"OLD STOKIE'S WEBSITE"

the family and descendants of job lee born 1771.

Job Lee, baptised 29th of December, 1771, at Brassington, was to become the founder of our descendants in North Staffordshire.  However, we know that he spent the first thirty seven years of his life in and around the Brassington area before moving to Staffordshire. He was a resident of Bradbourne when he married Jane Marshall at Carsington on the 27th Of March, 1805.  The marriage entry, in the parish registers of the church at Carsington states that Jane is, "of this parish".  I have searched the Carsington parish records for details of the Marshall family but there are none to be found.  I can only assume that she was working as a house-servant for one of the local families when she and Job met and went "a courtin'".  In the springtime, the narrow country lanes, which connect the adjacent parishes of Brassington, Carsington and Bradbourne, are awash with primroses and other wild flowers.  Two hundred years ago, before the introduction of intensive farming methods, those same country lanes would have been a beauty to behold.

Their "a courtin'" must have been successful because on the 10th of November, 1805, seven and a half months after the wedding, their first child, Sarah, was born.  She was baptised at St. James', Brassington on 15th. Feb. 1806.  They had obviously moved by the time their second child, Elizabeth, was baptised because the event took place at the nearby hamlet of Tissington.

It was after the birth of Elizabeth that the couple must have decided to move to North Staffordshire.  It is highly likely that the lead mines were becoming depleted and worthwhile employment hard to find.  North Staffordshire was becoming a source of employment due to the rise of production in the pottery industry and in the coalmines. The area was rich in seams of accessible coal and, to the North, iron mines were in production around the Oakamoor area.

I have stated in the previous paragraph that the move to Staffordshire took place after the birth of their second child, Elizabeth, in 1807, however, there is a certain amount of ambiguity in this statement, which I will explain.  One must first of all remember that my researches were not done in the sequence as you are reading them.  The search was made in the reverse direction - from the present day right back to the early seventeenth century.  My early researches led me to believe that the movement from Derbyshire to Staffordshire took place some time between 1807 and 1823.  It was only during later research that I discovered the following entries in the Caverswall, Staffordshire, parish registers.

1809, 18th. June.  George son of Job and Jane Lee.

1810, 28th. Apr.   John son of Job and Jane Lee.

1813, 6th. June.   Francis son of Job and Jane Lee.

There is no evidence to link these baptisms with our own family of Lee's other than they are all family names and the events took place soon after the last recorded baptism in Derbyshire.  They also fall within a period before an entry in the Bucknall-cum-Bagnall parish registers in 1820 which definitely referred to this family.  I was later supplied with another entry from the Caverswall parish registers which helped in some way to explain the gap of seven years between events.

1818, 22nd. Feb. Mary, daughter of Job and Jane Lea of Hallmires, Farmer.  (again a family name.)

One other small piece of data that is associated with the Caverswall "link" is a census return for 1871.  In that return, Job, youngest child of Job and Jane, states that he was born in Caverswall.  My own thoughts on these entries are that they are indeed the children of Job and Jane from Derbyshire but, because I have never discovered proof, and until someone discovers a link, their existence within the family has to remain ambiguous.

St. Peter ad Vincula is the Mother Church of Stoke-on-Trent and is situated in the parish of Stoke.  Today, the area of Stoke-on-Trent is a large one, measuring some 14 miles in length from North to South and about eight miles in depth from east to west.  The city encompasses the five towns as were made famous by the novelist, Arnold Bennet.  However, there are in fact, six towns.  They are, (from East to West), Longton, Fenton, Stoke, Hanley, Burslem and Tunstall.  Together, these six towns are commonly known as "The Potteries".  Each has its own Town Hall and traditions.  These towns are the main areas of pottery manufacturing, their products renowned throughout the world for their quality.  However, away from the conglomeration, there are many rural parishes that are a part of the general area that is Stoke-on-Trent and all come within the jurisdiction of the mother church, St. Peter ad Vincula.

