Stradbroke is in Suffolk and is near to the towns of Eye and the market town of Diss. It currently has a population of around 1330. Alot of the early Wharton's in my tree originated in Stradbroke prior to moving across into Norfolk and settling in North Lopham.
Below is the story of one family with a sad tale to tell.
Elijah Wharton
Our story starts with Elijah WHARTON who was born in Stradbroke in 1803. Elijah was the son of William Wharton (1751-1841) who was married twice. Elijah's mother being Frances was William's first wife. William also married Sarah Hunting and thanks to his father's two marriages, Elijah had 12 siblings. He married Caroline Clarke in 1822 at the age of 19 in Stradbroke Parish Church and they had five children together. Below is an extract of the family from the Stradbroke 1841 census listing Elijah as a farmer.
Below is the story of one family with a sad tale to tell.
Elijah Wharton
Our story starts with Elijah WHARTON who was born in Stradbroke in 1803. Elijah was the son of William Wharton (1751-1841) who was married twice. Elijah's mother being Frances was William's first wife. William also married Sarah Hunting and thanks to his father's two marriages, Elijah had 12 siblings. He married Caroline Clarke in 1822 at the age of 19 in Stradbroke Parish Church and they had five children together. Below is an extract of the family from the Stradbroke 1841 census listing Elijah as a farmer.
Elijah lived all his life in Stradbroke and died in 1851 aged only 48 leaving his five children Ellen (born 1823), William Wharton (born 1824) , Alfred Wharton (born 1826), John Wharton (born 1827) and Henry Wharton (born 1828).
John Wharton (1827 - 1895)
This particular story follows Elijah's third son, John. Having shared his father's inheritance with 4 of his siblings, I am sure that this didn't leave much of a nest egg for John.
John was christened on 9th December 1827 in Wingfield, Suffolk a short distance away from where he was raised in Stradbroke. In the 1851 and 1861 census he is found living with his mother in Barlow Hall, Stradbroke, presumably helping her to run the farm there. In 1871 after his mothers death he moves in with his brother William in Ashfield Green, Stradbroke.
Next we find him getting married at the age of 43 to Anna Maria MEEN on 7th December 1871. They had two children together Ellen Kate Wharton (born in 1872) and Arthur John Wharton (born in 1873). Sometime between 1873 and 1877 John was then sent to the Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics in Melton and he stayed there until his death in 1895.
His wife Anna would then have needed to support the two children and was unable to so she entered the both of them into Hartismere Workhouse and they are found their in the 1881 census listed as pauper children. More on what happened to them later on in this article.
Anna's other relationships
Anna then moved in with Charles Warren at his house in Laxfield and in 1881 she is listed as his housekeeper with another child called Frederick William Wharton who was born in 1878 in Laxfield. Although I haven't received confirmation of what is on the birth certificate, I believe that Frederick's father is in fact Charles Warren, but because she was still married to John, she would have had to put John down as the father perhaps and given him the surname Wharton when it should be really Warren. Charles Warren died in 1898.
10 years later in 1891 Anna has now moved to Lowestoft and living with William Flegg, and two more children Mabel M Wharton (born 1885) and Thomas W Wharton (born 1886). Anne calls herself a "widow" even though technically she is still married to John Wharton who is still in the lunatic asylum and Charles Warren her previous partner was still alive. She then had two more children with Flegg, Frederick Edward Wharton (born 1892) and Grace Wharton (born 1894).
When John Wharton died in the lunatic asylum in 1895, Anne was then free to marry. She and William Flegg were married in 1902 and by the 1911 census she is listed as William's wife Anna Flegg and her two youngest children still named "Wharton".
What happened to Anna and John Wharton's children, Ellen and Arthur Wharton?
Having been abandoned by their mother into the workhouse I found them listed in the workhouse during 1881 whilst their mother had moved in with Charles Warren. Luckily for them the workhouse treated the children well and taught them valuable skills they could use when they left. I can't find her in the 1891 census for some reason but in 1901 Ellen is found working as a servant in Wortham to the farmer of Ling Farm. She was still living their in the 1911 census, but died shortly after it was taken in May 1911.
By 1891 at the age of 17 years old, Arthur John Wharton had left the workhouse and made his way up north to Royston in Yorkshire. The 1891 census says he was a Farm Servant. He eventually settled in Rotherham with his wife Louisa Hurst who he married in 1901. He took employment as a Railway Stoker and it appears that he remained doing that work for the rest of his working life. They went on to have six children born in Rotherham. Nellie (1902), Gladys (1904), Arthur (1905), Geoffrey (1907), Harry (1907) and Clifford (1909).
John Wharton (1827 - 1895)
This particular story follows Elijah's third son, John. Having shared his father's inheritance with 4 of his siblings, I am sure that this didn't leave much of a nest egg for John.
John was christened on 9th December 1827 in Wingfield, Suffolk a short distance away from where he was raised in Stradbroke. In the 1851 and 1861 census he is found living with his mother in Barlow Hall, Stradbroke, presumably helping her to run the farm there. In 1871 after his mothers death he moves in with his brother William in Ashfield Green, Stradbroke.
Next we find him getting married at the age of 43 to Anna Maria MEEN on 7th December 1871. They had two children together Ellen Kate Wharton (born in 1872) and Arthur John Wharton (born in 1873). Sometime between 1873 and 1877 John was then sent to the Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics in Melton and he stayed there until his death in 1895.
His wife Anna would then have needed to support the two children and was unable to so she entered the both of them into Hartismere Workhouse and they are found their in the 1881 census listed as pauper children. More on what happened to them later on in this article.
Anna's other relationships
Anna then moved in with Charles Warren at his house in Laxfield and in 1881 she is listed as his housekeeper with another child called Frederick William Wharton who was born in 1878 in Laxfield. Although I haven't received confirmation of what is on the birth certificate, I believe that Frederick's father is in fact Charles Warren, but because she was still married to John, she would have had to put John down as the father perhaps and given him the surname Wharton when it should be really Warren. Charles Warren died in 1898.
10 years later in 1891 Anna has now moved to Lowestoft and living with William Flegg, and two more children Mabel M Wharton (born 1885) and Thomas W Wharton (born 1886). Anne calls herself a "widow" even though technically she is still married to John Wharton who is still in the lunatic asylum and Charles Warren her previous partner was still alive. She then had two more children with Flegg, Frederick Edward Wharton (born 1892) and Grace Wharton (born 1894).
When John Wharton died in the lunatic asylum in 1895, Anne was then free to marry. She and William Flegg were married in 1902 and by the 1911 census she is listed as William's wife Anna Flegg and her two youngest children still named "Wharton".
What happened to Anna and John Wharton's children, Ellen and Arthur Wharton?
Having been abandoned by their mother into the workhouse I found them listed in the workhouse during 1881 whilst their mother had moved in with Charles Warren. Luckily for them the workhouse treated the children well and taught them valuable skills they could use when they left. I can't find her in the 1891 census for some reason but in 1901 Ellen is found working as a servant in Wortham to the farmer of Ling Farm. She was still living their in the 1911 census, but died shortly after it was taken in May 1911.
By 1891 at the age of 17 years old, Arthur John Wharton had left the workhouse and made his way up north to Royston in Yorkshire. The 1891 census says he was a Farm Servant. He eventually settled in Rotherham with his wife Louisa Hurst who he married in 1901. He took employment as a Railway Stoker and it appears that he remained doing that work for the rest of his working life. They went on to have six children born in Rotherham. Nellie (1902), Gladys (1904), Arthur (1905), Geoffrey (1907), Harry (1907) and Clifford (1909).