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Muriel Knott
Introduction
I never knew Muriel Knott, so I didn’t pay any attention to her when I first became interested in family history. But eventually, one thing leading to another, I had her name in front of me and began wondering if I could find out more about her. After a fair amount of digging around in online databases, and asking a few questions, I found, to my delight, that there was an interesting story behind her, so here it is.
Muriel was the mother of my cousin Jean Dunkerley – so she was an Auntie I never met. That’s a shame because she died only in October 1991 in Oldham, and I feel I missed out. Jean was one of two children – the other being Maureen who died about 1998. Their father was Albert Dunkerley, my father’s oldest brother. Sadly, the relationship between Albert and Muriel broke down and divorce followed – but eventually both Jean and Maureen produced substantial families. Good things can come even out of difficulties.
John Knott - Muriel’s Father
I knew that Muriel’s father was John Knott. He was a hairdresser from Oldham who Jean thought had come from a ‘foundling home’ in Rochdale, Lancashire, and that John did not know who his real family was. I started by searching the 1901 census, which produced only one plausible reference to a John Knott. This person was born and located in Rochdale and a hairdresser, so the entry seems to refer to the correct person. He lived at 10, Pioneers Street in the house of Alfred Smith, to whom, said the census, he was an ‘in law’ and was twenty-two years old. Searches on the FreeBMD (http://www.freebmd.org.uk/) and Lancs BMD (http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/) websites found a marriage of John Knott and Mildred Eves at Deeplish, St. Luke’s Church Centre, Rochdale, in the spring of 1903. I have not sent off for the certificate, but this clearly looks like a correct identification.
Searching back further, again only one plausible John Knott turns up on the 1891 census, living at 14 Longford Street, Castleton in Rochdale. The full household listing is given below. It differs from the 1901 entry only in that the later year reveals another daughter, Ada, born about 1894: * Alfred Smith, head of family, married, age 27, occupation Commercial Traveller, born at Ashton Under Lyne
* Mary Smith, wife, married, age 25, born at Rochdale
* Sarah Smith, daughter, age 5, scholar, born at Rochdale
* Clara Smith, daughter, age 9 months, born at Rochdale
* John Knott, relative, age 12, born at Rochdale.
Ten years earlier, on the 1881 census, the same John can be found again. This time, instead of him living in the home of Alfred Smith, his ‘relative’, the boot is on the other foot – Alfred is living with John’s family, and turns out to be a cousin of John’s father, therefore John’s uncle: Address: 135 Oldham Road, Castleton, Lancashire. * James Knott, head of family, married, age 50, occupation - cotton loom jobber, born at Rochdale
* Elizabeth Knott, wife, married, age 43, born at Rochdale
* Mary Knott, daughter, single, age 15, cotton weaver, born at Rochdale
* Abraham Knott, son , single, age 12, scholar, born at Rochdale
* Elizabeth Knott, daughter, age 8, scholar, born at Rochdale
* John Knott, son, single, age 2, born at Rochdale
* Alfred Smith, cousin, single, 16, occupation errand boy, born at Ashton Under Lyne.
Although John was not born at the time of the next earlier census, it is possible to trace his family. In 1871 they were living at Sparth Bottoms in Castleton, Rochdale, and James was already working as a cotton loom jobber. Elizabeth was a cotton weaver and had three youngsters at home. James, it now says, was from Failsworth, Elizabeth from Stockport.
The 1901 census shows John Knott working as a hairdresser and, like the 1891 census, links him with Alfred Smith. The 1881 census links Alfred to John’s family and identifies James and Elizabeth Knott as John’s parents. It is therefore very difficult to imagine that the story of John being a foundling as true. What is more, the censuses identify a number of siblings. I have not managed to find James and Elizabeth on either the 1901 census, or the 1861 census so, for now, the story of John Knott must end here. Post script: I have subsequently been contacted by a descendent of a previously unidentified brother of John Knott, apparently born about 1875 and called, like his father, James. This James appears to have been adopted about 1881 by a family called Cryer, which appears to account for his absence on the 1881 census listing quoted above.
Mildred Eves – Muriel’s Mother
The only information – all anecdotal – about Muriel’s mother was that she came from a very large family that included boys called ‘March’ and ‘Jack’ and girls called ‘Hilda’ and ‘Hazel’, besides Muriel. The censuses leave no doubt that Mildred’s maiden name was ‘Eves’ and the 1901 and 1891 information reveals a family that comprised fourteen children, ten boys and four girls. The fecund parents were Thomas Eves and Matilda Cooke (or Cook) and the family was heavily involved in Rochdale’s woollen industry as weavers, carders and piecers. Mildred was the seventh child of the family.
