This is by no means solved or resolved
but progress has been made towards a possible
solution.
Questions do remain!
The events are related as they unfurled
through my investigations.
Although I had the basic information for great
grandfather Henry and his family from the 1871
Census, I was now able to look for the details.
The first thing that became apparent was that
eldest son George Harold was missing from the
family home!
I also had his basic details, and had assumed he
was with his parents, but I had to conduct a new
search to find out exactly where he was and with
whom.
But first... a little bit of background
information...for those who have come directly to
this page.
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Thomas
Leeman
1757 - 1826
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Mary
1761 - 1828
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John
Swailes
1767 -
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Elizabeth
1771 -
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William
Leeman
1791 - 1873
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Sarah
Swails
1792 - 1871
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Ann 1817 -
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Jane 1823 -
1825
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Elizabeth
1830
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Thomas 1834
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Sarah Ann
1819 - 1899
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Jesse 1825 -
1893
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Mary 1832
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Henry
1837
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William
1820-1890
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John 1827 -
1908
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Elizabeth 1833 -
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Thomas and Mary Leeman reared their
surviving 8 children in and around Bransby.
Some family events registered in the parish records
verify this,
not least of all the baptism of William Leeman on
10 April 1791.
William was the youngest of the 6 surviving sons.
William Leeman married Sarah Magson nee
Swails in Bransby on 13 June 1816.
Three children were born before William and his
wife to move to Buttercrambe.
At the time this was a village of less than 200
people situated on the River Derwent and was about
20 miles away. They remained here for the rest of
their lives.
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More details are given below of the
interim years,
but by 1871 William and Sarah's children themselves
had moved away or remain unlocated.
Ann (1817), Sarah (1819), Jesse (1825),
Mary (1832), Elizabeth (1833) and Thomas (1834)
were not to be found.
William (1820) was in Scarborough.
John (1827) was in
Australia.
Henry (1837) was in Silkerton Bretton
Wakefield.
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And so I had located Henry Leeman, a
farm labourer, wife Emma and second son aged 9
months old.
But George Harold was not at home. He was only two
years old so was hardly packing his bags just
yet!!
Having located the first page of the record, the
first exciting piece of information was that George
H Leeman was a nephew!
Anticipation was rife as I waited for the record
page to load and I was not disappointed.
The household was as follows:-
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Portrock Hotel 12 Portrock Lane St
James Stockton
David Ellis 41 Licensed Victualler
Tailor and Draper born Leeds
Elizabeth Ellis 39 Wife of David Ellis
born Buttercrambe
Sarah Poulter 16 Niece of David Ellis born
Lumby
George H Leeman 2 Nephew of David Ellis
born York
plus two servants one with a 14 year old
son
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Assuming that David Ellis was truly an
Uncle and with no Leeman family ties to Leeds, I
reckoned that it must be through the wife Elizabeth
and her being born in Buttercrambe was too much of
a coincidence.
But I had a small problem. I had a
burial notice for an Elizabeth Leeman in 1833 that
I assumed to be the second Elizabeth.
I tried a search for marriages between David Ellis
and Elizabeth Leeman with no luck.
So I looked at the other entry for Sarah
Poulter and tried a search for marriages between
Poulter and Leeman.
This time I had more luck!
John Poulter married Sarah Leeman in Tadcaster
Yorkshire in 1845.
(That would account for Sarah being 'missing' from
the Census returns.)
Now I knew where to look I found that
John and Sarah Poulter had the following
children
Sarah Jane (1845), Mary (1847), William (1849),
James (1851), Ann (1853), Sarah (1855), Alice
(1859) and John (1862).
This information made me lean more
toward the idea that David Ellis' wife was
Elizabeth Leeman.
I have searched all the usual places to see if any
other clues might be found and while I have more
information, I have nothing that makes anything
definite.
However, I will present what I have in the hope
that someone may know something concrete!
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1841
Census
William Leeman and Sarah Swails
and family have not been located.
Ann 24 Sarah 22 William 20
Jesse 16 John 14 Mary 9 Elizabeth 9 Thomas
7 Henry 4
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1851
Census
William and Sarah Swails with
children Mary and Henry still at home in
Buttercrambe.
Sarah is wife of John Poulter living in
Huddleston cum Lumby.
William is married to Ann Johnson but he
is in Leeds while Ann and children are in
East Stamford Bridge.
Ann 34 Jesse 26 John 24 Elizabeth 19 and
Thomas 17 are nowhere to be found.
David Ellis 21 is nowhere to be
found either.
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1861
Census
William and Sarah Swails
are now on their own in Buttercrambe.
Sarah is with John Poulter and
family in Huddleston cum Lumby.
William with Ann Johnson and family are
now in Scarborough.
John would be in Australia
Henry is a Foreman at Wildthorpe Farm,
Wildthorpe.
Ann 44 Jesse 36 Mary 29 Elizabeth 29 and
Thomas 27 are nowhere to be found.
David Ellis 32 is nowhere to be
found either.
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1871
Census
William and Sarah Swails are
still on their own in Buttercrambe.
Sarah is with John Poulter in Midgley.
Need to check William and Ann Johnson.
Elizabeth with David Ellis - (where have
they been for 20 odd years?)
Henry is now married to Emma Lofthouse and
living in Wakefield.
Ann 54 Jesse 46 Mary 39 and Thomas 37
nowhere to be found.
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1881
Census
William and Sarah Swails have
both died.
Sarah and John Poulter and family are in
Bretton West Wakefield
William and Ann Johnson are in
Scarborough
Henry and Emma have now moved to Stockton
on Tees
Elizabeth and David Ellis have
disappeared again.
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1891 - Here
is the biggest surprise !!!!
Jesse Leeman apparently marries
a Mary Elizabeth in Birkenhead .
Where has he been for nearly 50 years?
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So in the finish, Ann
(1817) and Thomas (1834) remain entirely
elusive.
It is possible that they died as children of
course.
And another question has sprung up -
are there two children called Elizabeth or just the
one who possibly marries David Ellis?
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