Gosling Family
Origins
Gosling is a name found in several areas on the Lancashire/Cheshire border, as well as in Norfolk, Suffolk and London. The family was frequently associated with the silk textile trade, which spread from Suffolk to the Cheshire towns of Hazel Grove and Macclesfield, although the name may have already existed in Macclesfield before the arrival of the silk trade, as the earliest reference to it there is in 1550. The usual spelling prior to 1750 was Gesling, which rather tends to support a Norman French etymology, deriving from "Jocelyn" - a double diminutive of the Breton saint's name "Josse". However, it may possibly have developed from the Germanic "Gauzelen" or "Gothling".
First generation
Rowland Gosling
Rowland Gosling, a saddler, was born in about 1745 and spent most or all of his adult life in Macclesfield. He married Elizabeth ("Betty") Johnson at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 5 October 1773 and had eight children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
(1773-1799)
(1776-1782)
(1778-1846)
(1782-1821)
(1785-1827)
(1786-1834)
(1789-?)
(1792-1793)
m. Grace Deane, 1805
m. Sarah Thorley, 1815
m. Grace Gibbon, 1814
m. Elizabeth Chorley, 1814
Betty was buried at St Michael's Church, Macclesfield on 9 October 1798 aged 51, and Rowland on 4 November 1821. Shortly before his death Rowland made a will, replacing a previous version which probably included his recently-deceased son Rowland. He left a legacy of £10 to a certain Rowland Taylor (possibly a godson), and otherwise divided all his effects equally between his surviving children Richard, Isaac, William and Ann (ie Nancy) Gosling.
Second generation
Richard Gosling
Richard Gosling, son of Rowland Gosling and Elizabeth Johnson, was born in Macclesfield in about 1778. Unlike his siblings, there is no clear record of his baptism, although there is an entry in the parish register for Richard, son of Richard and Elizabeth Gosling, baptised on 8 August 1778. There does not appear to be a couple named Richard and Elizabeth in Macclesfield at this time, so "Richard" may be an error for Rowland.
Richard married Grace Dean at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 9 April 1805 and had nine children, all born in Macclesfield:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Ann Gosling
Isaac Gosling
Abraham Gosling
David Gosling
Joshua Gosling
Joseph Gosling
Mary Gosling
Samuel Gosling
William Gosling
(1805-?)
(1807-1873)
(1810-1828)
(1813-1829)
(1816-?)
(1819-?)
(1822-1835)
(1825-1849)
(1828-1842)
m. Elizabeth Sutton, 1828
m. Jane Hammond, 1848
Most of the children's baptismal records give Richard's occupation as "silkman", but the 1841 census records him as a publican in Prestbury.
Grace was buried at St Michael's Church, Macclesfield on 8 November 1841 and Richard on 9 October 1846.
Isaac Gosling
Isaac Gosling, son of Rowland Gosling and Elizabeth Johnson, was born in Macclesfield on 10 October 1785 and baptised there at St Michael's Church on 21 February 1787 at the same time as two of his brothers. He worked as a labourer and married grace Gibbon at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 31 May 1814.
The couple lived in Macclesfield and had six children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
John Gosling
Nanny Gosling
Rowland Gosling
Elizabeth Gosling
Mary Gosling
Isaac Gosling
(1814-1835)
(1816-1829)
(1820-?)
(1821-?)
(1823-?)
(1827-?)
Isaac died at the age of 41 and was buried at St Michael's Church, Macclesfield on 13 May 1827. The 1841 census records his widow as a domestic servant in Hyde: ten years later she was still with the same family, along with her son Rowland. She was buried at St George's Church, Hyde on 1 June 1851, not long after the census was taken.
William Gosling
William Gosling, son of Rowland Gosling and Elizabeth Johnson, was born in Macclesfield on 3 November 1786 and baptised at St Michael's Church there on 21 February 1787 at the same time as his older brothers Rowland and Isaac. He became a butcher and married Elizabeth Chorley at St John the Baptist's Church, Knutsford on 2February 1814.
