George Etherington (1755 - 1829)

Ancestors Descendants

Biography

“In 1802, George Etherington took over the running of the Wheldrake mill. The Etherington family seems to be the nearest approach there has been to a traditional milling family. George Etherington appears to have been quite a remarkable man. The parish register of 1778 records him as a fisherman, son of Thomas Etherington of Cawood, also a fisherman. A river fisherman would not be expected to have more than a rudimentary education, and yet in the highway Surveyors account book of 1796, his signature appears in a fine bold hand. In 1792, he became a farmer in the village, ten years later he took over the mill. He ran it for seven years before handing over to his eldest son, William, who was then 31. No doubt he had been working for his father for some time previously. George Etherington was very successful in his work, but his success did not extend to his family life. Four of his five children and his wife all died in the last few years of the eighteenth century.” ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ D. R. Brown et al (ed.) “Wheldrake: Aspects of a Yorkshire Village” Wheldrake Local History Society 1995 p. 16

• Wheldrake Parish Council website (via Internet Archive Wayback Machine)