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Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any connection to the Pleasence family who lived in Old Engine, Greasbrough, Yorks, in the mid 19th century? And if so, maybe you might be able to help me out, please.

My great-grandmother Mary Pleasence (or Pleasance) was born in 1842 in Greasbrough, although her parents were originally from Derbyshire. I have tracked her through the censuses to 1861 where she was a house servant to a family in Ecclesfield in Sheffield.

But then in 1868 she married Daniel Brooks in Shoreditch, London, and lived for the rest of her life in Essex. I really want to find out what happened in those few years and how a Yorkshire lass came to marry a blacksmith in Essex.

The Yorkshire connection pops up again. Mary and Daniel settled in Snaresbrook, Essex, had a son Benjamin (my grandfather). Benjamin married Catherine (Kate) Gooding, with whom he had three children, but then Kate became seriously ill. The family hired a nurse to look after her. This nurse was Agnes Dawson, from Hartley Brook, Ecclesfield, Sheffield.

Sadly Kate died, and a couple of years later Benjamin and Agnes married, and had several children, including my mum.

The mysteries I would like to solve are:

1. Mary Pleasence went from being a house servant in Sheffield to marrying a blacksmith in Essex in the space of 8 years. How did she end up in Essex?
2. Agnes Dawson (my gran) was a Sheffield file cutter according to the 1901 census, but somehow she became a nurse for a dying woman in Essex around 1906, and then married this lady's widower in Sheffield in 1909. How did that happen?

My assumption is that the Dawsons of Ecclesfield must have known the Pleasences of Old Engine (or possibly met Mary Pleasence when she worked as a house servant), and that maybe Mary arranged employment for Agnes. Does that ring any bells with anyone?

But I'm at a total loss to work out how Mary Pleasence from Yorkshire ended up marrying a blacksmith in Essex.

Any thoughts would be more than welcome.

Thank you in advance. <3

For connections, look in 'search all member trees'

As for speculating on why people moved from one place to another - employment was the most common answer

Thanks for replying, Erika. I've searched member trees regularly over the years, and have gone up many a blind alley and hit many a brick wall! This post was pretty much out of desperation, just in case anyone recognised any family and place names.

I've no doubt that Mary moved from Sheffield to Essex for employment, but her employer in 1861 was a "Farmer of 60 acres", so probably not rich enough to have another property where he could employ her as a house servant. So something must have happened in the intervening years.

I was just posting on the off-chance that someone might see this and recognise something. Highly unlikely, I know....

Thanks for replying, anyway

Well, for that matter, how did Daniel Brooks, born in Somerset, and still living in Somerset in 1861, end up working in Essex?

For the same reason ErikaH has suggested - he moved there for work.



Daniel Brooks
in the London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932
Name: Daniel Brooks
Gender: Male
Marriage Age: 26
Record Type: Marriage
Birth Date: abt 1842
Marriage Date: 14 Mar 1868
Marriage Place: St Leonard, Shoreditch, Hackney, England
Father: Reubin Brooks
Spouse: Mary Pleasance
Register Type: Parish Register


Daniel Brooks
in the 1861 England Census
Name: Daniel Brooks
Age: 19
Estimated birth year: 1842
Relation: Son
Father's name: Reuben Brooks
Mother's name: Jane Brooks
Gender: Male
Where born: Trent, Somerset, England
Civil Parish: Trent
County/Island: Somerset
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Condition as to marriage:
View image
Registration district: Sherborne
Sub-registration district: Bradford Abbas
ED, institution, or vessel: 3
Neighbors:
Household schedule number: 8
Piece: 1361
Folio: 37
Page Number: 2
Household Members:
Name Age
Reuben Brooks 42
Jane Brooks 42
Daniel Brooks 19
John Brooks 14
Mary J L Brooks 11
William J Brooks 10
Anna M Brooks 8
George Brooks 5
Eliza A Brooks 1

His parents and siblings were still in Somerset in 1871 - so he moved by himself, almost certainly for work.

