Sorton Family
Origins
Sorton is a comparatively rare English name with Norman French origins, which comes from the old French word "certeyn", and was probably given initially as a nickname to a person who was particularly self-assured or determined. The oldest recorded forms of the name in England were Certayne or Serten, while modern forms include Sartin, Sartain, Sarton, Sattin, Sertin and Sorton. The spelling Sorton is historically found mainly in Cheshire and the adjacent counties, with some branches recorded back to the 16th century. Older records for our own branch of the family also use the spelling Sworton or Swarton on several occasions.
The earliest known members of our branch of the family lived in or near Chester before moving towards Crewe and gradually spreading further afield. Part of the family migrated to Manchester to work, and by the 1800s a number of our family earned their living along the Bridgewater Canal and lived along the eastern length of it. At the Manchester end of the canal is a Sorton Street (now mostly built over). This is near Store Street, a warehouse complex initially built for canal and river traffic, but subsequently taken over by the railways.
First generation
First generation
Samuel Sorton
The starting point of our Sorton line is Samuel Sorton, who lived in Christleton near Chester at the end of the seventeenth century. He was the father of either three or (more likely) four children who were baptised there, although the baptismal record of the first child does not name his parents:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Samuel Sorton
Mary Sorton
Benjamin Sorton
John Sorton
(1696-?)
(1699-?)
(1702-1778)
(1706-1754)
m. John Morris, 1726
m. Mary Hart, 1736
m. Elizabeth Gibson, 1723
Samuel's wife is not named on any of the baptismal records, but she was probably the Mary Sorton who was buried in Christleton on 26 March 1717, as there were very few Sortons in the village at this time. Samuel was buried in Christleton on 2 December 1721.
The only other adult Sorton in Christleton at this time was William Sorton, who is possibly Samuel's brother or cousin.
Second generation
Benjamin Sorton
Benjamin Sorton, son of Samuel Sorton, was baptised in St James' Church, Christleton on 8 November 1702 and married Mary Hart in St John the Baptist’s Church, Chester on 30 October 1736. Mary was baptised in Christleton on 7 July 1713 and was the daughter of William Hart and his wife Mary Cotton.
The couple had seven children: two were baptised in Farndon, a village just south of Chester, and the others in Holt, which despite being actually in Wales is linked to Farndon by a bridge across the River Dee. (Benjamin's siblings Mary and John also moved to Holt by the early 1720s.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
William Sorton
Benjamin Sorton
Samuel Sorton
Mary Sorton
Jane Sorton
Joseph Sorton
Elizabeth Sorton
(1739-?)
(1742-1804)
(1744-?)
(1747-?)
(1750-?)
(1753-1764)
(1756-?)
m. Elizabeth Jebson, 1776
m. Thomas Youd, 1778
Benjamin was buried in Holt on 17 October 1778 and Mary on 2 May 1783.
First generation
First generation
First generation
Third generation
Benjamin Sorton
Benjamin Sorton, son of Benjamin Sorton and Mary Hart was baptised at St Chad’s Church, Farndon on 16 May 1742 and married Elizabeth (“Betty”) Jebson in Prestwich on 30 December 1776. Benjamin and Elizabeth lived near Nantwich, where Benjamin was recorded as a farmer and maltster. They had seven children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Alice Sorton
Thomas Sorton
Ann Sorton
Mary Sorton
John Sorton
Betty Sorton
Jane Sorton
(1777-?)
(1777-1850)
(1779-?)
(1782-?)
(1787-?)
(1789-?)
(1792-?)
m. Sarah Tomkinson, 1798
Ann Sorton may have married John Bostock in Middlewich in 1798.
Little is known about most of the children and it seems likely that those who survived infancy moved to other areas to work. Over the next generation a connection developed with Manchester, where Benjamin was buried on 11 March 1804 and Elizabeth on 5 July 1807.
First generation
First generation
First generation
Fourth generation
Thomas Sorton
Thomas Sorton, oldest son of Benjamin Sorton and Elizabeth Jebson, was baptised in St Mary's Church, Wistaston on 2 November 1777 along with his twin sister Alice. He married Sarah Tomkinson at St Michael's Church, Coppenhall on 23 January 1798 and the couple settled in or near Warmingham where most of their children were christened. Sarah was baptised in Coppenhall on 25 April 1772 and was the daughter of Richard Tomkinson and his wife Ann Lonkison. (Her surname is very hard to read in the parish register.)
Thomas and Sarah had eleven children, christened in Warmingham or nearby Middlewich and Over: the later baptismal records give Thomas’ occupation as labourer or salt boiler.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
William Sorton
John Sorton
Richard Sorton
Sarah Sorton
Hannah Sorton
Joseph Sorton
Elizabeth Sorton
Jane Sorton
Anne Sorton
(1798-1843)
(1799-1865)
(1802-1861)
(1804-1836)
(1806-1870)
(1808-?)
(1810-1877)
(1812-1813)
(1814-?)
(1816-1886)
(1818-?)
m. Sarah Walker, 1822
m. Henry Finch, 1830
m. Eliza Banks, 1837
m. Esther Barlow, 1840
m. Charles Bradley, 1834
m. George Tomkinson, 1843
By 1841, Thomas and Sarah were living in Hyde with their married daughter Hannah, along with Elizabeth and Jane who were still unmarried. Sarah died in Hyde in 1844, and Thomas in 1850.
