John Woolliscroft was born in Barlborough, Derbyshire, England. The second son of John and Sarah (Berrisford) Woolliscroft. He was farming in Sutton, Cheshire, England in 1832 when he married Mary Ann Leigh (Lee) from Bollington at Prestbury on the 5th December. The couple moved to Rusholme in Lancashire were John was a provision dealer and beer seller.
St Paul, Withington, Lancashire
In 1841 the family were living in Holfords Row, they were still at the same address ten years later but the street had been renamed John Street. However, trade directories show John as a shopkeeper in Monmouth Street and this was the address at the time of his death in 1854. He was buried at St Paul, Withington, Lancashire on the 28 November.
Gazette Issue 22064
17 November 1857. Page 58 of 66
After John’s death Mary Ann moved to Sherwood Street where she ran a shop. In 1857 must have got into financial difficulties as a bankruptcy hearing was announced in the London Gazette in the November.
I don’t know the outcome of this hearing but by 1861 Mary Ann had moved to Princess Street. In 1871 she was living in Openshaw, Manchester with her son William who was a dentist. In 1877 William spent 2 months in Belle Vue Prison, Manchester for assaulting his mother. At the time Mary Ann’s address was given as Collier Street. In 1881 she was lodging with the Proctor family in Booth Street, Chorlton, Manchester. Mary Ann died in 1889 and was buried at St Paul, Withington.
The couple are known to have raised a family of seven children: John (1834-1880), Henry (1836-1905), Solomon (1839-1895), Edward (1841-1864), Sarah Elizabeth (1843-1843), Peter (1845-1911) and William (1849-1917). It is possible they had another daughter called Sarah born before the couple moved to Rusholme. However, this is the only record I have for Sarah and the 1841 census returns does not give her relationship to John.
The couples son’s Henry and Edward emigrated together to Australia in the 1860’s and then to New Zealand. Their brother Peter had also emigrated to Australia. The surname has now died out on this branch. During my research I have several variation in the spelling of surname for this branch including Wooliscroft, Williscroft and Woollscroft.
Please follow the links to the right of the page to find out more about the different family members.