Guy Silversides (1784-1861), the publican at the Greyhound Inn in Riccall, was convicted on 2 March 1824 at the East Riding of Yorkshire Quarter Sessions. His offence, ‘against the conditions of recognizance for the license of an ale house’, resulted in a fine of one guinea with costs of 10 shillings and two pence. The following map shows the location of the Greyhound Inn in Riccall (Ordnance Survey Yorkshire CCVI.II date 1891).
The record from the Quarter Sessions (QSF/463/F/1) provided an insight into the case. A key witness was John Harper junior, an apprentice to Guy. (Guy was also a shoemaker.) John reported that on the evening of the offence, 20 January 1824, four people had played cards in the inn for money. They were his master Guy Silversides, Varley of Cawood, Edward Hawkins, Dowson and Jonathan Romans of Riccall. John saw Jonathan Romans cheating. He suggested that the house was a meeting place for prostitutes and used for gaming. It seems that his master, Guy, had entered his room the following morning, between 5 and 6 am, and ‘struck me twice upon the head’.
Guy, in his defence, asked that the magistrates consider that this was his first offence. It seems that a fellow card player, Jonathan Romans (1791-1858,) had previously been convicted at the Quarter Sessions for using dogs to destroy game in the nearby village of Escrick. His conviction on 17 February 1824 had resulted in a fine of £20 (QSF/463/F/20). Jonathan was described as a farmer from Riccall. A key witness in his trial was the Escrick gamekeeper John Smith. Other witnesses were George Kirk a labourer from Riccall, John Harper of Riccall and Susanna Wellman, a servant of Guy Silversides. Jonathan remained unmarried until his death in the Selby Union Workhouse on 31 January 1858. He was aged 68 and his cause of death was recorded as ‘decay’.
Returning to Guy, my 4th great grandfather; together with his wife Mary Tomlinson (1796-1866), the couple had twelve children. It isn’t clear when Guy gave up the Greyhound Inn. However, in White’s 1840 directory, Guy was recorded as a shoemaker and not the publican at the Greyhound Inn. He continued as a shoemaker in Riccall until at least the 1861 census. Guy died on 11 July 1861 and was buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Riccall on 14 July 1861.
Finally:
I would like to know more about the people mentioned in this blog post. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share.
Quarter Session Records: QSF/463/F/1 and QSF/463/F/20. East Riding Archives.
White, William. (1840) History, Gazetteer and Directory of the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire. Sheffield: Robert Leader. pp. 334-5. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed June 2025.
I am continuing my occasional research into more distant members of my family. Currently I am working on a project for the Family and Community History Research Society looking into the experience of patients in County Pauper Lunatic Asylums during the period 1861-1901. While researching my Silversides cousins I came across Guy, my third cousin four times removed, working as an attendant in Stanley Royd Hospital, Wakefield in the 1911 census. Stanley Royd was the first West Riding county pauper lunatic asylum built in 1818. Guy didn’t remain working there long but turned out to be interesting for another reason; he emigrated to Canada not long after the 1911 census was taken.
Guy was the youngest son of William Silversides (1842-1916) and Elizabeth Habbishaw (1842-1927). He was born in Naburn near York (see OS Yorkshire sheet CXCI.NW published 1910 map) and was said to be 18 and a gardener when he enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers on 27 February 1900. Guy was 5ft 5in tall, weighed 124lbs, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. His three older brothers, George, Robert and John had enlisted in the army before him and two of his sisters’ married men who served in WWI.
Guy’s military record indicated he had served as a bandsman in the West Indies and then South Africa where he arrived on 23 July 1902. The Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Second Boer War, had been signed on 31 May 1902. Guy remained in South Africa until 4 March 1907. As a sergeant bandsman he was posted to the army reserve on 7 March 1908. While serving in the army he gained his St John’s ambulance certificate for first aid to the injured. Perhaps this enabled him to gain a position at Stanley Royd as an attendant. Guy was working there when the 1911 census was taken on 2 April. Not long afterwards his military record showed that on 2 June 1911 he was permitted to go to Canada.