Fifth generation
Thomas Sorton
Thomas Sorton, oldest son of Thomas Sorton and Sarah Tomkinson, was born in Tetton and baptised in St Leonard's Church, Warmingham on 4 May 1798. He married Sarah Walker in Manchester Cathedral on 14 August 1822, when his occupation was given as labourer, but on his children's baptismal records he is described as a brewer: he appears also to have been a beer seller.
Thomas and Sarah had six known children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ellen Sorton
Alice Sorton
Joseph Sorton
William Sorton
Richard Sorton
Thomas Sorton
(1829-1854)
(1830-1854)
(1831-?)
(1833-?)
(1835-1900)
(1836-1855)
m. Edward Morrisson, 1851
m. Ellen Burton, 1862
m. Ann Openshaw, 1855
Thomas died in Manchester in 1843 and Sarah continued to work as a publican until she died in Manchester in 1854.
Thomas and Sarah's youngest son Thomas was a railway guard when he married aged just 18 (although he claimed to be 20). Tragically he was killed in an accident on the railway barely a month later.
Mary Sorton
Mary Sorton, daughter of Thomas Sorton and Sarah Tomkinson, was born in Tetton and baptised in St Leonard's Church, Warmingham on 14 July 1799. Like several of her siblings she migrated to Manchester, where she had two daughters whose father is unknown
1.
2.
Sarah Sorton
Caroline Sorton
(c.1822-1850)
(c.1835-1892)
m. Joseph Dunn, 1848
Mary married Henry Finch in Manchester Cathedral on 7 July 1830 and had two more children.
3.
4.
Jane Finch
John Finch
(1831-?)
(1832-1895)
m. Susannah Russell, 1864
Henry died before the 1841 census was taken, and Mary never remarried. She died in Manchester in 1865.
William Sorton
William Sorton, son of Thomas Sorton and Sarah Tomkinson, was born in Warmingham on 1 January 1802 and baptised in St Leonard's Church on 9 May 1802. By the 1830s, he had moved to Manchester, where he worked as a packer, probably in a warehouse linked to the canal trade.
William married three times and confusingly all his wives had similar forenames. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Pealen (or Paylen) in Manchester Cathedral on 12 June 1825. There were at least four children from this marriage:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ellen Sorton
Elizabeth Sorton
Joseph Sorton
Jane Sorton
(1827-1917)
(1829-?)
(1830-?)
(1831-1833)
m. James Steele, 1844
It is unclear where Ellen was born, but she was baptised in Warmingham, while the other children were all born in Manchester. Joseph is not listed on the 1841 census and presumably died young.
Elizabeth died in Manchester in 1832 and William married Eliza Banks in Manchester Cathedral on 13 November 1837. He had five more children, all born in Manchester:
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Emma Sorton
Joseph Sorton
William Sorton
James Sorton
Eliza Sorton
(1840-1908)
(1841-1915)
(1843-1845)
(1845-1850)
(1854-?)
m. John Perry, 1857
m. Margaret White, 1871
Eliza Banks was born in about 1813, and died in Manchester in 1856. (The 1851 census gives her birthplace as Dover, but Over in Cheshire seems more likely: the same census states that William was born in Birmingham instead of Warmingham!)
William's third wife was Eliza Norris, whom he married at Manchester Cathedral on 17 June 1860. She was born in Wigan in about 1823 and was the widow of Henry Sharples, a "maker-up" from Bolton.
William died in Manchester at the end of 1861 and Eliza married Francis Phillips, a widowed slater from Manchester, in 1868. She died in Manchester in 1885 at the age of 62.
Richard Sorton
Richard Sorton, son of Thomas Sorton and Sarah Tomkinson, was baptised in Warmingham on 9 March 1806. By the early 1830s he was living in Manchester, where he worked as a packer like his brother William. He married Mary Ann Thorp in St John's Church, Manchester on 11 October 1830 and had three children, all born in Manchester:
1.
2.
3.
Richard James Sorton
Thomas Sorton
Hannah Sorton
(1832-1854)
(1833-?)
(1835-?)
Mary Ann died in Manchester in 1837, and Richard then married Esther Barlow in Manchester Cathedral on 25 October 1840. Esther was baptised in Whitchurch, Shropshire on 25 November 1801, and was the daughter of cordwainer William Barlow and his wife Mary Beckett.
The 1841 census shows Richard and Esther living with Richard James (known as James) and Thomas in Hulme. (Hannah appears to have died young.) The family was in Chorlton cum Hardy in 1851, but by 1854 they had moved to Lymm, Cheshire.
Richard and Esther had one daughter:
4.
(1843-1931)
m. John Hinton, 1867
Thomas Sorton, Richard's second son, is recorded on the 1851 census as a sailor visiting a family in Liverpool. He possibly died in Liverpool in 1854.
Richard worked at various times as a carter, packer, warehouseman and boat horse keeper: all trades associated with the canal. He was illiterate, unable to sign his name on the marriage certificate, unlike his wife Esther, who was apparently better educated. Esther was buried in Lymm on 9 September 1862 and Richard on 7 January 1870.
Hannah Sorton
Hannah Sorton, daughter of Thomas Sorton and Sarah Tomkinson, was born in Middlewich on 10 May 1805, and baptised there exactly a month later. The family moved to Hyde when she was young and Hannah married Charles Bradley, a cotton cord stripper, in nearby Mottram in Longdendale on 14 April 1834. Charles was born in Hyde on 24 June 1810, the son of David Bradley and his wife Ann Bredbury, and was baptised in Gee Cross Unitarian chapel on 20 November 1810.