The couple spent their married life in Knutsford and had seven children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
(1814-1865)
(1816-?)
(1818-1855)
(1820-?)
(1822-1868)
(1825-1852)
(1828-1871)
m. Lucy Cockram, 1834
Elizabeth died at the age of 42 and was buried in Knutsford on 24 May 1830. William only outlived her by a few years and was buried on 26 January 1834, when the youngest children must have gone to live with relations or friends of the family.
Nancy Gosling
Nancy Gosling, daughter of Rowland Gosling and Elizabeth Johnson, was baptised at St Michael's Church, Macclesfield on 22 May 1789. She is recorded as Ann Gosling in her father's will of 1821 (the names Ann and Nancy were used interchangeably), meaning she was still unmarried at that point.
I believe she was probably the Ann Gosling whose illegitimate son was baptised in nearby Bosley in 1826:
1.
(1826-1875)
m. Alice Johnson, 1846
Ann may have married after the birth of her son: there is no conclusive record of her after 1826.
Third generation
Ann Gosling
Ann Gosling, oldest child of Richard Gosling and Grace Dean, was born in Macclesfield and baptised at St Michael's Church on 9 June 1805. She married Samuel Oakes, a silk worker, at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 18 March 1832 and had two children:
1.
2.
Ann Oakes
(1834-1865)
(1836-1909)
m. James Wright, 1863
m. John White, 1855
Several of Ann's siblings died in their teens or twenties, and herself was only 35 when she died: sh e was buried at St Michael's church, Macclesfield on 6 June 1841. Samuel later remarried and died in Macclesfield in 1873.
Isaac Gosling
Isaac Gosling, second child and oldest son of Richard Gosling and Grace Dean, was born in Macclesfield and baptised at St Michael's Church on 29 March 1807. He married Elizabeth Sutton at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 9 November 1828 and had eight children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
James Gosling
Emma Gosling
Elizabeth Gosling
Mary Ann Gosling
William Gosling
James Gosling
Martha Gosling
(1829-1829)
(1830-?)
(1835-1900)
(1839-1888)
(1841-1907)
(1845-1848)
(1848-1875)
(1851-?)
m. Thomas Seal, 1856
m. Mary Livesey, 1856
m. Thomas Hayes Nield, 1875
m. Joseph Foster, 1872
Isaac worked as a silk weaver as a young man and in later life, but from the late 1830s until some time in the 1850s he was a publican in Macclesfield.
Isaac died in Macclesfield in 1873 and Grace in 1883.
Samuel Gosling
Samuel Gosling, son of Richard Gosling and Grace Dean, was born in Macclesfield and baptised at St Michael's Church on 27 March 1825. Like many of the family he worked in the local silk industry, and married Jane Hammond in Manchester Cathedral on 29 May 1848. The couple had one child:
1.
Ann Gosling
(1849-1907)
Samuel died in Macclesfield at the early age of 24 and was buried at St Michael's Church on 17 April 1849. Jane later remarried and died in Macclesfield in 1901.
Peter Gosling
Peter Gosling, oldest child of William Gosling and Elizabeth Chorley, was born in Knutsford and baptised at St John the Baptist's Church on 10 July 1814. He became a butcher like his father, and was possibly apprenticed to him as a young man. Slightly surprisingly, he was the only one of his siblings to marry, wedding Lucy Cockram at Manchester Cathedral on 26 August 1834, a few months after his father's death.
Peter and Lucy had six children, all born in Knutsford:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
William Gosling
Emma Gosling
Mary Gosling
Peter Gosling
Henry Gosling
Ann Sarah Gosling
(1835-1887)
(1837-1885)
(1839-1841)
(1841-1842)
(1843-1890)
(1846-1895)
m. Alice Maddock, 1862
m. Joseph Pass, 1860
m. Susan Marrow, 1865
m. Joseph Elijah Chatterton, 1873
Lucy was buried in Knutsford on 28 May 1862 and Peter on 6 January 1865.