Emigration to Canada
Guy left Liverpool for Canada on 7 July 1911 as a passenger on the steamship Victorian, Allan Steamship Line, bound for Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He arrived on 14 July 1911 and was described as an attendant with the intention of farming. His entry on the passenger list was stamped “British Bonus Allowed”. Commission was paid to UK steamship booking agents, by the Canadian government’s Immigration Branch, for suitable immigrants who bought a ticket to sail. Guy as the passenger did not receive a bonus.
The next record found for Guy was his marriage to Edythe M Kimber (or Kember) in 1913 in Edmonton, Alberta. Edythe, a nurse, had left Liverpool on 21 February 1913 bound for New Brunswick, on the Hesperian, Allan Steamship Line.
On 8 January 1915 Guy enlisted in the 101st Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force Band Corp. He was described as an attendant living at 9725, 96a St, Edmonton South, with his wife Edythe. His previous service with the Northumberland Fusiliers was noted.
Guy departed for England on 8 January 1915 and by 9 October 1915 he was a corporal in the 49th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry on his way to Boulogne, France. While he was serving in the army his personnel records showed that he was granted leave on the following dates:
20 August 1917 – 2 September 1917.
15 February 1918 – 3 March 1918.
25 January 1919 – 8 February 1919.
Guy’s personnel record also recorded separation payments to his wife Edythe. She returned to England on 2 August 1915 and gave her intended address as 43 Pentonville Rd, London. The record of her payments showed that she didn’t remain there for the duration of WWI. Edythe spent some time at 2 Darby Terrace, Horn Street, close to Shorncliffe camp used as a base for the Canadian forces (see OS Kent sheet LXXV.SW published 1908map). This was also where Guy’s brother John was base and his wife and family were at 2 Darby Terrace. Edythe’s final address was in Naburn, possibly with other members of Guy’s family. Perhaps he was able to visit her when he returned on leave from France.
After the end of WWI Guy and Edythe both returned to Canada on separate ships. Edythe arrived back at St John’s, New Brunswick on 25 April 1919 on the ship Corsican while Guy returned to Canada on 2 May 1919. After this date no records have been found which included either or both of them, notably the 1921 census. At some point Guy moved to Vancouver where he married his second wife, Elsie Davenport (1902-1970), on 23 May 1931. They were recorded together in the 1931 Canadian census when Guy’s occupation was recorded as a postman, who was not working. It is not clear what happened to his first wife Edythe. They may have divorced and it is possible Edythe remained in Alberta and remarried there in 1924.
Guy and Elsie continued to live in Vancouver where they were recorded on lists of voters:
1945 – Guy, a mail carrier, and Elsie living at 2784 Adanac St, Vancouver East.
1949 – Guy, retired, and Elsie living at 2784 Adanac St, Vancouver East.
1962 – Guy, retired, and Elsie living at 2784 Adanac St, Vancouver East.
Guy died on 12 May 1964 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His burial record stated that he had been in Canada for 45 years and Vancouver for 41 years. It also included information from his British Columbia marriage record and that he was a bachelor when he married Elsie. His first marriage to Edythe was mentioned and she was his next of kin in his Canadian Expeditionary Force personnel file. If he had been in Vancouver for 41 years then that suggests he moved there about 1921, possibly two years after he returned to Canada from serving in WWI.
Finally
I would like to know more about all the people mentioned in this blog post, and in particular, Guy who emigrated to Canada. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share.
Many of my ancestors worked on the land either as husbandmen or agricultural/field labourers, so when I find someone with a different occupation, I am always keen to write about them. The butler in my family was John Silversides ((1846-1833), my second cousin five times removed. He was born in Naburn, Yorkshire to parents Robert Silversides (1809-1898) and Hannah Waites (1815-1894). Robert was a farm labourer born in nearby Riccall and Hannah was from Kelfield.
The village of Naburn is located on the River Ouse about 4 miles south of the city of York. In the 19th century it was described by Lewis in his topographical directory as consisting of “2720 acres of rich land, two-thirds arable and the remainder meadow”. Just one of Robert and Hannah’s sons, William, remained a farm labourer in Naburn. Not only did John take up a different occupation but so did his brothers Thomas and Matthias. Thomas became a police officer; he died at the age of 91, a retired inspector of police, in Malton. Matthias worked on the railways in York.
