CHAPTER 5: HAZLEHURST AND SONS AFTER 1878

2. THE HAZLEHURST FAMILY

CHILDREN OF THOMAS HAZLEHURST, SENIOR

John Hazlehurst 1803-1885

John was by far the longest-lived of the sons of Thomas Hazlehurst senior. He died on 29th August 1885 aged 82 having been a Methodist class teacher for 52 years and the treasurer of the British and Foreign Bible Society for many years. Following his death a sermon was preached at Holy Trinity (Anglican) church. In the sermon reference was made to the fact that although he had been a Wesleyan, he 'thought well' of the Church of England1 . John's wife Sarah (née Salkeld) died in 1891.

They had two children. Thomas Francis was born in 1830. He had a military career and became High Sherriff of Northampton. He died in 1918, his address then being Cold Ashton Hall, Rugby. Mary Eliza was born in 1832 and died unmarried in 1851.

Sarah Hazlehurst 1810-1852/3

Sarah married Joseph Thackray in 1843. He was a widower who lived in Tockworth, Yorkshire. He had a business as a wool merchant in Leeds. At the time of the marriage, Joseph already had two children from his first marriage. Sarah and Joseph then had at least one child, Julia, born about 1846

Mary Hazlehurst 1812-1853

Mary married John Hignett in 1848, a Runcorn corn merchant. In 1849 they had twin girls, Sarah Anne and Mary

CHILDREN OF THOMAS HAZLEHURST, JUNIOR

Mary Hazlehurst 1845-19??

Mary was the eldest child and only daughter of Thomas Hazlehurst junior. She married Isaac Leather, a wine merchant from Liverpool in 1864. They had 5 daughters. Isaac died sometime before May 1876. Mary then married Thomas Goodwin in 1880, a solicitor who also lived in Liverpool. They had 2 daughters. Mary was still alive at the time of the 1901 census.

George Steward Hazlehurst 1850-1918

George Steward was the only son of Thomas Hazlehurst to achieve full adulthood. His middle name of Steward is unusual and it is likely that it was taken from Rev George Steward, a Wesleyan minister who was a brother-in-law of Eliza Hazlehurst2. In 1872 he married Ada Mary Edmunds from Banbury, the daughter of Richard Edmunds, an ironmonger and seed merchant who was also an Alderman and a JP.

In 1874-6 he was living in Sunnyside in Norman Road, Runcorn3 and in 1878 in Elm House on Weston Road4. By 1881 he had 5 children, George Arthur aged 7, Alfred Noel aged 6, Howard Walton aged 5, Alice aged 3 and Richard Cecil aged 15. At that time they had 3 residential servants. In 1883 he moved to Rhyl in North Wales and then in 1888 he moved to the Wirral where he had at least four addresses. In 1891 he was living in Southlands, Egerton Road, Tranmere and in 1896 he was at The Grange, St. Peters Road, Rock Ferry. In 1910 his address was Beaconsfield, Deeside Parade, West Kirby6 and in 1914 he was living at 14 Devonshire Place, Claughton, in Birkenhead7.

Like his father he was an active Methodist and also a financial benefactor to the church locally. In 1878 he gave 12 additional classrooms to Camden school at a cost of £540. By December 1880 he had served as a circuit steward for 4 years. At the time he left Runcorn he was superintendent of Camden Sunday School8 . He was still a trustee of St Paul's chapel as late as 1917 when its jubilee was celebrated9. However sometime after leaving Runcorn he became a member of the Church of England and his last visit to Runcorn was to open a bazaar for the Anglican parish church.

From a fairly early age he was involved in local politics. In the 1870s he was a member of the Runcorn Improvement Commissioners, and he continued in a similar role when he moved to Rhyl. In 1891 he was a Cheshire County Councillor and later was a Conservative counsellor in Birkenhead. He was Mayor of that town in 1901-2.

He was an inventor and his inventions included the 'Hazlehurst acid pump' which was used in the chemical industry and a 'new and improved form of torpedo'10. In 1881 he published a pamphlet entitled 'Subsidence at Northwich and Winsford, the Cause and Cure' which discussed the effects of salt mining on these towns. He died in November 1918.

The Children of George Steward Hazlehurst

George Arthur Hazlehurst, the eldest (1873-1940) married Dorothy Mary Vaughan Thompson, who came from Surrey, in 1910. At the time of his marriage he was curate of St Thomas' church in Derby. He subsequently in 1915 became vicar of Cromford in Derbyshire. From 1928 he was a canon of Derby Cathedral.

Of the other children, Alfred Noel became an electrical engineer, Howard Walton a chartered accountant and Richard Cecil an accomplished musician and composer. Alice married John Powell, a fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford.

By 1903, the only members of the Hazlehurst family still living in Runcorn appear to have been Julia, widow of Charles, who died in 1903, and one of their daughters, Julia Ann, who left Runcorn after her mother's death. Until 1903 they had continued to live in Halton Grange.

Many of the details in this section have been taken from Williams, David, Hazlehurst: A Study in Family History which was prepared in 2004 but has not been published

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