Ann Worrall one of my eight great great grandmothers was born in 1823 before registration started in 1836 and
we therefore do not have a birth certificate for her. However later censuses
show that she was born in Arley near Nuneaton in Warwickshire.
We know that Ann’s maiden name was Worrall because it is
given clearly on the birth certificates of her children Cornelius and Eliza
Jane. And the father’s name is given correctly as James. Ann Worrall appears to
be a common name but I can’t find a record of an Ann Worrall marrying anyone
called Timmins.
James and Ann had 7 children
George 1843
a whitesmith
Cornelius 1844
a whitesmith
Elizabeth 1847
James 1849
a whitesmith (our great grandfather James 4th )
Eliza Jane 1851
Mary 1854
Jane 1856
It shows a distinct lack of imagination to call one child
Elizabeth, one Jane and a third Eliza Jane
The family lived at a number of addresses in west Bromwich.
In 1851 and 1861 they were in Thomas Street and in 1871 they were in George
Street. In 1851 they had a married couple Thomas and Rebecca Morgan as lodgers.
He was a stone miner. Rebecca may have been James sister. Her birth dates fit.
In 1861 Thomas Worrall aged 11 months was staying with them. He was born in
Willenhall and was presumably related. In 1871 their baby granddaughter
Patience Jane Timmins who was born in Yorkshire was with them. Thomas Worrall
doesn’t show in the area in the 1871 census and a 5 year old called Patience
Timmins died in West Bromwich in 1876.
James died on 11th March 1879 in Overend Street.
He died from Phthisis Pulmonalis which is an archaic term for tuberculosis. Ann
died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 8th August 1884. At the time she
was living at 5 Herbert street which appears to have been almshouses.
By deed of 1869 Ann Murdock of West Bromwich settled in trust land
south of Herbert Street where she had recently erected eleven alms-houses and a
boardroom for trustees' meetings to be called the Spon Lane Trust Almshouses.
Each alms-house was to be occupied by a poor woman, though a husband and wife
or two women could share one; no inmate was to be under sixty. A resident
matron was to be appointed. The foundress also gave £100 for maintenance.
From: 'West Bromwich: Charities for the poor', A History of the County
of Stafford: Volume 17: Offlow hundred (part) (1976), pp. 83-86. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36171