John was first recorded as a domestic servant, butler, at Bell Hall, Naburn in 1871 where he worked for the Baines family; they had inherited the estate in the 18th century. He was still working as a butler there when he married Eliza Palfreeman (born about 1849) on 26 May 1873 in St Mary Bishophill Senior church in York. Prior to her marriage Eliza was working as a parlour maid in Bootham in York.
John and Eliza went on to have two daughters: Laura Annie Silversides born 4 August 1875 in Wheldrake and Edith Silversides born 20 January 1877 in Naburn. In both cases John was described as a butler (domestic servant); he was also the person who registered Laura’s birth. His father Robert registered Edith’s birth, which suggested that Eliza was living with him and his wife when she gave birth.
In the 1881 census the family were living together in “Jefferson Lodge” in Wheldrake, close to the boundary with the nearby village of Thorganby. The census record is blurred but it seems likely that this dwelling was on the northern side of Thicket Priory, owned by the Dunnnington-Jefferson family in the 19th century. They were probably John’s employers. Lewis’ 1848 topographical directory described Thicket Hall in his entry for Thorganby.
The following extracts from the OS map for Yorkshire sheet 192, dated 1854, show the position of the lodge and Thicket Priory.
The 1881 census is the last record which I’ve found for the family as a whole. John died on 5 August 1883 in 35 Cleveland St, St Mary Bishophill, York of pernicious anaemia. His death was reported by Isabella Lewins, the wife of a railway guard. John’s brother Matthias, a railway worker, had married his second wife on 10 February 1883, giving his address as Cleveland St. It seems likely that John died at his brother’s house. What isn’t clear was where his wife Eliza was when he died. By 1891 their two daughters Laura and Edith were pupils at St Stephen’s Orphanage, Trinity Lane, York. I’m planning a visit to the Borthwick Institute in York to find out more about their time there. So far, I haven’t been able to find out what happened to their mother Eliza. Do let me know if you have any stories about the family which you are willing to share with me.
A while ago I wrote a blog post about Lucy Silversides (1840-1887), born Lucy Rhodes, an ancestor of mine who died within two weeks of her admission to Broadgate Hospital, the East Riding County pauper lunatic asylum in Walkington near Beverley. I found information about Lucy’s stay in the hospital’s case book number 5 held by the East Riding archives. Lucy had been admitted from the Selby Union on 1 March 1887. It is known that in 1881 she was living with her husband John, a labourer, and six children in Dam End, Riccall, Yorkshire
Broadgate opened on 25 October 1871 on part of Broadgate farm and was demolished in 1989. The following OS Yorkshire CCX.II map, dated 1893, shows the location of the asylum to the north east of the village of Walkington, just off the B1230 road.
The hospital case book mentioned that Lucy’s first mental health attack had lasted for eight months, although it did not say where she was when this occurred. Perhaps she had spent some time in the workhouse in Selby before being admitted to Broadgate? The book went onto describe Lucy as being aged 50, married and that she was Church of England. Lucy’s physical condition was described as tall, poorly nourished and dirty. With regards to her mental health, she was of a nervous temperament, dangerous and with her form of insanity described as mania. She was said to be excited and that “the patient talks to herself”. The case book explained that on 4 March “her conversation was silly and voluble”. By 11 March Lucy was “physically in a very bad state and appears to be getting weaker daily…she is nervous and excited and most difficult to manage in short nothing can be done with her…she won’t eat.” It went onto say that “the diet for the most part consists of butter, eggs milk mixture with brandy”. Lucy had diarrhoea. She died on 13 March 1887 at 8.50pm in the presence of nurse Phebe Allan. Her cause of death was Phthisis, now more commonly known as pulmonary tuberculosis. An autopsy was conducted and the record certified by the asylum Medical Superintendent Dr Murdoch Donald Macleod. After her death Lucy was buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Riccall.
When Lucy died in 1887, the medical superintendent of the asylum was Dr Murdoch Donald Macleod. Deaths in County Pauper lunatic asylums were reported in the asylum annual reports and the reports themselves often covered in local newspapers. At the moment the East Riding archives are closed to visitors so I wondered if the local newspapers had information relating to the asylum in 1887. A summary of 16th annual report for the asylum (for the year 1887) was published in the Beverley Recorder on 4 February 1888. Dr Macleod reported that “during the year 56 patients were admitted, and 51 discharged, while 13 men and 16 women died”. Lucy was one of those women. Dr Macleod held the view that those patients “admitted from this district usually suffer from varieties of insanity which as a rule do not present hopeful prospects of care”. He was reported as saying that:
“In many of the more isolated villages of the Riding there appears to be a considerable amount of hereditary tendency, not so much to actual insanity as to an ill-balanced ill-developed nervous system, producing individuals who are never very bright, and who, when subject to the strain of some exciting cause, develop habits and tendencies which necessitate them being placed under care.”
