According to contemporaneous census return Jane was born in Dublin about 1793. She married her husband James Hall about 1812 and their four eldest children John, Margaret, Jane and Ellen were born in Dublin between 1813 and 1821. The couple then moved to live in Chester in England where their sons George b.1826 and William b.1832 where born. At the time of their christenings their mother's surname is given as Woolescroft (Williscroft). This ignited my curiosity as had another reference to the Hall surname, references the Lewis Williscroft Hall also from Chester. I now know that Jane was his grandmother.
Jane's husband had died prior to the 1841 census. She was living with her children in Northgate Street, Cheshire by independent means. Jane continued to live in Nortgate Street, Chester until her death in 1867. By 1851 both Jane and her daughter Margaret were cap makers. Daughter Jane was a seamstress. William her youngest son was an apprentice bookbinder. On the 1851 census her brother in law John Hall born about 1785 in Ireland was visiting. He was a journeyman tailor. In 1861 Jane was a 'milliners ladies cap dealer’ assisted by her unmarried daughters Margaret and Jane.
In 1871 Margaret and her sister Jane were still living in Northgate Street working as milliners. By 1881 Margaret and Jane were living next door to their nephew Lewis Williscroft Hall at 7 Roberts Court in the St. Peters area of Chester. The girls were now seamstresses. Margaret died in 1889. In 1891 Jane was lodging with widow Jane Mutton at 5 Garden Lane, Chester. Jane died in 1897. Their brother George married Hannah Taylor from Bloxwich in Staffordshire. George was a house painter and died in 1903. His brother William did not marry an died in 1870.
James & Jane's first child, John, married Elizabeth Leach in 1841. The couple also lived in Northgate Street, Chester where John was a master breeches maker. John and Elizabeth are known to have had four children including Lewis Williscroft in 1848. John died in 1874.
Lewis Williscroft Hall was a clerk by trade. He married Mary Ann Morris in 1869. The couple are known to have had six children before his death in 1890. On the 1881 & 1891 census returns Lewis was living at 3 Roberts Court, Cheshire.