Moules Origins

I have decided to write a blog post about the progenitor of the Moules family - my Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, William Moules.

Origins

I have been able to find very little information about William Moules' early life, and no information at all about his parents. In the UK, birth certificates did not start being issued until 1836, by which time William was already a grown man. However, for several centuries before this, baptism records were kept by local parish churches - nevertheless I have still failed to find a baptism record for William. The little information I have on his background all comes from his appearance in the 1841 England census, and his death certificate from 1849.

The 1841 census - the first census taken in the UK - was recorded on 6 June 1841, and was the only census to be taken in William's lifetime. He is listed as 35 years old, which would place his birth year around 1806. This is backed up by William's death certificate, which lists his age as 43 when he died in 1849. Unlike other censuses, the 1841 census does not provide people's birthplaces, so it is not known where William was from. Despite this, there is a column asking whether the person had been born in the county they currently live in - "yes" is written in this column for William, which means he was supposedly born somewhere in Wiltshire. In this period poorer, working-class people living in the countryside - such as William - were less likely to move around. As a result, it is likely that he was from Colerne, or possibly a nearby village.

Many genealogists researching William's family have decided that William's parents were a John Moules and Harriet Palmer. However, after conducting my own research, I have come to the conclusion that this relationship is inaccurate. William's supposed father, John Moules, is often recorded in Ancestry trees as having died in Colerne in 1843 - this is often the only source for John's existence at all. By searching through the GRO index, I discovered that a John Moules did die in Colerne in 1843 - however this record is for an infant boy, who I later discovered was actually William's son, not his father. I have found no evidence whatsoever of the existence of a Harriet Palmer in the right place or time. I have discovered that there is a Harriet Palmer who was married to a John Moules - however this couple married in Hertfordshire in 1839. The fact that they married 33 years after their supposed son was born, and in a different county, leads me to conclude that John Moules and Harriet Palmer were not the parents of William Moules. It seems that people on Ancestry have combined multiple people from different areas and times, and made a fictional parentage of William.

Marriage and Family

When he was in his 20s, William was living in the village of Colerne, in the north of Wiltshire. He met Florence Tiley, a local girl about a year younger tan him, and they became engaged in 1831. Florence had given birth to an illegitimate daughter, Charlotte Tiley, the previous year. It is possible that William was Charlotte's biological father, but this is unconfirmed. Nevertheless, after marrying Florence William adopted Charlotte, who took the surname "Moules" from then on. William and Florence's marriage banns were published on 13 November, 20 November and 27 November 1831. Their wedding was held at St John the Baptist Church, in Colerne, on 10 December 1831. William is recorded as being a "bachelor", and Florence a "spinster." Both signed the record with an "X" in place of their signatures, which meant both William and Florence were illiterate.

William and Florence's marriage record.

After getting married, William and Florence moved in together in a house on Quarry Lane, in Colerne. They had seven children together over a fourteen year period:

• Sarah Moules (1832 - 1838)
• Ann Moules (1835 - 1862)
• George Moules (1836 - 14 Feb 1908) - My 3x-Great-Grandfather
• William Moules (1841 - 1911)
• John Moules (1843 - 1843)
• John Moules (1844 - 1844)
• Sarah Moules (1846 - 16 Jul 1935)

Some more information about William's life can be gleaned from his children's christening records, which included the father's occupation. From these records, we know that for the first half of the 1830s William worked as a paper maker at the local Colerne paper mill. He is listed as working as a paper maker in 1832 and 1835. In 1837, William is instead recorded as working as a labourer. He likely worked on one of the many farms around Colerne. His occupation is recorded as labourer in every source from this point on.

Probably the most useful document relating to William's life is the 1841 England Census. The Moules family appear on page 11 of the Colerne census. William is listed as living on the High Street, in Colerne, with Florence and their children: Charlotte (age 11), Ann (age 7), George (age 4) and William (age 4 months). William is listed as working as a labourer, and is recorded as having been born in Wiltshire. They are the only people in Colerne enumerated in the census who have the surname "Moules", or a similar spelling of the name. This suggests that William and/or his family may not have  originally come from Colerne. Due to William's untimely death at the age of 43, this was his only appearance in the census. This is unfortunate as some valuable information - such as his specific birth place - would have been recorded have he lived to been included in the 1851 census.

Moules family listed in the 1841 census.

Death

In January 1849, William developed a severe abscess on his spinal cord. Possible causes for this include back injury, tuberculosis or septicemia. The abscess would have been extremely painful for William. Symptoms of a spinal abscess include sharp pains in the back, arms and legs, paralysis in the area below the abscess, fever and a loss of bladder control. Due to these symptoms, it is unlikely William would have been able to carry on working whilst he had the abscess - especially with his physically demanding manual job. William suffered with the abscess for eight months, before dying in his home on 21 August 1849. He was only 43 years old. William was buried at St John the Baptist Church, in Colerne, five days later on 26 August.

William's death certificate.