In Lucy’s case she came from a more populous village and the agricultural depression mentioned later in the report by Dr Macleod was more likely to have been a contributing factor to her physical and mental health than a lack of intelligence. Lucy and her husband John (1822-1888) came from different villages in the Riding.
Turning next to a project I am involved with, the FACHRS (Family and Community Research Society) asylums project, I have been looking at local newspaper reports and found them a useful source particularly when tracing the changes in medical superintendents during the project study period 1861-1901.
Broadgate hospital was built to serve patients from the East Riding of Yorkshire when the North and East Ridings asylum in Clifton, York became over crowded. It opened in 1871 and closed in 1989. In its first 10 years of operation it had the following three medical superintendents:
Dr Niel Grey Mercer (1841-1877) – Dr Mercer was a Scot who had trained in Edinburgh where he gained MD and LM qualifications. With his appointment in 1871 he was the first medical superintendent for Broadgate. He had previously been the Senior Assistant Medical Officer at the Lancaster County asylum. A report of his sudden death from illness on 1 January 1877, at the age of 36, was reported in the Beverley Guardian of 6 January 1877.
Dr Richard Greene (1844-1927) – Dr Greene was born in the USA and trained in Edinburgh where he gained LRCP, LM and LRCS qualifications and LSA in London. The Hull Packet of 19 July 1878 reported that he had been offered a more lucrative appointment in Northampton. He may have “poached” some of his staff as some were recorded as moving to Northampton in 27 August 1878 edition of the Yorkshire Post. Dr Greene continued to practise at Northampton for the remainder of his career. He was awarded a pension according to the Northampton Mercury of 25 February 1898.
Dr Edmund Bancks Whitcombe (1843-1911) – Dr Whitcombe was born in Shropshire and gained his LSA in Birmingham and his MRCS in England. The Hull News of 24 August 1878 reported that he had just started work at Broadgate hospital. Dr Whitcombe’s move to the Birmingham City asylum was reported in the York Herald of 3 January 1882 together with details of his successor Dr Macleod. In 1881, while in Birmingham, Dr Whitcombe advocated changes to the system of care for lunatics and proposed the need to trial a separate hospital system (Birmingham Mail 15 March 1888). He died in post in Birmingham in 1911.
So, it seems that two out of the first three medical superintendents at Broadgate went onto having careers lasting more than 20 years in the asylums they moved to. Perhaps they saw Broadgate as an interim appointment until they found where they wanted to be.
The fourth medical superintendent at Broadgate, Dr Murdoch Donald Macleod, was a Scot born in 1852. He gained his MB and LRCS in Edinburgh. Before his appointment he had been the Assistant Medical Officer at the Cumberland and Westmorland asylum. While at Broadgate he involved himself with the local community; on one occasion he arranged a series of first aid classes for the ladies of Beverley (Beverley and East Riding Recorder 7 May 1887). According to his obituary in the Beverley Independent (7 March 1908) Dr Macleod retired due to ill-health on 30 June 1906 and had subsequently become a physical wreck. He left a widow, three sons and two daughters.
A series of local newspapers proved invaluable in tracing the changes of medical superintendents at Broadgate hospital. I will leave you with one final thought. With the demise of local newspapers in many parts of the country will future family historians be able to carry out this kind of detective work.
Newspaper reports of crime is something I’ve been looking into recently to develop some presentational material and as part of the research I carry out as a volunteer for my local museum. I am lucky to have some unusual surnames in my paternal ancestry and a newspaper report with the heading “A Fracas at a Wedding” recently caught my eye. The case was held at the Escrick petty sessions and concerned seven defendants who were summoned to the court for causing damage to the door of a man called John Silversides (1824-1890), my first cousin six times removed. (The following map shows the location of the R C church where the wedding took place.)