William Rowland Gosling
William Rowland Gosling, son of Ann (or Nancy) Gosling, was baptised on 26 February 1826 at St Mary the Virgin, Bosley, about five miles from Macclesfield. I believe this is the William Gosling, who was recorded in the 1841 UK census as a 15 year-old silk weaver lodging with a family in Bosden, Cheshire. (Bosden was one of the three townships which made up Hazel Grove.) His marriage certificate shows no father's name, indicating that he was probably illegitimate, and on later censuses he gave his place of birth as Macclesfield, although there is no obvious baptismal record for him in the town itself.
William married Alice Johnson at St Mary's Church, Cheadle on 9 August 1846. Alice was born in Bosden in about 1825, and was either the daughter or granddaughter of Thomas Johnson, a silk weaver, and his wife Alice Marsland. The 1851 census records her as their daughter, but she was born 20 years after their two other children, and no father's name is given on her marriage certificate: it seems probable that she was the daughter of Thomas and Alice's oldest known child Elizabeth, who was born in Bosden on 6 October 1803.
William and Alice had ten chidren:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Emma Gosling
Jane Gosling
John Gosling
Elizabeth Gosling
James Gosling
Mary Ellen Gosling
Sarah Gosling
Annie Gosling
Alice Gosling
William Gosling
(1846-1898)
(1848-1896)
(1850-1917)
(1852-?)
(1855-1925)
(1857-1942)
(1860-1915)
(1861-1943)
(1864-1946)
(1866-1927)
m. William Hirst, 1868
m. Alice Copeland, 1877
m. Mary Ann Walton, 1878
m. Edwin Maynard Shapley, 1882
m. Robert Arthur Ray, 1891
m. Annie Hinton, 1891
During the early years of their marriage, they lived with Thomas and Alice Johnson, working like them as silk weavers. However, the silk trade was to experience great difficulties due to the removal of tariffs against French silk, and when William and Alice's fifth child was born in 1855, William was working a a labourer in Stockport.
On 7 July 1857, William joined the Cheshire police, and was stationed briefly at Didsbury before moving to Sworton Heath near Lymm. He left the police force in 1863 to take over the license of the Wheatsheaf Inn at Broomedge, just outside Lymm. The family also ran a shop and dressmaking business adjoining the inn.
William died of phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) at Broomedge on 17 September 1875. His widow Alice retained the license of the Wheatsheaf until 1894, and died at her son John's home in Stockton Heath on 29 August 1908.
Fourth generation
Hannah Oakes
IHannah Oakes, younger daughter of Samuek Oakes and Ann Gosling, was born in Macclesfield and baptised at St Michael's Church on 17 August 1836. She worked in the silk industry and married another silk worker, John White, at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 13 May 1855. The couple lived in Sutton, near Macclesfield, and had ten children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Lucy Ann White
William White
Frederick White
Samuel White
Mary Ann White
John White
Hannah White
Isaac White
Joseph White
James White
(1855-1905)
(1857-1912)
(1859-1941)
(1863-1933)
(1866-1942)
(1869-?)
(1872-?)
(1874-1915)
(1874-1919)
(1878-1955)
m. William Flynn, 1874
m. Fanny Whewell, 1881
m. Annie Warren, 1881
m. James Hindley, 1886
m. Sarah Meakin, 1889
m. Lottie Back, 1908
m. Gertrude Smith, 1904
The three youngest sons all joined the army at the age of 18 and served for the regular period of ten years.
John died in Macclesfield on 10 December 1904 and Hannah on 10 November1909.
Emma Gosling
Emma Gosling, oldest surviving child of Isaac Gosling and Elizabeth Sutton, was born in Macclesfield on 25 October 1830 and baptised at St Michael's Church on Christmas Day 1835 at the same time as her younger brother Abraham. She married Thomas Seal (or Seals) at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 18 May 1856 and had two children, both of whom died soon after birth:
1.
2.
