William Henry Ashforth 1896-1916
Using information obtained from the England and Wales Census 1901 I carried out some work on my ASHFORTH line.
The census for property 173 Cuthbert Bank Road, Sheffield, Yorkshire shows my gg grandmother Ellen ASHFORTH as head of the household but there is no record of my gg grandfather William Henry ASHFORTH. Online records for June 1889 show a record of death for a William Henry ASHFORTH but I have no documentary evidence to support this.
Likewise records from another search online suggest that Ellen ASHFORTH's maiden name may have been Ellen PASLEY, though again I cannot substantiate this.
Interestingly the England and Wales Census 1901 records my great grandfather William Henry ASHFORTH 28 years of age and his son William Henry ASHFORTH 1896-1916 (my great uncle) 4 years of age are listed as 'visitors'. My grandfather Ernest ASHFORTH 1905-1990 was born February 1905.
Update:
2008-01-05 Ellen PASLEY proved to be incorrect. Please click here to read this update.
Headstone right - Harry, Emily and George Waller
Headstone left - Albert Ashforth, Harry Renwick, Frank Renwick
I came across the Friends of Wardsend Cemetery site a few years ago, though it would appear not to have had any major updates since. Unfortunately the site uses flash, java applets and music arrrrgh... and I had to open it with Internet Explorer rather than my usual Firefox. It really needs a re-design to be more user friendly. Nevertheless it provides some interesting information, though I don't know how active this group is. The site advertises tours of the cemetery and also gives a contact phone number.
I am aware some of my ancestors are buried at Wardsend Cemetery, Owlerton, Sheffield so maybe I will try the contact number and see if tours are still available.
Updates:
2007-01-20 This site is still operational and now works with Firefox.
2010-11-13
Recently I received an email from the Friends of Wardsend Cemetery advising me of a change of web address.
The 'Friends of Wardsend Cemetery' now have a new website at:-
http://www.friendsofwardsendcemetery.btck.co.uk
which replaces the old one. The new site will be updated on a regular basis, unlike the old site.
The website is much improved and I have updated my links to point to the new address.
The group is still very much active and I recently met with them at a Family and Local History Day at Bradfield Village Hall. To read my article 'Family and Local History Day, Bradfield Village Hall' please click here.
I also attended one of the tours of Wardsend Cemetery organised by The Friends of Wardsend Cemetery, highly recommended, but take some stout footwear! To read my article 'Wardsend Cemetery - The guiding spirit of George Waller' please click here.
Florence Ashforth (née Florence Flowers) 1876-1973
Hillsborough Park, Sheffield 6
I recently came across a christening date for Florence Ashforth (née Florence FLOWERS) 1876-1973, my maternal great grandmother. Flo, as my grandfather would call her, lived to be just a couple of months short of 98 years.
Husband: George FLOWERS
Wife: Harriet FLOWERS (née Harriet LAW)
Children: 1. Florence FLOWERS, Female Christening: 28 February 1877, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
I remember her as a wonderful caring lady, whose elixir for life was an old corked bottle of Yorkshire Compound, an evil looking mixture that could be easily mistaken for tar or pitch. At the first sign of a cold or broken limb, she would reach for a bottle of this evil mixture. Not content with a teaspoon she would overload a battered old tablespoon with this viscous fluid, and with a well practised sleight of hand a magician could be proud of, proceeded to force it down one's throat before a single objection could be emitted.
Notes:
This photograph which I took with my first brand new camera was taken at the south-eastern corner of Hillsborough Park, Sheffield 6. In the background of this photograph is a block of (then recently built) flats, adjoining Park View Road. In order to build the flats, a row of, I think 3 storey, stone cottages was demolished. I remember they were very old and we often, in order to retrieve a ball, had to scramble over the 2 metre high boundary wall, though no one on the other side seemed to mind, that is except for the huge Alsatian dog that seemed to wander the gardens, untethered.
This meant we would all be rather reluctant to go retrieve the ball. Either the smallest kid would be bullied into going over, with a leg up, and if they spotted the dog, a push over! Otherwise lots would be drawn amid shouts of cheating. Either way it was a risky business!
To the right of my great grandmother, just out of shot, was the grassed area where we would play ball games, very much to the annoyance of the park keepers and powers that be. One day we arrived at the park to find newly planted trees; presumably this was to deter us using this neglected area of the park. Of course the exact opposite happened. The young trees made remarkably good goal posts or coat hooks and we carried on regardless. No way were we going to walk 500 meters to the other end of the park; anyway that was alien territory.
Located in the cottages was an off licence and on a Friday evening when most of the family had gone dancing or to the pub, my great grandmother would send me round to the off licence with a jug to have filled with stout. On my return we would play dominoes, patience (solitaire), or numerous other games since in those days we had no television.
Looking on Google Earth, the trees are now, some 50+ years later, quite mature and it is good to see the old horse chestnuts that line the path have survived.
Happy times.
Some years ago I purchased the jacklin.info and ashforth.info domain names with the intention of building a website devoted to my interest in family history; primarily the surnames JACKLIN and ASHFORTH.
A recent visit to Cambridgeshire and Wimpole Hall provided me with the inspiration I needed to make a start on my Jacklin Family History and Ashforth Family History pages.