It seems that John’s daughter Jane (1857-1935), had married Patrick Murray (born 1859) on 12 May 1877, the day of the incident, in St Mary’s Roman Catholic chapel in nearby Selby and gone back to her father’s house in Riccall for a party. The defendants were:
Labourers – Henry Leach Cass, Charles Hare, George Marsden, Joseph Whitehead, William Wood and John Terry.
Fisherman – Thomas Kirk.
They were all summoned for damaging a door at the Silversides house and in addition the first three in the above list were said to have assaulted Jane and the last four for assaulting Patrick. The fracas seems to have occurred after Joseph Whitehead’s wife called at the house sometime between 10 and 11pm and Jane refused to let her stay in the house. There was then a quarrel between the two women, a crowd gathered and Jane returned inside. All seven defendants then broke the door down and Jane’s father john, who was said to be drunk, was then knocked down. Jane and Patrick armed themselves with a poker and tongs to rescue John and the paper then reports that “a regular melee ensued”. It seems that the witnesses called for both sides gave conflicting accounts and the summonses for assault were dismissed by the bench. All seven defendants were fined 5 shillings and costs for the damage to the door.
After their marriage Patrick appeared in more newspaper reports of the Selby Petty Sessions. In the Selby Times 28 February 1878 he was fined 10 shillings and 24 shillings costs for assaulting Ann Cox and in the same newspaper 1 October 1880 he and Terence Rush were bound over to keep the peace for six months for fighting on the highway. They were each fined £5 with costs.
Patrick was not with his wife Jane and their nine-month-old daughter Mary in the 1881 census. They were with Jane’s parents in Coppergate, Riccall. Jane and Patrick then seemed to have moved to Hull where they had two more children. By the 1891 census Jane is back in Riccall, living with Walter Thomas Kirk as his wife in Church St, together with her mother and two surviving children from her marriage with Patrick. So far, I haven’t found a marriage for Jane and Walter. She certainly used the surname Kirk; it was Jane Kirk, sister, who reported the death of her brother Guy in 1920.
I am still trying to trace what happened to Patrick Murray. It looks like he might have returned to work in Hull as a dock labourer. If this is the correct person then he seems to have continued his criminal ways. The 5 July 1920 edition of the Hull Daily Mail relates the case of Patrick Murray, living at 95 Hodgson St, who had 67 previous convictions. If you have any stories about the family which you are willing to share with me then do get in touch.
Christmas Day 2022 saw me eating Christmas lunch with members of my family at the Castle Inn in Cawood, North Yorkshire. Little did I know when I started to untangle two ancestors called Guy Silversides, both born in the nearby village of Riccall within a few years of each other in the 1840s, that I would find a connection between my family and the Castle Inn.
Cawood is a village situated on the river Ouse. A prominent feature is Cawood Castle, described in Lewis’ 1848 topographical directory as follows:
Trade directories on the Genuki website show that the innkeeper for the Castle Inn in 1822 and 1829 was William Benson. The following OS Yorkshire CCVI.9, dated 1906, shows the location of the inn in Wistowgate:
I’ve used this map because a report of the transfer of the license of the Castle Inn from Elizabeth Prankett to my second cousin three times removed, George William Silversides (1872-1857), was reported in the Selby Times, 17 March 1905.
George was baptised on 3 November 1872 in Drax to parents Guy Silversides (1846-1932) and Ann Marshall (1847-1921). By 1881 the family were living in Hirst Courtney. George’s father was an agricultural labourer who featured in a report of the Selby Petty Sessions (Yorkshire Gazette, 3 August 1888) when he accused Edward Precious of common assault. Both were living in Hirst Courtney at the time. A witness, Lawrence Baxter, stated that “the defendant struck Silversides under great provocation” and that “he said something about killing sheep”. Guy agreed that Edward Precious hadn’t killed a sheep: Guy was recorded as using the most filthy language. The case was dismissed.
George had some brushes with the law during his tenancy of the Castle Inn. He too appeared before the Selby Petty Sessions (Selby Times, 29 September 1905) where he was sued by Mr Morris Milner, the assistant overseer for Cawood, for £2/1/0 for the poor rate and 11/10 for the cemetery rate. In his defence George thought he had already paid what was due as he had only taken on the Castle Inn in February 1905. The bench confirmed that the rates were owing and ordered George to pay them with costs.
