This is the story of two men – Richard and James – who lived
in Bushey, Hertfordshire, with their wives and children at the time of the 1841
census. They shared the same surname – Tooley – but there is no evidence that they were
closely related. Later, when one of them died and the other lost his wife, the
two widowed survivors married and brought up the surviving children of their
previous marriages and the children they had together.
Richard Tooley was born in
Hertfordshire in about 1804, but there is no record of a baptism for him. He
was a farm labourer and married Mary Ann Ward in Bushey on 2 April 1832.
Mary Ann Ward was the
illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Ward and was born on 13 November 1808. When
she was baptised in Aldenham, Hertfordshire, on 18 December 1808, her reputed
father was sworn to be “Jno Steel”.
Richard and Mary Ann had five
children:
1.
Sarah, baptised 31 March
1833
2.
John, baptised 8 March 1835
3.
James, baptised 15 January
1837
4.
Richard, baptised 6 January
1839; buried 13 September 1840 aged 1 year 9 months
5.
Sophia, born 13 September
1841, baptised 24 October 1841; buried 18 January 1845
Their father, Richard, died aged
38 and was buried on 25 August 1842.
James Tooley was baptised in
Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, on 21 September 1806, the son of Thomas and Sarah
Tooley.
He married Esther Gates in
Northchurch, Hertfordshire, on 26 October 1829 and the couple went to live in
Watford where they had two children:
1.
George, born in the spring
of 1832 and baptised on 20 January 1833; buried 27 February 1833, aged 11
months
2.
Esther, born Q3 1838
Their mother, Esther, died in the
autumn of 1842 and was buried at the Independent Chaepl at Bushey on 25 October
1842.
Two years later, James married
Mary Ann, the widow of Richard Tooley, in Bushey on 20 October 1844.
The couple had four children,
including a pair of twins:
1.
Elizabeth, born 29 December
1845, baptised 1 February 1846; buried 22 September 1850
2.
George, born 29 December
1845, baptised 1 February 1846
3.
Thomas, born 5 February 1848,
baptised 12 March 1848
4.
Eliza, born 13 September
1850, baptised 20 October 1850; buried 10 June 1855
At the time of the 1851 census,
the household comprised:
James Tooley head 44 Farm
labourer
Mary Ann Tooley wife 42
James Tooley son 14 Farm labourer (Mary Ann’s son by Richard)
Esther Tooley daughter 12 (James’s
daughter by Esther)
George Tooley son 5 (James
and Mary Ann’s child)
Thomas Tooley son 3 (James
and Mary Ann’s child)
Eliza Tooley daughter 6 months (James
and Mary Ann’s child)
James was buried on 2 January
1876 and Mary Ann on 21 September 1891.
Of the children,:
Sarah (1833) was a domestic servant
in Watford before she married Arthur Morrice, a carpenter, in St Pancras on 15
June 1862. She had three children and died in Watford Registration District in
Q2 1917.
John (1835) was a general
labourer in Bushey until at least 1851 and at sometime before 1881 he moved to
Nuneaton. He appears in the census of that year as a married to a woman called
Elizabeth who had been born in Elford, Staffordshire, in about 1828. It I very
probable that Elizabeth was a widow when she married John, but no record to any
marriage has so far been found. Elizabeth died in Nuneaton in the summer of
1891 and John four years later.
James (1837) no record so far
found after 1851 census
Esther (1838) no record so far
found after 1851 census
George (1845) went to London and
became a Metropolitan policeman. He married Christina Cecilia Arthur on 20
April 1876 and had four children. He was buried on 9 October 1885 in Brompton
Cemetery – but more about him and his family next time.
Thomas (1848) stayed in Bushey
and became a painter and decorator. He married Charlotte Palmer on 14 March
1873 and also had four children. He died on 22 February 1914 .