William's death left Florence a 42 year old widow with four children aged between 14 and 3. With the sole provider for the family gone, Florence found work as a charwoman - cleaning her neighbours' houses. Their sons, George and William - who were just 12 and 8 - immediately had to start working on nearby farms to contribute to the household income. Florence never remarried, and died 40 years later on 3 February 1889, age 82.

William was deeply mourned by his family. Seven of his grandsons were named after him. As far as I have been able to trace, William and Florence are the progenitors of this branch of the Moules family - every Moules that has ever lived in Colerne or one of the surrounding villages has been descended from them. Through his seven children, William had 30 grandchildren and 88 great-grandchildren. He has over 600 descendants going down nine generations to his 7x-Great-Grandchildren.

It is very unlikely any photographs of William exist, and I have also been unable to find any photos of any members of William's close family. I have, however, found a photograph of William's youngest child, Sarah Moules. The photo appeared in the newspaper in 1925, when Sarah celebrated her 60th Wedding Anniversary to her husband Edwin Hillier - they were sent a congratulatory letter from King George V. When Sarah died in 1935, age 89, she was the oldest person living in Colerne.

William's daughter Sarah Moules in 1925, age 79.

Henrietta Wootten

The Life of Henrietta Wootten (1853 - 1914)

By her great-great-great-grandson, Oliver Moules

Henrietta's birthplace - now Komedia, in Bath.

Lydia Henrietta Vincent was born on the 10th of December 1853, at 23 Westgate Street in Bath. She was the seventh and youngest child of William Vincent, a brass finisher, and Lydia Reeves, a housewife. She was known by her middle name, "Henrietta", throughout her life to differentiate from her mother. Her older siblings were Mary Ann (1843 - 1847), Fanny Rebecca (1844 - 1890), Jeremiah (1846 - 1912), Mary Ann (1848 - 1878), Hester Louise (1850 - 1923) and William Alfred (1852 - 1852). Henrietta had a relatively comfortable childhood growing up in Bath, as her father's brass foundry business was successful. She attended school with her siblings from the ages of about 5 until 12. As a teenager, Henrietta met Henry Wootten. Henry was a year younger than Henrietta and from the village of Box, about 5 miles from Bath. He grew up in a poor, working-class family and had worked as a quarryman from the age of around 14. By the early 1870s, they became engaged. Henrietta's family were heavily against the match, possibly due to Henry's poorer background. According to family legend, Henrietta was disowned by her parents when she married Henry anyway.

Henrietta and Henry married at St Thomas a Becket Church, in Box, on Christmas Day 1873. The witnesses to the marriage were two of Henry's siblings, Thomas Wootten and Jane Wootten. After getting married, Henry and Henrietta moved to Box Hill. Unfortunately, in 1875, Henry was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He suffered with the disease for two years before dying on the 5th of April 1877, age 23. In the months following Henry's death, Henrietta started a relationship with his brother, Thomas Wootten. They quickly became engaged and married nine months later on Boxing Day 1877, at St Andrew's Church in Chippenham. Henrietta gave birth to her first child, Emmeline Wootten, some time in 1877. It is unknown whether Emmeline's father was Henry or Thomas. It is possible that Henrietta was widowed whilst pregnant, which may have been a reason she and Thomas decided to get married - to provide the baby with a father. Regardless of who Emmeline's biological father was, she was raised by Thomas as if she were his own.

After getting married, Henrietta and Thomas settled in the village of Colerne. During the years they lived on Tutton Hill, in Colerne, they had three children: Louisa Jane Wootten on 24 January 1879, William Thomas Isaac "Bill" Wootten on 30 August 1881 and Edward Thomas "Tommy" Wootten on 24 February 1882. After Tommy was born, the Woottens relocated to Blue Vein, in Box. At least one of their children is known to have been born there: Annie Lucy Wootten on 24 February 1884. At some point over the next few years the family moved again, to Henley. Henrietta and Henry had their final four children in Henley: Albert Henry Wootten in 1886, twins Ellen Elizabeth & Agnes Maud Wootten on 29 December 1888, and Arthur Henry Wootten on 7 January 1891. Albert and Agnes died young, at the ages of four and one.

On 28 December 1898, Henrietta's unmarried daughter, Emmeline Wootten, gave birth to an illegitimate son - Ernest Frank George Wootten, known as George, who was Henrietta's first grandchild. Due to the stigma surrounding out-of-wedlock births in that time, George was raised as Henrietta and Thomas' son rather than their grandson. He is listed as "son" in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. Henrietta had 23 grandchildren in total, 14 of which were born in her lifetime. In the 1910s, Henrietta and Thomas lived next-door to their daughter, Annie, and her husband John Greenman. In later life, Henrietta suffered from heart problems. At age 58 she was diagnosed with mitral regurgitation - where the blood in the heart flows the wrong way. This would have caused her frequent chest pains, fatigue and breathlessness.

On News Years Eve 1914, Henrietta suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at her home, and died shortly after. She died exactly three weeks after her 60th birthday. Her funeral was held on the 2nd of January 1915, and she was buried at Box Parish Cemetery, in plot 51. Thomas was buried beside her when he died in 1925.

Henrietta's death certificate