Brewery Cooper John Warwick

John Warwick (1850 – 1940)

Introduction

This is the story of a second-generation cooper from Leicester, John Warwick, my 2 times great grandfather, another one from my maternal line. Researching John and his family has been rather interesting particularly learning about his links to Leicester and Burton upon Trent. Also learnt about his very skilled occupation and what it was to be freeman of Leicester. The blog also mentions what happens to his parents, siblings and children. The question arose whether any of his ancestors or immediate family stayed close by or went abroad?

1850s

John Junior was born on 7^th November 1850 at Jarrom Street, Leicester in the St Mary’s parish to John Warwick a Journeyman Cooper and seamstress Susannah Atkins becoming their 6^th child and 2^nd son to survive to adulthood. A journeyman is a worker who has learned the trade having gone through an apprenticeship and is then fully employed.

The 1851 census returns records John aged 4 months living in the Right Side of Jarrom Street, Leicester with his parents John and Susannah, along with siblings Mary (12), Sarah (9), William (7) and Esther (4).

Prior to John being born, John and Susannah had been living at Duke Street where Mary, Sarah, William and Esther were born. They then moved to 29 Jarrom Street and shortly thereafter had Matthew in 1848, but he sadly died in 1849. Matthew would have been named after the paternal grandfather Matthew Warwick. In 1852, John and Susan had their 3^rd son Samuel, unfortunately he died of Scarlet Fever aged 5 in 1858. Samuel would have been named after the maternal grandfather Samuel Atkins.

So, what is a cooper? A cooper is a person trained to make wooden containers from casks to barrels or buckets with slates of wood known as staves, held together with hoops which were either metal or wooden. Throughout history, coopers made a vast range of barrels all different sizes and were used to store dry goods from tobacco, gunpowder and various foods for long term storage and transportation. Some of these barrels would also store liquids from beer to wine that would be transported between breweries, distilleries or wineries and warehouses or brewhouses. Coopers would have also worked with metal along with making wooden implements such as shovels and rakes. The making of these barrels was very specialised. Majority of coopers would be found associated with breweries but also near to shipyards.

1860s

His family remained on the same street for the next census of 1861. Siblings Mary and William had fled the nest by then. The family were joined by Susannah’s mother Rachel, who would have lost her husband Samuel in 1858. William had moved to Hulme, Manchester as an Elastic weaver. I haven’t been able to locate where Mary went to.

In February 1865, John witnessed his sister Esther get married to John Thomas Bradbury an Elastic Weaver along with his sister Sarah. The wedding took place at St Margaret’s church in Leicester. In 1869 his brother William got married in Hulme, Chorlton area of Manchester to a widow Sarah Roome (nee Wallis).

Most of my research on the Warwick line have been from using the Electoral Roll books from FindMyPast covering the years 1835 through to 1868. According to these records, in 1865 the family of John and Susannah moved from 41 Jarrom Street to 16 Gosling Street, a few streets away still in the St Mary’s parish area. The Electoral Rolls also yielded some interesting information in that it lists Freemen of the borough, and discovered several members of the family were Freemen, more on that later.

1870s

1871 census indicates that John was still living with his parents at Gosling Street along with his sister Sarah a machinist. By then he had become a cooper just like his father and going through his apprenticeship.

According to the census William had moved from Hulme, Manchester to Folesworth, Warwickshire with spouse Sarah and daughter Emma. Esther remained in the Leicester area in Syston Street, St Margaret’s parish with hubby and children Sarah Ann and Samuel William.

Shortly after the census was taken, in the May 1871, his sister Sarah married John Langham a frame work knitter. During this decade, Sarah and John would have 4 sons, 2 sadly didn’t survive and the other 2 were named John William and Joseph. The names John and William seems to have been passed down the line a lot. The other sibling Esther and hubby John Bradbury extended their family with the addition of Lily, Albert John and Ernest.

So, John may have learnt the trade from his father. His father would have started out as an apprentice, since no one in the family were Coopers at the time. In those days, on average most apprenticeships started at the young age of 14 and would last for 7 years.

When I discovered my direct line were Freeman, clearly had to find out more. Freemen or Burgesses as they also known were a part of a governing body that were provided with certain privileges within the borough of Leicester from trading to voting rights. Each member was part of a special Gild that was established approximately around 1107. The website https://www.leicesterfreemen.co.uk/ provides really fascinating information about the Gild. Many other towns and cities within England and Wales would have these gilds too, from London, York to Shrewsbury.

In order to become a member, one had to have a trade of some sort. There were different ways to become a freeman, one of which was to complete an apprenticeship or to pay for membership. The other means was passed down the generations from father to son. It was always passed down the male line until 2009, when the rules changed to allow it to be passed down the female line too. Sadly, I am not eligible, but this would have been rather cool if I had been allowed.

