Page 65 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

Hamlet married Amelia (1848-1931) in Rochdale in 1873. They had one child – Herbert (1882-?). Hamlet died in New Zealand, but currently his death date is not recorded. Amelia, however, died in Rochdale in 1931 around the age of 83. It is not clear when Hamlet went to New Zealand and whether Amelia was with him at any time.
In common with most of the female offspring, not much is known about Mary Ellen, except to say that she was married in Rochdale in 1878.
In contrast, much more is known about John Thomas, but there is some confusion. For a start his birth date is not clear. From the age given at the 1861 census, one would expect his birth year to be either 1849 or 1850, but sometimes it seems to be 1853. However, John Thomas also seems to have spent his life in or around Rochdale. He appears to have been married twice – first on 1 May 1882 to Susannah Rogers and, then four years later, on 23 October 1886, to Sara Elizabeth Dorman in St Stephen's Church, Rochdale, according to the rites and rituals of the Countess of Huntingdon’s connexion. The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion continues today (see the website - www.cofhconnexion.org.uk ). Horace Walpole is said to have described Lady Huntingdon as the St. Teresa of the Methodists; Lady Huntingdon contributed to the religious revival in the eighteenth century and is regarded as a pivotal figure. The link with Methodism and its variants is, thus, identified with both the Halifax and Rochdale branches of the family. In terms of occupation, John Thomas seems to have moved from a cardroom hand to a carter, ending up as being recorded as a carter in the sanitary department in the 1911 census. Following John Thomas’s first marriage to Susannah, they had a child, John Winn (sometimes spelt, ‘Wynne’) in 1883, but, sadly, John died in the same year. Perhaps Susannah died in childbirth for John Thomas to become a widower, but this is only speculation. Certainly John Thomas became free to marry Sara Elizabeth Dorman by 1886.
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