James, son of Robert (line 1A-4)

In this post we will look at James Hubberstey and Anne Swarbrick. James was born in 1780 and he married Anne Swarbrick Feb 11, 1820. Initially I had a hard time trying to connect James to this line, despite lots of circumstantial evidence. Luckily the connection was confirmed by an old copy of a family tree passed on by John.

At the time James married Ann in 1820 he was already 38 years old (by the marriage records), and at which time he was listed as a tanner, and Ann was 29. There is a possibility that he was married previously. It also looks like Ann may have remarried after James' death. We have an ANN (widow, aged 38 marrying James Waring, in 1828).

James and Anne Swarbrick had three children who were christened at St. Mary's RC in Fernyhalgh. They were Robert b. 1820, Helen (Ellen) b. 1821 (or 1824), and Maria (Mary) b. 1823. The wonderful pictures of some of their descendants seen below are courtesy of a living family member.

At the 1851 census Ellen (born Fulwood) and Mary (born Fulwood) were Dress makers and were lodgers at Preston. They both appear to have married in 1853, Ellen to John Turner (from Samlesbury), and Mary to John Grimbaldeston (from Highton).

Mary and John had 5 children (Ellen b.1854, Ann b.1858, James b.1860, Mary b.1862 , and John b.1864). Ellen was born in Samlesbury, the others in Balderstone. At the time of the 1861 census, the family was living at Hubberstey Fold and Richard (son of Robert Hubberstey and Mary Watson, and by then 72) was living with them (or perhaps more likely they were living with him). By 1871 the family was still together (census entry "Gumbaldeston" just to make it more difficult) including with Richard, although by then they were in Obaldeston at Stutlehurst (?) where they had 27 acres.


Robert (born Fulwood) married Ann Barton (b.1822, Osbaldeston - pictured at left) in 1846. By 1861 they were running an Inn, called the Bull's Head, in Blackburn. What is interesting is that the Inn was at #11 Salford Street, while at the same time John Hubberstey (son of Thomas Hubberstey and Barbara Hawksworth - Samlesbury line) and his family lived at #82 Salford! The other interesting thing about the 1861 census record is that there was a "John Hubberstey", age 30, and born in Broughton listed as a boarder.

Robert and Ann had 6 children at the 1861 census (Catherine b. 1847, James 1848, John b. 1851, Mary E b. 1855, Hugh Henry b.1858, and Thomas b. 1860). The family had obviously done a little moving around as Catherine was born at Claughton Green, James at Brindle (another piece of evidence of a connection with the Samlesbury line), and John at Clitheroe. The last three were all born in Blackburn. Another son, Richard, was born in 1863.

By 1881, Robert had died and Ann had remarried to Peter Eaves in 1869 and was living in Blackburn with 4 of her children (Catherine, Mary E, Hugh H, and Richard). Catherine died in 1886, Hugh H. in 1893 (Hugh is pictured at the left - he died in a trolley car accident at the age of 35) and Richard in 1899, all unmarried. By 1901 only Mary E was left living with Ann and Peter.

 
Son John:
Son John (pictured left) married Catherine Lunt (pictured below left) in 1876 and by 1881 was in Blackburn as a master ironmonger. Their children were Ann Jane Mary (b.1876, d.1879) Mary Ellen (b.1878), Robert (b.1880), Edgar (b.1888), Annie (b.1883) and John (b.1886). By 1891 John was an auctioneer/valuer and they were at 30 Burlington Street, Blackburn. By the time of the 1901 census, John was now a Confectionary shop-keeper and Catherine a baker, while eldest son Robert was a beer traveller. There had also been two more additions to the family - Hugh b. 1894 and Kate b.1895. In total, besides John and Catherine (Kate), there were 6 children at home while daughter Annie was at Notre Dame convent. The other thing to note is that John (b.1886) was the one who eventually headed off to America.


John and Catherine's children:

Two of John and Catherine's children headed overseas. John Joseph went to America and Robert to South Africa. Robert married Florence Emily Brown, a Huguenot, in Cape Town, in 1905 (He is pictured below in a photo taken in South Africa circa 1908 - he is second from the right). They had three children; Robert (1908-1975), Kay (b.1905) and Lilian (b.1906).

Daughter Mary Ellen married William Catterall (b.1871) in 1910 and they had 4 children - Winnie, Kathleen, Annie (Nancy) and John (b.1922, d. 1939).

 Daughter Annie married Joseph Coupe (b.1869, d.1938) in 1913. They had three children - Joseph, Eileen, and Edgar. Annie died in 1960.

Daughter Kate married Harold Parker and had two children - Catherine (b.1928) and Harold (b.1929).

Son Edgar married Alice Swarbrick (interestingly a lady with the same surname as his great-grandmother!) in 1921. There were two children - John Richard (b.1921, d.1995)) and Phillip Gerard (b.1923, d.1993). Phillip did not marry, but John Richard married Margaret Hagel in 1947. Their 4 children are living Hubbersteys.

Son Hugh (left) married Kathleen Harte in 1923 and they had a son Hugh, born in 1924 in Sheffield, who died in 1946.
















 

Son James:
Son James married first Ann Mary Bell (1869) and then Ann Copple (1876). By 1881 he was an Innkeeper and the family was at the Station Street Commercial Hotel in Rainhill. In total there were 7 children, Agnes Ann (b.1870), Catherine (b.1872), Robert (b.1874), Susannah (b. 1877), Cicely (b.1879), Elizabeth (b.1880) and Ellen (b.1881). There is a question about Robert however. There is no Hubberstey birth record for him and he was born before James married Ann Copple, but had the same birthplace as Ann Copple (Eccleston), indicating that he was possibly Ann Copple's son from a prior marriage.

By the time of the 1891 census it is starting to be quite consistent that the family is referred to as "Hubbersley" (1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses). Also by this time James is described as a Commercial Traveller, Wine and Spirits and 2 more daughters have been added to the brood, Margaret (b. 1884) and Alice (b.1885), but Robert is not listed anymore. That gives a total of 7 daughters in the house (by now in West Derby).

At the 1901 census Ann is a widow (James having died in 1899) living with 4 daughters (Susannah, Cecelia, Helen and Margaret) in Seacombe, Cheshire (a total of 5 for the census). Between the two censuses Agnes Ann appears to have married William O'Donahoe (1892) and Catherine looks to have married John C. McGregor (1896). Susannah looks to have headed to Canada where she married Ralph Thomas Webster in Ontario.

It looks like James had a rather unfortunate accident leading to his death in 1899.

On Saturday February 11th (1899), a man fell to his death from the top deck of a horse car. The man, Mr J.Hubberstey, a commercial traveler from Liverpool, boarded the car at Salford Bridge at 9:50p.m. and. according to the conductor, Thomas Rauner, was under the influence of drink ‘..though not so bad as he could not look after himself...’. The passenger sat at the back of the top deck for the journey up Preston New Road. When the car reached Dukes Brow it pulled up at the stop, at that point Mr Hubberstey stood up and according to a witness walking along Preston New Road, the car gave a ‘slight jerk’ as it started off again, and the deceased fell over the handrail of the steps and into the road. The driver, Issac Birtwistle, stated at the inquest that after he pulled up ‘..none of the horse gave a jerk...’ The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of ‘Accidental Death’

Son Robert reappears again in the 1911 census apparently having married Margaret Ackers in Liverpool in 1904. Also in the 1911 census we have Ann living with two daughters (Helen and Margaret) in Runcorn, Chesire. If Susannah went to Canada as mentioned above, that leaves only Cecelia unaccounted for.