Hannah and Charles had nine children, all born in Hyde, but sadly most of them died in infancy:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
George Bradley
Thomas Bradley
William Bradley
James Bradley
Sarah Bradley
John Bradley
Henry Bradley
Charles Bradley
Hannah Bradley
(1834-1843)
(1835-1835)
(1836-1836)
(1837-1839)
(1839-1910)
(1840-1842)
(1843-1867)
(1849-1857)
(1852-1855)
m. John Horatio Wagstaffe, 1868
Sarah Bradley's husband John Horatio Wagstaffe was a widower, born in Hyde in 1822. He was a shoemaker by trade, and their marriage was childless.
Charles died in Hyde in 1868 and Hannah died in Stockport in 1877.
Jane Sorton
Jane Sorton, daughter of Thomas Sorton and Sarah Tomkinson, was christened in Over, near Winsford, on 8 September 1816 and moved with her family to Hyde as a child or young woman. She married George Tomkinson in St Mary's Church, Stockport on 6 November 1843 and the couple had two children, both born in Hyde:
1.
2.
Mary Tomkinson
Joseph Tomkinson
(1844-1881)
(1846-1848)
m. Samuel Bennett, 1866
George died comparitively young, and was buried at St George's Church, Hyde on 21 January 1847.
Mary continued to live with her mother Jane after her marriage to Samuel Bennett and does not appear with her husband on any census returns, although she is listed as "married" rather than "widow". Mary died in Heaton Norris in 1881 and Jane died in Hyde in 1886 at the age of 69.
First generation
First generation
First generation
Sixth generation
Richard Sorton
Richard Sorton, son of Thomas Sorton and Sarah Walker, was born in Ardwick and baptised in Manchester Cathedral on 3 May 1835. He married Ellen Burton in Manchester Cathedral on 10 November 1862 and had three sons:
1.
2.
3.
Joseph Sorton
John Sorton
Edward Sorton
(1863-1934)
(1869-1870)
(1871-1948)
m. Eliza Hayes, 1883
m. Eliza Keeling, 1895
Richard was buried in Philips Park Cemetery on 20 June 1900. Ellen was buried in the same cemetery on 17 February 1909 and shares a grave with her son Edward, his wife Eliza and three of their children who died in infancy.
Ellen Sorton
Ellen Sorton, oldest child of William Sorton and his first wife Elizabeth Pealen, was born in Warmingham and baptised there on 6 May 1827. She is possibly recorded as a domestic servant in Broughton on the 1841 census (her father and family were living in Manchester at that time), although her age as listed is a little doubtful. She married James Steele, an agricultural labourer, at St Leonard's Church, Warmingham on 2 July 1844 and the couple settled in Warmingham. James was baptised in Warmingham on 10 October 1819 and was the son of William Steele and his wife Sarah Cook.
James and Ellen had twelve children, all born in Warmingham:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
James Steele
William Steele
Dinah Steele
Joseph Steele
John Steele
Thomas Steele
Samuel Steele
George Steele
Sarah Steele
Alfred Steele
Mary Steele
Martha Steele
(1844-1880)
(1846-1869)
(1848-1937)
(1850-1878)
(1852-1855)
(1854-1920)
(1858-1921)
(1860-1871)
(1864-1864)
(1865-1917)
(1868-1875)
(1868-1877)
m. Sarah Leese, 1867
m. James Jackson, 1891
m. Amy Ellen Sumner, 1871
m. Sarah Steele, 1889
m. Eliza Oakes, 1883
m. Sarah Stockton, 1886
In addition to their own children, James and Ellen also raised their daughter Dinah's illegitimate son John Steele.
In the 1870s, the family moved to Church Coppenhall, where James worked as a road labourer while several of his sons worked in the railway industry: the construction of Crewe station and locomotive works in the 1830s caused a massive expansion of Coppenhall parish and the Grand Junction Railway became a major local employer.
James died in Church Coppenhall in 1891 and Ellen in 1917 at the age of 90.
Emma Sorton
Emma Sorton, oldest daughter of William Sorton and his second wife Eliza Banks, was christened in Manchester Cathedral on 25 March 1840 and married John Perry there on 12 January 1857. John was born in Nottingham in about 1832 and was an engine fitter by trade. The couple had nine children, and moved from Manchester to Pontypool in the early 1860s.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Emily Perry
Ernest Alexander Perry
William Perry
Harry Perry
John Perry
Ernest Alexander Perry
Joseph Perry
George Perry
Harry Perry
(1859-1935)
(1861-1862)
(1862-?)
(1864-1865)
(1866-1939)
(1868-1945)
(1870-1877)
(1872-1946)
(1876-1937)
m. John Rosser, 1882
m. Mary Jane Taylor, 1903
m. Edith Jane Bassett, 1891
m. Thurza Newbery, 1898
m. Ann Maria Burton, 1903
John died in the 1870s and Emma in 1908.
Joseph Sorton
Joseph Sorton, son of William Sorton and Eliza Banks, was baptised in Manchester Cathedral on 9 December 1841. He joined the army as a young man, enlisting in the 90th (Perthshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot, which was stationed in India between 1857 and 1869. The regiment then returned to Scotland, and Joseph is recorded on the 1871 census as a private, stationed in Edinburgh. Shortly after the census was taken he married Margaret White on 8 July 1871 at St Paul's Chapel, York Place, Edinburgh, and left the army, moving to Stirling. Margaret was born in Haddington in about 1852 and was the daughter of Charles White and Margaret Thomson.
