Mallandain in Hebden Bridge on 11 October 1876 and they had one daughter, Constance Mary.
john wade + betty
John's date of birth has not been confirmed but both the 1841 Census and the death registration list his year of birth as 1781. There are a number of possible baptism records but one in particular seems to be the best match> John, son of John Wade of Erringden was baptised at the Ebenezer Chapel in Heptonstall on 30 July 1781. Erringden was a small parish south-west of Hebden Bridge where most inhabitants were agricultural labourers who supplemented their incomes with hand loom weaving.
On 15 July 1804, John married Frances Morton at St John's Church in Halifax. The parish register lists his occupation as a Fustian Cutter and his place of residence as Erringden while Frances resided in Stansfield near Todmorden.Six children of the marriage have been confirmed to date but of these, only three survived infancy. Hannah Fielding was born in Stansfield on 16 November 1805 and the family was recorded as living on King Street.Mary was born on 21 September 1810 and when her birth was registerd in the records of the Ebenezer Chapel in Heptonstall, the family was still living on King Street in Stansfield and her father was employed as a Cotton Cutter. Their son James was born on 27 Jun 1812 and his birth registration at the Ebenezer Chapel listed the family's residence as 'Mytholm in Stansfield'.
Fanny Wade died on 19 May 1818 at their home on King Street in Stansfield aged 42 years. She was buried in the church yard at St Thomas a’ Becket in Heptonstall. Since Fanny was both married and buried according to the rites of the Church of England, it is assumed that she did not convert to the Baptist faith.
John married a second time, to Betty Maxwell, on 27 April 1819 in the established church of St John in Halifax. The register lists his occupation as a manufacturer and his residence as Stansfield while Betty lived in Wadsworth, north-east of Hebden Bridge. Betty was born in Sowerby near Halifax on 25 February 1795 to Homer Maxwell and Betty Jennings.
John and Betty had six children over the next 15 years. Their first, Elizabeth, was born in Mytholm on 30 January 1820, followed by Rebecca on 25 February 1821 at Mayroyd, John on 21 April 1823, Benjamin on 28 May 1826, Martha Hannah on 19 October 1829 and Thomas Homer on 3 March 1834 at Machpelah. Sadly, their daughter Martha died on 25 November 1837, aged only 8 years, and was buried in the graveyard at the Ebenezer Chapel.
In 1841, John and Betty were living in Machpelah near Hebdon Bridge along with six of their children. Their 18 year old son, John, was not living with and has not been located elsewhere in the census. John was employed as a Linen Draper and their 15 year old son Benjamin was working as a Joiner.
Five years later, the family suffered a double loss when John died on 17 March followed by daughter Hannah on 28 April. Both were buried in the family plot in the Ebenezer Chapel graveyard. Betty was still living in Machpelah in 1851 along with daughters Mary and Elizabeth. She was working as a draper so it appears she may have taken over John's business. Thirty-nine year old Mary was working as a straw bonnet manufacturer and Elizabeth was a milliner and dress maker. But by 1861, Betty have given up the draper's business and was instead working at a druggist on Bridge Lane in Heptonstall. Daugther Mary was still with her, employed as a dressmaker, and Betty had one assistant, George Smith.
Two years later, Betty died, on 12 May 1863, and was buried in the family plot at the Ebenezer Chapel. Mary returned to Machpelah and continued working as a dressmaker until her retirement sometime before the 1891 census.She died in Hebden Bridge on 23 May 1895, aged 85 years.
benjamin wade + mary ann barker
Benjamin Wade was born in Hebden Bridge in 1826. The Wades were non-conformists and worshipped at the local Baptist church at Wainsgate. Unfortunately, non-conformists records are not easily available and many details on the family remain unknown.
In the early months of 1851, Benjamin married Mary Ann Barker and by the time the census was taken on 30 March, they were living in ‘a part of Stephen Fawcett’s house’ in Machpelah and Benjamin was listed as a Cabinet Maker. Their first child, John Thomas, was born in 1855 followed by Emma in 1857 and Henry Barker in 1858. In 1861, they were still living in Machpelah and Benjamin was working as a Cotton Dyer, possibly with his wife’s famly. Benjamin later entered a partnership with his father-in-law Thomas Barker, his brother-in-law, also named Thomas, and a third man named James Chambers as fustian manufacturers and dyers. But by 1874, the partnership was dissolved and Benjamin and James Chambers carried on the business without the Barkers.
Shortly after the census, they welcomed son Arthur Clement but he died on 23 March 1866, just before his fifth birthday. One month after Arthur’s death, their daughter Sarah Eliza was born on 20 April. It may have been a difficult birth as Mary Ann Barker died three weeks later, aged only 36 years, on 3 May 1866. When the census was taken five years later, Benjamin and his daughter Emma were still living in Machpelah and his occupation was listed as Fustian Manufacturer. His sons, John and Henry, were attending the Turtan Hall Boarding School in Gildersome — located between Bradford and Leeds — and his daughter Sarah Eliza was living with her grandparents, Thomas and Sarah Barker, on Hangingroyd Lane in Hebden Bridge.
Thomas Barker was a successful cotton and fustian manufacturer and operated the Hangingroyd Dye Works from 1857 until his death in 1875. In 1871, he was listed in the census as employing 30 men. Following his death, his son Thomas ran the company but he retired prior to 1881 and his brother-in-law, Joseph Thomas, took over the dye works.
Benjamin Wade died on 10 June 1874 and was buried in the church yard at Wainsgate Baptist Church. Months before his death, his daughter Emma left home to marry Samuel Horatio Brown, a Tailor from Manningham near Bradford. They moved to Bradford and had three children — Annie, George and Arthur.
John returned to Hebden Bridge after completing his studies and married Eliza Mallandain, five years his senior, on 11 October 1876. But his brother Henry moved to Derbyshire where he married Julia Webb in Chesterfield in 1878. Henry and Julia briefly returned to Yorkshire before emigrating to New Zealand and settling in Oamaru on the south island. Henry died in New Zealand in 1942 and his wife in 1946.
Sarah was living with her widowed grandmother on Hangingroyd Lane in 1881. Her aunt, uncle and young cousin were also living with the family and her uncle, Thomas, and his wife had built a new home, Ashley House, next door. Her grandmother died in 1882 and Sarah moved in firstly with her sister Emma and finally with her aunt Eliza and her husband Joseph Thomas in Ashley House, Hebden Bridge. Sarah died in Hebden Bridge on 11 March 1915 and was buried at Wainsgate Baptist Church.