The Story of the Addy Family
When I was asked to assist with some research for a forthcoming novel I had no idea what a captivating story it would turn out to be. The Mourning Brooch by Jean Renwick tells the story of the Addy family of Bentley in the mid 1800's.
Having read the book, I approached Jean with the idea of writing an article which would set out some of the background research to the story, and give an honest review of Jean's work.
Inevitably, there will be some spoilers included in this article, so the reader may wish to read the book first and then find out more, or they may wish to read the article and then be inspired to read the book. Whichever is the case, Jean's book tells the story of the Addy family in far more detail than I ever could.
Contents
- The Brooch and the Story
- My Part in the Research
- The Addy Family
- Joseph Addy
- Children
- Death of Elizabeth Addy
- A Second Marriage
- Births and Deaths
- Miss Legge's Ladies Seminary
- More Tragedy for the Addy Family
- Maria Cockin
- Mary-Ann Addy Grows Up
- The Willey Family
- Some Willey Family Images
- Marian and John-Henry Marry
- Will Addy
- Hannah-Mary Willey
- Willey vs Willey
- Back in Bentley
- Frannie Grows Up
- Court Papers in the Case of Willey vs Willey
- Response by Godfrey Willey
- Jean Renwick
- Press Release for The Mourning Brooch
- The Mourning Brooch - Review - By Alison Vainlo
- Dedication
The Brooch and the Story
In 1989 Jean Renwick inherited a mourning brooch from her godmother Dorothy Walker, who was descended from the Addy family of Bentley.
The gold and black brooch (pictured above) contained a lattice of brown and grey hair, and on the back was the following inscription:
Mrs Addy
Ob: Jan: 3rd 1849
AE I: 39
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| Reverse side of the mourning brooch with the inscription. Photo courtesy of Jean Renwick |
Intrigued by the inscription and what may lie behind it, Jean decided to investigate the brooch and the mysterious Mrs Addy.
After many years researching, she managed to track the brooch back to Elizabeth Addy who had died in 1849 leaving two young daughters and a widowed husband.
With the lives of the Addy family opened up to her, Jean was then able to expand her research to the places they lived, events in their lives, the wider family, and friends whose lives became entwined with their own.
Already a published author, Jean decided to tell the story of the Addy family in a book. This could have been a straightforward biographical account of the family, but Jean took the unusual step of turning her research into a novel. She took real people and created characters for them, placing them in the real events that shaped their lives. The book does have imagined elements, but the main events are based on fact.
The first part of The Mourning Brooch, Book One, covers the first thirty eight years of the story, up to 1876. The remainder of the story up to World War II will be told in Book Two and Book Three.
The Mourning Brooch was published by Amazon in September 2021 as a paperback and eBook.
The Mourning Brooch Book Two is available as of the 1st of August 2023, see details at the end of this article.
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| The Mourning Brooch book cover. Photo courtesy of Jean Renwick |
My Part in the Research
In June 2021 I received an email from Jean Renwick. She had found my blogs and had already discovered some relevant information pertaining to the Addy family from them; however she wanted to pin down just where the Addy's lived. Happily I was able to find that information, and so there followed a series of emails in which I was able to help in other areas. My part in the process was quite small but Jean wrote a lovely acknowledgement to my contribution in the book, which I will treasure always.
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| The printed acknowledgement to my part in the research. |
The Addy Family
For this part of the article I carried out my own research, collected photographs, documents and records based on the information given in Jean's book. The aim here is to corroborate the facts and to publish original images which she could not include in the book.
Joseph Addy
Joseph Addy is the father in the book and is the person who had the mourning brooch made. Joseph was born in Owston, near Askern in 1807 to John and Ann Addy. It is unclear just when the Addy's moved to Bentley, but they were well established in the village by the time we join them in 1838.
Joseph Addy had a farm on Mill Gate in Bentley. This map of 1868 shows the precise location, marked with his name, Joseph Add (sic) (see red boxed area).