Joseph and Margaret had ten children: their oldest daughter was born in Leith, and the others in Stirling.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Mary Ann Thomson Sorton
William Charles Sorton
Charles White Sorton
Joseph Sorton
William George Sorton
Eliza Sorton
Thomas Ross Sorton
Margaret Sorton
Emma Perry Sorton
Helen White Ross Sorton
(1871-?)
(1874-1875)
(1876-1961)
(1878-?)
(1880-1936)
(1883-1931)
(1885-1970)
(1886-1949)
(1888-1949)
(1893-1894)
m. Thomas Smith, 1893
m. Annie Galloway, 1901
m. Nellie Doris Whiteley
m. Maria Johanna Moll
m. John Blake, 1909
m. Catherine Sarah Dow, 1917
m. William Henry Elvey, 1926
m. David McKnight, 1913
Margaret died in Stirling in 1914 and Joseph died in Bradford, Yorkshire the following year.
Joseph and Margaret's son Joseph Sorton served in the Royal Navy for fifteen years, and emigrated to Canada in 1908. He lived in Toronto with his wife Nellie Doris Whiteley, and was an electrician when he enlisted in the 92nd OS Battalion (Highlanders) on 15 August 1915. Joseph and Nellie divorced in 1921.
William George Sorton emigrated to South Africa as a young man and was a foreman on the Imperial Military Railways during the Boer War.
Sarah Sorton
Sarah Sorton, daughter of Richard Sorton and Esther Barlow, was born in Hulme, Manchester on 23 April 1843. According to those who knew her in later life, she was well-educated and attractive with the red hair which ran in the Sorton family. She moved to Lymm with her family as a child, and worked as a lady's maid, having a talent for handicrafts.
Before her marriage to John Hinton, Sarah had two children:
1.
2.
William Derbyshire Sorton
Esther Barlow Sorton
(1861-1945)
(1863-1920)
m. Emma Clay, 1885
m. Peter Holt, 1902
Esther Barlow Sorton was born in Lymm on 9 October 1863. She went into domestic service as a teenager, first as a housemaid and later as a cook. She married Peter Holt, a widower, in Lymm in 1902 when she was 38.
First generation
First generation
First generation
Seventh generation
Joseph Sorton
Joseph Sorton, oldest son of Richard Sorton and Ellen Burton, was born in Manchester in 1863 and after serving an apprenticeship as a cotton print engineer became a pentographer to an engraver. He married Eliza Hayes in St Philip's Church Manchester on 7 October 1883 and had nine children, all born in Ancoats:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Richard Sorton
Elizabeth Hannah Sorton
Eliza Ellen Sorton
Joseph Edward Sorton
Minnie Sorton
Albert Sorton
Lilian Sorton
Charles Gilbert Sorton
Elsie Sorton
(1884-1956)
(1887-1889)
(1889-1960)
(1892-1927)
(1894-1971)
(1897-1899)
(1900-1969)
(1903-1904)
(1905-1974)
m. Florence Howard, 1934
m. William Henry Stocker, 1920
m. John W Burton, 1927
m. James Nolan, 1929
Eliza died on 21 March 1932 in Mellor, Derbyshire, where at least two of her children were living, and although Joseph's home address was Gorton at the time of his death, he died in Llandudno Cottage Hospital on 7 July 1934.
Edward Sorton
Edward Sorton, son of Richard Sorton and Ellen Burton, was born in Manchester on 16 April 1871 and baptised in St Thomas' Church, Ardwick on 5 November 1871. He worked as a chemist's assistant and married Eliza Keeling in St Philip's Church, Manchester on 13 April 1895. The couple had five children, three of whom died young
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Edith Sorton
Edward Sorton
Beatrice Sorton
James Sorton
John Sorton
(1895-1899)
(1898-1899)
(1900-1979)
(1904-1958)
(1906-1906)
m. William Butterworth, 1925
m. Ethel Graham, 1925
Edward died in Ashton under Lyne Hospital on 9 January 1948 and Eliza at about the same time, as they were buried together in Philips Park Cemetery on 13 January 1948. They share a grave with their three children who died in infancy, as well as Edward's mother Ellen.
James Steele
James Steele, oldest child of James Steele and Ellen Sorton, was baptised at St Leonard's Church, Warmingham on 28 October 1844, and married Sarah Leese there on 24 July 1867. Their marriage was only brief, because Sarah died aged just 25 and was buried in Warmingham on 15 January 1871. The couple had two children, born in Church Coppenhall:
1.
2.
James Steele
Emily Steele
(1868-1868)
(1870-?)
In 1871, James and baby Emily were living with James' younger brother Joseph and his wife in Church Coppenhall.
James died in 1880, and was buried in Warmingham on 9 October 1880. I have no definite trace of Emily after the 1871 census: there is no obvious burial record, so she may have been adopted and taken another surname.
Dinah Steele
Dinah Steele, daughter of James Steele and Ellen Sorton, was baptised at St Leonard's Church, Warmingham on 13 February 1848. She worked as a seamstress and had a son whose father is unknown:
1.
(1868-1924)
m. Emma Cox, 1889
Dinah married James Jackson, a road labourer, in Nantwich in 1881, but their marriage appears to have been childless: Dinah stated on the 1911 census that she had given birth to two children, one of whom had died, but the second child's identity (and father) is unknown at present.
