Sketchley Leicester

[ankerdine]

My gt.x3 grandfather was William Sketchley b.c1784 , married Mary (?) and I think there were children as follows:
1833 Sarah Sketchley, 1822 Timothy Sketchley.Sarah married my gt.2 grandfather Charles Saxton in Nottingham.
The name Sketchley appears very infrequently on genealogy websites, indeed it is not listed at all in Rootschat surname interests.
I should be interested to hear whether anyone knows anything at all about this Sketchley family in Leicester. William Sketchley is down as a lawyer on one of the early census records.

[Valda]

1841 census HO107 870/6 folio 33 page 61
John Street St Mary Nottingham Nottinghamshire   
William Sketchley 35 not born Nottinghamshire Sawyer
Mary Sketchley 35 born Nottinghamshire
Sarah Sketchley 8  born Nottinghamshire
Timothy Sketchley 19 born Nottinghamshire Sawyer

Adult ages on th 1841 census (those over 15) ususally have their ages rounded down to the nearest 5, so William's birth year would be anything between 1802 and 1806 if the 1841 census was accurate.

1861 census RG9 2459 folio 36
St Mary Nottingham Nottinghamshire   
William Sketchley  56  Leicestershire,  Head Married Sawyer
Mary Sketchley  58  Nottinghamshire, Wife Married  (not sure of occupation)

Regards

Valda 

[mich b]

Sketchley's in Nottingham and Leicester are a dry cleaning firm, I don't whether they're nationwide. There is a Sketchley Village in Leicestershire, a Sketchley Street in Nottingham and a Sketchley who works for Nottingham solicitor's Freeth Cartwright now.

Could Sawyer have been misread as Lawyer or vice versa? A big difference in occupation though.

Michelle 

[ankerdine]

To Michelle and Valda
Thank you for your replies.
I will certainly look hard at the census records I looked at before. Yes, a sawyer is indeed quite different to a lawyer. The family occupation of the Saxton's at that time was wood-carving and cabinet making so the answer probably lies there!
Yes, I had heard of the Sketchley Dry Cleaning company. There used to be one in Birmingham too. The other Sketchley locations were interesting.
Thanks again to you both.
Ankerdine

[Valda]

Michelle

are you asking whether I could have misread both census pages or whether both census enumerators made a mistake with William's occupation and in the case of the 1841 census enumerator with Timothy's as well  incorrectly writing their occupations as Sawyers instead of Lawyers?

'Could Sawyer have been misread as Lawyer or vice versa?'

On the 1861 census William was living next door to a bricklayer whose wife was a Lace mender - you can clearly see the difference between the census enumerators writing of a capital S in Sawyer and his capital L in Lace.

I think it unlikely that two census enumerators 20 years apart would both get William's occupation incorrect.


Here is a possible but unproven baptism for William in Leicester on the IGI.

WILLIAM SKETCHLEY  
Birth:  07 JAN 1804    
Christening:  11 JAN 1804   St Margaret, Leicester
Father:  WILLIAM SKETCHLEY
Mother:  ELIZABETH  

plus a possible sibling

MARIA SKETCHLEY  
 
Birth:  07 MAY 1807    
Christening:  15 MAY 1807   St Margaret, Leicester
Father:  WILLIAM SKETCHLEY  
Mother:  ELIZABETH  
and marriage for the parents

WILLIAM SKETCHLEY  
ELIZABETH WALKER
Marriage:  27 MAR 1803   Saint Margaret, Leicester

Regards

Valda

[Valda]

An interesting two census entries for Leicester, but if this is the correct father he would have to have married twice.

1841 census HO107 604/12 folio 36 page 14
Crab Street St Margaret With Bishops Fee Leicester  Leicestershire
William Sketchley 55  Leicestershire   
Harriet Sketchley 40  Leicestershire
Caroline Sketchley 17 Leicestershire
Samuel Sketchley 15 Leicestershire lab
Elizabeth Sketchley 10  Leicestershire
plus Maria Principal?? 19 Leicestershire Ind

no other occupations given

1851 census HO107 2088 folio 675
28 Crab Street St Margaret Leicester Leicestershire   
William Sketchley 67 Orton On The Hill, Leicestershire, Head Married Sawyer
Harriett Sketchley 55 Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire, Wife Married
Caroline Sketchley 27  Leicester,  Daughter Unmarried Worker in factory
Eliza Sketchley  6  Leicester, Daughter 
Ann Sketchley  3  Chester, Daughter 

A lot of ifs with these IGI baptisms and census returns. Since the IGI has only fragmented coverage of Leicester and Nottingham parishes (none at all of baptisms for St. Margaret Leicester) you would have to check the parish registers themselves to see whether you could find enough evidence to connect the Leicester 1804 baptism with the Leicester and Nottingham censuses, otherwise it all remains just possibilities but with nothing definite.

Regards

Valda

[ankerdine]

Thanks Valda for the additional census information. It's funny but a friend of mine sorted out my first sight of the Sketchley census. She exclaimed, "Wow, he's a Lawyer!" Your unearthing of the new occupation is a bit of a disappointment but, as I said before, the connection with cabinet-making is very close to "sawyer".
I seem to remember on one of the census records...... I am sorry to say that I no longer have it available..... that there was a William Sketchley living next door to William Sketchley and this old man's occupation was sexton. Could this be the one you found on the other census i.e. the father?
Kind regards,
Ankerdine.

Thanks for the additional census info. It's a bit confusing but at least it proves that there were plenty of Sketchleys around in Leicester at that time.

[Valda]

1851 census HO107 2132 folio 545
8 Saulsbury Square St Mary Nottingham Nottinghamshire  
Charles Saxton 21 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Head Married Cabinet maker - journeyman
Sarah Saxton 20 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire,  Wife  Married
Harriet Saxton 3  Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Daughter
Elizabeth Saxton 1 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Daughter  
William Sketchley 46 Leicester, Leicestershire, Father-in-law Married Sawyer
Mary Sketchley ?8  Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Mother-in-law Married Chevener

Mary's occupation (same as in 1861) is written more clearly on the 1851 census.

'Chevener Embroidered fine silk stockings, popular with the Victorians.'

http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/c.html

The 1851 census confirms William was born in Leicester. His age and occupation remains consistent on all 3 censuses. Mary's age on the 1851 census looks more like 58 but was far more likely to have been 48 to be consistent with the 1841 and 1861 censuses.

All William Sketchley census entries (where an occupation has been given) had the occupation Sawyer. None of them were living next door to a namesake. One William was in Leicester on the 1841 and 1851 censuses and considering he was 67 in 1851 would seem likely to have died before the 1861 census (he doesn't seem to be on that census). The other was living in Nottingham on the 1841, 51 and 61 censuses. He was 56 in 1861 and seems to have died before the 1871 census (he doesn't seem to be on that census).

'Sexton Church caretaker - sometimes dug graves or rang the bells'

'Sawyer Timber mill/pit worker, sawing timber' 

Regards

Valda

[mich b]

Hi Valda

I wasn't casting aspersions on your reading ability, I just found it amusing that the lawyer turned out to be a sawyer.

Ankerdine had said she thought one of her rellies was a lawyer, so hope she wasn't too disappointed. 

I received a death cert. last year from 1870, I wondered what  "Denile Decap" was (listed as cause of death) my clever pal came round and pointed out it was "Senile Decay". Hey I'm learning! LOL

 I've been hoping to unearth a doctor, solicitor or other professional in my ancestral line with no luck thus far.

Excellent detective work Valda. Good luck Ankerdine.

Michelle