William Weston my 4x Great grandfather was born in Shropshire England in 1811 he was a Nailor by trade, he married Martha who was born 1806 also in Shropshire
By the 1941 census he is living in Manchester with his wife and three of their children Thomas my 3x Great grandfather born 1828 in Manchester he is 13 years old and a daugher Jane born 1834 Manchester she is 7 years old and a son William Jr born 1837 Manchester he is 4 years old. They are all living on 4 Lombard St Deansgate Manchester.
On the 12th February 1849 Thomas marries Mary Eckersley born 1828 Clifton Lancashire at Manchester Parish Church, he is by then a Blacksmiths Striker and they are both age 21 Thomas can write his name on the marriage certificate but Mary leaves her mark.Mary is pregnant at the time and she has moved from her local home of Clifton to be a lodger at 10 Lombard St down the street from Thomas.On the 30th of September 1849 Mary has Martha at 314 Knowles Square Pendelbury Lancashire she is baptised at St Johns the Evangelist Pendelbury 14th October 1849. The next year on the 22 of November 1850 my 2x Great grandfather is born a son called Robert by this time they had moved to 5 Knowles Square {I have yet to find out the names of the other children they will have gone to have as they are not found on the census together as a family even though the birth certificates show they are living in the area at the time}On the 1861 census Robert is spending the night at his grand parents Robert Eckersley born 1807 Clifton he is a Coal Miner and married to Ellen Southward born 1805 Blackburn Lancashire besides Mary my 3x Great grandmother they have 7 children all grow up to be Coal Miners and Cotton Weavers. Roberts father is Giles Eckersley born 1771 and he is also a Coal Miner his mother is Mary Seddon born 1771
By the 1871 census Robert Weston is living as a lodger at 99 New St Pendelbury and he is a Coal Miner and as yet unmarried but justvafter the census in June 1871 at the Parish Church Pendelbury Robert married Martha Storey she was born 1853 Pendelbury her parents are John and Sarah. They go on to have 11 children my Great grandfather John Weston being born 1872 and is the eldest he is born in Fails worth Manchester and he grows up to be a Coal Miner in Pendelbury On the 22nd of June 1895 John marries Frances Annie Oldham born 1874 Manchester he father is Thomas Oldham of Liverpool and her mother is Eliza Bellarby of Yorkshire Thomas is a Salesman and she has 2 sisters Frances Annie before she marries is a live-in servant
By 1901 John and Frances Annie are living in 7 Hope St Pendelbury with their eldest daughter Hilda Alice born 1895 who sadly dies age 5 in 1902 at their next address 44 Park Lane West Pendelbury these are house built for the Coal Miners and their familys to be near to the pit this one being Agecroft Colliery. They also have a son called George Arthur born 1899 on this census, in later years I got to meet Great Uncle Arthur as they called him he was a nice man who never ende up having children with his wife Florence.John and Frances Annie went on to have a least 7 more children 2 more that I know of died as children. My grandfather Melbourne was born to them at 66 Park Lane West Pendelbury in 1906 he was also later to be a Coal Miner and by his birth they all moved down the street to the new address, a 2 up 2 down with a toilet in the back yard. Then on the 16th January 1923 Frances Annie died aged just 42 years old and John was left to bring up his large family, I believe he came out of working down the mine full time to care for them. All the sons and the surviving daughter married but Great Uncle Harold died in his 30's of cancer leaving a wife Annie and children.Melbourne married Lydia Wilson of Salford and they went on to have my Uncle Robert in 1934 and then my mother Marianne in 1838 and just before the war they settled in a small village near Kearsley in Bolton Lancashire. Then grandad went to war and it was up to my Nana Lydia to look after everything. Grandad came home after the war and had my Aunty Hazel born 1945 it was around that time they decided to take up an offer to move to Australia but in the end decided to move to Canada and after many adventures they settled in Sudbury Ontario and grandad went working for Inco in the mines.While they are over there I and my 3 siblings were born, but we have all since moved back to England and have families of our own.