James died in Church Coppenhall in 1897 and Dinah in 1937 at the age of 89.
Joseph Steele
Joseph Steele, son of James Steele and Ellen Sorton, was baptised at St Leonard's Church, Warmingham on 23 February 1850 and married Amy Ellen Sumner (known as Ellen) in Manchester Cathedral on 2 July 1871. Joseph was a railway labourer, and the couple's children were born in Manchester, Worleston and Church Coppenhall.
Joseph and Ellen had four children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
(1872-1955)
(1873-1947)
(1876-1955)
(1879-1932)
m. William Mottershead, 1898
m. Mildred Baker, 1896
m. Mary Elizabeth Walters, 1902
m. Hannah Palin, 1899
Joseph was buried in Warmingham on 5 October 1878, a scant three months before his youngest son was born. In 1881, Joseph's younger brother Thomas was lodging with Ellen and the children, and after Ellen died in 1887 at least the two youngest children lived for a time with Thomas, who married Sarah Steele (possibly a first cousin once removed) in 1889 and had no children of his own.
Samuel Steele
Samuel Steele, son of James Steele and Ellen Sorton, was born in Warmingham in 1858 and moved with his family to Church Coppenhall as a young man, becoming a railway labourer. He married Eliza Oakes in Nantwich in 1883 and the couple settled in Church Coppenhall. They had eight children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Nellie Steele
Alec Steele
Martha Steele
Elizabeth Steele
Mary Steele
Margaret Steele
Jessie Steele
Norah Steele
(1884-1971)
(1886-1947)
(1889-1900)
(1892-1957)
(1895-1970)
(1897-1957)
(1901-1974)
(1903-1949)
m. Frederick William Harrison, 1910
m. Edith Palin, 1912
m. Thomas Ernest Venables, 1917
m. Alfred Morgan, 1917
m. Frank Booth, 1924
m. Robert Arthur Amson, 1928
Samuel died in Church Coppenhall in 1921 and Eliza in 1933.
Alfred Steele
Alfred Steele, youngest son of James Steele and Ellen Sorton, was born on 8 July 1865 and moved with his family to Church Coppenhall, becoming a shunter on the railway. He married Sarah Stockton in Nantwich in 1886 and the couple had seven children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
May Steele
William Stockton Steele
Samuel John Steele
James Steele
Joseph Steele
Alfred John Steele
Wilfred George Steele
(1889-1947)
(1892-1972)
(1894-1894)
(1895-1896)
(1896-1917)
(1899-1989)
(1901-1976)
m. Alfred Henry Hambrook, 1926
m. Charlotte Hidderley, 1921
m. Emma Swinney, 1922
Joseph Steele was a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery during World War I and was killed in action in the final days of the Battle of Jerusalem on 27 December 1917. He is buried in Jerusalem War Cemetery.
Sarah died in 1935 and Alfred on 11 January 1949.
Emily Perry
Emily Perry, oldest child of John Perry and Emma Sorton, was born in Manchester in 1859 and moved to Pontypool with her family as a young child. She married John Rosser, a tinplate furnaceman, in Chepstow in 1882 and the couple settled in Griffithstow. John was born in Bassaleg, Monmouthshire in 1860 and was the son of Walter Rosser and his wife, Leah Powell. By 1901 he had left the tin industry to work on the railways.
John and Emily had three children, but only one survived infancy:
1.
2.
3.
(1883-1883)
(1885-1927)
(1887-1887)
m. Florence Gertrude E Williams, 1932
John died in Pontypool in 1931 and Emma in 1935.
John Perry
John Perry, oldest son of John Perry and Emma Sorton, was born in Llanfrechfa, Monmouthshire on 11 July 1866 and baptised in Panteg on 9 May 1872 at the same time as three of his younger siblings. He worked as a timekeeper in a railway locomotive depot and married Mary Jane Taylor at St Silas' Church, Ardwick in 1903. The couple lived in Panteg, and had one daughter:
1.
Lily Perry
(1906-1975)
m. Thomas John Wells, 1928
Mary Jane died in Panteg in 1925 and John in 1939.
Ernest Alexander Perry
Ernest Alexander Perry (known as Alexander), son of John Perry and Emma Sorton, was born in Llanfrechfa, Monmouthshire on 16 August 1868 and was given the same name as an older brother who had died in infancy. He was baptised in Panteg on 9 May 1872 at the same time as three of his siblings and worked as a railway wagon fitter.
He married Edith Jane Bassett in Pontypool in 1891 and the couple had four children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ethel Maud Perry
Emily Perry
William John Perry
Ernest Perry
(1894-1978)
(1897-?)
(1898-1948)
(1900-1961)
m. Ernest Marshall Kellett, 1920
m. Mabel Spencer, 1922
m. Winnie Llewellyn, 1926
Alexander died in Pontypool in 1945 and Edith in 1961 at the advanced age of 91.
George Perry
George Perry, son of John Perry and Emma Sorton, was born in Llanfrechfa, Monmouthshire on 7 May 1872 and was christened in Panteg on 9 May 1872 at the same time as three of his siblings. He became an engine driver with the Great Western Railway and married Thurza Newbery in Pontypool in 1898. Thurza was born in Mold, Flintshire in 1874, but her family was originally from Devon.
John and Thurza lived in Pontypool, but their daughter was born in Shrewsbury:
1.
