William Groves

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Contributor Number: 32

Born ABT 1698
Father: ?
Mother: ?

Partner: unknown Child. William Groves  b.ABT 1728 at Letterbane, (Clontibret), d.1798 at Letterbane, (Clontibret), 5 Children.

Notes: My family history from 1600's to present day Navigation My Family Harris Family Groves Family 1698 -1845 Groves Family 1845 - 1975 Evans Family Oerle Evans Families Jones Family Carno Hamer Family 1600-1859 Hamer Family 1811-1970 Bennion Family Batten Family Rev. Wm Batten William Edward Francis Wm Ed Francis Family In the News TRUE OR FALSE In the Groves's family, there were two stories of real prominence. 1. That we were related to Alderman Thomas Groves Mayor of Shrewsbury i t is unclear which my family would have been talking about because fathe r and son became Mayors. Thomas the elder was Mayor between 1844-45 an d Thomas the son was Mayor 1867-68 . Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the link although I do feel t his is probably true because my Mum and Aunties where taken to see his pi cture at Shrewsbury Museum many times when they were little. Nobody no w can remember what the link was. 2. The second story was that the Groves' boys attended Shrewsbury Schoo l and use to arrive on horseback. They were there at the time of Charle s Darwin. It certainly would not have been my Gt Gt Grandfather, as he w as not born until 1825. Also the Shrewsbury School Register Volume 1 1798 -1908 editor J.E. Aulden published in 1928 has been checked and there ar e no entries for Groves so that is a mystery. The girls I believe attend ed 'Dame' schools this was a great source of pride for my Nan who constan tly reminded us that the girls in her family had all been educated. THOMAS GROVES c1745 -1813 I do not have a lot of information at this time of Thomas my understandin g from a member of the Groves family is that he started out as a Farmer a nd became a Builder. If this is correct then that would link him to my G roves family as they were Farmers. The Holy Cross and St Giles burial re gister shows details of Thomas born 1745 and Ann Groves born 1743. Thoma s was buried on 2nd November 1813 aged 68 . He was a bricklayer of Meriv al (Merivale, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury) and his denomination was give n as Anglican. His widow, Ann Groves was buried on 6th March 1818 aged 7 5 described as "widow of Thomas, bricklayer" and at her death lived at St . Julian's Friars, Shrewsbury. At the time of her death Ann must have be en living with her son Thomas. He was described as of "St Julian's Friar s" on 7th September 1819 when he was admitted a Burgess. Thomas and Ann had two children that I can find records for the eldest Wi lliam Groves born 1772 and buried 29th November 1827 at the age of 55. W illiam was buried in the parish of Holy Cross and St Giles his address a t the time of his death was given as Frankwell and his occupation was Sch oolmaster. He married Ann Fletcher in 1793 and they had 9 children as fa r as I can tell. William was admitted as a Burgess on 22nd February 182 0 but never became Mayor. Thomas Groves born 2nd/3rd April 1786 (need to check as there are 2 diffr ent records). THOMAS GROVES 1786 - 1867 Thomas Groves was born 3rd April 1786 and married Elizabeth Morris of Gre at Hanwood 29th August 1808. Thomas was sworn as a Burgess on 7th Septem ber 1819. My first recorded evidence of the family that I found is the 1 841 census when Thomas then aged 55 shown as 'Head' and his occupation Bu ilder. His wife Elizabeth (nee Morris) then aged 55 where living at St M ary's Place Shrewsbury. At this time Thomas and Elizabeth had five child ren living at home. Mary then aged 30 with no occupation and John aged 2 5 then a Stone Mason. From this census it would appear that three of the ir children were all aged 20 which make their year of birth 1821. Howeve r, their son James was baptised 13th December 1816 occupation then a Join er, daughter Anne was baptised 28th December 1818 with no occupation, an d son William was baptised 24th May 1821 occupation then a Painter. Sour ce: HO 107/927/13 Thomas was Mayor of Shrewsbury 1845 - 1846. Thomas was the Architect of Royal Shrewsbury Hospital known as locally a s Shelton. Originally: Shropshire and Wenlock Borough Lunatic Asylum whi ch was built in 1845 and housed 800 patients . Thomas was also listed in Trade Directory for 1850 under Brick Makers ent ry reads: Groves Thomas & John, St Austin's Priory. The 1851 census shows a very different picture. Thomas is then describe d as Alderman and Proprietor of House and Land. He and Elizabeth had mov ed from St Mary's Place to 1 Holywell Terrace Shrewsbury. Three of thei r children where living at home Mary then aged 41 and unmarried, Anne