In another case George appeared before the Selby Petty Sessions for selling beer to a drunken man. The man in question, Thomas Elcock, was convicted at the January sessions and fined 10 shillings with costs of 13/6 (Selby Times, 19 January 1906). The case against George for selling beer to a drunken man had been held over to the February session. It seems George wasn’t in the Inn at the time the beer was sold by his servant; he was working in his market garden. Witnesses for the prosecution and defence were called and George was fined £1 with £1/12/6 costs (Selby Times, 2 February 1906).
George and his second wife Alice Varley (1878-1957) continued to live at the Castle Inn until the tenancy was taken over by their son William (1910-1972). George died on 11 July 1957 in York City hospital. He was described as a retired innkeeper and farmer. His death was reported by his son William, the innkeeper at the Castle Inn, Cawood. When William died on 27 November 1972 his probate record reported that he was the innkeeper at the Castle Inn, Cawood, indicating that the family had been innkeepers there for upwards of 65 years. What happened next, I’m not sure about, so if you have any stories about the family which you are willing to share with me then do get in touch.
Whilst visiting the East Riding archives at Beverley, I carried out a search of the East Riding of Yorkshire County pauper lunatic asylum case books (NH6/64/20) to see if there were any records for any of my ancestors who might have been admitted to it. The asylum was called Broadgate Hospital and located in Walkington near Beverley. The land it was built on was part of Broadgate farm; it was opened on 25 October 1871 and has since been demolished. Walkington was described by Lewis in 1848 as follows:
The following OS Yorkshire CCX.II map, dated 1893, shows the location of the asylum to the north east of the village of Walkington, just off the B1230 road.
The East Riding archives hold a series of case books for Broadgate hospital and my ancestor Lucy Silversides featured in the women’s case book number 5. Lucy was the wife of John Silversides (1822-1888), my second cousin five times removed. She was born Lucy Rhodes in 1840 in Patrington, Yorkshire to parents Thomas Rhodes (1804-1883) and Elizabeth Blenkin (1805-1879). By the time Lucy’s brother Arthur died in 1854, the family were living in Osgodby, a few miles from Riccall where John Silversides lived. Lucy married John in St Mary’s church, Riccall on 11 November 1858; Lucy was 18 and John 36.
In the 1861 census John, Lucy and their daughter Elizabeth (1859-1886) were living in Riccall where John was described as a farmer of 100 acres employing two labourers. John and Lucy had nine children: six boys and three girls. Two of their sons died in infancy, three children in their twenties, two sons have been difficult to trace and just one of their children definitely married: Margaret Ann Silversides (1873-1917). In 1891 their son Arthur Rhodes Silversides (1871-1949) was a footman at The Villa in Escrick; a property where I once owned an apartment. By 1901 he had become a butler; when he died on 11 January 1949 in York, he left effects to the value of £1,784 8s 9d. The following chart shows John, Lucy and their family.
Arthur’s mother Lucy faired rather differently. By the 1881 census John, Lucy and six of their children (Elizabeth, Boswell, Henry, John, Arthur and Margaret) were living in Dam End in Riccall. Their daughter Lucy was living with her aunt and uncle. By now John was aged 59 and described as an agricultural labourer, as were their sons Boswell and Henry. Boswell and Henry were recorded as joining the police in Leeds in 1885. Daughter Elizabeth died in 1886 and sons John and Arthur and daughter Margaret were elsewhere in 1891. Perhaps by the time Lucy was admitted to the Broadgate hospital in 1887 she had been affected by significant changes in her family life.
Lucy was admitted to Broadgate from the Selby Union on 1 March 1887. The case book mentioned that her first mental health attack had lasted for eight months. It is interesting to note that she entered the asylum from the Selby Union. She was described as being aged 50, married and her religion was Church of England. With regards to her mental health, she was of a nervous temperament, dangerous and with her form of insanity described as mania. She was said to be excited and “the patient talks to herself”.
