Reuniting the tribes of Reuben and Judah

My great, great grandfather’s name was Reuben and he came from Preston in Lancashire. After the great lockout he left Preston to find new employment. He travel to Manchester and found work in Stockport for a couple of years. When this work came to an end he returned home looking for work on the way. He found work in a spinning mill at Withnell in Lancashire where he became spinning master. He raised his family in the near by Abbey Village. His son James and his grandson Reuben (my grandfather) also found work there. You can read a newspaper article (Preston Guardian 19/2/1910) about the four generations of Sankeys here. To read a tribute to my great, great grandfather click here. My great grandfather James born in 1857 married Elizabeth Miller Holl (b. 7/6/1851). She was born at 6 Church Street, Kington, Herefordshire. You can see a photo of the house as it looks now. When she was 18 she left Kington to be a housekeeper for the schoolmaster at Abbey Village in Lancashire which is when she met my gr. grandfather James. I am trying to discover what led her to apply for a job so far from home. I believe there may be a family connection somewhere. Elizabeth’s father was a Whitesmith (worker in tin and soft metals) and her mother Ann Marie was a Milliner (hat maker and decorator).

You can read an extract from an article in the Guarden Press, Choreley, which gives an insight into the great men of Withnell by clicking here. You can read about the influence they had on the life of the church through newspaper articles at the time of the 50th anniversaty of James' role as church organist by clicking here.

I have been researching my family through the census data from 1841 to 1901. You can read about my research here

When my father was 2 years old (1911)the mill at Withnell closed so my grandfather moved to Leigh where he found work in the local mill. Like his father before him he played the organ and used this gift to accompany the singing at Leigh Road Primitive Methodist Church . There is a family tradition of alternating the name Reuben and James for the eldest son. My brother Andrew should have been called Reuben, but my mother did not want that name so he was called Andrew. Andrew has continued the tradition and called his son James. It waits to be seen whether he in turn calls his son Reuben!
Ellen Berry my paternal grandmother born in Blackburn on 29/1/1885 was the youngest daughter of James Berry a coal dealer married to Margaret Parr. I am interested in knowing more about this side of the family as I married a Berry. I know she was living with her oldest sister married to Mr Loft who was a train driver at the local brickworks. When this closed down they emigrated to Canada. I am not sure at what point she met my grandfather. They raised 4 children and 2 more that died in infancy. My father was the oldest. As a boy he would travel around with his uncle Lawrence in a horse and trap delivering yeast. His father died aged 58 from TB. He received experimental medication to treat TB and this may have contributed to his death. My father was away at university at the time (he was at Wesley House Cambridge training to be a Methodist minister) and due to the war was not able to return home for the funeral. After he died my grandma supported the family by working at the munitions factory and kept chickens across the road as it was war time. My dad's sister Jasmine was only 11 at the time. Sometime later my grandma must have moved from Leigh into Bolton where she worshiped at Seymour Road Methodist chapel in the Bridge Street Circuit Bolton. My father went away to Reading university in 1928 to read physics with geography as an intermediate. It was in the Geography department that he first noticed my mum as 'the girl with the big atlas'. It took 10 years and the separation of two different continents (India and Africa) for my dad to start courting through the formality of letter writing. You can read more about this in my mum's memories here.

On my parents wedding day as they were signing the register, mum noticed that her father in law (deceased) was called Reuben and her father (also deceased) was called Judah - although he had always been known as George. (You can read more about the Roper side here.) My mum said to my father, “on this day the tribes of Reuben and Judah have been reunited!" Being united is a strong feature of our family. All their offspring have married and are with their original partners, as are those grandchildren who have married. This is a testimony to the prayers offered by my parents for their children, and their example of love and commitment. We praise God for family and spiritual ties. To read a tribute written by my brother for the Methodist minutes of conference go here.