age d 32 and unmarried and William aged 29 occupation then Painter and Glazie r. Note here the difference in Anne and William's ages in the 1841 censu s their ages were the same. Source: HO1071992 The 1861 shows Thomas still living at 1 Holywell Terrace, Elizabeth had d ied. His occupation described as Alderman and Gentleman. Two of his dau ghters Mary and Anne both unmarried where still living at home as was hi s son William then aged 39 and working as a Painter and Glazier. Source : R.G. 9/1872 The last Will and Testament of Thomas dated 10th November 1862 is a fasci nating read my copy is 12 A4 sheets with the Probate. The Will lists al l his properties and land bequeathed to his family. He held shares in th e Abbey Cemetery Company, Public Rooms in Shrewsbury, Shropshire Union Ra ilways and Canal Company, The Great Western Railway Company, The London a nd North Western Railway Company and the Shrewsbury Water Works Company . He left seventeen houses to his children. My thanks to Nick for suppl ying this information. Thomas died on the 13th June 1867. Source: probate and GRO Vol 6a, pag e 416. His eldest son Thomas and other children I have written about below, Joh n as we can see from the census was a Stone Mason. James married Sarah d aughter of Mr. C. Russell of Forstall, Aylesford, Kent on the 4th Septemb er 1851. William, Painter and Glazier were sworn as Burgesses on the 3r d May 1842. THOMAS GROVES c1813 Thomas Groves was born c1813 and I do not have a lot of information befor e the 1841 census. He was sworn in as a Burgess 27th July 1835. On the 1841 census Thomas then aged 25 living with his wife Mary Ann an d their two children Thomas aged 4 and John aged two at Friars in the Par ish of St Julian Shrewsbury. His occupation the a Builder. Source: HO 1 07//926/10 Strangely I can not find an entry for Thomas and his family on the 1851 c ensus for England. The 1861 census shows the family where living at St Austin Friars with si x children. Thomas then aged 48, described as a builder employing 6 boy s and 45 men. Mary Ann then aged 50 and the following children John (22 ) Annie (19) Mary (17) whose occupations where given as 'Builder' which w ould have been unusual for the women at that time. The other three child ren all Scholars and were George James (15), Alice (13) and Harriot (10) . Note that Thomas who appeared on the 1841 census aged 4 died in 1841 . Source: R.G. 9/1873 There is a printed letter of application dated 20th November 1866 for th e post of County Surveyor, of Thomas Groves, The Priory, Shrewsbury, an d testimonials including one from Edward Haycock. Source: Shropshire Arc hives Catalogue Ref: 2756, File Ref: 3217/56. There are also several ref erences held at the archives to his other business dealings. The 1871 census shows Thomas as a Widower as Mary Ann had died. Still li ving at St Austin Friars Thomas had become a Justice of the Peace and Cou nty Surveyor. Somewhere I have seen a note that shows his letter of appl ication for the job as County Surveyor which if my memory serves me righ t is held by the Shropshire Archives. (If I can find this in my file s I will add at a later date). Living at home with Thomas at that time w here the following children: John (32) Builder, Elizabeth A (29), Mary (2 7), George James (25), Alice (23), and Harriot (20). Source: RG10/2776 By 1881 Thomas had followed in his father's footsteps and was described a s Magistrate, Alderman and County Surveyor. Only three of his children w here still at home George James (35), Builder and Harriott (30). Source : RG11/2653 Thomas does not appear on the 1891 census and I am still looking for th e date of his death. A Burgess was a citizen of a borough having full municipal rights. O r a Member of Parliament for a borough or corporate town. Sometimes th e word was used to describe a person elected by a borough to represent th em in Parliament. Links Evans family Griffiths family Leech family Alternative me Things To Do Photo Center Enter the Forum Guestbook This day in History Horoscope Live Chat CHINESE PROVERB "To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without roots". WELCOME TO MY GROVES FAMILY - my maternal side My direct line 1. William Groves 1698 2. William Groves 1728 - 6th November 1798 3. Samuel Groves c1752 - 8th October 1829 4. William Groves c1777 - 22nd November 1838 5. Joseph Groves c1825 - 22nd September 1866 6. William Groves c1850 - 1927 7. Mary Jane Groves 11th January 1882 - 12th June 1975 my Grandmother The Groves family is the family that I grew up knowing quite a lot abou t or at least that is what I thought. My Nan always had a story to tel l and she had such a way with words. I loved every moment I spent in he r company and as a very young child; I did spend a lot of time with her . As