My British Ancestors, 2

The Shorthose line of the family has its beginnings as far back as William the Conqueror, in 1060.  William was married to Matilda and had four sons and four daughters with her; one of those sons was Robert Shorthose.  The earliest documented ancestor of our Shorthose line is Henry Shorthose and his wife Elizabeth, both born about 1700.  Henry and Elizabeth produced one child who they named Robert and he was born in Repton, Derbyshire on January 6, 1735.  On the 25^th of April, 1757, 22 year old Robert was married in Tutbury, Staffordshire to 31 year old Sarah Foard.

 Shorthose/Way Pedigree

Robert and Sarah started their family right away, and they produced seven children between 1757 and 1772, one of whom was also named Robert.  Firstborn was Elizabeth in 1757 followed by Sarah in 1759, Henry in 1760, Mary in 1763, Alice in 1766, Robert in 1768 and finally, Ann in 1772.  This second Robert was born in Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire where he met his future wife Elizabeth Nash, who lived just seven miles away in the adjacent town of Sudbury, Derbyshire.  On the last day of February in 1797 Robert and Elizabeth were married at her home in Sudbury.

Robert was a “gamekeeper” and he and Elizabeth started their family with the arrival of John on the fourth of July, 1797.  John was quickly followed by Sarah on January 11, 1799, Elizabeth on Jan 10, 1801, and Robert #3 on February 13, 1805.  Robert passed away at the young age of 38 shortly after the birth of his son, Robert (#3), and the family was left to fend for themselves.  The oldest son, John, became a wheelwright/Country Gentleman and his sister Elizabeth went on to live a long life, passing away in 1882.  The oldest daughter, Sarah, only lived for a year and a half, passing away on June 5, 1800 and is buried with her father in St. Lawrence Churchyard in Heanor, Derbyshire.

Robert number three was a farmer, and farmed 25 acres in Anslow, Staffordshire.  He married Catherine Smith on the 24^th of May, 1824 and they went on to have eight children between 1827 and 1843.  At one point in his life, Robert ran a farm and a “Beer-house,” and the home he lived in with his wife, Catherine, is still standing today.

In the 1861 census, Robert and Catherine can be found living with their son, William, who is 18 and an 8 year old granddaughter, Mary E. Birch, who was born in Horninglow, less than a mile away.  Mary is the daughter of Robert’s oldest child, Mary Shorthose who was married to Frederick Birch in 1851.  Mary died in 1861 and the grandparents were taking care of Mary’s young daughter.  By 1871, the farm has grown to 36 acres and 65 year old Robert and 70 year old Catherine are living on the farm with son William who is now 28 and taken a wife of his own, Sarah who is 30

In the 1881 census, Robert is a 75 year old “retired farmer” and his wife Catherine has passed away.  Robert is still head of the family and is living with his daughter Sarah and her husband John Upton and their two children, George and Harry Upton.  The Upton farm is located adjacent to the Shorthose farm and is still in the possession of the Upton family as of 2010.  Robert passed away on the 23^rd of September, 1886, his wife Catherine in April of 1873.

Of Robert and Catherine’s eight children, it is Henry who we want to follow.  Henry was born on the 28^th of July, 1833 in Anslow, Staffordshire, England and lived on a farm he inherited from his uncle Josiah.  In 1851, 18 year old Henry is listed as head of household and living with his 19 year old sister Sarah.  It is unclear why Henry’s sister is not living at the family farm unless she moved in with her brother to help him run the farm he inherited from his uncle.  Sarah does not remain with her brother for long as she soon marries John Morris Upton in 1855 and moves back to her father’s home at “Gate Inn” in Anslow, with her new husband.

It is 30 years later, in the 1881 census that we find 49 year old Henry  living in Tatenhill, Staffordshire, a portion of Burton-Upon-Trent with his 50 year old wife Laurina Morcrofft and three of his seven children, 13 year old Arthur, 8 year old Laurina, and 3 year old Robert.  His son, John Henry, born in 1856 has married Elizabeth Archer and has move to the adjacent community of Winshill.  Elizabeth’s father worked at the Bass Brewery in Burton-Upon-Trent.