The family listing from the 1891 census is as follows. They were living at number 7, Green Booth Road, at Spotland in Rochdale. The listing does not include Constance, the oldest daughter of the family, then about fourteen, who was boarding in a separate house in Rochdale and employed as a cotton waste sorter: * Eves, Thomas Head Married M 48 Labourer born Necton Norfolk (3.5 m E of Swaffham)
* Eves, Matilda Wife Married F 42 Castle Acre Norfolk (3.5 m N of Swaffham)
* Eves, Francis E. Daugter Single F 20 Woollen Carder Rougham Norfolk (5.5 m N of Swaffham)
* Eves, Beatrice M. Daughter Single F 18 Woollen Weaver Rougham Norfolk
* Eves, Maude L. Daughter Single F 16 Woollen Weaver Rougham Norfolk
* Eves, Edith G. Daughter Single F 14 Woollen Piecer Rougham Norfolk
* Eves, Algernon E. Son M 12 Woollen Piecer Rougham Norfolk
* Eves, Mildred Daughter F 11 Woollen Piecer Rougham Norfolk
* Eves, Bertie H. Son M 10 Scholar Rougham Norfolk
* Eves, Marcha Son M 8 Scholar Thornton Cheshire
* Eves, May B. Daughter F 7 Scholar Thornton Cheshire
* Eves, Alsia Daughter F 6 Scholar Thornton Cheshire
* Eves, Hilda Daughter F 4 Scholar Thornton Cheshire
* Eves, Rhoda E. Daughter F 3 Thornton Cheshire
* Eves, Oscar Son M 1 Rochdale Lancashire
The birth locations of this wonderful large family tell a story. Oscar was born about 1890 in Rochdale, but Rhoda was born at Thornton le Moors, a village situated only a couple of miles southeast of Ellesmere Port in Cheshire. In fact Thomas and Matilda produced five of their children at Thornton – Marcha (a boy) being the first. The birth years of the children therefore show that the family moved to Cheshire in about 1883 and left for Rochdale around 1889. What the family were doing at Thornton le Moors is an open question – perhaps they worked in the chemical industry at Ellesmere Port, or on the land near the village, or in the town at Chester, less than an hour’s walk to the south. We simply have no information.
We can do better, however, once we reach the surer ground of the 1881 census – and we find a major surprise. The family were then living in the village of Rougham in north Norfolk, about eight miles north of Swaffham. Seven of their children were born there, and the remaining one, the oldest, was born, like her mother, at Castle Acre, a village situated between Swaffham and Rougham. Thomas, the father, was also a local, for he was born in the village of Necton, about three miles east of Swaffham. The Eves, then, were a Norfolk family through and through.
Although it is at first sight surprising to find a Norfolk family moving to the industrial towns of Lancashire, it turns out that it was not an uncommon occurrence in the nineteenth century. From about the 1860s food prices in England were falling as imported grain from the Prairies, the Pampas and the Steppes, transported by rail and sea, undermined English agriculture. A shortage of work in rural areas such as Norfolk led to migration to places where work was plentiful. There is an interesting example quoted on the internet of fifty Norfolk workers who were taken in a group to work in cotton mills at Bacup in Lancashire in 1875 (see http://www.ives55.btinternet.co.uk/). Another example (see http://dunkerley-tuson.co.uk/riches.aspx on my website) is that of the Riches family who made a similar move from near Aylsham in Norfolk to Rawtenstall and Rochdale in the late 1860s.
The Eves family left Norfolk after 1881. We have little information on what they did at Rougham, because the children were then all scholars so no occupations are shown. In 1871, however, Thomas was a gamekeeper, probably one of a team working on a local estate. He and Matilda had married in Norfolk late in 1866 (the marriage reference records the surname as ‘Eaves’).
The 1861 census leaves us with a problem, for there are two plausible entries for Thomas, and I have not so far been able to differentiate between them – the Eves-Cooke marriage certificate might help. The first possibility is for a Thomas, aged 15, working as a servant for a farmer of 30 acres at Stow Bardolph, one mile northeast of Downham Market in Norfolk. I cannot trace him any earlier and so we do not know who his parents were.
The second possibility is for a Thomas, aged 17, born at Necton and working as a labourer at Wallington, just north of Downham Market in Norfolk. The parents of this Thomas Eves were Robert and Elizabeth and, interestingly, Robert was a gamekeeper. On balance this may be the more likely candidate for the Thomas Eves who married Matilda.