far as I can remember, my mum took us to see her nearly every day . In the week, we use to stay for tea, jam butties and cake. Sundays an d special occasions we would have cucumber sandwiches, the cucumber steep ed in vinegar all day and the crusts cut off the bread. The best china a nd silver would be in use and as a special treat; we would be allowed t o eat the sugar cubes. You have to remember the early fifties sugar wa s a luxury it had been rationed up until 1953 and nobody at that time wou ld dream that it would not be good for your health . As I researched the Groves family, they became more and more of a mystery . In the beginning I found it very hard to prove the stories my Nan tol d me. I grew up with stories of belonging to Landed Gentry of the family livin g in a large Hall although nobody seems to know where. That the childre n had Nannies and there were many servants. However, I do know that the y were Farmers and many farms had servants be it that they would often b e family members. The land always seemed to be left to the oldest boys a nd the later you were born the less likely, that you would receive anythi ng. However, it appears from the Will that Samuel Grove made that he too k care of his daughters which wasn't always the case in other families. One of the biggest stumbling blocks in my research was to do with Josep h Groves born 1825 my great grandfather x 3 because his birth was at Chir bury. My family insisted that the Groves's were from Church Stoke in Mon tgomeryshire. The further back in time I was able to get the more I foun d links with Churchstoke and Chirbury. I have now discovered that the Gr oves family were indeed 'Landed Gentry' and were a very substantial famil y in the areas of Chirbury, Church Stoke, Priest Weston, Shelve and Worth erton. I will add the maps to this page to that you can see how close al l these places were in South Shropshire and near to the Welsh Border of M ontgomeryshire. I must mention some additional help that I have received. Sitting on m y desk I had reams of paper research on the Groves family because names l ike Samuel and William kept cropping up I had great difficulty in connect ing all the information and I wasn't even sure at times whether I was o n the right track. Therefore because I have two aunties in their 99th an d 93rd year I decided to enlist the help of a research firm. This for m e was extremely helpful, not as expensive as I thought and turned out t o be good value for money and the research they did on my behalf tied tog ether all the fragmented pieces of information I had collected. The on e I used was www.tree-tracers.co.uk you can contact Heather and Bill on t ree-tracers@blueyonder.co.uk for me it was certainly a productive move . So thank you to Heather and Bill. From my searches through various archives on the Internet I have found ev idence although not proved by me that the Groves Family were around as fa r back as 1577. Maybe one day I will get back that far. WILLIAM GROVES c1698 I am taking quite a leap here and as yet have not proved that William Gro ves c1698 is of the same line, however, time lines fit and at the momen t I am still trying to clarify details. Source: IGI William Groves born c1698 Hopton Wafers, Shropshire and baptised at St Mi chael & All Angels, Hopton Wafers. He married Mary Hotchkiss at St Mary' s Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire 15th October 1723. Whilst I have the yea r of birth their son William Groves (Shelve) c1728 it seems inconceivabl e that they didn't have at least one maybe two children before William w as born. So if any one can help fill in the gaps I would love to hear fr om you. Source: Brian. It never ceases to amaze me how many people ca n be researching one family. As I have already said on this website a lo t of the information I receive comes from contacts made through www.genes reunited.co.uk the above paragraph came about because of one of those con tacts. So thank you to Brian who is researching his line of Robert Grove s c1820. I would like also like to thank Dean who is researching the sam e line. I am fascinated by all the people I speak to via email, people I t is unlikely I will never meet and yet we are all distantly related . The paragraph of William Groves (Shelve) at this time I haven't been abl e to check out myself, I make a point of checking information received an d you will find throughout this website the sources I have confirmed. WILLIAM GROVES c1728 - 6th November 1798 My great grandfather x 6, William Groves of Shelve, yeoman born c1728 a t Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, he was baptised 10th February 1728 and d ied 6th November 1798 and is buried at Chirbury. Source: Parish Register s Chirbury via www.Ancestry.co.uk Letters of