James Walton married Sarah Favel Atkin
1 November 1847
The Banner photo is not their wedding - it is the 1913 wedding of a granddaughter, Sarah Hackett (daughter of their 2nd born Lydia Walton) marrying Harry Franks. We have no pictures of James or Sarah.
Elizabeth Anne (known as Liz in England and Annie in America) was their first born. She told her children, “One afternoon in England young James Walton in a jovial mood was walking in town with some friends. His eye caught sight of Sarah Atkin, a petite young woman with large brown eyes. She took his fancy. “If ever I marry, that’s my wife,” he announced, and somehow he managed to do just that.”
In autumn, after the Banns were read, James and Sarah married in the canal town of Hillmorton, Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
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| St. John the Baptist |
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| Banns |
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| marriage return James & Sarah Walton |
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| James' father, William Walton |
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| Sarah's father, George Atkin |
Sarah, daughter of George Atkin and Martha Esther Oliver, was born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, 80 miles east. I don’t know when or why she moved to Hillmorton. Her younger sister, Lydia Anne, also came to Hillmorton some time after Sarah's wedding. In a few years Lydia would marry William Batchelor, a local, and raise their nine children in Hillmorton.
Sarah signed her marriage documents with a fine signature. Her mother had signed hers with an X. Education would be a big deal in this family. Sarah’s six and Lydia’s nine children were all born and raised in Hillmorton. Sarah's girls as well as the boys were scholars.
Descendants from both Sarah and Lydia have kept in touch for 144 years. Down from Sarah come Walton, Franks, Hackett, Hayes, Miles, Boddington, Clements, Bason, Brookins, Smith, Fitzpatrick,(in England), and more; Sale, Gilbert, Holt, Sockwell (in America). Down from Lydia come Batchelor, Coggins, Heath, Kaberry, Davidson (in England and Australia) and more. Many have written, visited, and kept a connection over the years.
Two of Sarah & James great great grandchildren (Jim Hackett and your author) took a 175 mile day trip to see each of the houses James and Sarah were counted in on the English censuses 1851-1891. See brief timeline below. A future post will present "Jim and Vinnie's Excellent Adventure."
Briefly, here is where they lived, worked, and raised six children -- three boys and three girls:
1851 – The Wharfe, Hillmorton. James and Sarah and their first child, Elizabeth Anne "Liz" or “Annie” lived at the wharf with his brothers and widowed father. His father worked on the canal, James and one brother were “Ag lab”i.e., "agricultural laborers", another brother was a “blacksmith boy.” Sarah was “housekeeper” for them all. (on a boat?)
1861 Weslyan Chapel, Hillmorton. James and Sarah mostly lived in the Old Vicarage of St. John the Baptist church and cemetery, close to the canal locks. But in 1861 they were counted at the "Methodist Chapel." James was a successful railroad man. The children were all scholars.
1871 Old Vicarage, Hillmorton. Annie and Lydia were sent to London to learn fine needlework to go into service. Annie’s work as a lady’s maid/companion would take her to America. The boys were RR workers. NOTE: In 1871 Annie was enumerated as in “Serv. Out of place.”
1881 13 Wood Street, Rugby. James and Sarah moved to Rugby and lived near the RR station and livestock corral. James was “leading coalman of the "R loco dept.” Their son George, a RR “engine fitter,” lived with them, as did daughter Lydia with her husband William Bird Hackett, who was a Railway Engine Driver and first two sons, Frank and Tom (penpal to Granwilla). RR engine driver was such a prestigious job that Lydia was listed as “wife of Engine Driver” and his two young sons as“son of Engine Driver.”
1891 166 Emscote Road "WALTON LODGE ," Warwick. In 1887 James was killed in a railway accident. Widowed Sarah divided her time between living with the daughter Lydia and her Hackett family in Warwick, or son Tom and his wife on Wood Street in Rugby.
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| Hillmorton: red circle is St. John the Baptist church |
The red circle on the map is St. John the Baptist and the Old Vicarage in Hillmorton where James and Sarah raised their six children right near the two Hillmorton locks.
Below is a photo someone in England sent to Granwilla of the Old Vic on the right, St. John the Baptist on the left. There's a large cemetery attached to St. John the Baptist between the two.
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| photo St. John's & Old Vic - sent to Granwilla |
[i] Granwilla’s 1968 memoirs p1.
[ii] 2016 video of traveling by canal from Hillmorton to Brinklow, note nearby RR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-_dmMYQcEA
Vinnie, You are doing a great job with your new blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your help, advice, and encouragement,and for Pattillo-Thornally Ancestors. Forward into the past!
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