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| 1868 Bentley map showing the location of Joseph Addy's farm |
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| Enlarged version of the above map to show more detail |
Joseph married Elizabeth Hall on the 14th of January 1839 at All Saints Church, Arksey. Elizabeth, born in 1809 was the eldest daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Betsy in the book) Hall, who also farmed in Bentley.
The 1841 census gives a snapshot of the Addy household just two years into Joseph's first marriage.
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| The Addy's on the 1841 census |
Joseph is seen at the top, aged 30* and listed as a farmer. Underneath is his wife Elizabeth, also 30*; after Elizabeth is Joseph's widowed mother Ann, aged 60, and listed as 'independent' (living by independent means). Then there is Dinah Parkin, 15, female servant, Joseph Jackson, 20, Robert Watkinson, 15, and George Simpson, 14, all agricultural labourers working for Joseph.
*Ages were rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 for everyone over the age of 15 for the 1841 census only. Joseph's and Elizabeth's actual ages were 34 and 32 respectively.
Children
Joseph and Elizabeth had only two children, Mary-Ann (later known as Marian), who was born in 1843, and Frances (Frannie or Fanny) born in 1848.
Death of Elizabeth Addy
Elizabeth Addy died on January the 3rd 1849, at the age of 39. Her elder daughter Mary-Ann was six years old, and Frannie at about six months old, would never remember her mother.
Elizabeth died after a short illness suffering from erysipelas (a bacterial skin infection), whether it was connected to the birth of her second daughter is not known, but in early 1849 Joseph found himself the sole parent of two young daughters.
Elizabeth was buried in Arksey churchyard where her grave can be found on the north side of the church.
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| Grave of Elizabeth Addy |
The grave reads as follows:
Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth, the beloved wife of Joseph Addy of Bentley, who died January 3rd 1849, aged 39 years.
Following the death of his wife, Joseph had the mourning brooch made. The gold and black lacquer piece of jewellery contains a lattice of Elizabeth's dark hair interwoven with some of Joseph's own grey hair behind an oval glass front. The inscription is on the reverse of the casing (see photos below).
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| Enlarged photo of the mourning brooch. Photo courtesy of Jean Renwick |
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| Enlarged photo of the back of the brooch, showing the inscription. Photo courtesy of Jean Renwick |
A Second Marriage
With only an ageing mother and a house servant to help with the children, Joseph realized he needed to remarry. He did have some other help in the form of Mary Hall, his late wife's sister. Mary, born in 1821 was eleven years younger than Elizabeth and at 28, was a spinster. She was also fourteen years younger than Joseph; however, by the end of 1849 Mary had agreed to become Joseph's second wife.
This decision was fraught with controversy though. Since The Marriage Act of 1835 was passed into law it was illegal for a man to marry his deceased wife's sister. For this reason the pair were forced to marry in a parish where they were not known. They chose to marry in Sheffield and the marriage took place on the 3rd of June 1850.
Once married it was impossible to hide what they had done from the villagers back in Bentley, and the fear of being reported to the authorities hung over them for quite a while.
Births and Deaths
The 1851 census reveals the new dynamics of the Addy family. With Joseph's mother Ann having passed away in August 1850, just two months after his second marriage, the family comprises Joseph, now 41*, Mary 31, Mary-Ann 7, and Fanny (Frannie) 2; then there is a new daughter, Sophia Elizabeth who is one month old. Also listed is a nurse called Elizabeth Mountford, employed to take care of the baby. Then there are the farm servants - Harriot Baldy 22, William Barraclough 35, John Downing 17, and Henry Holmes 15.
*Joseph's actual age was 44. Mistakes like this, whether intentional or not, are commonplace on old census forms.
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| Section of the 1851 census for the Addy family |
Later that same year Joseph and Mary's baby daughter Sophia Elizabeth died at the age of six months. She was buried close to Joseph's first wife in Arksey churchyard.
In July 1852 Joseph and Mary welcomed a baby son into their family. John Addy was named after his Grandfather and baptised at All Saints Arksey on the 29th of August.