administration were grante d to his widow Mary Groves on 26th December 1798. Source: National Archi ves Catalogue Ref: IR 26/348. Image Ref: 362/132 I have the marriage of a William Groves and Mary Andrews 24th August 1751 . This appears in the Meole Brace Parish Registers and has them listed a s both from Ratlinghope. At this time other than a time line with Samue l Groves birth of 1752 I do not know if this is the right couple. I also have a death of Mary Groves dated 12th February 1803 and buried a t Chirbury. Assuming this is William's widow, more research needed. Shelve was part of the lower division of the parish of Chirbury Hundred i n the County of Shropshire. It is situated 16 miles from Shrewsbury an d 7 miles north east of Bishops Castle. It was mostly inhabited by agric ultural workers. Monday 25th August 2008 the Bank Holiday weekend me and my husband decide d to have a ride around South Shropshire. I wanted to try and get a fee l for the areas I was writing about and so we travelled over The Long Myn d (to be continued). Shelve extends over a large area of several miles and is mostly farmlan d standing over a thousand feet with lots of moorland. We visited the ch urch and the farm opposite. We introduced ourselves to the farmers and t hese two lovely people invited us into their home and made us tea. The y chatted to my husband and I for about an hour and although they could n ot tell me a lot about my family they did have family connections . As far as I am aware the Groves family were all tenant farmers. The A2 A Archives catalogues hold details of land transactions of the Groves fam ily these are the copyright of Shropshire Archives . The catalogues show that William Groves of Shelve conducted several trans actions with The Earl of Powis and others which includes property and lan ds in the Townships of Great Weston known also known as Priest Weston an d Little Weston all in the Parish of Chirbury. Below are listed the date s and File numbers: 22nd October 1771 Ref: 2873/2-49 24th and 25th March 1772 Ref: 2873/4-5 26th September 1772 Ref: 2873/6 26th December 1798 Ref: 2873/8-9 The above catalogue numbers also show that William Groves had land calle d Horsemoore and properties in Aldress Close. William Groves granted a l ease of water right to Robert Bemand for 99 years. William and Mary had at least one son Samuel details below : SAMUEL GROVES 1752 - 8th October 1829 Samuel Groves was baptised 27th June 1752 and these details can be foun d in the Worthen Parish Records and Family Search index. He is my grea t grandfather x 5. Marriage details read: Samuel Groves of Shelve, Count y of Salop bachelor married Margaret Bady (also spelt Badey and Beady) sp inster by Licence on 28th April 1776, witnesses William Groves and Mary B right. Margaret Bady was baptised 15th July 1752 at Worthen and she wa s the daughter of Edward and Rebecca Bady. Edward Bady married Rebecca Chidley on 6th October 1745 at Meole Brace, S hropshire both at the time of their marriage were living in the Parish o f Worthen. There were at least six children born to Edward and Rebecca , details as follows: Sarah baptised 10th May 1754 - 14th February 1780 aged 26 John baptised 19th May 1756 - 28th January 1761 aged 5 Elizabeth baptised 22nd October 1758 Edward baptised 3rd October 1760 Thomas baptised 1st June 1764 All baptisms recorded at Worthen including John and Sarah's death. Rebecca Bady (nee Chidley) died 19th June 1809 aged 85 at Bromlow. Edwar d Bady died 14th October 1810 aged 89 also at Bromlow. Looking at variou s Parish Records in the South Shropshire area it would appear that ther e were Bady's around as far back as 1545. At this time I am not going t o investigate this further. In documents held at Shropshire Archives Samuel Groves of Priest Weston i s described as a farmer, and the eldest son and heir of William Groves, l ate of Shelve, yeoman, deceased. Source: File ref: 2873/10 date 1st Jun e 1815. Also in the A2A archives several other children of Samuel and Margaret (B ady) are mentioned, also all their children were baptised at Chirbury, ba ptism dates are shown. 1. William Groves was the eldest son of Samuel and Margaret Groves (ne e Bady) and is my great grandfather x 4 if you scroll down you will fin d his birth, marriage, children and details of his death. 