Joseph Seal
Sarah Ann Seal
(1859-1859)
(1861-1861)
When the 1861 census was taken, shortly after baby Sarah's death, Emma was living with her parents in Macclesfield, while Thomas was lodging with a family in Parr, Lancashire. No conclusive record of them after this has been found to date.
Abraham Gosling
Abraham Gosling, son of Isaac Gosling and Elizabeth Sutton, was born in Macclesfield on 21 September 1835 and baptised at St Michael's Church on Christmas Day 1835 at the same time as his older sister Emma. Like many of his family he worked as a silk weaver, and married Mary Livesey, a fellow-weaver, at St Peter's Church, Prestbury on 30 November 1856.
Abraham and Mary had three children:
1.
2.
3.
Elizabeth Gosling
Thomas Gosling
James Gosling
(1857-1931)
(1859-1909)
(1864-1953)
m. Frederick Beard, 1883
m. Alice Ann Holland, 1886
m. Martha Ann Leigh, 1885
It seems possible that Abraham and Mary's marriage ran into difficulties: the 1871 census records Abraham and the children living with his parents, while Mary was with her own parents.
Abraham then had a son with a woman named Elizabeth Holland:
4.
William Thomas Holland
(1872-1922)
It is unclear what happened to Elizabeth, but William lived with Abraham and the other children until Abraham's death in Macclesfield in 1900. There is no conclusive record of Mary after 1871.
Mary Ann Gosling
Mary Ann Gosling, daughter of Isaac Gosling and Elizabeth Sutton, was born in Macclesfield in 1841. She worked as a silk weaver and married Thomas Hayes Nield in St James' Church, Sutton in 1875.
They had one daughter:
1.
Emilia Nield
(1876-1881)
The couple separated soon after their daughter was born, and Mary took Emilia (also known as Emily) to live with her widowed mother Elizabeth and family. Mary continued to live in the family home with her brother Abraham and later with her nephew William Holland.
Thomas died in Tintwistle in 1897 and Mary died in Macclesfield in 1907.
William Gosling
William Gosling, oldest child of Peter Gosling and Lucy Cockram, was born in Knutsford and baptised at St John the Baptist's Church on 26 July 1835. He was apprenticed as a shoe maker, but later combined this with the trade of butcher.
William married Alice Maddock at St John the Baptist's Church, Knutsford on 2 September 1862 and had four children, all born in Weaste:
1.
2.
3.
4.
William Gosling
Rowland Gosling
Alfred Henry Gosling
Laura Alice Gosling
(1865-1946)
(1868-1884)
(1871-1871)
(1873-1952)
Neither of the children who survived to adulthood married, and William Jr and Laura continued to live in the family home in Pendleton until their respective deaths.
William Sr died in Pendleton in 1887 and Alice in 1908.
Emma Gosling
Emma Gosling, daughter of Peter Gosling and Lucy Cockram, was born in Knutsford and baptised at St John the Baptist's Church on 16 April 1837. She was "in service" by the age of 14, before marrying Joseph Pass, a tailor, at St John the Baptist's Church, Knutsford on 13 February 1860.
The couple had eight children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Ann Pass
Alfred Pass
John Pass
Maggie Pass
Minnie Pass
Emily Pass
Thomas Pass
Mary Jane Pass
(1860-1897)
(1862-1927)
(1864-1866)
(1867-1928)
(1868-1947)
(1871-1937)
(1873-1880)
(1875-?)
Emma died when her youngest child was barely three months old, and was buried at St John the Baptist's Church, Knutsford on 4 December 1875. The younger children probably went to live with family or friends, as none were with their father on subsequent census returns.
Joseph died in Knutsford in 1894.
m. Henry Oldham
m. Elizabeth Rustage, 1883
m. James Marsland, 1885
m. James Thwaites, 1889
m. William Prescott, 1893
Henry Gosling
Henry Gosling, son of Peter Gosling and Lucy Cockram, was born in Knutsford and baptised at St John the Baptist's Church on 20 April 1843. He was apprenticed to a coach builder as a teenager and spent his adult working life as a coach painter.