In late 1856 John became ill and died. His death certificate gives the cause as 'low fever and effusion of the brain', which is a complication of scarlet fever. He lost his fight on December the 20th 1856. He was interred in the same grave as that of his sister Sophia three days later. The grave lies close to the north gate in Arksey churchyard.
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| The grave of Sophia Elizabeth and John Addy |
The inscription on the headstone reads as follows:
In memory of two beloved children of Joseph and Mary Addy of Bentley. Sophia Eliza died September 12th 1851, aged 6 months, and John died December 20th 1856, aged 4 years. If faithful here we soon shall leave this world for one above. And with our children ever live in bonds of joy and love. Heaven rejoices - Nature weeps.
Miss Legge's Ladies Seminary
School for the Addy girls was initially at Arksey, where most Bentley children went until the 1870's.
It is known from the 1861 census that the younger daughter went to a private school in Doncaster so Jean Renwick assumed that the older daughter, Mary-Ann also attended there previously. The school chosen was a Ladies Seminary run by two sisters, Miss Maria Catherine Legge, and Miss Mary Caroline Legge. The two spinsters, who came from the Durham area, had run the school from about 1849. Maria Catherine, aged 39 was the schoolmistress, and her elder sister Mary Caroline, aged 41 taught at the school.
This snapshot of the school in 1851 shows that there were just ten pupils listed at the school and two servants.
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| 1851 census of the Misses Legge's school |
The form is quite difficult to read, so here is some of it transcribed:
Maria Catherine Legge - Head - Unmarried - 37 - Schoolmistress - Houghton le Spring, Durham.
Mary Caroline Legge - Sister - Unmarried - 39 - Schoolmistress - Houghton le Spring, Durham.
Isabella Thompson - Assistant - 26 - School assistant - Islington Middlesex.
Mary Addy* - Pupil - 16 - Pontefract, Yorkshire.
Elizabeth Stevenson - Pupil - 16 - Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
Catherine Blythman - Pupil - 16 - Swinton, Yorkshire.
Sarah Dunn - Pupil - 16 - Doncaster, Yorkshire.
Isabella Patison - Pupil - 15 - Newcastle on Tyne.
Mary Wilson - Pupil - 15 - (?) Yorkshire.
Mary Emily Shute - Pupil - 15 - Sedgefield, Durham.
Elizabeth Anne Bulmer - Pupil - 15 - South Shields, Durham.
Clare Unwin - Pupil - 13 - South Shields, Durham.
Alice Dunn - Pupil - 12 - Doncaster, Yorkshire.
Elizabeth Coulthard - Serv - 25 - House Servant - (?) Yorkshire.
Charlotte Green - Serv - 25 - House Servant - Derby, Derbyshire.
*Mary Addy listed above is of another branch of the Addy family, possibly the daughter of Godfrey Addy, Joseph's brother. Girls from various other Addy families were also taught at the school, including the Arksey Addy's.
The school itself was situated at number 17 South Parade. This tall, bow fronted building which is now grade II listed, lies amongst a parade of historic Doncaster buildings built in the Georgian period. This photo shows the area in the early 20th century, probably looking much as it did in The Addy's time. The school building lies inside the black box on the cropped photo for reference.
A cropped view.
This is how the building looks today.
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| Image - Google Earth |
Frances Addy is named on the 1861 census for the school.
Cropped version
More Tragedy for the Addy Family
In October 1859 Joseph's second wife Mary passed away at the age of thirty eight. Having lost two young children it is possible that Mary never recovered from that heartache and so began a slow decline. She was sent to convalesce with friends in Sheffield where she eventually died.
Her grave at Arksey churchyard lies close to that of her two children.
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| Mary Addy's grave |
The inscription reads as follows:
In memory of Mary, the beloved wife of Joseph Addy, who died Oct 9th 1859, aged 38 years. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
The 1861 census shows the much depleted Addy household. Now a widower and with Mary-Ann in a new position following her departure from school, and Frannie still boarding at Miss Legge's seminary, the household consists of just Joseph and two servants.
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| 1861 census |
The above census record reads as follows:
Joseph Addy - Head - Widr - 53 - Farmer of 200 acres employing 5 lab[ourers] - Yorkshire, Holme*.
Mary Hannah Subden - Serv - unmar - 18 - House Servant - Yorkshire, Doncaster.
Harriet Womack - Serv - unmar - 14 - Dairy Maid - Yorkshire, Bentley.
Maria Cockin
Over the years Joseph met and befriended Maria Cockin who lived in Arksey. Born in 1813 in Cantley, Maria, a spinster, was just over six years younger than Joseph and from a well-to-do and respected family.
The pair married at St Phillip's Church, Sheffield on the 27th of July 1861 on the eve of Joseph's 55th birthday, Maria was forty eight.
This rare photo of Maria Addy from the 1860's survives and comes courtesy of Jean Baldwin, a resident of Bentley, who helped Jean Renwick with her research.
Mary-Ann Addy Grows Up
Around the time that Mary-Ann Addy probably left Miss Legge's school, it is thought that this was when she decided to change her name to Marian, a shortened version of Mary-Ann (we shall call her Marian from now on to save confusion).
It is not known what Marian did after leaving school but the 1861 census (below) shows her visiting the Hutton family of Kilham Farm in Cantley. Kilham Farm was situated to the east of the village of Branton and can be seen on this map of 1850.
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| 1850 map of the Cantley/Branton area. Kilham Farm lies within the red circle. |
Here is a close up view of the farm.
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| Kilham Farm 1861 census |
The above census transcribed, Charlotte Hutton and Marian Addy in bold type:
Frederick Hutton - Head - unmar - 23 - Farmer 330 acres 7 lab - Yorks, Cantley.
Caroline Hutton - Sister - unmar - 25 - Yorks, Cantley.
Albert Hutton - Brother - unmar - 17 - Ag lab - Yorks, Cantley.
Charlotte Hutton - Sister - unmar - 16 - Yorks, Cantley.
Christopher Hutton - Brother - unmar - 11 - Scholar, Yorks, Cantley.
Marian Addy - Visitor - unmar - 18 - Yorks, Bentley.
Lucy Shillets - Serv - unmar - 18 - House Maid - Yorks, Doncaster.
Mary A McCave - Serv - 14 - Dairy Maid - Yorks, Bentley.
Thomas Teal - Serv - unmar - 21 - Foreman - Yorks, Barnby Dun.
George Hancock - Serv - unmar - 17 - Carter - Yorks, Scaftworth.
James Man - Serv - unmar - 13 - Groom - Yorks, Wadworth.
This farm and Charlotte Hutton were adopted by Jean Renwick to create a further dimension to Marion's life before marriage.
The Willey Family
The biggest challenge for the author was to devise a means for Marion to meet her future husband, John-Henry Willey. Researching the Willey family brought a wealth of information and Jean Renwick used this to weave a fictional story to bring the couple together.
The Willey family lived at Moor House Farm, East Bierley, near Bradford. The map below shows the location of East Bierley.
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| East Bierley in the red circle |
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| Moor House Farm ringed in red |
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| Moor House Farm enlarged |
The Willey family was comprised of the following:
John Willey (1803-1886) farmer, wool merchant, and head of the household.
Mary Willey (1807-1883) John's wife.
Henry Willey (1826-1827) eldest child, died in infancy.
Charles Willey (1828-1907) eldest surviving son.
Edward Godfrey Willey (1830-1833) third son, died in infancy.
Louisa Willey (1832-1906) eldest daughter.
Elizabeth Willey (1834-1896) second daughter.
Godfrey Willey (1836-1885) fourth son.
John-Henry Willey (1838-1913) fifth son.
Francis Willey (1841-1929) sixth son.
Hannah-Mary Willey (1843-1943) third daughter.
Betsy-Emma Willey (1845-1936) fourth daughter.
Richard Clarendon Willey (1848-1929) seventh son.
Benjamin Willey (1850-1873) eighth son and youngest child.
Although a farming family, the Willey's main income came from their wool business in Bradford with most of the Willey sons joining as soon as they left school.
Some Willey Family Images
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| John and Mary Willey of Moor House Farm |
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| Clockwise from top: Elizabeth Willey, Francis Willey (later Lord Barnby), Benjamin Willey, Betsy-Emma Willey |
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| Richard Clarendon Willey |
Marian and John-Henry Marry
The wedding of Marian (Mary-Ann on the register) and John-Henry Willey took place at Arksey church on the 26th of September 1863.
John-Henry Willey
They made their home at 26 Hanover Square, in the Manningham district of Bradford, close to John-Henry's work in the wool trade.
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| 26 Hanover Square |
Their first child, Alfred, was born back in the Addy farmhouse in Bentley in the summer of 1864. Three more children followed in quick succession, Joseph in 1866, Henrietta in 1867, and Ernest in 1868. However, little Ernest didn't survive to see his first birthday and passed away in early 1869.
The 1871 census shows the Willey household at 26 Hanover Square.
John-Henry's business as a wool merchant prospered in the 1860's and he built up contacts and trade within the United States.
Will Addy
Marian wasn't the only Addy to marry a member of the Willey family. William (Will) Addy, Marian's cousin - son of Joseph's brother George - met and married Louisa Willey, John-Henry's older sister. They married at Arksey church in April 1857. Presumably Arksey church was chosen as Will was born in Bentley, his father George having been a butcher there.
George Addy didn't survive to see his son married, but his mother Hannah did attend. Incidentally, Hannah Addy was originally a member of the Cockin family, a relative of Maria Cockin who married Joseph.
Will and Louisa spent four years in Illinois, in the US, but were forced to return to England at the outbreak of the Civil War.
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| William (Will) Addy |
Hannah-Mary Willey
Jean Renwick gives Hannah-Mary an important role in the story, particularly in bringing together Marian and John-Henry. In real life she grew up to become a large personality and her real story was passed to the author by a descendant living in California.
Samuel Edwards, originally from the Welsh Marches, went out to America and settled in California after travelling from place to place, never remaining in one town for long. He worked in a store for his elder brother who had gone out to the US earlier, during the gold rush. It is not known how he came to know Hannah-Mary. Jean Renwick considers it might be through Louisa and Will Addy who lived in Illinois for a time. However it came to be, he travelled to England in 1864 and met Hannah-Mary who made quite an impression on him. He returned to America and, after travelling to Bradford six more times, finally, in 1875 Hannah-Mary agreed to marry Sam and make her home in the US with him. They married at St Paul's Church in Manningham, Bradford on the 25th of July 1876, then left for Liverpool and the journey to America.
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| Sam and Hannah-Mary Edwards (nee Willey) |
Willey vs Willey
The Willey family faced trying times in the mid 1860's when one of the brothers, Godfrey Willey was petitioned for divorce on the grounds of cruelty, a case which caused a public scandal for the family.
Godfrey Willey married Sarah Quarmby on the 20th of November 1861 in Huddersfield. The following October their son John was born, although all was not right in their marriage.
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| Godfrey and Sarah's marriage certificate |
Early in 1865 Sarah petitioned for divorce, citing cruelty, violence and adultery by her husband as reasons for her case.
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| Heading from the court minutes document |
Despite a change in the law, divorce cases were still relatively rare in Victorian England and not easy to obtain. Sarah employed a firm of solicitors in London as that was where the only divorce court was located. She also hoped to keep the affair out of the newspapers by travelling south, but sadly that was not to be and the Willey scandal was blown open for all to see.
In April 1865 the divorce hearing was heard before a court in London. Following a lengthy evaluation the marriage was dissolved on the 10th of November 1865; Sarah was also awarded costs. Again, the story was widely reported in London and throughout Yorkshire causing the Willey family even more shame. To top it off Godfrey refused to pay the court costs but could not avoid the lawyers for long. In the end he was declared bankrupt and the shame of it all hit the newspapers once again.
