Rowarth from the north — photo by Dave Dunford

The Braddock family is unusual in that I have included a narrative even though I am not directly related. The reason is that the Braddocks have links with both my Rhodes and Goddard families, both through marriage and their social connections within Mottram-in-Longdendale.

The family originates in Rowarth, Derbyshire, a hamlet that lies north of New Mills and south of Charlesworth and Glossop. The earliest member is John Braddock who was born around 1750. He married Elizabeth Collier at Mellor in 1774, presumably at St Thomas Parish Church, then in Derbyshire. (Organ recital warning!)

Their eight children were baptised at Chinley Independent Chapel founded in 1662 by the Rev William Bagshawe. (See Chapel website and detailed history)

The youngest son was James Braddock and he married Mary in the early 1800s, although no record has yet been found. They had six children while living in Charlesworth, but in the mid-1820s the family moved to Mottram-in-Longdendale where their two youngest daughters, Amelia and Kitty, were born. This means that Mary fecund quite late in life having been about 48 when Kitty was born.

In 1851, James described himself as a retired innkeeper (although he had been a collier in 1841) and was living in Staley with three of his daughters and son-in-law, Caleb Walker. He died in 1853, supposedly aged 69, although this does not tally with the census. Mary lived to be 84 and died in 1868 in Ashton. This narrative follows some of their descendants.

Joseph Braddock
It is assumed that the inn that James was keeping was the Waggon and Horses, now the Waggon on Broadbottom Road. Certainly it is shown on the Cheshire tithe maps as being leased by his second eldest son, Joseph, from John Tollemache, along with Lime Field, Coal Meadow and Coal Pit Bank.

It is through Joseph that the Braddocks first link to my families. He married Betty Goddard at St Michael's, Mottram, in 1833. She was the daughter of Miles Goddard and Peggy Shepley, my gggg-grandparents, and sister of Margaret and Charlotte who were both to marry my ggg-grandfather, George Rhodes.

By the time of the 1861 census, Joseph was mining the coal pit mentioned on the tithe maps above and employed 18 men and five boys which would have included some of my Rhodes family who were miners by trade. I have transcribed an article on coal mining in Mottram which refers to plot 395, Coal Meadow. In 1881, the 66 year old Joseph was a farmer of 17 acres.

Joseph and Betty had ten children and here are details of just a few of them. The most significant is Mary Braddock born 1843 because she was another link in the Braddock, Rhodes and Goddard connection. She married her first cousin, Miles Goddard Rhodes, the eldest son of her sister Margaret and George Rhodes, and their great-grandson, John Rhodes, is a fellow family historian who has been a tremendous help in this project.

Mary's brother Miles became the postmaster for Mottram. His first wife, Ann Booth, died two years after they married in 1870 and he remarried to Mary Tomlinson in 1876. They had three daughters with Annie another Rhodes connection by marrying John James Sandiford, grandson of Mary Rhodes.

King William IV — © Tameside Image Archive

Although he had been an engineer at the coal pit in 1871, by 1881 George Braddock had become a publican in Ashton and was landlord at the King William IV pub on Stamford Street. By 1891 he was at the Church Inn on Scotland Street, but he died in 1894 aged 44. His widow, Hannah Bottom, remarried to veterinary surgeon, Joseph Hall. George left three daughters and two sons.

James Braddock
James was the eldest of James Snr's children. He married Sarah Shaw at Glossop in 1827 and the couple had ten children. Sarah died in 1852 and James remarried to Harriet Kennedy later that year He remained in Mottram, working as a collier, and died in 1871.

Of his children, James married Julia Reddington who had been born in County Mayo, Ireland. They moved around, from Mottram to Disley to Oldham and then to Beswick, Manchester. Their sons, James and Timothy, married sisters, Hannah and Mary Brett, who were originally from Rochdale. Timothy went on to become a police constable in Bradford, Manchester.

Ralph married Jane Lettice Hadfield in Glossop in 1869 and they had a son, Joseph Hadfield Braddock, in 1870. Ralph died in 1875 and Jane remarried to Joseph Hall. Son Joseph went on to marry Frances Watson Slater and the couple had seven Braddock children in Mottram.

Finally, Dorothy Braddock married Miles Rowbottom in 1870. They moved around, having children in Derbyshire, Rotherham and then in Hollingworth before Miles died in 1879 aged 29.

Amelia Braddock
Also known as Milly, Amelia married Caleb Walker at St Mary's, Oldham, in 1849. Although they were living with her parents in Staley in 1851, Caleb became an engine driver (presumably in a factory, rather than a train) and the couple had moved to Ashton by 1861, although they had had a spell in Dinting in the meanwhile. By 1871 they had settled in Bury where they were to remainn,Amelia dying there in 1908 aged 80.

All Saints, Elton, Bury, now converted into flats — photo by © Steve Bulman

Of their children, at least four of them married in Bury. Of these, the one which needs further research is Selina. She married Frederick Williams at All Saints, Bury, in 1880. They had four children, although Edith died in infancy. It then seems that the family moved to Bolton where Frederick also died in 1894.

They reappear in Oldham in 1901, Selina apparently having remarried to someone called Tierney, although he isn't present and I have found no record of a marriage as yet.

Her daughters, Annie and Amelia, were with her, but her son, Robert, was absent. It seems he was an inmate of the Bolton and County Certified Industrial School at Lastock Junction, Bury, although there is no indication of his crime.

Arthur and John Tierney were also living with Selina and it isn't clear if they were her children, or children from a previous marriage, but I have attributed them to her for the time being.

Kitty Braddock
Finally the youngest of James Snr's children, Kitty married William Parkinson in 1850 at St Peter's, Ashton, where she was living at the time. William was a pork butcher, but had become a confectioner on George Street by the time of the 1871 census. The couple had six children before Kitty died in 1876 aged 45. William remarried that same summer to Elizabeth Stanfield of Haughton by whom he had two further children.