Before moving on, let’s just say a few words about Matilda Cooke’s family. First of all, on the 1861 and 1871 censuses the family name is spelled ‘Cook’. Matilda’s parents were William and Frances Cook, both from Norfolk. William was a gamekeeper, like Thomas Eves, and lived at South Acre, close to Castle Acre, just about three miles north of Swaffham, thus in very close proximity to the Eves family. The family comprised at least five children, one of whom was sent forth to face the world with the name ‘Bathsheba’.
Muriel’s Siblings
Muriel was the middle of five siblings. The first was Mildred Maud (born about 1903), then came Hilda (about 1906), Muriel herself, born on 8th July 1908, John – called Jack (about 1917) and finally Hazel (about 1920). Jean told me that between Muriel and Jack there were stillborn twin boys. I do not know what became of the family, except that, according to Jean, Hazel died of rheumatic fever at about age 16. Hilda was a witness at Muriel’s wedding.
The Eves Children
The available information about the Eves children - which is not much - is reviewed below. Constance was the oldest. She married Thomas Gregory who was born in Liverpool in 1866 and they had six children. The fourth, a boy called Bertie, married Caroline Spalding, the daughter of George Spalding and Sophia Dunkerley, the daughter of John William Dunkerley and Harriet Eliza Riches. The marriage of Bertie and Caroline produced four children, among whom there are living relatives with whom I am in contact.
Maud (born about 1875) went to live in the Auckland area of New Zealand, but had no children. She travelled from Liverpool on 15th June 1901, aged 25, as a single person. The ship was the ‘Runic’, bound via South Africa for Melbourne, Australia. Jean says that when she was 21 in 1953 Maud was visiting England and tried to persuade Jean to return to New Zealand with her. Jean, however, had other ideas, married the irresistible Frank Sykes and started her own family. In fact, Maud would seem to have been too old to be this person.
Edith seems to have had some ambition to better herself and is believed to have eventually married a funeral director. This may have been Walter Dawber in 1898, at Norden, Rochdale. According to Jean, Edith had two sons and a daughter called Olive.
Mildred became Muriel Knott's mother and is the subject of this article.
Marcha was a boy – but his name caused some confusion, including to the census enumerator who on one occasion put him in the female column! Jean thought his name was actually ‘March’, after the month when he was born, but the records seem to show ‘Marcha’ in more than one place. Jean also thought that Marcha died in the First World War, but I cannot find any evidence of this. In fact, one of Marcha's grandchildren has now contacted me via this website to inform me that Marcha was born in August, lived to the grand old age of 92 and died in Rochdale in 1974. He was considered to be somewhat eccentric - perhaps it was the name?
Oscar however, did die in the First World War. The records show that he was killed in action as a Sergeant with the 7th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles on 28th July 1916 in France. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website says he had a wife called Ann and that his memorial is at D14 in the Bois-Carre military cemetery in Haisnes (north of Lens). His address was given as 13, Tonge Steet, Heywood, Lancashire. There is a birth reference for an Iris M. M. Eves, whose mother’s maiden name was Kelly, born in 1914, so it seems that Oscar left an infant daughter.
As a result of information kindly supplied by a visitor to this site, I now know that Oscar married Ann (Annie) Kelly and their only child was Iris Margaret Mary Eves. She married Harry Turner and the couple lived for most of their lives in Bolton. They had two children, a son and a the daughter who has contacted me. Muriel’s (and Jean’s) Double ConnectionI mentioned earlier that another family that migrated en masse from Norfolk to Lancashire was the Riches family. Their story can be read here. A daughter of the family, Harriet Eliza Riches, married John William Dunkerley, a son of William Dunkerley and Sophia Barratt, great-great grandparents of Muriel and Jean. I have been contacted by living relatives of Constance Eves from St. Austell, Cornwall. Jean and Maureen (and their families) share with the St. Austell family the surprising coincidence of being able to trace their ancestry back to both William and Sopia Dunkerley on the one hand and to Thomas and Matilda Eves on the other, albeit by separate routes. The Family TreesThere follow two outline family trees for James Knott and William Cook and on them can be found the main available factual data for the family.