Florence Perry
(1899-1997)
m. George Warren Morris, 1920
Thurza died in 1942 and John in 1946.
Harry Perry
Harry Perry, youngest son of John Perry and Emma Sorton, was born in Panteg in 1876 and like several of his brothers worked for the Great Western Railway. He married Ann Maria Burton in Pontypool in 1903 and the couple had four children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
William Henry Perry (Walding)
Harold Joseph Perry
Phyllis Isabel Perry
Alfred Leonard Perry
(1904-1975)
(1907-1944)
(1908-1910)
(1910-1912)
m. May Heylock, 1930
m. Phyllis Gertrude Coggins, 1932
Harry and Ann separated around the beginning of World War I and Ann had a daughter with Hedley James Walding in 1916. (Hedley already had three daughters from his marriage to Edith Emily Sleeman.) William and Harold lived with their mother and Hedley, who finally married in 1938 after Harry Perry's death in Pontypool the previous year, and William adopted his surname. Curiously, Hedley's birth and first marriage were in the name of Waldwin, but both he and at least one of his brothers changed their surname to Walding in the early 1900s.
Eliza Sorton
Eliza Sorton, daughter of Joseph Sorton and Margaret White, was born in Stirling on 19 April 1883 and married John Blake there on 31 March 1909. John was born in Stirling on 28 December 1880. The couple emigrated to Canada, with John travelling out first before Eliza arrived to join him on 24 July 1910. They settled in Toronto, and John served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WW1.
They had three known children, two of whom died in infancy:
1.
2.
3.
Margaret Blake
John Blake
Female Blake
(1911-1911)
(1914-2005)
(1922-1922)
In 1924 the family moved to Detroit, Michigan and applied for naturalisation. Eliza died in Detroit on 3 March 1931 and John on 24 August 1974.
m. Evelyn Frances Crockford, 1937
Thomas Ross Sorton
Thomas Ross Sorton, son of Joseph Sorton and Margaret White, was born in Stirling in July 1885 and worked as a blacksmith as a young man. He travelled to Canada in 1906, living first in Quebec and later in Toronto and Winnipeg. On a trip back to Scotland in 1910 he was recorded as a missionary, and when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 1 March 1916 he was described as a Baptist clergyman. During the war he was attached to the Royal Flying Corps and gained the rank of lieutenant.
Thomas made several journeys between Canada, the USA and Scotland, but finally returned permanently to Stirling where he married Sarah Catherine Dow in 1917. They had one daughter:
1.
Katherine Dow Sorton
(1920-2014)
Thomas died in Stirling in 1970 and Catherine in 1980.
Margaret Sorton
Margaret Sorton, daughter of Joseph Sorton and Margaret White, was born in Stirling in 1886 and emigrated to Canada in 1915 to join three of her siblings in Toronto. She married William Henry Elvey in York, Ontario on 19 April 1926, but by then the couple already had two children born in the US. William was born in Battersea on 7 October 1893 and emigrated to Canada with his widowed mother Sarah Ann at the age of 18. He served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War.
William and Margaret had three children and apparently travelled several times between Canada and the US:
1.
2.
3.
Margaret Ann Elvey
William Henry Elvey
Charles Sorton Elvey
(1921-1968)
(1924-1984)
(1928-1988)
m. William Marshall O'Connor
Margaret died in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio in 1949.
Emma Perry Sorton
Emma Perry Sorton, daughter of Joseph Sorton and Margaret White, was born in Stirling on 22 November 1888 and married David McKnight there on 3 May 1913. David, a miner, was born in Airdrie on 7 May 1894. He joined the Scots Guards early in World War I on 18 December 1914 and was posted to France on 5 October 1915.
The couple's first known child was born in Glasgow after David was demobilised, but the family then emigrated to the US in 1921: David travelled to Illinois in January, and his wife and son followed in July. A further seven children were born in America:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
David McKnight
Victoria McKnight
Margaret Betty McKnight
Emma McKnight
Isabelle McKnight
Thomas McKnight
(possibly living)
(possibly living)
(1920-1998)
(1921-?)
(1923-2001)
(1924-1991)
(1925-1926)
(1927-2008)
The family moved to Lackawanna, Pennsylvania in about 1926; David died there on 22 April 1941 and Emma on 10 September 1949.
William Derbyshire Sorton
William Derbyshire Sorton, illegitimate son of Sarah Sorton, was born in Lymm on 5 November 1861. He worked on the railways, first as a porter, then as a station parcels inspector. In about 1910 he was station master at Minshall Vernon, where his station often won the prize for the best-kept station gardens. He later became station master at Crewe, a major junction which was then part of the London and North Western Railway. He married Emma Clay in Warrington in 1885, and the couple had seven children:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Harold Sorton
Richard Percy Sorton
Percy Clay Sorton
William Stanley Sorton
Jack Sorton
Frank Sorton
Maggie Sorton
(1886-1958)
(1888-1889)
(1890-1962)
(1893-1946)
(1895-1968)
(1897-1961)
(1899-1929)
m. Ethel Violet Heather, 1911
m. Elaine Harvey, 1912
m. Lizzie Slack, 1915
m. Florence Smith, 1917
m. Lily Cadman, 1924
m. William Cadman, 1925
William died in Nantwich in 1945 and Emma in Crewe the following year.
