Good Morning, Whaley Bridge! Well, this weekend, I tried and tried to post a jpeg photo of the old family bible with names and dates of various Colliers, but was not able to post any. I'm very busy at work until early February, but will try again to post a few pictures this next weekend. Mrs. C, I did contact Jon and asked him to give you and Shallcross my email address. Shallcross, I was wondering if you have any information about the Vernon family? I have hit a deadend at Ancestry.com with Martha Vernon Collier, born about 1815.

I was reading up on your local history this weekend, about the flooding of the Goyt Valley. In one picture you mention the Oldfield farm. My GGM Martha Oldfield Collier, but census lists her father as a Lead Miner.

Thanks once again for all your assistance everyone.

Hi Martha

Thanks for sharing the family bible always a good source of information, Jon has forwarded  your email, I dont know if I can help with your Vernons as my conection is quiet a few years later than yours and involves the Depledge and Shirt familys as for Oldfield farm it doesn't always follow that there will be a family conection. in the UK many of the individual fields had names especially following the land enclosures in the 1700s so farm names can arise from many originsas can peoples names there are maps available showing many of the early field names, not all on line unfortunately although some forum members have pointed out on other threads that Chesire Records office have published the Tithe maps for Cheshire on line, which cover part of Whaley including Oldfield Farm Interesting reading.!

Hi Shallcross,
I have taken a look at the Cheshire records. Mrs. C kindly sent me a link as well as some fantastic pictures of the headstones of my great great grandparents. She also sent me a list of Colliers buried in the Taxal Church cemetery, through which I was able to piece together quite a lot of additions to my family tree project. I'm finding Collier was a pretty common name, and quite a lot of the time, I'm not sure if I've got the right person or not. So Mrs. C's list was really helpful in identifying the correct descendants as it had birth and death dates. I'm finding the information on the various census records are sometimes inaccurate or just estimates of birth dates. An interesting thing revealed on the census forms are the old addresses and how families lived near one another. However, not being familiar with the geography of the Whaley Bridge area, I again get confused at the different locations. Maybe these people actually moved every 10 years or so, but it seems like each census is a different city, street and house number. I also found a criminal record for Joseph, accused of larceny, but I don't know if it was my great grandfather or not! He was acquitted by the way! There are lots of Joseph Colliers, so I hope this one wasn't mine. However, I'm finding they were simple, common, laborers, no surprise royalty in my background! Thanks again for all your help everyone. I've still got to scan pictures of my great grandparents, but really have been so busy with work that I just haven't had time to dig through all the old albums. I keep thinking of it as a retirement project, but retirement is continuing to elude me.

Thanks gritch, for finding this article for me. I am attaching the only picture I could find of "Uncle Frank". Interestingly enough, this picture is with his buddies at the sanitarium where he was being treated for tuberculosis, from which he eventually perished. My mother, Frankie Ayars Gentle (Joseph and Martha were her grandparents) was named for her Uncle Frank and he died soon after she was born in 1931. This article is copied from the newspaper articles posted on www.disley.net Whaley Bridge page. Frank A. Collier is front and center, and written on the back is "All Buddies except the one with the glasses on, he's the Orderly". Mrs. Edith Ayars , mentioned in the article (full name Martha Edith Collier Ayars) was my grandmother.

MARRIED ON DEATH BED

No date

Whaley Bridge people will hear with regret of the death of Mr. Frank A. Collier, which has occurred at Galveston, U.S.A. Mr. Collier, who was 46, was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Joe Collier, of Whaley Bridge, who emigrated to America many years ago, taking their family with them. Mr. Frank Collier was born at Whaley Bridge. His Grandfather was one of the founders of the firm of Messrs. Collier Bros., joiners and builders. Mr. Frank Collier was formerly a member of the fire brigade at Galveston. During the Great War he was a mechanic in the coast artillery. For many months he had been in a Government hospital in Texas. He knew his end was near and he went to spend his remaining days at Galveston. Mr. Collier had been engaged to be married to Miss Elizabeth C. Maunsell, but the wedding had been postponed owing to his illness and other circumstances. Both were anxious to be married and the ceremony was performed on his death bed five hours only, before he died. Surviving Mr. Collier are his three sisters, Mrs. W.C. Ware, of Houston, Mrs. A. Lockstead and Mrs. Edith Ayars, of Galveston, and five brothers, Messrs. Ted, James and Sam Collier of Galveston; Mr. Layland Collier, of La Marque, and Mr. Chas. Collier, of Birmingham, Ala. Mr. Collier was buried with military honours. He had kept in Communication with his cousin Mr. Fred Williamson, of Newtown, and it was Mr. Williamson who received the news of his tragic death so soon after his marriage.

Edited by user 08 February 2012 22:48:55(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hi Martha

I took a look at the census returns, including the one for 1851. The number 89 adjacent to the entry for the Collier family (1851) isn't the street number, it's the census schedue number. You can satisfy yourself of this if you follow subsequent entries; 97 is still on Buxton Road but 98 is on Horwich Level. The enumerators walked from door to door and if you look at entry #88 it is in Horwich End, #89 is the first on Buxton Road, which indicates where the cottage stood...

I think that area was rebuilt in late Victorian or Early Edwardian (ie about 1900) times so the building that the Colliers lived in would have been demolished.

Good luck with your family history research.

Edited by user 17 February 2012 23:07:13(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified