Cawley
McCawley family of Mobberley - with thanks to Ian Willett in Australia
The McCawley name may be Scottish in origin but at a McCawley family lived in Mobberley from about 1800, and a little earlier in Knutsford. The early history of the McCawley family in Mobberley is recorded by the inscription on Grave 555 at St Wilfred Parish Church. It reads “Underneath lie interred the remains of Jane Gent late of Mobberley who died 15 April 1793 in her 68th year. Also here lie the remains of Thomas Gent son of the above who was interred 5th September 1808 aged 15 years. Also Thomas McCawley son-in-law of the above Jane Gent interred February 4 1824 aged 72 years. Also Mary his wife interred November 9 1825 aged 62 years. Also Thomas McCawley of Mobberley interred May 19 1867 aged 74 years. Also Fanny his wife interred March 18 1875 aged 85 years”
Thomas McCawley (1752-1824) married Mary Gent in Knutsford in 1794. His name was recorded as MacKcauley but he signed his name McAuley, illustrating only a couple of the many variations in the spelling of the name. Mary made a mark on the marriage record indicating she could not write. Their son, also Thomas McCawley (1793-1867), was born in Knutsford about the time of his father’s marriage. In 1823 Thomas McCauley was living in Mobberley in a property owned by Ann Lowndes. This may have been the son, as he married Fanny Lowndes in 1820 in Mobberley. Both made a mark on their marriage entry rather than a signature. Thomas Jr lived most of his life in Town Lane and worked as an agricultural labourer.
Thomas and Fanny were to have eight children and some information has survived for four of them: Robert (b 1822), Richard (1835-1917), Joseph (1836-1890) and Mary.
Some of the family dropped the “Mc” or “Mac” from the surname between 1856 and 1871.
Robert McCawley (b 1822)
From Mobberley to Van Diemen’s Land, at Her Majesty’s Behest
Robert was born in 1822 but there are no records of baptisms for him or his 7 known siblings at Mobberley Parish Church. Robert’s conviction for theft in Knutsford and his transportation to Tasmania has left a trail of information about him, which is lacking for his more law-abiding relatives. One of his convict records confirm his parents as Thomas and Fanny, and his brother as Richard.
His younger sister Mary had an illegitimate child, Margaret McCawley, on 19 August 1843 at Nether Knutsford, which was reported to the Registrar by the master of the workhouse. I mention this to illustrate the very poor circumstances of the family around the 1840s.
Robert was convicted for stealing 28 lb (12.6 kg) of flour from his employer, Richard Toft, of Booth Mill, and was sentenced to 7 years’ transportation at Knutsford assizes on 11th April, 1842. On the same day his mother Fanny (aged 44) was found not guilty of receiving stolen goods. It looks like Robert may have stolen the flour when working as a miller, and gave it to his mother, and, I guess, there was insufficient evidence to convict her. It was just as well that she was released as she had at least 3, maybe 6, of her children in her care, and in 1851 also had granddaughter Margaret at home.
Booth Mill, Knutsford, continued to grind corn into the late 19th century but has since been demolished and the mill pond in-filled and the area re-developed. It was located at the boundary of the parishes of Knutsford and Mobberley where the connecting road (now the B5085) crosses Birkin Brook.
Robert was transported in the ship Henrietta from London on 1st July, 1843, and on 19th November, 1843, arrived in Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (renamed Tasmania in 1856). On arrival he was healthy, 5’ 7¾” (172 cm) tall, had dark brown hair, and was able to read and write. He had a crippled left wrist and had lost a finger, and had a scarred face, perhaps from workplace injuries?
Soon after arrival he worked for 15 months in a convict gang stationed at Victoria Valley in the remote (then and now) centre of Tasmania. In the 1840s convict gangs were deployed in this area to build roads and a dam, so perhaps he was involved with that.
The day after his release from his first stage of probation on 18th February, 1845, he was assigned to work for Peter Degraves, but he was still not a free man. Perhaps Robert’s background in milling led to this position. In contrast to many of his fellow convicts, including his wife-to-be, Robert mostly kept out of trouble, although he received a short sentence of hard labour for being found in someone’s bedroom.
Robert married Margaret Smith (b 1818) on 20th September, 1847, in Hobart. Their marriage record describes him as a miller so he must have returned to his original trade.
Margaret departed London on the Woodbridge on 3rd September, 1843, and arrived in Hobart on 25th December, 1843. On arrival she was described as dark and rather short but in good health, and accompanied by a child. She could read but was unable to write. Her Old Bailey trial records and convict documents show that she was from Tottenham Court Road, London. She pleaded guilty to the theft of several household items including silverware and 2 valuable watches belonging to James Hunter of Clerkenwell (central London) on 3rd July, 1843. She was sentenced to 10 years’ transportation.
You could say Margaret had an “interesting” past, as her husband Andrew Ryan was transported to Sydney 12 years before her, her husband in 1843 was said to be called James, and the father of her child was someone else, Mr Odall. Records note her former name was Margaret Ryan. Perhaps she had family in Hobart as the wedding witnesses were both Smiths, but I suspect that Smith was an assumed name. She was assigned to work for a Mr McMichael, a baker. She continued with petty crimes in Hobart including neglect of her work duties and drunkenness. The petty crimes delayed her conditional pardon until September 1851. Robert received his ticket of leave on 3rd August, 1847. Full pardons were needed for return to the UK and it is probable that Robert and Margaret never returned to England. I did not find any records to show that they had children in Tasmania.
Richard Cawley 1835-1917
Mobberley textile worker, cricket official and Toft farmer
Richard was born in 1835 - one of the younger sons of Thomas McCawley (1793-1867) and Fanny Lowndes (1790-1875). His first job, recorded in 1851, was when he was 17 working as a factory hand, followed by several years working as a labourer and a porter, presumably at the Crape Mill. He marked rather than signed his name on his marriage record from Manchester, but was able to sign documents later in life. He married Martha Maddocks (born 1836, Crosmere, Shropshire, the daughter of Mary and Thomas, a builder). In 1871 and 1881 he was overseeing crape production. In 1881 the family lived at Lake House, Mill Lane, which was presumably next to the reservoir used to provide water to the mill. The crape mill was closed down 1887 and was demolished in 1891.
From 1885 to 1891 he was listed as holding tenanted land and was farming at Hill House, Wood Lane, again with his wife and three daughters. The houses in 1881 and 1891 census years seem large but the census records do not suggest that the family shared the houses with others.
Richard Cawley must have moved from Mobberley to Toft after census night 1891 as by early 1892 as he was listed in a directory as a farmer at Toft, and the Electoral Roll of that year showed him as an occupier of land and tenements (“successive”) at Knutsford Road, Toft. In 1901 and 1911 he was still at the Dairy Farm, Toft, just outside Knutsford. In 1901 he lived with his widowed son-in-law George Edward Willett and baby grandson Richard (Dick) Willett as well as his wife Martha and widowed daughter Mary (Kinsey). GE Willett had remarried and moved to Mobberley by 1911, and the Cawleys raised Dick at Toft.
Martha died in 1914, Richard in 1917, and Mary in 1918, leaving the farm tenancy in the hands of Dick as a very young man. Probate from Richard’s will was granted to GE Willett and his daughter Mary Kinsey, with a value of £1,813 1s 6d, a large sum considering his difficult start in life.
Joseph Cawley 1836-1890: Textile worker
Joseph was born in 1836 and married Sarah Ann Swaile at St Wilfrid’s in 1864. By 1871 Joseph and Mary Ann and their young daughters, Anne and Ada, lived at Lake House, Mobberley Mill. From at least 1881 to 1888 he rented a house in Spout Lane, and in 1881 he lived there with Sarah Ann and their six children.
Joseph worked at the Crape Mill from 1851 to 1881, latterly as a crape finisher. He was perhaps one of the two men who, when the Crepe Mill closed down around 1887, went to Germany to help reinstall and commission machinery from the mill. Descendants of his brother Richard recollected a family story that he invented a new process for waterproofing black crape and that Joseph had gone to Germany to sell the ideas. He died in 1890 at Vohwinkel (to the east of Dusseldorf). Sarah Ann, now widowed, moved to Collyhurst and then Ardwick, in Manchester. Their eldest child Annie had died aged 17 in 1885 and is buried at St Wilfrid's. Ada, born in 1870, is noted several times in the school log as she qualified as a teacher. She later married a German, Anton Hubert Braun, in Chorlton and moved to London where in 1911 he taught German and she started working as a secretary to a philanthropist. What happened to them once the Great War broke out is not clear. Joseph, born in 1872, worked as a butler and married in Yorkshire in 1908. Richard, born in 1874 was a living with his mother in Manchester in 1901 and working as a mechanical fitter. Kate, born in 1877, married Samuel James Tocher in 1902 but died in 1904 giving birth to daughter Joyce. A few years later Samuel married Kate's younger sister Fanny. The youngest member of the family, William, born in 1882 also became a teacher and by 1911 was married and working in Sutton Weaver. William answered the call for volunteers and joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery at Frodsham on 10th December, 1915. He survived the war and was demobilised in February 1919. He seemed to have escaped serious injury but was treated for illnesses in Cayeau and Le Havre (France) and returned to England for treatment at the Military hospital at Sutton Veny. He returned to teaching elementary school. The Register of 1939 showed William and his wife Georgina, both aged 82, were still living in the Runcorn area.
The McCawley name may be Scottish in origin but at a McCawley family lived in Mobberley from about 1800, and a little earlier in Knutsford. The early history of the McCawley family in Mobberley is recorded by the inscription on Grave 555 at St Wilfred Parish Church. It reads “Underneath lie interred the remains of Jane Gent late of Mobberley who died 15 April 1793 in her 68th year. Also here lie the remains of Thomas Gent son of the above who was interred 5th September 1808 aged 15 years. Also Thomas McCawley son-in-law of the above Jane Gent interred February 4 1824 aged 72 years. Also Mary his wife interred November 9 1825 aged 62 years. Also Thomas McCawley of Mobberley interred May 19 1867 aged 74 years. Also Fanny his wife interred March 18 1875 aged 85 years”
Thomas McCawley (1752-1824) married Mary Gent in Knutsford in 1794. His name was recorded as MacKcauley but he signed his name McAuley, illustrating only a couple of the many variations in the spelling of the name. Mary made a mark on the marriage record indicating she could not write. Their son, also Thomas McCawley (1793-1867), was born in Knutsford about the time of his father’s marriage. In 1823 Thomas McCauley was living in Mobberley in a property owned by Ann Lowndes. This may have been the son, as he married Fanny Lowndes in 1820 in Mobberley. Both made a mark on their marriage entry rather than a signature. Thomas Jr lived most of his life in Town Lane and worked as an agricultural labourer.
Thomas and Fanny were to have eight children and some information has survived for four of them: Robert (b 1822), Richard (1835-1917), Joseph (1836-1890) and Mary.
Some of the family dropped the “Mc” or “Mac” from the surname between 1856 and 1871.
Robert McCawley (b 1822)
From Mobberley to Van Diemen’s Land, at Her Majesty’s Behest
Robert was born in 1822 but there are no records of baptisms for him or his 7 known siblings at Mobberley Parish Church. Robert’s conviction for theft in Knutsford and his transportation to Tasmania has left a trail of information about him, which is lacking for his more law-abiding relatives. One of his convict records confirm his parents as Thomas and Fanny, and his brother as Richard.
His younger sister Mary had an illegitimate child, Margaret McCawley, on 19 August 1843 at Nether Knutsford, which was reported to the Registrar by the master of the workhouse. I mention this to illustrate the very poor circumstances of the family around the 1840s.
Robert was convicted for stealing 28 lb (12.6 kg) of flour from his employer, Richard Toft, of Booth Mill, and was sentenced to 7 years’ transportation at Knutsford assizes on 11th April, 1842. On the same day his mother Fanny (aged 44) was found not guilty of receiving stolen goods. It looks like Robert may have stolen the flour when working as a miller, and gave it to his mother, and, I guess, there was insufficient evidence to convict her. It was just as well that she was released as she had at least 3, maybe 6, of her children in her care, and in 1851 also had granddaughter Margaret at home.
Booth Mill, Knutsford, continued to grind corn into the late 19th century but has since been demolished and the mill pond in-filled and the area re-developed. It was located at the boundary of the parishes of Knutsford and Mobberley where the connecting road (now the B5085) crosses Birkin Brook.
Robert was transported in the ship Henrietta from London on 1st July, 1843, and on 19th November, 1843, arrived in Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (renamed Tasmania in 1856). On arrival he was healthy, 5’ 7¾” (172 cm) tall, had dark brown hair, and was able to read and write. He had a crippled left wrist and had lost a finger, and had a scarred face, perhaps from workplace injuries?
Soon after arrival he worked for 15 months in a convict gang stationed at Victoria Valley in the remote (then and now) centre of Tasmania. In the 1840s convict gangs were deployed in this area to build roads and a dam, so perhaps he was involved with that.
The day after his release from his first stage of probation on 18th February, 1845, he was assigned to work for Peter Degraves, but he was still not a free man. Perhaps Robert’s background in milling led to this position. In contrast to many of his fellow convicts, including his wife-to-be, Robert mostly kept out of trouble, although he received a short sentence of hard labour for being found in someone’s bedroom.
Robert married Margaret Smith (b 1818) on 20th September, 1847, in Hobart. Their marriage record describes him as a miller so he must have returned to his original trade.
Margaret departed London on the Woodbridge on 3rd September, 1843, and arrived in Hobart on 25th December, 1843. On arrival she was described as dark and rather short but in good health, and accompanied by a child. She could read but was unable to write. Her Old Bailey trial records and convict documents show that she was from Tottenham Court Road, London. She pleaded guilty to the theft of several household items including silverware and 2 valuable watches belonging to James Hunter of Clerkenwell (central London) on 3rd July, 1843. She was sentenced to 10 years’ transportation.
You could say Margaret had an “interesting” past, as her husband Andrew Ryan was transported to Sydney 12 years before her, her husband in 1843 was said to be called James, and the father of her child was someone else, Mr Odall. Records note her former name was Margaret Ryan. Perhaps she had family in Hobart as the wedding witnesses were both Smiths, but I suspect that Smith was an assumed name. She was assigned to work for a Mr McMichael, a baker. She continued with petty crimes in Hobart including neglect of her work duties and drunkenness. The petty crimes delayed her conditional pardon until September 1851. Robert received his ticket of leave on 3rd August, 1847. Full pardons were needed for return to the UK and it is probable that Robert and Margaret never returned to England. I did not find any records to show that they had children in Tasmania.
Richard Cawley 1835-1917
Mobberley textile worker, cricket official and Toft farmer
Richard was born in 1835 - one of the younger sons of Thomas McCawley (1793-1867) and Fanny Lowndes (1790-1875). His first job, recorded in 1851, was when he was 17 working as a factory hand, followed by several years working as a labourer and a porter, presumably at the Crape Mill. He marked rather than signed his name on his marriage record from Manchester, but was able to sign documents later in life. He married Martha Maddocks (born 1836, Crosmere, Shropshire, the daughter of Mary and Thomas, a builder). In 1871 and 1881 he was overseeing crape production. In 1881 the family lived at Lake House, Mill Lane, which was presumably next to the reservoir used to provide water to the mill. The crape mill was closed down 1887 and was demolished in 1891.
From 1885 to 1891 he was listed as holding tenanted land and was farming at Hill House, Wood Lane, again with his wife and three daughters. The houses in 1881 and 1891 census years seem large but the census records do not suggest that the family shared the houses with others.
Richard Cawley must have moved from Mobberley to Toft after census night 1891 as by early 1892 as he was listed in a directory as a farmer at Toft, and the Electoral Roll of that year showed him as an occupier of land and tenements (“successive”) at Knutsford Road, Toft. In 1901 and 1911 he was still at the Dairy Farm, Toft, just outside Knutsford. In 1901 he lived with his widowed son-in-law George Edward Willett and baby grandson Richard (Dick) Willett as well as his wife Martha and widowed daughter Mary (Kinsey). GE Willett had remarried and moved to Mobberley by 1911, and the Cawleys raised Dick at Toft.
Martha died in 1914, Richard in 1917, and Mary in 1918, leaving the farm tenancy in the hands of Dick as a very young man. Probate from Richard’s will was granted to GE Willett and his daughter Mary Kinsey, with a value of £1,813 1s 6d, a large sum considering his difficult start in life.
Joseph Cawley 1836-1890: Textile worker
Joseph was born in 1836 and married Sarah Ann Swaile at St Wilfrid’s in 1864. By 1871 Joseph and Mary Ann and their young daughters, Anne and Ada, lived at Lake House, Mobberley Mill. From at least 1881 to 1888 he rented a house in Spout Lane, and in 1881 he lived there with Sarah Ann and their six children.
Joseph worked at the Crape Mill from 1851 to 1881, latterly as a crape finisher. He was perhaps one of the two men who, when the Crepe Mill closed down around 1887, went to Germany to help reinstall and commission machinery from the mill. Descendants of his brother Richard recollected a family story that he invented a new process for waterproofing black crape and that Joseph had gone to Germany to sell the ideas. He died in 1890 at Vohwinkel (to the east of Dusseldorf). Sarah Ann, now widowed, moved to Collyhurst and then Ardwick, in Manchester. Their eldest child Annie had died aged 17 in 1885 and is buried at St Wilfrid's. Ada, born in 1870, is noted several times in the school log as she qualified as a teacher. She later married a German, Anton Hubert Braun, in Chorlton and moved to London where in 1911 he taught German and she started working as a secretary to a philanthropist. What happened to them once the Great War broke out is not clear. Joseph, born in 1872, worked as a butler and married in Yorkshire in 1908. Richard, born in 1874 was a living with his mother in Manchester in 1901 and working as a mechanical fitter. Kate, born in 1877, married Samuel James Tocher in 1902 but died in 1904 giving birth to daughter Joyce. A few years later Samuel married Kate's younger sister Fanny. The youngest member of the family, William, born in 1882 also became a teacher and by 1911 was married and working in Sutton Weaver. William answered the call for volunteers and joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery at Frodsham on 10th December, 1915. He survived the war and was demobilised in February 1919. He seemed to have escaped serious injury but was treated for illnesses in Cayeau and Le Havre (France) and returned to England for treatment at the Military hospital at Sutton Veny. He returned to teaching elementary school. The Register of 1939 showed William and his wife Georgina, both aged 82, were still living in the Runcorn area.