First generation
First generation
First generation
Eighth generation
John Steele
John Steele, illegitimate son of Dinah Steele, was born in Warmingham in 1868, and raised by his grandparents James Steele and Ellen Sorton.
John married Emma Cox in Blackburn in 1889, and the couple settled initially in Coppenhall, where John worked as a labourer. They had eight known children, born in Shavington and Monks Coppenhall, as well as a ninth child who died in infancy and whose name is unknown.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Bertha Alice Steele
John Arthur Steele
Cecil Ernest Steele
James Edgar Steele
Edgar Steele
George Henry Steele
Harold Steele
Jessie Steele
(1891-1892)
(1893-1968)
(1894-1979)
(1896-1964)
(1897-1918)
(1899-1901)
(1901-1980)
(1905-?)
m. Ellen Brown, 1920
The family moved from Coppenhall to Rishton, near Blackburn between 1911 and 1914.
John Arthur Steele joined the Special Reserve of the Cheshire Regiment on 29 April 1913, but does not appear to have been still serving with them at the beginning of the First World War, as he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps on 31 August 1915. However, after various minor disciplinary offences he was discharged as "unlikely to become an efficient soldier" on 17 March 1916. Presumably he omitted to mention his previous service when he was called up to the Manchester Regiment on 19 August 1916, and he was transferred to the Reserve for employment on munitions, only to be discharged on medical grounds on 21 December 1917.
Edgar Steele enlisted in East Lancashire Regiment at the outbreak of World War I, but was discharged after just 17 days when the authorities realised he had lied about his age. Once he was old enough, he joined the 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and was killed in action in Picardie on 18 September 1918, less than a month before the Armistice. He is buried in Bellicourt British Cemetery in Aisne.
Cecil Ernest Steele enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery on 2 February 1915, but was discharged on medical grounds three months later. However, he appears to have managed to enlist a second time, and served overseas in the Manchester Regiment, the Rifle Brigade, the Labour Corps and finally the Royal Army Medical Corps.
John died in Rishton in 1924 and Emma died in Darwen in 1948.
Margaret Steele
Margaret Steele, daughter of Joseph Steele and Amy Ellen Sumner, was born in Manchester on 10 December 1871 and worked as a domestic servant before her marriage to William Mottershead, a travelling salesman, at Manchester Cathedral on 8 October 1898. Willliam was born in Macclesfield in 1870 and was the son of James Mottershead and Martha Albinson.
Margaret and James had three children:
1.
2.
3.
Doris Helen Mottershead
Tom Mottershead
Jack Mottershead
(1899-1991)
(1901-1959)
(1902-1997)
m. Samuel Mather, 1922
m. Charlotte Evelyn Mallett, 1931
m. Edna Greenwood, 1935
The family moved to Yorkshire where they had a business as amusement caterers.
William died in Leeds in 1938 and Margaret probably died in Manchester in 1955.
James Steele
James Steele, oldest son of Joseph Steele and Amy Ellen Sumner, was born in Worleston near Nantwich on 2 January 1873 and like many of his family worked as a labourer on the railway. He married Mildred Baker at St Michael's Church, Coppenhall in 1896, and the couple had seven daughters, two of whom died in infancy:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
May Steele
Ellen Steele
Gladys Steele
Mary Ellen Steele
Mildred Steele
Ivy Steele
Doris Steele
(1896-1985)
(1898-1898)
(1899-1972)
(1901-2003)
(1903-1903)
(1905-1995)
(1907-1973)
m. John Chadwick, 1920
m. George William Trueman, 1921
m. Val Hulse, 1924
m. David Egerton, 1926
m. Fred Royle, 1929
James died in Crewe in 1947 and Mildred in 1953.
Thomas Steele
Thomas Steele, son of Joseph Steele and Amy Ellen Sumner, was born in Church Coppenhall on 2 February 1876 and worked as a locomotive fireman. He married Mary Elizabeth Walters at St Michael's Church, Coppenhall on 5 November 1902 and the couple had three children:
1.
2.
3.
Ellen Elizabeth Steele
Joseph William Steele
Thomas Steele
(1903-1958)
(1906-1966)
(1910-1970)
m. Wilfrid Lovatt, 1930
m. Gertrude Florence Bates, 1930
Thomas died in Crewe in 1955.
Joseph William Steele
Joseph William Steele, youngest son of Joseph Steele and Amy Ellen Sumner, was born in Church Coppenhall and baptised in St Michael's Church there on 5 January 1879. He worked as an engine fitter and married Hannah Palin in Nantwich in 1899. The couple had one child who died in infancy:
1.
James Steele
(1902-1902)
Joseph died in Crewe on 23 June 1932.
Alec Steele
Alec Steele, second child and only son of Samuel Steele and Eliza Oakes, was born in Church Coppenhall on 2 November 1886 and married Edith Palin there in 1912. They had one son, named after his paternal grandfather:
1.
Samuel Steele
(1918-1976)
Joseph died in Crewe on 23 June 1932.
Elizabeth Steele
Elizabeth Steele, daughter of Samuel Steele and Eliza Oakes, was born in Church Coppenhall on 29 July 1892 and married William Ernest Venables there in 1917. The couple had two children:
1.
2.
William Venables
Martha Venables
(1920-1981)
(1928-1994)
Thomas died in Crewe in 1949 and Elizabeth in 1957.
Mary Steele
Mary Steele, daughter of Samuel Steele and Eliza Okes, was born in Church Coppenhall on 14 February 1895 and married Alfred Morgan there in 1917. The couple had three children:
1.