Henry married Susan Marrow at St John the Baptist's Church on 4 September 1865 and the couple had five children, all born in Knutsford :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Lucy Jane Gosling
Edith Gosling
Bertha Gosling
Ernest Henry Gosling
Arthur Gosling
(1866-1931)
(1867-?)
(1870-1931)
(1871-1872)
(1873-?)
Susan died at the age of 32 when her youngest child was just a year old, and was buried in Knutsford on 27 April 1874. By the time the 1881 census was taken, the family had moved to Gorton and Henry had married a woman named Ann (surname unknown), and they later moved to Cheadle, where Henry died in 1890: he was buried at St john's Church, Knutsford on 20 December 1890. Ann was possibly a patient in Stockport workhouse in 1891, and Henry's youngest children are recorded living with their married stepsister Julia Heginbotham - presumably Ann's daughter by a previous marriage.
m. John Alfred Knowles, 1887
m. Frederick Shaw, 1894
m. George Thorniley, 1905
Anne Sarah Gosling
Anne Sarah Gosling, youngest child of Peter Gosling and Lucy Cockram, was born in Knutsford and baptised at St John the Baptist's Church on 6 January 1846. She married Joseph Elijah Chatterton, a commercial traveller, at St Thomas' Church, Heaton Norris on 18 October 1873 and had six children :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Clara Chatterton
Ada Chatterton
Emily Chatterton
Arthur Chatterton
Florence Chatterton
Rose Chatterton
(1874-1951)
(1875-?)
(1880-1960)
(1881-1918)
(1883-1883)
(1886-1954)
m. John Joseph Bellamy, 1909
m. Amy Caroline Lockley, 1916
The couple spent their early life in Stockport, where the first two children were born, before moving to London for most of the 1880s. They had returned to Stockport by the time the 1891 census was taken.
Anne died in Stockport in 1895 and Joseph later married Sarah Hannah Bradshaw in 1899. There were no children from his second marriage, but he and Sarah raised his grandson Clifford, the illegitimate son of one of Joseph's daughters.
During World War I, Arthur Chatterton attested for deferred service with the Cheshire Regiment under the Derby Scheme on 9 December 1915. He was mobilised on 25 April 1916 and drafted to France four months later on 30 August 1916. He was wounded in the right hand in July 1917, and was killed in action in the Arras sector on 24 March 1918. He has no known grave, but is commemorated on the Arras Memorial as well as the Stockport War Memorial.
Joseph died in Stockport in 1927.
Emma Gosling
Emma Gosling, oldest child of William Gosling and Alice Johnson, was born in Hazel Grove on 23 December 1846, and married William Hirst, a brickmaker, at St Mary's Church, Manchester on 27 July 1898. William was born in Aston-under-Lyne in 1846, and was the son of Yorkshire-born brickmaker Elias Hirst and his wife Sarah Lees, who moved to Lymm shortly after William's birth.
William and Emma had one child:
1.
(1868-1944)
m. Martha Rowlinson, 1889
William was only 25 when he died in Lymm in 1871 and Emma subsequently married John Southern, a tanner, at St Paul's Church, Warrington on 10 January 1875. John was born in Mere, Cheshire in 1839, and was the son of Joseph Southern and his wife, Betty Blease.
Emma had two further sons with John:
2.
3.
(1875-1945)
(1880-1940)
m. Florence Annie Johnson, 1898
m. Amy Burrows, 1904
Emma was buried in St Mary's churchyard in Lymm on 23 July 1898. John died in Lymm in 1923.
m. Mary Ann Hough, 1912
m. Blanche Selina Butcher, 1911
m. Frederick Daintith, 1912
m. George William Newall, 1916
m. Mary Elizabeth Wilkinson, 1917
m. Evelyn Jackson, 1926
John Gosling
John Gosling, son of William Gosling and Alice Johnson, was born in Hazel Grove, and christened there on 30 November 1850. He joined the police force as a young man, and married Alice Copeland at St Mary's Church, Birkenhead in 1877. Alice was christened in Hanbury, Staffordshire on 28 May 1854, and was the youngest daughter of Joseph Copeland and his wife Sarah Knight.