2. Margaret the eldest daughter of Samuel and Margaret was baptised 18t h October 1778 at Chirbury. She married George Harris 22nd April 1816 . Margaret is also referred to on the A2A catalogue reference 2873/ 16-2 0. George and Margaret Harris were still living on 27th August 1841. They h ad two surviving children at that time, John Harris c1818 and Margaret c1 819 who was the wife of Edward Weaver, both were over 21. Both John an d Margaret were born in Welshpool, Montgomeryshire. July 2008 through www.genesreunited.co.uk I have come into contact with R ick. Margaret was his great grandmother x 3 as she married George Harris . Rick was able to tell me that Margaret and George had another son Dani el born 1816 at Middleton, Chirbury. Daniel died 1817. The Harris family were also tenant farmers their Landlord being the Ear l of Powis and farmed several farms two of which were in Wales. George H arris was a Church warden at St. Michael's, Chirbury and interestingly be came Chief Constable of Chirbury in 1836 this was a year after his brothe r-in-law William Groves held the same post . Many thanks to Rick on the insight to this part of the family it is great ly appreciated. I also have a photograph of George and Margaret's grav e and in due course will add it to this page. I am now in possession of a copy of the M.I. for St. Michaels, Chirbury a nd here are the inscription's for George and Margaret Harris: "In Memory of George Harris (late of the Moat in the Parish) who died Apr il 21st 1844 Aged 52 years. Praises on stone are trifles vainly spen t A man's good name the lasting monument." "In Memory of Margaret widow of the late George Harris who died Februar y 19th 1848 Aged 54 years." Source M.I. St Michael's Church Chirbury, Shr opshire 1727-2003 produced by S.F.H.S. 3. Mary, Samuel and Margaret's third child was baptised 25th Septembe r 1780 at Chirbury. Baptisms prior to 1794 are not shown on the IGI s o baptism dates would have come from the parish registers. There is quit e a lot of easy to access information around on Mary's life. Mary first married Edward Wynne Williams by licence on 28th April 1807 a t Chirbury. Mary and Edward had two children daughter Mary died as an in fant on 19th December 1809 and is buried at Chirbury with her father. Th ey then had a son Thomas who was baptised 25th May 1811. Sadly Thomas di ed aged 24 on the 29th February 1836 and he is also buried at Chirbury . Source: Chirbury Parish records. Edward, Mary's first husband and was buried 17th February 1812 at Chirbur y the M.I. reads: "Sacred to the memory of Edward Williams (late of Heightley) who departe d this life February 15th 1812 / Aged 25 years." In the same grave is hi s daughter and the inscription reads: "Mary daughter of Edward and Mar y Williams who died in infancy." Mary Williams (nee Groves) continued to live at Heightley and married Sam uel Groves on 30th December 1813 at Chirbury . The 1841 census shows Samuel and Mary were at Heightley with their childr en. Mary's aged was shown as 55 and Samuel's 50, there two sons Robert a nd Samuel both aged 20. There was also a child named William aged 7 an d another child Samuel Pearce aged 11. Samuel was their grandson. Sourc e: HO 107 /909/22 and Keyword Graves. This means that the census docume nt has been transcribed as Graves and not Groves. The 1851 census the family were also at Heightley and Samuel, Mary's seco nd husband was shown as born at Ratlinghope he was then aged 65 and Mar y then aged 69. Their son Robert then aged 30, unmarried and described a s farmer's son. Heightley at that time had 330 acres and four labourer s were employed, two waggoners, cowkeeper and dairy-maid. The family als o employed a house-maid. I initially was led to believe that Mary and Samuel had no children on th eir own and as we can see from the census of 1841 and 1851 they had sons . However from the information in the M.I., they also had at least two d aughters. The M.I reads: In memory of Samuel Groves (of High Hay) who departed this life Dec. 1 18 52 , Aged 65 years. Also Mary wife of Samuel Groves who departed this l ife Sept. 29th 1874 Aged 73 years. The inscription then reads: "To the memory of Harriet daughter of Samuel and Mary Groves (of High Hay ) who departed this life Nov. 4th 1851, Aged 1... years. Also Ann thei r daughter [remainder illegible]." Source: M.I. St. Michael's Church, Ch irbury 1727-2003 and produced by S.F.H.S. So at this time we do not how old Harriet and Ann were when they died. T he family were described as late of High Hay is this a transcription erro r or did the family move from Heightley? Samuel is the "relation" referred to in William Groves will dated 20th Ju ly 1938. 