William Highcock (1840 - bef. 1909)

Born 1840 in St Helens, Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Died before 5 Apr 1909 before age 69 in St Helens, Lancashire, England

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Biography

This profile is part of the St Helens, Lancashire One Place Study.

William Highcock was born in 1840 in St Helens, Lancashire, ^[1] the son of Henry & Rachel Highcock. His father was a collier, and the family was Catholic. When he grew up, William worked in a variety of low-skilled jobs - glass polisher, machinery oiler, labourer. He married widow Ann Winders, daughter of John & Jane Dutton, on 27 Jun 1874 at St Anne's Church in Sutton, St Helens (Catholic) - he was 34 and she was about 20 years older. Both were living in Sutton Moss at the time. The witnesses were John Wareing of Sutton and Margaret Wareing of Sutton. ^[2] Three years later, in 1877, his mother Rachel (who had been living with him in 1871 before he married) died.

It seems William's marriage was not a happy one. According to a newspaper account, they separated in 1883 - she left him on her doctor's advice because his treatment of her was likely to result in her life being shorter. Despite this, he moved out voluntarily so she wouldn't have to, and paid her 7s a week maintenance for a while. In 1896 she sued him for desertion as she was old and destitute and he had long since ceased paying her maintenance. A previous summons for desertion had been dismissed in 1889, but nevertheless the 1896 Bench disagreed and ordered him to pay her 6s a week. ^[3]

Ann died in 1897, so William only had to pay her for one year. William seems to have gotten on well enough with his extended family, and was lodging with family members in 1891 and 1901. He died himself in 1909, and was buried on 5 Apr 1909 in St Helens Cemetery, in an unpurchased grave; his age was recorded very inaccurately as 59. ^{[4] [5]}

Research Notes

Census & Addresses

1841: Westfield Church St, Eccleston^[6]

  Henry Highcock 28 Coal M Y

  Rachel do 29 Y

  Ceciley do 7 Y

  Thomas do 6 Y

  James do 2 Y

  William do 1 Y

  George Holland 38 Packer no

1851: 2 Ann St Eccleston^[7]

  Rachel Highcock H W 38 washerwoman St Helens

  Cecily D U 16 servant St Helens

  William S 10 scholar St Helens

  Leatin (?) Brown lodg Widow Ireland

  Julie Joseph Loret lodg U 24 glass maker France

1861: 2 Ann St Eccleston^[8]

  Rachael Highcock H W 51 boarding house keeper b. St Helens

  William do son U 21 glass polisher b. Eccleston

  Joseph Bach lodger W 75 ship carpenter b. London

  John Rachford lodger W 46 copper furnace man b. Ireland

  John Helsby lodger U 21 watch maker b. St Helens

  Peter Murphy lodger W 36 lab mason b. Ireland

  Mary Ann Murphy daur 7 b. Eccleston

  John Murphy son 5 b. Eccleston

1871: Parr Moss^[9]

  William Highcock H U 30 polisher plate g wksb. St Helens

  Rachel Highcock mother W 59 b. St Helens

  Rachel Butterworth niece 9 scholar b. Parr

1874 living in Fleet Lane, Parr [per what? check]

1881: Parr Moss, Parr^[10]

  William Highcock H M 40 b. St Helens glass polisher

  Ann Highcock W M 60 b. Newton le Willows Lanc

1891: 27 Prescott St, Sutton^[11]

   James Highcock 44 gen lab (employed) b. Sutton

  Elizabeth 45 wife b. Flintshire Holyhead

  Mary Ellen 16 b. Sutton

  Phebe Jane 8 b. Sutton

  William James 3 mo b. Sutton

   William Highcock cousin M (63/)53/60 an oiler of machinery (employee) b. St Helens

1901: Parr Moss^[12]

  Joseph Butterworth H M 77 chemical labourer b. Radcliffe Lancs

  Sicily wife 67 b. St Helens

  William Highcock boarder S 50 bricklayers labourer b. St Helens

Sources

1. ↑ Birth registration: William Highcock, second quarter 1840, Prescot district, mother's maiden name Finney, accessed on GRO website - birth registration search (free registration required)
2. ↑ "St Anne's RC Church, Sutton, St. Helens" CD of transcribed church registers published by St Helens Townships Family History Society http://www.sthelenstownshipsfhs.org.uk/
3. ↑ LOCAL NEWS. Liverpool Mercury etc (Liverpool, England), Saturday, November 28, 1896; Issue 15261., in Gale Digital Collections British Library Newspapers, see http://find.galegroup.com/bncn/page.do?page=/bncn_about.jsp&prodId=BNCN&userGroupName=surttda
4. ↑ Death registration: William Highcock, second quarter 1909, Prescot district, age 59. Accessed on GRO website - death registration search (free registration required)
5. ↑ Burial: St Helens Cemetery & Crematorium Online Records - William Highcock
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ2G-RSD : 13 December 2017), Henry Highcock, Prescot, Lancashire, England; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. 1841 piece 516-07 folio 19 page 30
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGYH-F82 : 20 October 2017), Rachael Highcock, Eccleston, Lancashire, England; citing Eccleston, Lancashire, England, p. 55, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
8. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7BF-XF8 : 12 December 2017), Rachael Highcock, Eccleston, Lancashire, England; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
9. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KD6X-DC8 : 11 December 2017), Rachel Butterworth in entry for William Highends, 1871.
10. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27L-YNQB : 13 December 2017), Wm Highcock, Parr, Lancashire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 46, Piece/Folio 3738/72, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,775,077.
11. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7767-5T2 : 10 December 2017), Phoebe Jane Highcock in household of James Highcock, Sutton, Lancashire, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Lancashire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
12. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9LV-F4S : 8 April 2016), Sicily Butterworth in household of Joseph Butterworth, St Helens, Lancashire, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing St Helens subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.