John and Alice had nine children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
William Ernest Gosling
Alfred Sydney Gosling
John Henry Gosling
Edith Mary Gosling
Beatrice Alice Gosling
Ethel Maud Gosling
Harold Percy Gosling
Charles Hector Gosling
Edgar Gosling
(1878-1878)
(1880-1960)
(1882-?)
(1884-1958)
(1886-1889)
(1888-1962)
(1891-1944)
(1893-1947)
(1896-1896)
John remained in the police force until his retirement, reaching the rank of sergeant, and winning a police medal for bravery. He died in Stockton Heath on 18 April 1917 and Alice on 24 September 1926. Most of the family are buried at St John' Church, Stockton Heath.
James Gosling
James Gosling, son of William Gosling and Alice Johnson, was born in Stockport on 19 December 1854 and later moved to Birkenhead, where he worked as a timekeeper in an iron works. He was a witness at his brother John's wedding in Birkenhead in 1877 and married Mary Ann Walton at St Mary's Church, Birkenhead on 12 December 1878. Mary Ann was born in Liverpool in 1851, and was the daughter of John Walton, a blacksmith, and his wife Ann Pickthall.
Mary Ann died at her parents' home in Birkenhead on 22 September 1882 of Bright's Disease (an old term for acute or chronic nephritis), and the death was registered by her father: it is unclear where her husband was at this time.
I have been unable to locate James on the 1891 or 1901 censuses, but in 1911 he was living in Bootle with his second wife Ellen (born in Armagh) and on the census form they stated that they had been married for ten years. He died in the West Derby area in 1925.
Annie Gosling
Annie Gosling, daughter of William Gosling and Alice Johnson, was born in Lymm on 11 August 1861, and worked with her sisters as a dressmaker before her marriage. She married Edwin Maynard Shapley a cashier, at St Peter's Church, Oughtrington on 5 September 1882. Edwin was born in 1857 in Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire, and was the son of James Shapley, an engine fitter from Berkshire, and his wife Ellen Ransom. His sister Laura Helen Shapley married Edwin Belliss, chief engineer on the Isle of Man Packet Company's ill-fated SS Ellen Vannin, which was lost with all hands on 3 December 1909.
Edwin and Annie had three children:
1.
2.
3.
Alice Maynard Shapley
Nellie Gladys Shapley
Alfred Edwin Shapley
(1885-1979)
(1886-1972)
(1888-1916)
m. Frederick Thomas Gibbs, 1920
m. Hannah Constance Fisher, 1915
By 1901, the family had moved to Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne and they later lived in Leeds.
During World War I, Alfred Edwin Shapley became a lieutenant in the Northumberland Fusiliers, and was killed in action on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. This was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, with over 19,000 deaths and twice as many wounded. Like thousands of others, Alfred has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.
Annie died in Leeds in 1943 and Edwin in 1944.
Alice Gosling
Alice Gosling, daughter of William Gosling and Alice Johnson, was born in Lymm in 1864, and was recorded as a "lady's help" on the 1891 census. She married Robert Arthur Ray, an accountant, in St John's Church, Bootle on 7 December 1891. Robert was born in Liverpool on 18 March 1869, and was the son of Robert Ray, a schoolmaster, and his wife Jane Green.
Robert and Alice had one daughter:
1.
Dorothy Gwendoline Ray
(1892-1981)
m. Harry Eustace Perry, 1917
Alice died in New Ferry on 27 May 1946 and Robert on 17 March 1949.
Fifth generation
Lucy Ann White
Lucy Ann White, oldest child of John White and Hannah Oakes, was born in Sutton near Macclesfield, and baptised at St George's Church there on 30 September 1855. After leaving school she worked (like many of her family) as a silk winder in the local weaving industry. She married William Flynn, a tailor from Liverpool, in Sutton in 1874 and had five children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
William John Flynn
Frederick Flyn
Johanna Flynn
Edward Flynn
Joseph Flynn
(1878-?)