Her physical condition was described as tall, poorly nourished and dirty. The case book then goes onto outline her mental and physical state after her admission. On 4 March “her conversation was silly and voluble”. By 11 March Lucy was “physically in a very bad state and appears to be getting weaker daily…she is nervous and excited and most difficult to manage in short nothing can be done with her…she won’t eat.” It went onto say that “the diet for the most part consists of butter, eggs milk mixture with brandy”. Lucy had diarrhoea.
Lucy died on 13 March 1887 at 8.50pm in the presence of nurse Phebe Allan. Her cause of death was Phthisis. An autopsy was carried out and the record certified by the asylum Medical Superintendent Dr Murdoch Donald McLeod. After her death Lucy was buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Riccall. Her husband John died just over a year later on 16 March 1888. He too was buried in the churchyard. After his death the cottage he was living and his household furniture were sold at auction by Thomas Walker Auctioneers, according to the York Herald dated 14 April 1888. Perhaps by then none of his children were around to take an interest in his furniture.
So far, I’ve been unable to trace what happened to two of John and Lucy’s sons: Henry Silversides (born 1864) and John William Silversides (born 1868). Do let me know if you have any stories about the family which you are willing to share with me.
During a recent visit to the East Riding of Yorkshire archives at Beverley, I decided to review a number of documents I’d identified in their online catalogue which I thought might be relevant to my own family history.
I came across a bastardy order (QSU1/40/50 ) dated 1 July 1839 which named William Rooke as the putative father of a female child born to Mother Hannah Silversides. The Selby Guardians of the Poor had an interest in bringing the case as the child had been born in the parish of Riccall and as such the child was chargeable to the parish.
William Rooke was ordered to pay a sum, not exceeding one shilling per week, to the overseers of the poor of the parish of Riccall, for maintenance of the child. The order included the requirement that the sum should be paid until the child attained the age of 7 years.
I decided to find out more about Hannah to see if she was related to the Silversides in my family tree and thus to myself. My research revealed that Hannah, whose maiden name was Mitchel, was the second wife of Robert Silversides (1768-1829), my 5th great grand uncle. Robert and Hannah were married in St Mary’s Church, Riccall on 27th September 1821 by banns. Robert was described as a farmer and widower and Hannah a spinster. Robert signed the marriage record but Hannah signed using her mark. One of the witnesses was Guy Silversides, Robert’s brother, although quite a few male members of the family have the first name Guy.
Robert and Hannah had a son John baptised in the same church on 11 July 1824. Just five years later, Robert was buried in St Mary’s churchyard on 20 February 1829 when he was described as a labourer. With his first wife Sarah Riley (1772-1815) he had had at least seven children, four boys and three girls. Perhaps his fortunes had changed and Hannah experienced difficulties after his death. It looks like her son John was working in Bossall in the North Riding of Yorkshire when he married his wife Jane Wilson on 17 February 1845.
Returning now though to William Rooke and the bastardy notice. It does seem that he may well have been the father of Hannah’s second child Ann Silversides who was baptised on 24 November 1839 in St Mary’s Church, Riccall. Her baptism records her as the illegitimate child of Hannah Silversides, widow. Both Hannah and Ann were recorded in the 1841 census in Wheel Hall, Riccall with Hannah described as a labourer. Wheel Hall was originally a manor house but was replaced in the 18th century by a farmhouse.
Hannah died in 1845 and was buried in St Mary’s Churchyard on 5 May 1845. What happened to her daughter Ann is not clear, nor is the identity of her father. There was a William Rooke recorded in the 1841 census at Riccall Hall who was an agricultural labourer born about 1816. No further information on him in Riccall has been found. If you any information on either of Ann Silversides or William Rooke do, please contact me.
When we moved to Thame in 2012, I had only just started researching my family. On the Sarginson side I knew that many of my ancestors came from Yorkshire, and more specifically the East Riding. I didn’t expect to find anyone in Oxfordshire, and certainly not in Thame. I have previously written about the origin of the name Silversides, and as I started to research more of my cousins, I came across Herbert Silversides (1882-1955), my second cousin three times removed, who died in Thame.
Herbert was born on 23 March 1882 in Wakefield, Yorkshire to parents Guy Crispin Silversides (1853-1933) and Ellen Butler (1854-1932). Although in the 1891 census his father Guy was a tailor, by 1901 he was the Lodge Keeper at the West Riding County Lunatic Asylum for Paupers at Wakefield. He continued to work there until at least the 1911 census. The asylum was located on the north side of Wakefield as shown in the following OS map extract from 1894.