Descendants of James Knott1 James Knott b: Abt. 1833 in Failsworth
.. +Elizabeth b: Abt. 1841 in Stockport
.. 2 Mary Knott b: Abt. 1866
.. 2 Abraham Knott b: Abt. 1869
.. 2 Elizabeth Knott b: Abt. 1873
.. 2 John Knott b: Abt. 1878 in Rochdale
...... +Mildred Eves b: Abt. 1880 m: Abt. 1903
...... 3 Mildred Maud Knott b: Abt. 1903
...... 3 Hilda Knott b: Abt. 1906
...... 3 Muriel Knott b: 8 Jul 1908 in 245, Hudderfield Road, Oldham d: Abt. Oct 1991 in Oldham
.......... +Albert Dunkerley b: 16 Jun 1903 in 3, Castleford Street, Chadderton m: 25 Jul 1931 in St James Oldham d: 4 Jul 1963
.......... 4 Living Dunkerley b: 4 Jul 1932
.............. +Living Sykes .......... 4 Maureen Dunkerley b: 20 Sep 1933 d: Abt. Mar 1994 in Oldham
.............. +Ronald Livesey m: 1955 d: Abt. 1994
............... 5 John Livesey b: Apr 1955
............... 5 Muriel Livesey
............... 5 Kathryn Livesey b: Abt. 1962
................... +Gary Kearney
................... 6 Shaun Kearney b: Abt. Jul 1995 in St. Mary's, Manchester
............... 5 Robert Livesey
............... 5 Rhonda Livesey b: Abt. 1964
...... *2nd Husband of Muriel Knott:
.......... +Harry Powell m: 1958 d: Bef. 1991
...... 3 John Knott b: Abt. 1917
...... 3 Hazel Knott b: Abt. 1920
Descendants of William Cook 1 William Cook b: Abt. 1813 in Sporle, Norfolk
.. +Frances b: Abt. 1815
.. 2 Matilda Cook b: Abt. 1849 in Castle Acre, Norfolk
...... +Thomas Eves b: Abt. 1846 in Necton, Norfolk m: 1866
...... 3 Constance Matilda Eves b: 27 Jan 1867
.......... +Thomas Gregory m: Abt. 1894
...... 3 Frances M. Eves b: Abt. 1871
...... 3 Beatrice M. Eves b: Abt. 1873
...... 3 Maud L. Eves b: Abt. 1875
...... 3 Edith G. Eves b: Abt. 1877
.......... +Walter Dawber m: 1898
...... 3 Algernon E. Eves b: Abt. 1879
...... 3 Mildred Eves b: Abt. 1880
.......... +John Knott b: Abt. 1878 in Rochdale m: Abt. 1903
.......... 4 Mildred Maud Knott b: Abt. 1903
.......... 4 Hilda Knott b: Abt. 1906
.......... 4 Muriel Knott b: 8 Jul 1908 in 245, Hudderfield Road, Oldham d: Abt. Oct 1991 in Oldham
.............. +Albert Dunkerley b: 16 Jun 1903 in 3, Castleford Street, Chadderton m: 25 Jul 1931 in St James Oldham d: 4 Jul 1963
............... 5 Jean Dunkerley b: 4 Jul 1932
................... +Living Sykes ............... 5 Maureen Dunkerley b: 20 Sep 1933 d: Abt. Mar 1994 in Oldham
................... +Ronald Livesey m: 1955 d: Abt. 1994 in Died about 3 months before Maureen
................... 6 John Livesey b: Apr 1955
................... 6 Muriel Livesey
................... 6 Kathryn Livesey b: Abt. 1962
....................... +Gary Kearney
....................... 7 Shaun Kearney b: Abt. Jul 1995 in St. Mary's, Manchester
................... 6 Robert Livesey
................... 6 Rhonda Livesey b: Abt. 1964
.......... *2nd Husband of Muriel Knott:
.............. +Harry Powell m: 1958 d: Bef. 1991
.......... 4 John Knott b: Abt. 1917
.......... 4 Hazel Knott b: Abt. 1920
...... 3 Bertie H. Eves b: Abt. 1881
...... 3 Marcha Eves b: Abt. 1883
...... 3 May B. Eves b: Abt. 1884
...... 3 Alsia Eves b: Abt. 1885
...... 3 Hilda Eves b: Abt. 1887
...... 3 Rhoda E. Eves b: Abt. 1888
...... 3 Oscar Eves b: Abt. 1890 d: 28 Jul 1916 in France
.......... +Ann Kelly m: 1913
.. 2 James Cook Cook b: Abt. 1851 in Castle Acre, Norfolk
.. 2 Bathsheba Cook b: Abt. 1854 in Castle Acre, Norfolk
.. 2 William Cook b: Abt. 1857 in Lawthorn, Norfolk
.. 2 John Cook b: Abt. 1860 in Lawthorn, Norfolk
Written by Philip Dunkerley This page was last modified on Friday, August 15, 2008
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