(1881-1964)
(1883-?)
(1884-1943)
(1891-1960)
m. Elizabeth Hulme, 1906
m. Maria Stanway, 1903
m. Catherine Floy, 1919
The couple spent the first years of their marriage in Liverpool before returning to the Macclesfield area in late 1883 or early 1884. However, by the time the 1901 census was taken, the couple appear to have separated: Lucy was living in Macclesfield with Frederick, Edward and Joseph, while William was lodging separately in Liverpool.
William died in Liverpool in 1912 and Lucy died in Macclesfield in 1915.
Frederick White
Frederick White, son of John White and Hannah Oakes, was born in Sutton near Macclesfield on 4 May 1859 and baptised at St George's Church there on 24 May 1863. After leaving school she worked (like many of her family) as a silk winder in the local weaving industry. She married William Flynn, a tailor from Liverpool, in Sutton in 1874 and had five children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
William John Flynn
Frederick Flyn
Johanna Flynn
Edward Flynn
Joseph Flynn
(1878-?)
(1881-1964)
(1883-?)
(1884-1943)
(1891-1960)
m. Elizabeth Hulme, 1906
m. Maria Stanway, 1903
m. Catherine Floy, 1919
The couple spent the first years of their marriage in Liverpool before returning to the Macclesfield area in late 1883 or early 1884. However, by the time the 1901 census was taken, the couple appear to have separated: Lucy was living in Macclesfield with Frederick, Edward and Joseph, while William was lodging separately in Liverpool.
William died in Liverpool in 1912 and Lucy died in Macclesfield in 1915.
Elias Hirst
Elias Hirst, son of William Hirst and Emma Gosling, was christened in Lymm on 1 November 1868. He became a house painter and married Martha Rowlinson in St Mary's Church, Lymm on 26 September 1889. Martha was born in Lymm in 1871, and was the daughter of Levi Rowlinson and his wife Ellen Woodall.
The couple had six children, the first of whom was born before their marriage:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Winifred Hirst Rowlinson
William Woodall Hirst
Martha Ellen Hirst
Edith Hirst
Clara Hirst
Vera Hirst
(1888-1963)
(1890-1950)
(1894-1962)
(1896-?)
(1899-1976)
(1903-1911)
m. Samuel Swain, 1906
m. Bertha Pickles, 1926
m. Harry Nicholls, 1918
m. John Wright, 1920
m. Reginald Byram, 1926
Martha died in Lymm on 9 February 1922 and Elias on 2 May 1944.
Joseph William Southern
Joseph William Southern, older son of John Southern and Emma Gosling, was born in Lymm in 1875 and married Florence Annie Johnson in Bury in 1898. Florence was born in Guide Bridge, Lancashire on 24 December 1875. Joseph was a gardener, and the couple had four children, all born in Bury:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Emma Southern
Joseph Southern
Ernest Southern
George Southern
(1898-1968)
(1900-1979)
(1903-1981)
(1918-1971)
m. George Tinsley, 1923
Joseph died in 1945 in Bury and Florence died in Heywood in 1956.
John Ernest Southern
John Ernest Southern, younger son of John Southern and Emma Gosling, was born in Lymm and baptised in St Peter's Church, Oughtrington on 29 August 1880. He married Amy Burrows in Lymm Wesleyan Chapel on 20 January 1904, and they had one daughter:
1.
Ida Mary Southern
(1922-2002)
m. William Pearson, 1954
John served in the Royal Lancashire Regiment during the First World War and was hospitalised in February 1917 with trench foot, an unpleasant infection of the feet caused by cold, wet and insanitary conditions. After he recovered, he was transferred to the Labour Corps at the end of 1917, probably being considered no longer fit enough for service on the front lines.
John died in Lymm on 30 January 1940 and Amy died in 1962.