I made contact with a person connected to the website above, who provided fantastic information. He was able to check the Register of Apprentices and the Register of Freemen held in one of the libraries in Leicester. The information provided confirmed my research on my direct line was on the right track and helped add an extra sibling for John senior, called Thomas.

So, I will start with Matthew Warwick (my 4x great grandfather) who was a Dyer and trimmer and completed his apprenticeship with Hugh Shelton and became free on 31^st May 1826. It seems that he had his children before becoming free. His sons John senior and Thomas did not become free themselves through hereditary route. John senior did his cooper apprenticeship with Robert Daws of Church Gate entered it on the 6^th July 1827 and completed it on 19^th June 1835. I discovered interesting facts about his brother Thomas, but this warrants a separate blog – so watch this space.

It seems 1870s was a busy decade for the Warwick family. Both John senior’s sons used the hereditary route to become free. John Junior on the 10^th February 1873 and William on the 6^th May 1878.

It seems John junior went to work and live in Burton on Trent before returning to Leicester to marry Emma Bigley as on the 28 May 1876, banns for his pending marriage were read out at his nearest church St Modwen, Burton. He wed Emma Bigley on the 15^th June 1876 at St Mary de Castro church located opposite to Leicester Castle. Below is a copy of the marriage certificate, a pic of the church from when I wondered around the area in May 2022 and even an article in the newspaper. It was the same church that John senior married Susannah in 1838.

John and Emma’s first child Edith Beatrice, was born 8 months later in Feb 1877. Not long after that John and Emma with Edith moved over to Burton upon Trent, no doubt to do with the many breweries that were there. A couple of years later, my great grandfather John Henry William Warwick was born in the June 1879.

The newspapers have always been a good source for all sorts of events in my ancestors’ lives, however big or small. According to the Leicester Mercury newspaper from Friday 4^th Oct 1878, John senior got fined for being drunk along with a few others. It doesn’t elaborate why but it is always fascinating to locate direct ancestors in the papers.

Brother William and Sarah decided to move to Leicester mid-1870s where they were to have a few more kids Maud, Robert and William. Sadly, William junior passed away during 1880.

1880s

According to the 1881 census, John and Emma were living at Grange Street in Burton on Trent with their son John Henry William. It seems daughter Edith Beatrice was visiting her grandparents Henry and Rhoda Bigley on Havelock Street, Leicester.

The rest of the family were all in Leicester – John senior and Susannah found living at 54 Asylam Street. Sister Sarah and John Langham were living at 29 Causeway Lane with their 2 kids John William and Joseph. Sibling William and Sarah were living at 32 Gordon Street with their children Emma, Maud and Robert. Sister Esther and John Bradbury were located at 26 Edwyn Street with kids Sarah Ann, Samuel, Lily, Albert and Ernest.

John and Emma were to have few more children in Burton on Trent during this decade – Millicent (1881), Sydney Charles (1883), Percival (1885), Ethel Augusta (1887) and Leonard (1888). Sadly, they lost Ethel a year later.

So, what made John switch from Leicester to Burton on Trent. Burton has been long since been linked to brewing throughout the world. Due to the hard water and mineral content of the river Trent, as a consequence was ideal for brewing pale ale. River Trent was also located such that it made it easy to transport beer barrels to the rest of the world, via the Trent and Mersey canals and then later via the use of the trains.

Several breweries started up from the early 19^th century. In 1830 the number of barrels of beer produced were around 1000 per year which then increased to as little over 8 million by the 1900s. This meant there was a massive need by breweries requiring the services of coopers. The brewing industry in Burton alone trebled in size every 10 years between 1850 and 1880. Many of the famous breweries were situated in the Burton from Bass, Worthington’s, Marston’s and Allsopp. Even Everard of Leicester was there in 1881. This information about the brewing industry can be found in a PDF https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/brewing-industry/bhs-brewing-ind-shier/ and also on a Wikipedia type website http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page.

1890s

During this decade, lots of changes within the family occurred. Brother William and his wife Sarah along with the children decided to up sticks in 1889/1890 and emigrate over to the United States. They settled in Bridport, Fairfield, Connecticut, where they remained until they passed away during the 1910s.

According to 1891 census John and Emma still remained in Burton and were now living on Shobnall Street. All their children were living there Edith, John Henry William, Millicent, Sydney Charles, Percy and Leonard. Their last child Ethel Emma was to be born couple of weeks after the census.