4. The fourth son of Samuel and Margaret was named after his father. S amuel baptised 28th July 1782 at Chirbury and he married Hannah William s on the 3rd February 1806 by Licence. The children of Hannah and Samue l are well documented and normally as this is not a direct line I would n ot cover the family however, there are quite a few people researching thi s line and this enables us to help one another. In addition Thomas wa s a Grocer in Churchstoke, his son also named Thomas appears in several t rade directories and is found in 1841 living next door to my great grandm other x 4. Thomas baptised 2nd December 1806 Robert baptised 20th September 1808 Edward baptised 20th November Mary baptised 23rd December 1812 The above children were all baptised at Chirbury. It would appear from the M.I.'s of St Michaels that Robert born 1808 die d in 1814 and is buried at Chirbury, inscription reads: "To / the memory of Robert son of Samuel and Hannah Groves who died Septe mber 16th 1814 Aged 6 years." Source: M.I St Michaels produced by S.F.H. S. Samuel was buried on the 8th September 1849 and died aged 43, leaving a v ery young family. As far as I am aware Samuel is buried at Chirbury howe ver, as far as I can tell he is not in the M. I. for St Michael's at Chir bury. The families residence at the time of Samuel's death was at Worthe rton. 5. Sarah no baptism found but married Thomas Gough and is also referre d to on the A2A site catalogue reference number 2783 14/15 Extract fro m register of marriages at Church Stoke that Sarah Groves married Thoma s Gough 4th February, 1803. Source: A2A ref: 2873/25 Sarah died 1861 and Thomas died before her and I believe at the time of t heir deaths they lived in Montgomeryshire. In 1861 Sarah was survived b y the following children; Mary, widow of Williams Taylor, living Manchester, and Eleanor wife of Jo hn Clayton of Castle Caereinion, Montgomeryshire, Ann wife of John Chambe rlain of Chelsea and Margaret wife of Richard Laurence of Upper Hem, Ford en, Montgomeryshire. Source: A2A Ref: 2873/35-39 date 14th September 186 1. 6. Robert as far as I am aware was Samuel and Margaret's youngest son a nd he was baptised 26th December 1789 and married Harriot in 1818 and i s the Robert referred to as of Rockley in William's will. Robert Grove s of Rockley and his wife Harriot are on both the 1841 and 1851 census de tails to follow: Key word Grover Robert and Harriot are buried at St Michael's Chirbury with two of thei r daughters inscription reads as follows: "In memory of Ann daughter of / Robert and Harriot GROVES / (of Rockley ) who departed this life / July 31st 1828 Aged 7 years / Also Harriot the ir daughter / who departed this life / September 30th 1840 Aged 12 years. " "... ... ... given that the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name o f the Lord. In memory of Robert GROVES / Dudston late of Rockley / who d eparted this life January 25th 1853 / Aged 63 years /Also of Harriot wif e of Robert GROVES / who died February 23rd 1878 / Aged 84 years." Source : Monumental Inscriptions at St. Michael's Church Chirbury Shropshire 17 27 - 2003 Transcribed by Pauline Hawkes and produced by Shropshire Famil y History Society. As you can see most of this inscription is in good condition, unfortunate ly a lot of the Groves family graves at St. Michael's are illegible. 7. Mary baptised at Chirbury on 2nd March 1794. Continuation of Samuel Groves c1752 It would appear from the Chirbury Parish records that Samuel was one of t heir Church Wardens and I have him listed on at least three dates, 3rd De cember, 1784, 24th December 1800 and 26th december 1810. Samuel Groves made his will on the 21st November 1828 and died on the 8t h October 1829. His house, farm and lands at Weston passed to his son Wi lliam, his daughter Margaret who was the wife of George Harris. Interes t was to be paid to Margaret of £150.00 on Lady Day and Michaelmas Day fo r her life and after Margaret's death £150.00 to her children. The remai nder to the surviving children, to be paid 7 years after the death of hi s Wife Margaret. His wife Margaret (nee Bady) died on 15th February 1831 . There is a discrepancy on the date of death of Margaret. Source: A2A c atalogue Ref 2873/14 puts the year of Margaret's death as 1821 and A2A c atalogue Ref 2873/16-20 puts the year of death as 1831. WILLIAM GROVES c1777 - 1838 William Groves was the eldest son of Samuel and Margaret Groves (nee Bady ) and is my great grandfather x 4 as you can see as this is a direct lin e there is a lot more detail. William Groves married Anne Hotchkiss in the parish of Church Stoke on 21 st February 1805. William was described as a bachelor and Anne as a 'Min or'. Witnesses at their wedding were Benjamin Hotchkiss, Mary Groves an d Joseph Hotchkiss. William and Anne as far as I am aware had fourteen c hildren. The children of William and Anne were baptised in the Parishes of Churc h Stoke and Chirbury and details below: Church Stoke Register Samuel 29th August 1806 Mary 8th February 1808 Sarah 3rd February 1808 Martha 9th September 1810 Hannah 13 January 1812 New registers started in 1813 and the next three entries showed that th e family lived at Pant Hopton and gives William's occupation as farmer. William 9th March 1813 Robert 3rd March 1815 Michael 9th May 1817 Chirbury Register Margaret 3rd Sept 1820 