Alfred Sydney Gosling
m. Samuel Alfred Leech, 1937
Alfred Sydney Gosling, oldest son of John Gosling and Alice Copeland, was born in Tattenhall on 26 June 1880, and married Mary Ann Hough in St Thomas' Church, Stockton Heath on 12 May 1912. Mary Ann was born in Grappenhall on 4 September, 1870, and was the daughter of John and Ann Hough. The couple had a daughter:
1.
Elsie Grace Gosling
(1913-1974)
Alfred died in Caernarfon on 7 February 1960.
John Henry Gosling
John Henry Gosling, son of John Gosling and Alice Copeland, was born in Wharton on 1 June 1882, and as a young man worked as an iron moulder in a stove works. However, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry on 19 August 1903 and served with them until 1919. He married Blanche Selina Butcher in Alverchurch, Hampshire in early 1911. Blanche, who had previously been married to John Anthony Kitchen, was born in Warminster in 1885, and was the youngest daughter of Albert Butcher and his wife Harriet Sly.
Blanche and John had three children, but only one survived infancy:
1.
2.
3.
Ernest Henry Gosling
Frederick Charles Gosling
Female Gosling
(1911-1978)
(1913-1913)
(1914-1914)
John died in Warrington in 1947 and Blanche died in St Helens in 1948.
Edith Mary Gosling
Edith Mary Gosling, daughter of John Gosling and Alice Copeland, was born in Winsford, Cheshire on 6 April 1884 and married Frederick Daintith, a clerk, in St Elphin's Church, Warrington on 11 February 1912. Frederick was born in Warrington on 25 August 1885 and was the son of Henry Daintith and Mary Ann Green.
Frederick and Edith had one son, who died in infancy:
1.
Frederick Daintith
(1913-1913)
Frederick died in Runcorn in 1945 and Edith died in Warrington in 1958.
Ethel Maud Gosling
m. John Jones, 1943
Ethel Maud Gosling, daughter of John Gosling and Alice Copeland, was christened in Runcorn on 19 August 1888 and married George William Newall in Warrington register office on 8 April 1916. George was born in Latchford on 1 July 1892 and was the son of Arthur Newall and his wife Frances Beatrice Lake.
George and Ethel had one daughter:
1.
Zena Maud Newall
(1917-1996)
George worked for the Post Office engineering department, and during the First World War he served in the Royal Engineers Signal Service.
Ethel died in 1957 and George in 1987.
Harold Percy Gosling
(1917-?)
(1918-?)
(1921-?)
(1923-2007)
(1925-2005)
(1928-?)
m. Marie Leyssens, 1946
m. Harold Leigh, 1942
m. William Beacham, 1941
m. Donald Samuel Wilson, 1947
m. Mary Casey, 1951
m. Harry Worthington, 1953
Harold Percy Gosling, son of John Gosling and Alice Copeland, was born in Runcorn on 6 May 1891, and married Mary Elizabeth Wilkinson in 1917. They had six children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Harold Percy Gosling
Edna J Gosling
Edith Mary Gosling
Joan Thelma Gosling
Norman Eric Gosling
Barbara Gosling
Harold died in Stockton Heath on 26 April 1944 and Mary on 8 September 1964.
Charles Hector Gosling
Charles Hector Gosling, youngest surviving child of John Gosling and Alice Copeland, was born in Runcorn in 1893 and worked as a cycle belt maker prior to the First World War. He enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery on 6 December 1915, and was initially assigned to home defenses as part of 310th Siege Battery, before embarking for France in May 1917. While in France he contracted trench nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys which was epidemic among soldiers during the Great War. He was invalided home to England in January 1918, but apparently suffered no lasting ill-efffects, and was finally discharged from the Army in good health in 1919.
Charles married Bessie Jackson in Runcorn in 1921, and had one son:
1.
Alan Charles Gosling
(1928-?)
m. May Teggin, 1953
Charles died in Stockton Heath on 28 July 1947 and Bessie on 6 June 1948.