Sarah Willey's petition describes the treatment inflicted upon her by Godfrey, who tried to argue that what she said was either untrue or she had condoned it. The petition and Godfrey's response can be read at the end of this article.
To the further embarrassment of the Willey family, Godfrey ended up in the newspapers again when he was charged with the rape of a young woman of 18 in early 1870. He appeared at Leeds Assizes in March of that year but the case was 'discharged' due to a lack of evidence.
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| Entry from the Leeds Assizes. Godfrey Willey's entry is highlighted in red |
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| Enlarged section of the above document |
Back in Bentley
Life for newly married Joseph and Maria Addy went on as normal in the 1860's. However, by 1865 Joseph faced the prospect of losing his farm as the Cooke family, major landowners in the area, looked likely to be selling most of their land off.
Joseph found a new farm to rent in Sprotborough, a village just under four miles west of Bentley. The family moved in around 1866.
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| 1854 map of Sprotborough |
The 1871 census shows the Addy family settled in Sprotborough.
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| 1871 census for Sprotborough |
Joseph, who is running the new farm, is now 65, and Maria 57. Frannie is aged 22, but life is changing for her too. Alfred Willey is staying with his Grandfather at this time, and three servants are listed, John Bullas, Richard Guest and Henry Pogmore.
Frannie Grows Up
At some stage after leaving Miss Legge's school, Frannie met Joe Mellows, possibly around the time her father was looking for a new property in Sprotborough. Joe worked on his father's farm at High Melton, which wasn't far from Sprotborough.
Eventually Frannie and Joe marry in Harrogate on the fourth of June 1873. It is not known why they married there and not in Sprotborough or Arksey, so Jean Renwick created the only fictional person in the novel to provide a reason. Afterwards they returned to High Melton to live and work at the Mellows' farm until they acquired their own farm in nearby Cadeby.
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Court Papers in the Case of Willey vs Willey
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| Petition for Divorce by Sarah Willey 6th January 1865 |
A number of court documents are available online at Ancestry.com for the case of Willey vs Willey. Above is an image of one of three pages setting out Sarah Willey's case against her husband Godfrey Willey. Below is a transcription of the full document:
In the court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes.
In the matter of the Petition of Sarah Willey.
I Sarah Willey of number 24 Commercial Street, Huddersfield in the county of York, the wife of Godfrey Willey of Dudley Hill near Bradford in the said county, warehouseman, make oath and say as follows.
1. That I was lawfully married to the said Godfrey Willey on or about the twentieth day of November one thousand eight hundred and sixty one at the Parish Church of Huddersfield.2. That after my said marriage I lived and cohabited with my said husband at Dudley Hill near Bradford in the said county of York and have had issue of my said marriage one son only who is now alive.3. That on diverse occasions since my said marriage my said husband has treated me with cruelty by threatening me with personal violence and by striking, kicking and using other personal violence to me.4. That in about the month of May one thousand eight hundred and sixty two my said husband struck me and knocked me down.5. That in or about the month of June one thousand eight hundred and sixty three my said husband dragged me by the hair on to the floor and struck me violently with his fist and repeated such conduct to me in or about the month of December one thousand eight hundred and sixty three.6. That in the month of February or March one thousand eight hundred and sixty four my said husband struck me with a poker.7. That in or about the month of May one thousand eight hundred and sixty four my said husband struck me with a chair and the same night struck me in the face with his hand.8. That on or about the second day of the month of January one thousand eight hundred and sixty four my said husband violently kicked me in my legs and body.9. That in or about the month of July one thousand eight hundred and sixty four my said husband threatened me with a carving knife and at diverse times subsequently threatened me with personal violence and made use of the most offensive and cruel language to me.10. That I have been informed and believe that on diverse occasions since the beginning of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty four my said husband has committed adultery by having had sexual intercourse with several women but the names of such women and the particular places when such adultery was committed are respectively unknown to me.11. No collusion or connivance exists between me and my said husband with reference to this suit or proceeding nor is my said husband in any way party or privy thereto.Sworn at Huddersfield in the county of York this sixth day of January 1865 - Sarah Willey (signed)Before me (illegible sig)a commissioner to administer oaths in Chancery in England.
