 |
| Thorpe St Andrew Parish Church The church, which was once reported to be the smallest church in Norfolk, was the subject of a Vestry meeting in 1862. It was decided at this meeting that the church needed to be enlarged and then in 1864 it was a agreed that a new one should be built. The new church was consecrated on 31st May 1866 by the Bishop of Norwich [just in time for Walter and Hannah's wedding the following year]. The remains of the medieval church still exist in front of the Parish Church. |
Walter White (b. 16 Nov 1845 in Thorpe, Norfolk), youngest son of William White and Ann Francis, married Hannah Blazey (b. 17 Jun 1845 in Heigham, Norfolk), daughter of Francis Stephen Blazey and Hannah Minns on Sunday, 31 Mar 1867 at the Parish church of St Andrew, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich. Witnesses to their marriage were Samuel Blazey, the bride's brother; Hannah White, the bridegroom's sister and an Elizabeth Blazey (this could have been Samuel's wife, or probably more likely was Hannah's younger sister).
Walter and Hannah had two children:
- Walter White b. 1869 S Qtr in BLOFIELD UNION Vol 04B Page 179
- Laura Elizabeth White b. 15 Oct 1870 (1870 D Quarter in BLOFIELD UNION Volume 04B Page 185) - who was my great-grandmother.
On 4 Jun 1870, The Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette reported that Walter White, of Thorpe St. Andrew's, gardener, was summoned by Hannah White, his wife, for unlawfully assaulting her on the 25th ult. [i.e. the previous month] Complainant said that she asked her husband for the money to pay the gas rate with, on which he flew into a violent passion, and beat and kicked her in the back. Defendant said he might have kicked her, but not to have hurt her, but it was under great provocation. Defendant was fined 5s, and 15s costs. [Hannah will have been ~4 months pregnant with Laura at the time.]
In 1871, Walter White (26) Gardener, Hannah White (26), Walter White (1) and Laura White (5 months) were living at Thorpe Grove, Thunder Lane, Thorpe St Andrew. In the next-door household was a Robert Knivett (53), also a gardener. Also living at Thorpe Grove, was William Birkbeck (1832–1897), banker and landowner, whose former property in Thunder Lane, now named The Cottage is currently a pub and restaurant. One presumes these gardeners were employed on Birkbeck's then quite large estate.
Walter White, Gardener, of Globe Street, Heigham, Norwich, died, aged 26 on 5 Jan 1872 (M Qtr in NORWICH Vol 04B Page 130) from Smallpox. The death certificate states that H White [Hannah] was present at his death.
Then Hannah White (29), Dressmaker, Widow, daughter of Francis Blazey (deceased), remarried to William Cooper (34) Brush Maker Journeyman, Widower, on 5 July 1875 at the Register Office, District of Norwich. (It is said that, during the late 19th century, the Norwich Register Office was situated on Bethel Street). Both gave their address as Manchester Buildings, Union Place, Heigham. William left the spaces for his father blank.
William Cooper (b. 19 Dec 1839, bap. 19 Jan 1840 at St Martin at Palace, Norwich), was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Cooper, Spinster. When he had married for the first time, at the age of 19, to Emily Berry, daughter of Swithin Berry and Richendra Wright, at St Benedict's Church, Norwich, on 25 Jul 1859, he had also left the spaces for his father blank, but had then listed himself as William Wells Cooper, Brush maker. From this, we may surmise that his father may have been a Mr Wells. In 1861, William and Emily Cooper had been lodgers in Upper Westwick Street, St Benedict, Norwich; in 1871 they were living in Old Palace Road, Heigham, Norwich. Emily Cooper died, at 33, in 1874 J Quarter in NORWICH Volume 04B Page 100.
But just six months after their second marriage, Hannah Cooper, wife of William Cooper, a Brush maker, died, aged 30, at Union Place, Heigham, on 9 Jan 1876 (1876 M Quarter in NORWICH Volume 04B Page 104), from Phthisis (Tuberculosis). The informant, who made her mark, was 'Hannah Blazey, Mother, Present at death'. Sadly, this confirmed what seemed most likely, that Hannah had died in this period, because in 1881, both of her children, Walter and Laura, were living with their maternal grandmother.
As yet, I've not identified further records for William Cooper.