Bucknall-cum-Bagnall, which lies about four miles to the East, is one such parish and is made up of a number of small hamlets, all served by the one church, St. Chads, which is in the picturesque village of Bagnall.  The adjacent hamlets of Werrington, Armshead and Greenhead lie in a cluster to the North and East.  The most easterly is Armshead.  This hamlet was the home of Job Lee and Jane Marshall.

At Armshead, in an area called Rownall, Wetley Moor Common stands high above the valleys in which the city of Stoke was founded.  From its heather clad slopes, one can look over the Potteries to the west and South and to the hills of Leek and Buxton to the Northwest.  Today, it is a favourite spot for families, a safe haven for children to wander and play, picking the bilberries that abound in the warm summer months.  The heather which covers this spot in a cloak of purple can be seen for miles.  It is a lovely place, singularly beautiful in its ruggedness - not too unlike the distant village of Brassington.

It was at this remote spot that Job and Jane decided they would try to forge a living from the land to support their family.  They rented a small area and set to clearing the bracken and heather. Soon, they had four acres in cultivation.  They built a house, set out their fields and encompassed their boundaries with stone walls, as was the practice in Brassington.  Today, although their dwelling is no longer standing (having been replaced by a dogs home), those same stone walls stand as a tribute to their efforts.  Their tiny holding was called "Moorside".

1820, Dec. 3rd.  Robert son of Job and Jane Lea.

1823, Apr. 13th. Samuel son of Job and Jane Lea.

These are two entries to be found in the registers of St. Chads and they refer to the baptisms of the first two children born to Job and Jane after moving into their new home.  They had another child, Job, who was born in 1829 but I have never traced his baptism.

The Tithe Awards Map and documents of 1836 at Lichfield Joint Record Office show that Job Lee paid seven shillings and eight pence for the rent of the buildings and land that he erected and occupied on Wetley Moor Common.  The owners of the property were; Sir George Chetwynd, Baronet; Miss Sparrow and Thomas Reeves.  The rent was payable to the Rector, a practice common in those days.

The census returns for Cheddleton; Rownall; Armshead, for 1841 give us the following information on the family:

Job       Lea  aged 70.  Farmer.

Jane      Lea         55.

Samuel  Lea         18.

Job       Lea         12.

Note:- Adult ages were rounded to the nearest multiple of five years in this early census.

We can see that Robert, who is now 21, has left the family home.  A clue to his whereabouts may be in the 1841 census returns for Bank Top, Dilhorne, a hamlet a few miles from Armshead.  It says that Robert Lea, aged 20, was a manservant in the home of William Sale.

The next census return, in 1851, again provides us with information on the family.  Under the heading, Cheddleton; Newhouse; Armshead, it reads:

JANE

JOB LEA    Son.  Unmarried 22. Agricultural Labourer     Staffs. Cheddleton.

We now see that not only has Samuel left the family home, but also, sometime during the previous ten years, Job Lee 1771 has died far from his Brassington roots.  A search of the local church registers show that he was interred at the Cheddleton Parish Church on the 30th of May, 1847 aged 76.

The Cheddleton Historical Society in their book, "Cheddleton - A Village History", tell us that the winter of 1846/7 was an extremely severe one.  Perhaps the severe cold was instrumental in Job's death.  I located Job's will at the Lichfield Joint Record Office and, following, is a transcript of the document.

THE WILL OF JOB LEE 1771.

(The first line is not to hand but the document goes on to say)

---- to say after my just debts, Funeral and Testamentary expenses are fully paid and discharged by my Executrix hereafter named, then I will and direct and my mind and will is that all that tenement and those premises consisting of a dwelling house and outbuildings together with those six plots or parcels of land and garden and all other Appartenances hereto belonging which said premises are situate at Armshead and lying within the several parishes of Cheddleton and Stoke -upon-Trent and County of Stafford and now in my own occupation be given to my beloved wife for her my said wife to have to hold to possess and enjoy to all intents and purposes whatever without molestation or interruption and that she shall have power to sell the said premises or any part thereof or bequest by will or any other way transfer and dispose of the said premises by writing or deed properly  and legally executed and that the receipt or receipts of my said wife whom I appoint as my Executrix or her Executors or Administrators shall be a good and sufficient discharge to the purchaser or purchasers of my said property to all intents and purposes whatever.  All the rest residue and remainder of my property of whatever description it may be I also give devise and bequest unto my beloved wife for her to have to hold possess and enjoy the same to all intents and purposes whatever.  And lastly I nominate constitute and appoint my said wife Jane Lea as sole Executrix of this my will hereby revoking and making void all other and former will or wills by me at any time hereto made and confirming this to be my last will and testament the day and year first above written. 