By the time of the 1891 census, Henry is a 57 year old widower supporting his 18 year old daughter Laurina and his 13 year old son, Robert.  Henry passed away on the first of June, 1899.

Henry’s son, John Henry is the focus of the next generation.  John Henry and his wife Elizabeth Archer gave birth to my Grandfather, and the man who would marry Lily Way, Arthur Edward Shorthose.  John Henry worked at the Bass Brewery in Burton as a “Maltster” and lived nearby in Winshill, Staffordshire all his life.  He and Elizabeth had five children between 1881 and 1990.  John William was the first, followed by Laura Dinah, Annie Elizabeth, Arthur Edward on 31 August, 1886, and the baby of the family, Francis Harry, who was born on the 17^th of August, 1890.

The 1891 census shows the family all together at 70 North Street, except for 8 year old daughter Laura Dinah.  For some reason, Laura Dinah is counted with her grandparents, the Archers, and her aunt, Dinah A., living at 65 North Street, just a few houses down the road.

The family can be found again in the 1901 census but 14 year old Arthur and 16 year old Annie as well as 18 year old Dinah are no longer with the family.  Only 19 year old John and 10 year old Francis remain with their parents.  Laura Dinah is working as a live-in servant in the small village of Boylestone, just ten miles to the northwest of the family home in Winshill, Burton-Upon-Trent.  Annie cannot be found in the 1901 census, but in 1910 she married Alfred J. Redfern and had 3 children with him before, in 1918, he was killed in action in WWI in “Flanders.”  Annie lived out her life near her family in Burton-Upon-Trent.

Sometime after 1901, Francis Harry Shorthose emigrated to Canada where he found work as a “Clerk.”  He enlisted in the “Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force” during WWI, on February 5, 1915 and saw action in France.  After the war, he visited his parents in Burton-Upon-Trent and met a young lass he would later marry.  Francis returned to Canada, and in 1920 sent for his future bride, Edith Mary Shepherd.  Francis and Edith were married in 1920 in the extremely small village of Rathwell, in Manitoba Canada.  Francis and Edith had three children in Rathwell, but at some point they headed west again and ended up finishing out their lives in Victoria, British Columbia in the Pacific Northwest.  Edith passed away on the 10 of November, 1964 and Francis followed her to his final reward ten years later on the 16^th of December, 1974 and

This brings us to the final member of the family, my grandfather, Arthur Edward Shorthose.  As previously mentioned, Arthur was born on August 31^st, 1886.  It was the time when Karl Benz patented the first gasoline-driven automobile and of the “Haymarket riots in Chicago.  “Coca-Coke” is first advertised in March of that year and President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty.  The “Gunfight at the OK Corral” had taken place only 5 years before, and the final eruption of Krakatoa in August of 1883 was still showing its effects on world temperatures.

Arthur grew up in Burton-Upon-Trent and was well on his way to a career in law enforcement when he married Lily Way in 1906.  On their marriage certificate he is listed as a “Police Constable” and is residing at the police station in Brownhills, Staffordshire.  Lily was listed as a domestic servant.  Arthur and Lily had 6 children before World War I interrupted their lives but only five of the children survived to adulthood.  The survivors were William Henry (20 Feb. 1909), Leonard Frank (8 Jun 1911), Sydney John (1913), Lilian Emma (6 Mar 1914) and Ernest (Jan 1915).  On January 4^th 1915, 29 year old Arthur entered the “Army Service Corps,” regiment TRS/6285 and was immediately sent to the “Western Front.”  Arthur was one of the many thousands who suffered “shell shock” during that war and he was never the same afterward.  With his career in law enforcement ended by his disability, Arthur tried his hand at many small jobs over the years but basically survived on his military disability pension for the remainder of his life.

After the war, Arthur and Lily had four more children including my mother, Elsie Merina.  Laura E. was born in 1919 and died from Scarlet Fever when she was 20 years old in 1939.  Dorothy was born on October 24, 1920, Elsie Merina on April 22, 1922 and Marjorie was born in 1927 and died before her first birthday.

Lily Way lived to the age of 85 and passed away on February 6, 1970.  Just over two years later, 86 year old Arthur died on December 27, 1972.  They finished out their lives at 36 Blackthorn Road, Stapenhill, Staffs, England.