Sister Sarah and John Langham had moved to High Cross Street with their 2 sons. John and Susannah according to the census were living with their recently widowed daughter Esther and her children – Samuel, Lily, Albert, Ernest, Alfred.

As a result of being a freeman John senior and his wife Susannah were able to move into the newly created Freeman’s cottages from 15th November 1893 according to the contact from Freemen of Leicester. The cottages are located on Freeman’s Common, next to Welford Road and would have been a combination of cottages and Alms-houses. The cottages are still there today, but now part of a private estate of 36 bungalows in Aylestone, and the alms-house became Grade II listed building according to Historic Britain website (https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1391447). It is now the site of Leicester University and being used as student halls.

John senior didn’t live there very long as he passed away in 1894. Susannah lived there a further few years until 1899. Sadly, though when I received their death certificates, both of which mentioned Coroners inquests. This intrigued me and searched the British Newspaper archives. Both deaths were indeed recorded in the papers. Both inquests were held by the same person Robert Harvey who was obviously the main coroner at the time, as he appears a few times in the papers. I was shocked at article regarding Susannah’s passing.

1900s

Probably due to decline of some of the breweries in Burton, John and Emma moved back to Leicester in 1901. According to the 1901 census they were living at 2 Matlock Street in the Spinney Hills area with all the kids apart from my great grandfather John Henry William, who was over in Oldbury, Worcestershire, very close to Smethwick in Birmingham.

Sarah and John Langham were still in Leicester in Andrews Street with both sons. Esther and her brood were also living in Leicester, but all spread about.

Another eventful decade sees John and Emma’s children starting to settle down and have kids of their own. Starting with my great grandfather John Henry William (also known as Harry) married Mary Louisa Silk in Kidderminster, Worcestershire in 1904 who had my grandmother Edith Mary in 1907. They also had 2 sons who passed away – John and Percy.

Sydney Charles Sydney was also a cooper by trade married Ethel Snell in 1907 in Norfolk and presently had John in 1907 a few months later – yep, another John Warwick (probably got very confusing).

1910s

At the beginning of this decade both John Henry William and Sydney Charles became freed men 4^th April 1910 and 1^st November 1910 respectively. Leonard a clerk had already become free on 5^th July 1909. All of them would be become free through the hereditary route.

In the May of 1910, John and Emma became grandparents to Doris my great aunt who was to live well into her 90s. By then John Henry William and Mary Louisa had decided to move over to Leicester along with my grandmother Edith Mary, which is where Doris was born. Perhaps for the work with the breweries.

According to both the Electoral Roll of 1910 and the 1911 census, John and Emma had moved a street over to 29 Hartington Road in Spinney Hills. Most of the family were all still living at family home. Edith was a shop assistant as Milliner (hat maker); Millicent a dressmaker; Leonard was a Solicitors clerk and Ethel a needleworker shop assistant;

Percy had left home and moved to Oakham, Rutland. He had become a servant working for the Earl of Lonsdale. The Lonsdale family had several residences around the country, one of which was at Barleythorpe in Oakham. One of the other places was Lowther Castle, Penrith, Cumbria, which is where Percy eventually moved to. Brother Sydney was living on Kent Street, Leicester with his wife Ethel and son John, along with sister-in-law May. Sisters Sarah and Esther were also still in the Leicester area.

June 1913 would have been both sad and happy for John and Emma, as Millicent passed away and then Percival married Esther Heckingbottom. Must have been hard.

When the first World War broke out in 1914, it made me wonder if any of the family had joined the armed forces. It turns out that Leonard had as his marriage certificate indicated he was soldier, when he married Edith Day in the December 1915. It doesn’t appear that any of the other sons joined, but there is still much more research to do.

A couple more grandchildren were born. Sydney and Ethel welcomed Ethel Emma (1912) and Sydney Charles (1914). Percy and Esther moved up to Askham, Cumbria where they had Harold (1915) and Lillian (1919).

During this decade across the pond, John’s brother William and his wife Sarah sadly passed away in 1917 and 1913 respectively. Hopefully with further research will find out more about what happened to the children. The question to answer would be – did they remain in Connecticut or move to another part of the USA? It would be interesting to find out if they kept in touch with the folks back home, once they emigrated.

1920s

During a visit to Leicester in 2022, I took the opportunity to visit the Spinney Hills area. The address of 29 Hartington Road was to be the abode where John and Emma to live the longest and remain there for the rest of their lives. The photos below frontage of their house which probably hasn’t changed much. I thought it would be interesting to check it out and get a feel for the area. The houses seem to have been there a long time too.