Edward 22nd Sept 1822 Benjamin 30th January 1824 Joseph 11th April 1825 Thomas 22nd November 1827 The Chirbury register shows that the family lived at Timberth and again W illiam was described as a farmer. William and Anne also had a daughter ca lled Anne possibly born in Church Stoke and probably born between 1818 an d 1819. No baptism details have as yet been found. The reason we know t hat she is their daughter is that she appears on the 1841 census when th e family were living in Wortherton, Chirbury, Shropshire. At that time A nne's age was shown as 20, as far as I can tell Ann died and was buried o n 5th February 1846 at the age of 30. Two of William's and Anne's boys died in childhood. Benjamin was just tw o weeks old and buried on 12th February 1824. Thomas died aged 7 years an d was buried 4th April 1835. The address given for both boys at the tim e of their death was Timberth. William's name appears in the Quarter Session Records under the name of G roves of Timberth. From December 1833 - March 1834 he was described as J uror/Farmer. From January 1835 - October 1835 he was described as Chie f Constable of Chirbury. On various online documents William was known as William Groves of Timber th. Timberth is a place about 1 mile south, south west of the village o f Chirbury and about 1 3/4 miles due east of Montgomery Church. At thi s time it probably only has one main farm and a couple of cottages. Th e house that stands is the the biggest and grandest in the area however , nobody knows if it was at the time of William of Timberth. In the pas t Timberth was the smallest of 8 townships in the parish of Chirbury. Ea ch township had its own Chief Constable responsible for minor law and ord er and for reporting breaches up the chain and to the manorial court. Th e title of Chief Constable at that time William held the post would hav e been before a police force and normally given to the head officer for t he "hundred" who reported to the Hundred Court. In 1871 the area of Timberth was 257 acres and part of the Chirbury secti on of the estates of the Earl of Powys, inherited from the famous Lords H erbert of Chirbury. From the A2A searches it shows that William Groves h ad several transactions with the Earl of Powys. So whilst he might of ow ned the farm he was most likely a tenant farmer of the Earls of Powys how ever from the details in his Will he owned other freehold properties an d land. William would have been a good farmer and a man of standing in t he agricultural community of that time . William Groves made his Will dated 20th July 1838 in which he named his e xecutors as Robert Groves his brother and Samuel Groves a relation. He l eft all his freehold property at Priest Weston to Robert and Samuel Grove s in trust to sell. (I have a copy of William's Will and in due course w ill put the details on this page). Just to clarify things Robert was William's brother and Samuel a "relatio n" was William's sister Mary's second husband. William died on the 22nd November 1838 at 4 p.m. at Wotherton in Chirbur y Parish. I have a copy of his death certificate, his age was 61, his oc cupation Farmer and he died of Hectic Fever. The description I have of H ectic Fever is one of irritation and debility, occurring usually at an ad vanced state of exhausting pulmonary consumption. This would have probab ly been T.B. or some form of septic poisoning. His death was registere d by the 'mark' of Martha Powell who was present at the death, this was p robably his daughter Martha. Source: GRO Index Qtr. Dec Vol 18 page 43 After William's death there appears to have been mixed fortunes for the f amily. In 1841 Anne and some of the children where living at Wotherton a nd it would appear that they were there until about 1850. There are no G roves in Wotherton on the 1851 census. Burials in Chirbury show that there were several deaths in the family i n the 1840's all show that they were resident at Wotherton. At the momen t the Monumental Inscription for St Michaels at Chirbury have thrown u p a lot of questions and I am still trying to put the families together. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Need to sort the three deaths below into families Edward was buried on 13th September 1844 and died aged 22. Page last up dated 21st October 2008 All Content provided by Gaynor Leech all the material on these web page s is set out in good faith. Thoughts and interpretations are mine. Ever y effort has been made to acknowledge sources throughout this web site . Copyright © 2012. Photographs displayed on this website are owned b y my family. Photographs not owned by my family have been downloaded wit h the permission of the owners. Neither the whole nor any part to be copi ed or stored by any means including electronic means witho