Response by Godfrey Willey
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| Godfrey Willey's response document 3rd of February 1865 |
Godfrey Willey's response to Sarah's petition is a short, one page denial. The following is a transcription of the above document:
In Her Majesty's Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes.The day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty five.Willey ats. WilleyAnd the Respondent by John Smale for his attorney says:1. As to the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth paragraphs of the petition that he denies that he has been guilty of cruelty as therein alleged.2. And for a further plea to the said paragraphs the respondent says that the petitioner has condoned the said acts of cruelty (if any) in the said paragraphs alleged.3. As to the tenth paragraph of the said petition the respondent denies that he has been guilty of adultery as therein alleged.(Signed) - Godfrey Willey
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Jean Renwick
Instead of starting The Mourning Brooch, she opted to write something quite different and so The Mahler Five emerged as her ‘apprentice piece’ and was published in 2016. It is a modern-day psychological drama and very different from the family saga linked to the brooch.
She lives in the West Midlands, within easy reach of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Stratford-upon-Avon with its RSC. As a founding member of Art Friends Warwickshire, she is active in fund-raising for the arts. Originally, she studied as a linguist, so travels mainly within Europe, where she has many friends, having once worked in Switzerland, and she continues to study to improve her German and Italian.
Contact via www.jeanrenwickauthor.co.uk
Copied from Amazon.
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Press Release for The Mourning Brooch
Below is a cutting from the Doncaster Free Press published on the 4th of November 2021.
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The Mourning Brooch - Review
By Alison Vainlo
I must admit that when I got my copy of The Mourning Brooch I thought that my interest in it would mainly lie in the local history aspect of the story, how wrong I was! Even when the story moved away from Bentley I was captivated by the lives of the characters involved.
Jean has done a very clever thing in combining fact with fiction. She has taken people who really existed and examined documentary evidence to build up the story of their lives.
It reads like any work of historical fiction, but you have to keep reminding yourself that this is fact, these events happened. Yes, the dialogue is imagined, and the characters personalities have been invented, but they have been deftly woven into actual events and the result is seamless.
I did challenge Jean about the dialogue used in the book. Initially, I felt that the characters used language that was a bit 'posh' for Bentley, but Jean explained that coming from Warwickshire herself, she didn't want to come across as patronising by trying to inject a broad Yorkshire dialect into the book. Instead she took inspiration from Elizabeth Gaskell and made it time appropriate rather than locally accurate. Having had that explained I actually enjoyed the dialogue and found it really easy to read, easier than reading the Yorkshire accent anyway.
I knew about the Addy family before the book came along, I had seen their names in census records, I had taken photos of their graves in Arksey churchyard, but I had no idea of the detail of their lives until Jean brought them to life.
My active part in the research was quite small, Jean asked for assistance in locating Joseph Addy's farm in Bentley, something I was able to do easily, but it was my blogs that proved invaluable for Jean. She was able to find my photos and transcriptions of the Addy graves, find out about Arksey school, the Plough Inn and various other people and places around the villages from work I had already done. Therefore I am grateful for the mention Jean gives me in the acknowledgements.
All in all then I would highly recommend The Mourning Brooch by Jean Renwick. And the great thing is that this is only part one of the story, Jean is working on the next book right now and I will be happy to let everyone know when it is published.
The Mourning Brooch by Jean Renwick is available to buy in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.
Alison Vainlo
2022
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The Mourning Brooch Book Two, Moving On
I am pleased to announce that from the 1st of August 2023 The Mourning Brooch, Book Two, Moving On is available to buy in paperback or on kindle from Amazon. You can find out more about this book from Jean's website, follow the link:
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Many thanks to Jean Renwick for her help and assistance in putting together this article, and for allowing me to publish it on this blog.
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Dedicated to the Addy family
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| The Addy graves in Arksey churchyard |