Job with his mark signed the will and the witnesses were Charles Ward, Thomas Ditchfield, and Samuel Cooper.

Probate was granted at Cheadle, Staffs. on 20th of October 1847 to Jane Lea.  The value of the estate was less than twenty pounds

This document informs us - because he was able to will the various buildings and plots of land - that Job had purchased the property which he had formerly rented.

Three events did occur before Job died which would have pleased him.  The first was when Robert born 1820, married Margaret Toft of Kingsley at St. Peter's Church, Stoke.  The wedding took place on June the 2nd 1846.  Margaret was the daughter of William (a Mill Grinder) and Ann Toft.  The witnesses were Samuel Lea and Elizabeth Scarratt.  The second happy event took place six weeks later at Caverswall when Samuel born 1823, married Elizabeth Scarratt on July 14th 1846.  Elizabeth's father was George Scarratt of Coyney Greaves, a farmer.  The witnesses were Robert Lee and Ann Wilson.

The third event was the birth of Robert and Margaret's first child, George.  I have never traced George's baptism but the census return for 1851, taken at the beginning of April, confirm that he was four years old at the time of the census, therefore, he must have been born before Job died in May 1847.

A further search of the 1851 census returns for Robert and Samuel reaps its rewards for we find Samuel living at Greenhead Farm, Armshead. On the Cheddleton reel it states:-

Samuel      Lea Head     Married    28     Farmer of 20 acres born Cheddleton.

Elizabeth   Lea Wife      Married    23    Farmers wife          born Caverswall.

George      Lea Son        U/M         3    At home.                born Caverswall.

Mary          Lea Dau.      U/M         2    At home.                 born Caverswall.

Elizabeth   Lea Dau.       U/M  6 mths   At home.                born Caverswall.

At the time of this census, the family, with much to look forward to, had no idea of the terrible tragedy that would befall them just three years later.  The Cheddleton parish registers inform us that on January 29th 1854, Mary Lea of Greenhead, aged four years, was buried.  Just fourteen days later, on February the 12th, Samuel Lea of Greenhead, aged 29 years, was buried.  I've no idea what caused the deaths of Mary and Samuel but this double tragedy seems to have had serious repercussions for the remainder of the family for, although I tried, I was never again able to trace Samuel's wife, Elizabeth, or their son, George.  Their daughter, Elizabeth, aged 10, is entered as a house servant in the household of Thomas Ditchfield of Burns Farm, Cheddleton, in the census of 1861.  You may remember that Thomas Ditchfield was a signatory of the will of Job Lee 1771.  There is much research to be done on this family if anyone wishes to do so.

Job born 1829 continued to live in the family home at Armshead. He married Jemima Toft and in 1860 they had a son, Francis.  This family can be traced through the 1861, 1871 and 1881 census returns at Armshead.  Job was buried at Cheddleton on 24th August 1883, aged 54 years.

Jane Marshall, wife of Job Lea 1771, passed away at Armshead in the home she and Job built on Wetley Moor, far from those beautiful flower covered lanes where they had first gone "a courtin'".  She died in 1860 and was buried with her husband, Job, at Cheddleton on January 25th, their final resting place, an unmarked grave   She must have been well loved, for the child that was born later in the year of her death, Job, son of her son Robert, named his daughter after her and provided us with the link which would join the Lee families of Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

Following  is the family tree of JOB LEE and JANE MARSHALL.

JOB LEA. bap 29th December 1771 at Brassington.

Died 30th May 1847 at Cheddleton aged 76.

                             (M)