Each census always provided extra information from the previous one. 1921 census was no exception. It provided more accurate ages, as it gave years and months. The other useful information indicated each person’s employer and its address. It turns out that John was working for the Leicester Brewery & Malting, which was on Charnwood Street, a few streets over from Hartington Road. It was called the Eagle Brewery. Search on the web yielded very good information. There are a few interesting links to have a read about the Brewery.

• http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Leicester_Brewing_%26_Malting_Co._Ltd
• http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Leicester_Brewing_%26_Malting_-_A_History
• https://www.labology.org.uk/brewery/leicester-brewing-and-malting-co-ltd/

His youngest daughter Ethel Emma was still living with them. Ethel was a shop assistant in needlework working for C Coltman, drapers on Conduit Street.

The rest of the family had moved away, apart from his sisters Sarah and Esther who still remained in close proximity with their families. Son Leonard remained in Leicester too, according to the electoral rolls, but couldn’t confirm exactly with the 1921 census as I could not find any record of him or his family, I suspect mis-transcription so will try a different search criteria.

The 1921 census is currently only available via FindMyPast but was able to locate the rest of his children. Edith Beatrice had moved to London. She was recorded as Milliner working for the Co-operative Society in Stratford. She was boarding with the Young family in the Islington area. Both my great grandfather John Henry William and Sydney Charles had moved over to Burton on Trent working for different breweries. Percy was still working for the Lonsdale family but had switched to the other residence of Lowther Castle in Cumbria as a house carpenter.

John’s sister Sarah passed away in 1923. In 1924 Ethel married to Arthur Goddard Chawner, a clerk who worked for the National Health Insurance Committee according to the 1921 census.

Sadly, in Feb 1927 John’s beloved wife Emma passed away aged 75. It would have been devastating after 51 years of marriage. At the beginning of the next decade, John’s sister Esther also passed away. I am still intrigued to find out whether his eldest sister Mary was either still alive or passed on at this point.

1930s

It was during this decade that John would become a great grandfather by his granddaughter Edith when my mother was born. He even attended her christening – see the photo below.

Although the 1931 census was taken, but due to the 100 years rule, would not be available as yet. However, the England and Wales census records were destroyed by fire in 1942. But, on the eve on the second world war a register was taken on the 29^th September and is known as the 1939 register.

This register has been a valuable resource for family history researchers and the most recent record that can be searched on FindMyPast and Ancestry. It indicated that John now having retired was still at 29 Hartington Street living with his daughter Ethel Emma and her family.

Both sons Sydney and Leonard and their families were also recorded living in Leicester in the 1939. I haven’t located Edith as yet. Great grandparents John Henry William and Mary Louisa were down with their daughter Doris and family down in Christchurch. Percy and his family were living at Lowther Castle Court Yard. He was recorded as being a caretaker.

Eleven days into 1940, John passed away aged 89. He certainly lived a long live. Some of his descendants also lived long prosperous lives, several of them well into their 90s. John can be found buried at Welford Road Cemetery along with several of his family. See the link from Find a Grave site – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197017394/john-warwick?_gl=1*ta4rik*_gcl_au*MTYwMDAyNzUzOC4xNjg1MjAwODc1*_ga*NDU1NjA1NDcyLjE2NTE5MzU3NDg.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTViZjcxYWMtN2ZhOS00NDk0LWE1NTUtM2VmNWI1NDc0OTNjLjEzNi4xLjE2ODUzNzY3NzAuMTIuMC4w

According to his will, he bequeathed to his eldest daughter Edith a choice of either bedroom or drawing room suite of furniture and the rest of remaining contents of the house to his daughter Ethel. Rest of the monies were divided between the rest of the children. His gold chain went to his grandson Harry and his watch and silver chain to grandson John.

Legacy

Researching John and his family has certainly been fascinating, particularly the Freeman’s guild. The more I visit Leicester the more I feel connected to the place, understanding why now. Most of the family did move away from the area, but mostly dotted around the UK, Devon, Dorset and Lincolnshire. Currently my research has only yielded a few descendants having moved to the USA but maybe more research will highlight more in other parts of the world.

Both my great grandmother and grandmother, were always keen to keep to touch with family. My grandmother Edith was invited by her aunt Edith Beatrice to move to London to learn Millinery, however this didn’t happen for some reason. My grandmother did however visit Percy’s family near Lowther Castle during her honeymoon.

The freemen legacy continued via Sydney’s son Sydney an Engineer, who was made free on 16^th March 1934 and then his son Michael later inherited in 1990. The last known whereabouts of Michael was in Eugene, Oregon.

There is still some more research to be done on the Warwick family line. Watch this space for more Warwick blogs in the future, definitely going to be one about Thomas Warwick. Also, check out the blog about my other maternal 2x great grandfather James Silk, see link below, whose daughter married into the Warwick link.