Week 45: Rich Man/Woman #52Ancestors

I am so very late with this blog-post. It was due last week and I hemmed and hawed over it without getting it posted. Mostly this was because we’ve no super wealthy ancestors, other than my husband’s 2nd great-aunt, Ellen (née Quinlan) Donnelly Reed who I already wrote about.[1]

Of course, “rich” is a relative term.[2] When researching family history, you are grateful to those ancestors who were “rich” enough to generate records. Deeds and wills are especially useful because they name wives, children, and sometimes even grandchildren. Many of my husband’s ancestors who immigrated in the 1700’s had enough property to leave wills which named their family. Yay for me. 

As for my side of the family, I’ve found few such documents, with the exception of my third great-grandfather who was apparently successful-enough and rich-enough to generate a probate file when he died. Another “yay” for me.

George Spencer was born about 1778 in Lancashire, England. Lancashire is in the north-west of England, just north of Manchester and Liverpool on the Irish Sea.[3] He was married twice and had four children by his first wife and five children by his second wife.[4] He second wife also had two children from her first marriage. The baptismal records for his children and his marriage records show that George was a “calico printer” in Ramsbottom.[5] Ramsbottom was a small town in the borough of Bury, Greater Manchester and historically was a manufacturing and mill town.[6] 

With all those mouths to feed, it is no wonder George ultimately launched into a new profession. The 1820 baptismal record for his son John identifies George as a “grocer” and the Manchester-area business directory shows for 1821-22 identifies him as a “four dealer and grocer” in Ramsbottom.[7]

According to Merriam-Webster, the history of the word “grocery” started by describing a dealer who sold by the “gross.”[8] By the 15th century, “grocer” referred to one who dealt in dry goods such as spices, tea, coffee, sugar, and flour.[9] Unlike today’s shopping experience, the English in the early 1800’s would need to visit the butcher, fishmonger, and grocer on a daily basis.  True to form, the 1821-22 directory lists only three businesses in Ramsbottom: George’s grocery, butcher Joseph Chapman, and a tavern/public house run by James Smith. 

It appears that George was part of the leading-edge of Ramsbottom’s growth. By 1824, the business directory lists not only George’s grocery but a tailor, shopkeeper, and blacksmith.[10]

Sadly, George passed away in 1825 at forty-seven years old.[11] While George didn’t leave a will, his wife filed with the court to administer his estate making sure that she inherited the grocery.[12] Jenny continued with the business and was listed in the 1828 business directory under “Shopkeepers and Dealers in Sundries,” along with seven other such shopkeepers in Ramsbottom.[13] Obviously, she knew a good business when she saw it. Jenny and George might not have been “rich” but to have been the first grocer in a growing town like Ramsbottom must have been quite the accomplishment.  

 

[1] Nell was a millionaire when few women could achieve such wealth on their own.

[2] Pun intended.

[3] Google, “Lancashire, England,” digital image (https://www.google.com : accessed 8 November 2019)

[4] St. Mary, Bury, Lancashire, England, marriages, 1802-1812, Spencer-Ridings, 2 March 1805; digital image, “Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 November 2019), citing Anglican Parish Registers, Manchester Library, Information and Archives, Manchester, England. St. Mary, Bury, Lancashire, England, marriages, 1802-1812, Spencer-Scholes, 23 September 1811; digital image, “Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 November 2019), citing Anglican Parish Registers, Manchester Library, Information and Archives, Manchester, England.

[5] Calico printing is “the process of imprinting on textile fabrics patterns of one or more colours on a white or coloured ground.” “Calico Printing,” 1902 Encyclopedia (https://www.1902encylopedia.com : accessed 8 November 2019). This website is a compilation of the Ninth and Tenth editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

[6] Wikipedia (http://wikipedia.org), “Ramsbottom,” rev. 22:09, 24 October 2019.

[7] Bishop’s Transcript, Edenfield, Lancashire, England, births and baptisms, 1820-1829, 3rd page, John Spencer, 10 June 1820; digital image, “Lancashire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1911,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2019); citing Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers, Preston, England. R. & W. Dean and J. Pigot, compilers, “Bury and Neighbourhood,” Pigot & Deans’ New Directory of Manchester and Salford, etc. for 1821-2, (Manchester, England: 1822), 299; digital image, “UK, City and County Directories, 1766-1946,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2019).

[8] “Grocery’s Boozy History,” Merriam-Webster.com (https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/grocery-store-word-origin : accessed 8 November 2019).

[9] Ibid.

[10] R. & W. Dean and J. Pigot, compilers, “Bury,” Pigot & Deans’ New Directory of Manchester and Salford, etc. for 1824-5, (Manchester, England: 1825), 334-42; digital image, Bury Council (http://www.bury.gov.uk : accessed 10 November 2019).

[11] Bishop’s Transcript, Tottington, Lancashire, England, deaths and burials, 1820-1829, 35, George Spencer, 29 July 1825; digital image, “Lancashire, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1986,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2019); citing Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers, Preston, England.

[12] Diocese of Chester, Lancashire, England, “Wills etc. Proved at Chester, 1825,” vol. R-S, unpaginated, Bond and Oath of Jenny Spencer, 2 August 1825; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6FFZ-JS6?i=353&cat=126866

: accessed 23 November 2018); original image from Lancashire County Council Archives, Preston, Lancashire.

[13] “Bury,” Pigot’s Directory for 1828, 235-49; digital image, “UK, City and County Directories, 1766-1946,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 20190.

Emmanuel, Holcombe, Church of England. George and Jenny Spencer are buried here.