Stories from the Stones

ADEY, Thomas George (1878–1947)

The Adey family are recorded in Wednesfield a far back as the 1750 establishment of St Thomas’s Church as a chapel of ease to the mother church in Wolverhampton (St Peter’s). Thomas… Continue reading
EDGE, Richard (1839–1910)

Richard Edge was born, and spent his early life, in Wolverhampton. His mother, Mary, died in 1846 from puerperal fever. The following year, his father, Samuel, remarried to Jane Green and the… Continue reading
ENOCH, William (1856–1943)

William Enoch was born in Cumnor, Berkshire. Over the course of his life he gradually worked his way to Wednesfield via Swindon – where he is recorded as a Police Constable -… Continue reading
GREGORY, John (1845–1915)

John Gregory is probably best known locally for being the popular landlord of the Dog & Partridge in Wednesfield High Street from around 1885 to his death in 1915. Of course, he… Continue reading
GUMBLEY, Wallace Johnson (1867–1922)

Wallace Johnson Gumbley was born in the All-Saints area of Birmingham in 1867 to James and Ellen Gumbley, James being a Cycle Lamp manufacturer. In 1898, Wallace married Mary Ann Bellamy of… Continue reading
HILL, Isaiah (1816–1869)

Isaiah Hill is thought to have been born around 1816 in Bilston and had a Wesleyan baptism 2 years later in Ettingshall. He was the son of John Hill (a miner) and… Continue reading
HYDE, Josiah (1842–1931)

Josiah Hyde was born 16th October 1842 in Ettingshall, one of five siblings born to Joseph and Harriet Hyde. At age 21, on 23rd June 1863, Josiah was living in Oxford Street… Continue reading
LANE, Henry (1823–1877)

Henry Lane was baptised at St Thomas’s Church, Wednesfield on 9th March 1823. He was the ninth of ten children of Thomas and Margaret (neé Whick) Lane. Thomas was a japanner and… Continue reading
MARSHALL, George and Edward

The Marshall Vault is topped with a 4-sided monument, recording other family members interred there. Continue reading
PICKERING, Eric (1908–1956)

The Pickering family came to Wednesfield in the mid-1850s via Woolwich, Walsall and Willenhall. In 1856, Samuel Palmer Pickering married Hannah Banks at Wolverhampton, in a civil ceremony. Their first child, also… Continue reading
PIDGEON, James Bartholomew (1800–1859)

James Bartholomew Pidgeon was born in Shifnal, son of Robert Pidgeon, a Gentleman and Substantial Landowner of areas of Shifnal. He followed his father’s profession of Maltster as stated in the 1841… Continue reading
SMITH, Thomas (1778–1859)

Thomas Smith was born in 1778 into a very different era than the one in which he died. Eighteenth century Wednesfield underwent many changes over the following 80 years. industry developed and… Continue reading
STEPHENS, Rev. William (1807–1880)

On 4th February 1849, the Reverend William Stephens became the first Vicar of St Thomas’s, an incumbency he was to hold for the next thirty-one and a half years. He was born… Continue reading