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Family History

Annie Wozencroft / Annie Smith (1871-1945)

*** WORK IN PROGRESS ***

Annie Wozencroft, my maternal grandmother, was born in a back-to-back house in Sheffield on 15th March 1871. We have her birth certificate and the registration of her birth can be found in register searches. Her parents, Francis and Rachel, were a Silver Buffer and Silver Burnisher, who would probably have been employed in the workshops built alongside the courts of back-to-back houses

She was 1 month old when the 1871 census was taken, and was living at 'Back 30, Egerton Lane, Sheffield' with her parents and her mother's sister (? probably) Eliza Ada Coates.

Her mother died when she was 2 years old (see Rachel's page) and her father three years later (see Francis's page). She was then raised under the Poor Law in the Union Work House at Nether Edge, and we see her there in the 1881 census.

We are not sure when she left the workhouse, possibly in 1882 when she was 11 years old, but we understand that she went to live with a family called Hibbert, somewhere near Unstone, in Derbyshire south of Sheffield. Knowing the family name, and that they had a son called Bernard, it seems certain that the family was that of Abraham and Ann Hibbert of Hundall (or Hundow as it seems to be called at this time).

We do not know whether she went to the Hibberts as a maid or whether she was fostered or adopted by them. There was no formal 'adoption' procedure at this time (this came in 1927), and such arrangements were informal. In the 1881 census the family included another orphan, Alexander Hudson, who was born in Staveley. We could assume that this was some sort of fostering arrangement (or a good source of extra pairs of hands around the place). It seems this may be an example of 'Boarding Out' where children in long-term care were placed with families who received a weekly allowance. (For more information on the history of the workhouse, including Boarding Out, see Peter Higginbotham's web site www.workhouses.org.uk).

I have (or had) two photgraphs from this time. One shows Annie with the Hibbert family - Annie is standing at the door behind Mrs Hibbert, who is seated (see detail).

The second is of Annie on her own. The story is that Annie was given sixpence to have the photo taken.
Unfortunately I don't know the whereabouts of this second photo - if I can find it I will get it scanned. My recollection is that it shows the photographers name and his address as New Whittington, near Chesterfield..

Annie left the Hibberts some time in the 1880s, possibly after Abraham and Ann's deaths in 1885 and 1887. This fits with notes from Miriam (her daughter) that suggest she was 'in care' until she was sixteen. There are stories of Annie being mentioned in Ann Hibbert's will. The suggestion that 'Auntie Ada burnt the will' may just be family folklore, but Annie never got any money. Abraham and Ann Hibbert's wills are available at the Derbyhire records office at Matlock, and when Ann died she left her estate (of £21-16-5d) to be divided between her children. Annie is not mentioned.

Somehow she ended up in service in Barnsley. From the notes left by Miriam, we understand that she was with a 'Parson Bailey' and a 'Mr. Asquith - a businessman', at some time at 'Forelands' at Barugh (described as 'behind Brookes Motors'); then at a farm - Malison's or Mallinson's at Barugh [Mallinson seems most likely, this name does occur in Barugh in the 1881 and 1891 census]; then back to Barnsley to a Mr and Mrs Barron's of Greenfoot Lane.

She is in Barnsley in the 1891 census as a 'General Servant' in the household of John Asquith, aged 62, an 'Organist and Teacher of Music', at 2 Victoria Road.

I have a writing case (shown below) that carries the words "From A Baily wishing Annie Wozencroft a Merry Christmas. December 1892". This suggests that she may have been with the Bail(e)ys at this time.

'Parson Bailey' was Joseph Henry Baily (this seems to be the correct spelling) who arrived as the Minister at the Pitt Street Wesleyan Methodist Church in September 1890. 'A Baily' was probablyhis daughter Ada who would have been about 15 when the writing case was given.

We do not know when she worked for the Baily, Mallinson and Barron families, but while working as a maid at the Barron's, Annie married Robert Smith, of Barugh. They had met while she worked at the Mallinson's farm - he was brought up on a 'farm behind the Wesleyan Chapel' and was then a farm labourer. The wedding was at St Mary's Church, Barnsley, on April 3rd 1894.