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John Cook, Who died, but not from enemy fire

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John Cook is named on the Kelsall War Memorial but unlike the others’ named John was not a casualty of war but died of a condition now seemed of minor significance.   John was not from a Kelsall family but was born in Bradley, Staffordshire in 1868.   He was the second child and eldest son of William Cook and Emma Hodson who had married at St. Giles Church, Haughton on 10 th September 1864. Emma died in 1878, possibly following the birth of her third daughter Jemima.   With a young family to raise William remarried on 13 th December 1879 to Frances Howard at Castle Church, Staffordshire.   Although William was 37 at the time Frances, known as Fanny, was only 19 years old.   Fanny bore William a further 12 children though 3 did not survive to maturity.   After leaving school John did not follow his father but took to a life looking after horses.   In 1891 he was working as the ostler at the Malt Shovel Hotel in Litchfield.   Later in the decade he moved to Kelsall, presumably for
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The Healing Powers of Whistlebitch Well, Utkinton

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  Being retired and a dog owner, I do a fair amount of walking and consider myself fairly knowledgeable of the local area, in particular Delamere Forest.   A chance conversation with a friend made me realise there was still more learn.   She asked if I knew about the Whistlebitch Well in Primrose Wood. I told her I’d never heard of it and so she gave me an impromptu history lesson. What made the story even more interesting was her family’s connection to it. I wanted to find out more and found a well documented article written about the ancient well on the internet. It seems that for a short time around 400 years ago the sleepy little village of Utkinton was as busy as any place in England, attracting as many as 2000 people daily.   Details of why the well became a pilgrimage for so many people is contained in a pamphlet published in London in 1600 and written in a letter from a Cheshire man to a Gentleman friend of his on 16 August 1600, headed ‘Newes out of Cheshire concerning the N
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Descended from angels

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My mother used to tell me I came from the angels.   I used to think, what is  she talking about? Then, years later when I began to research my family tree, it all became clear.   I knew Mum’s Mum, my grandmother, Harriet, was born in Pembroke Dock, Wales in 1893. Digging deeper I discovered Harriet’s maternal grandmother, Mary Ann, had been born in Plymouth, Devon but moved to Pembroke Dock with William, her seafaring father, and family in the early 1800’s.   Researching William’s line revealed that his mother was called Ann Angell, so Mum had been right about our “angels” connection. What I didn’t discover until later was that this line had links to royalty! Many hours tracing this Angell line further revealed an amazing account of this Angell family. I was to discover that in the 1600s a John Angell held several privileged positions including that of Acatery at Windsor Castle being responsible for purchase and storage of perishable goods such as meat, cheese, vegetables and eggs a
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Memories of Kelsall as a 10 year old: Part two HOSPITALS, a tour of North West hospitals

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Blog #1 – Whiston Hospital: Tonsilitis – a cruel ending When my sister and I were about 5 and 7 respectively (and living in Kelsall), we were diagnosed with tonsilitis. Personally, I think I had it, and my parents just thought they would go for a block booking to avoid future hassle; so, we were both booked into Whiston Hospital in Prescott. The stay there was unremarkable, apart from a VERY sore throat and the staff being unspeakably cruel before allowing us to leave. On the day we were to be discharged, there was a condition that we had to undergo before being allowed to leave. They insisted we ate an ice lolly first! I remember crying constantly as they effectively force fed me this tortuous concoction, which hurt like hell on my VERY sore throat (I had just had an operation remember!); but after eventually finishing the lolly (about 15 minutes later), they let us go home. Blog #2 – Chester Royal Infirmary: Scarred for Life This picture of the Smithy (next door to Di
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James Ainslie: the First of the Kelsall Men of the First World War

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James Ainslie tops the list of names on the Kelsall War memorial, and he was also the first fatality among the Kelsall men who went to serve in the Great War. James was not a scion of a Kelsall family, his father (also James) hailed from Harborne, Smethwick in Staffordshire who was working in Chester when he met Sarah Lloyd from Mouldsworth, then in service in the household of Henry Jones, a banker’s clerk, of 11 Grosvenor Park Road, Hoole .   James and Sarah married on 26 th June 1882 at All Saints Church, Plemstall.   They set up home at 46 Philips Street, Hoole where James was born.   He was baptized on 4 th March 1883 at All Saints Church, Hoole. The family moved back to Harborne. After he left school James was apprenticed to James Bryden, a tailor in Kings Norton.   After 7 ½ years James grew restless and for either adventure or better prospects he joined the Army on 21 st January 1904, signing on in Gosport, Hampshire into the Kings Royal Rifle Corps.   After basic trainin
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The Greater Kelsall Burial Recording Project

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  A prominent feature of Kelsall village is the roadside graveyard on Chester Road, close by, but mainly hidden, is the Methodist Church graveyard and further away is the Delamere St Peters graveyard – drive past, blink and you’ll miss it. Before these existed, the burial grounds for this area were at Tarvin St Andrews. The Kelsall Family History Group – not Kelsall the surname, but people of Kelsall interested in family history - started photographing the Methodist Church headstones a while back and then began adding them to the "Find A Grave" website (FAG)  Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records   The aim for this project is not to just list every burial near Kelsall but to link each grave to family members, parents, children and siblings. Additionally, we add photographs, biographies and locations to complete the story. No living person can be added. Where no gravestone can be found the burial details are taken from the original parish records dating back to 1822
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Discovery of a second Public House in Ashton Hayes in the 1800s

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Whilst researching a local family living in Ashton Hayes, as part of my son’s partner’s family tree, I learned that historically Ashton Hayes had boasted two public houses back in the 1800s and two family members I was studying had run one of them. I had been studying a child called Richard, who had been baptised by his parents Edwin and Sarah in Weaverham in 1834. Strangely, Richard wasn’t listed with his parents in the first census in 1841, although he would have been only seven.  I eventually found him living on a farm in Ashton with a couple called Jim and Emma. Why, I wondered? Had his parents died?  But no, Richard’s parents were still living in Ashton with three very small children in 1841.  Some deeper delving into records showed that Emma was Edwin’s sister, so in fact Richard was living with his aunt and uncle, presumably to lend a hand around the farm.  Maybe his mother was struggling to feed and look after three pre-school age children? By 1851 Richard is 17 and is stil
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