OS Yorkshire CCLVIII.NE date 1894
The asylum was opened in 1818 and became the Stanley Royd hospital in 1948. It closed in 1995 and has since been converted into residential accommodation. It is now known as Parklands Manor.
So how did Herbert and his wife Sabra Emma Blacker (1881-1972) come to live and die in Thame? Sabra had also been born in Wakefield and they were married on 21 April 1906 in the Primitive Methodist Church, Chapel Street, Blackpool. An extensive report in the Fleetwood Express (25 April 1906) gave an insight into the occasion:
“The bridal party consisted of lady and gentleman friends … with the guests, numbering over seventy persons, travelled by special saloon from Wakefield to Blackpool.”
Sabra’s dress was described in some detail and two gifts from the bridegroom specifically mentioned, an exquisite shower bouquet and gold opal brooch. There were six bridesmaids and Herbert’s brother William was his best man. The couple honeymooned in Scarborough and there was a long list of wedding presents which included many doyleys and other items of silver and linen.
By the 1911 census Herbert and Sabra were living at 53 Jacobs Well Lane in Wakefield with their son Ronald aged one. Herbert was a clerk in the architect’s department of West Riding County Council. It looks like they were regular visitors to Blackpool though. The Fleetwood Chronicle dated 15 March 1912 has an account of Sabra’s brother William Blacker marriage to Molly Brown in the Primitive Methodist Church, Chapel Street, Blackpool. Molly was the daughter of a Blackpool councillor and William’s father Alfred the manager of the Royal Pavilion and a lay preacher at the church. Both families were well known attendees of the church. Sabra was a bridesmaid and Herbert a groomsman.
Herbert and Sabra’s son Ronald died in 1914 in Blackpool. Herbert and Sabra were also in Blackpool in 1916 when the Blackpool Gazette and Herald (11 February 1916) reported that Mrs Blacker and Mrs Herbert Silversides had arranged a concert after a young people’s tea which had been held at the Chapel Street Primitive Methodist School, Blackpool.
Herbert and Sabra were next found in the 1921 census as visitors at a property called Rossendale, Coronation Street, Cleveleys, near Thornton in Lancashire. The head of the household was Andrew Milligan and Sabra’s parents were boarders there. Her father Alfred was described as the cinema manager at the Savoy cinema, Cleveleys. Herbert was chief clerk at Wakefield County Council.
Herbert and Sabra seem to have then moved to the “Holiday Camp”, Rossall Road, Thornton, Lancashire where they were found in the 1923 Electoral Register. However, by 1939 Herbert and Sabra were living at Caradoc, Daws Hill, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire with Herbert described as a wholesale and retail wool dealer. How his change of occupation had come about isn’t clear.
Ancestry’s collection of British Phone Books was an invaluable resource which helped to track down Herbert and Sabra’s movements towards Thame. The 1944 Phone Book records them living in Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire and in 1954 there were two entries. Herbert and Sabra were living at 70 Chilton Road, Long Crendon and had a business called Silver Wools in High Street, Princes Risborough. They had moved inro 18 Croft Road in Thame by 1955; the following is a recent photo of the house:
18 Croft Road, Thame – image by Joan Reid
Herbert died on 23 September 1955 at 18 Croft Road. Sabra was not mentioned in his probate calendar entry and he left effects worth £2594 9s 4d. It seems that Sabra did not stay in the house for long after his death. She had moved into 1 Victoria Mead, Thame by the time the 1959 Phone Book was published. A local resident confirmed that the property was one of a number which had been built in 1958. The following is a recent photo of the house which has had an extension at some point; it would just have been two windows wide when Sabra moved into it.
I Victoria Mead, Thame – image by Joan Reid
Sabra died on 11 January 1972 at 1 Victoria Mead. She left effects to the value of £7550. So far, I’ve not been able to find burial records for either Herbert or Sabra. I also wondered if they continued to worship in a Primitive Methodist chapel. The one in Thame, on the junction between East Street and Park Street, is now a private house, but was once part of the Thame and Watlington Methodist circuit.
Lastly – I would like to know more about all the people mentioned in this blog post. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share.
Joan Reid Genealogy 