2.
3.
Harry Morgan
Grace Morgan
Audrey May Morgan
(1920-2006)
(1923-1977)
(1930-2016)
m. John Douglas Delucchi, 1947
m. George Alfred Lowe, 1950
Alfred and Mary both died in Crewe in 1970.
Alfred John Steele
Alfred John Steele, son of Alfred Steele and Sarah Stockton, was born in Church Coppenhall on 15 February 1899, and married Charlotte Hidderley at Christ Church, Crewe in 1921. The couple had one son:
1.
Arthur Steele
(1922-1998)
Charlotte died in Crewe in 1970 and Alfred in 1989.
Wilfred George Steele
Wilfred George Steele, youngest son of Alfred Steele and Sarah Stockton, was born in Church Coppenhall on 12 July 1901, and married Emma Swinney at St Michael' Church, Coppenhall in 1922. They had two children:
1.
2.
John Alfred Steele
Gladys May Steele
(1922-1988)
1924-1979
Wilfred died in Crewe in 1976 and Emma in 1898.
m. Ronald Edwin George Preedy, 1945
Ernest John Rosser
Ernest John Rosser, only surviving child of John Rosser and Emily Perry, was born in Bassaleg, Monmouthshire in 1885 and worked as an annealer in a steel works. He married Florence Gertrude Edith Williams in Pontypool in 1909, and the couple had one child:
1.
Walter Ivor Rosser
(1911-1941)
m. Elsie May Ralph, 1932
Ernest died in Newport in 1927 aged 42 and his widow Florence later married Bernard William Alderson, a widower from Bridgend.
Ernest and Emily's son Walter Ivor Rosser married Elsie May Ralph in Pontypool in 1932, but she died just a year later. He then married Elizabeth A Rosser (no obvious relation) in Crickhowell in 1935. Walter was in the Merchant Navy during World War II, and was second engineer on the SS Stanleigh when it was sunk by the Luftwaffe off the Welsh coast on 14 March 1941. He was one of 20 men killed in this action and he is listed on the Tower Hill Memorial, which commemorates men and women of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both World Wars and who have no known grave.
Harold Sorton
Harold Sorton, oldest son of William Derbyshire Sorton and Emma Clay, was born in Latchford in 1886 and went into the newpaper industry. On the 1911 census, he was recorded as a sub-editor, lodging with his future wife Ethel Violet Heather and her family in Brixton, and the pair married shortly afterwards.
They had one child:
1.
Barbara Jeanne Sorton
(1911-1941)
Ethel died in Manchester in 1932 and Harold died in Christchurch in 1958.
Percy Clay Sorton
Percy Clay Sorton, son of William Derbyshire Sorton and Emma Clay, was born in Crewe on 15 April 1890 and became a railway bookstall manager. He married Elaine Harvey at St John's Church, Macclesfield on 12 September 1912 and the couple had one son:
1.
Kenneth Howard Sorton
(1913-2001)
Percy was called up for service in World War I on 16 May 1916 and served as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. He was badly wounded in the right leg on 1 August 1917, but recovered, only to be hospitalised and invalided to England with nephritis at the beginning of November the same year. Nephritis was endemic in the trenches during the war, and it would be the cause of Percy's early discharge from the army on 11 April 1918 after over five months in hospital.
He died in Crewe in 1962.
William Stanley Sorton
William Stanley Sorton, son of William Derbyshire Sorton and Emma Clay, was born in Crewe in 1893, and married Lizzie Slack there in 1915. They had one child:
1.
Jean Sorton
(1913-2001)
m. Stanley Thomas Franklin, 1940
William died in Crewe in 1946 and Lizzie in 1947.
Jack Sorton
Jack Sorton, son of William Derbyshire Sorton and Emma Clay, was born in Crewe on 16 June 1895 and worked as a furniture salesman. He enlisted in the Army Ordnance Corps on 9 December 1915, but after suffering from influenza and pneumonia he was transferred to the Labour Corps, spending the remainder of World War I in an agricultural company in England.
Jack married Florence Smith in Nantwich in 1917, and had three children, one of whom died young:
1.
2.
3.
Jack Sorton
Kenneth Sorton
Betty Margaret Sorton
(1918-1918)
(1922-2007)
(1931-1997)
After the war Jack worked for a short time in the railway goods yard at Crewe. He died in Macclesfield in 1968.
m. Phyllis Maud Goodwin, 1943
m. Victor George Eggleton, 1960
Frank Sorton
Frank Sorton, son of William Derbyshire Sorton and Emma Clay, was born in Crewe on 7 October 1897, and enlisted in the Royal Engineers on 11 December 1915. He was placed in the Army Reserve before being mobilised on 16 July 1917 to the Railway Troops and serving in France and Belgium. He suffered from bronchitis during his military service, which worsened an existing chest problem, and he was awarded a small disability payment on his discharge in 1919.
Frank married Lily Cadman at Weston-by-Crewe in 1924, and had one daughter:
1.
Sybil Heather Sorton
(1926-2005)
Frank died in Crewe in 1961.
We originally thought that my direct ancestor Richard Sorton belonged to a different branch of the Cheshire Sorton family, but have since found conclusive evidence indicating otherwise. However, like Richard's branch, the "other" Sortons migrated between Cheshire and Manchester, and as they are doubtless related in some way, I have decided to place the results of our earlier research on a separate page for the benefit of others related to this family.