No reason why Mary couldn't have moved to London for a better job and hoping for better prospects than on a Yorkshire farm. You'll never know exactly why she moved.

Thanks, ArgyllGran, you're absolutely right, of course.

Great-grandfather Dan Brooks did indeed move to Essex as a teenager a few years before the 1861 census, to stay with other relatives, who were also smithies by trade (I've got family correspondence about this, nothing that the official records will show). His mum and dad Jane and Reuben also moved later, as did several siblings, and lived out the rest of their lives in Edmonton, Essex.

The migration pattern of this side of the family is very clear.

However, I'm more interested in Mary's story. I have nothing about her, other than she was at school in Greasbrough in 1851, and then a house servant in Ecclesfield, Sheffield, in 1861. But I don't think that her employers would have been affluent enough to have connections or property in Essex.

Would a young woman of twenty or so just hop on a stagecoach from Sheffield to Essex in the 1860s on the off-chance of finding a job? I don't think so. And it's that connection I'm trying to find.

Which is why I posted this rather desperate request!

If you can suggest any further lines of research, that would be great.

But I'm really hoping that someone here might recognise the names....

Many thanks,

Christine x

Look in 'search all member trees' for possible connections.

In the 1860's there was a rail service!

I don't think she would just head for London on the off-chance - she would have a job lined up before she went.

There's no reason why it should be anything to do with her previous employer.
She could have answered an ad in a newspaper - we'll never know .

Young women in their 20's were heading off to Australia in the 1860s to work as ladies' maids and other domestic roles - never mind London!

Thanks, Erika, I appreciate your reply.

I have made a point of searching all member trees regularly over the years (I joined GR in 2004), I've sent various messages (with some resulting in fantastic family connections and ensuing close friendships, some blind alleys, and some a total waste of time!), and through this I've found some useful local message boards and FRS groups.

I think I have got as far as I can with Genes Reunited member trees for the moment (although I will keep popping back from time to time, just to see who has joined).

I think the first mainline rail service from Sheffield to the south wasn't until 1870, but I will go back and check on that. Thank you for the pointer.

But that still leaves me with the question of why a young woman would leave Sheffield in the 1860s (and when I say Sheffield, we're talking about a fairly rural/suburban area at this time) to travel to Essex (even more rural at that time) to live.

Thank you for your advice, Erika. It's much appreciated. But like I said, I was just posting on the off-chance that someone might recognise a name or a place.

Christine x

I'd be more inclined to ask, why not?

And, to be frank, hardly anyone uses these boards, so the chances of a 'hit' are probably very remote, unless someone googles the name and decides to join GR to follow-through on it

ArgyllGran, that's exactly what I was hoping to unravel! But you're probably right saying that I'll never know. :-(

Like I said, I just threw this out in the offchance that someone might remember some family connection somewhere, that might just trigger of a line of research.

The previous employer thing was just the last point of reference. I know it was a bit desperate, but I thought someone might recognise it (Mr and Mrs John Wilson of Crowder, aka Crowther, House, Ecclesfield, by the way).

Maybe she answered an ad in a magazine. Although with Mary's family's strict Methodist credentials, maybe not. It may well have been a Methodist church connection, but I've drawn a blank with that line of enquiry.

I've followed so many lines of research, but I think I have to accept that I've drawn a blank here.

Thank you for showing an interest anyway. Maybe someone will pick up on this at some point.

Christine x

Ahhhh, thanks Erika.

I hadn't really appreciated that people don't really use these boards. I've not been a member of Genes for some years, but rejoined recently because the search facilities are pretty good.

As for why shouldn't Mary have jumped on a train down south.... the answer is seriously strict Methodism, where the father is king of the household. It's the way that branch of the family were at that time.

Anyway, thank you ErikaH and ArgyllGran for your thoughts. I realise now that this probably isn't the right place for my questions.

But you never know, a long-lost rellie might spot this thread at some point. ;-)

Thanks again,

Christine x