Ann Winchurch (née Shaw) 1793-1875

Ann was my 2g grandmother, born in Dudley in 1793, died in Aston, Birmingham in 1875.
Update August 2019
Since I wrote the post below, I have taken the Ancestry autosomal DNA test.
This has led to some fascinating discoveries in my quest to identify my wider family.
I began quite soon to notice that there was no evidence from DNA links to confirm the identity of Ann as being born Ann (or Nancy) Brooks.
In fact I realised that I was getting closer matches with members of the Shaw family of Dudley than I would have expected as a result of my 4g grandmother (Thomas Winchurch's mother) being born Sarah Shaw.
To cut a long story short, I now believe that Ann was born Nancy Shaw to Benjamin and Hannah (nee Johnson) Shaw in Dudley in 1793.
She probably married Benjamin Shakespear in Kingswinford in 1814 - there is a corresponding marriage record.
It looks as though Benjamin was in the army and was discharged in 1815. He might have been involved and possibly injured in the Napoleonic wars. It appears that he died in 1817. A Benjamin Shakespear is recorded as dying in Worcester in that year which might have been him.
This would have left Ann Shakespear as a widow to marry Thomas Winchurch, widower (of Mary Holt) in Tipton, as recorded.
A further shred of documented evidence is that Ann and Thomas's first born was baptised Hannah, the name of Ann's mother if my theory is correct. Also  her youngest son Benjamin Winchurch (my great grandfather) has the Christian name of both her father and first husband.
DNA matches have linked me to known descendants of Benjamin and Hannah Shaw.

John Winchurch
Cornwall
23 August 2019



Almost a hundred years after her death, in 1973, my father, Francis Victor Winchurch was in correspondence with a fellow genealogist researching Shakespeare families and noted that:
“The following entries appear to be relevant to my problem:”
TIPTON
Thomas Winchurch married Ann Shakespeare at Tipton on 25 March 1820. He was 33, she was 27.
Both of them had been married before, since Thomas appears in the register as widr, Ann as widw.
DUDLEY
Baptism 10 Feb 1815 - Lucy d. of Joseph and Ann Shakespear (sic) of Netherton, Nailor
Burial 18 Aug 1816 - Lucy Shakespear, Dudley. 2 yrs.
Burial 11 Feb 1818 - Joseph Shakespear, Dudley. 31

I found a marriage record of Joseph Shakespear marrying Ann Brooks at Clent in the right time frame, but for the reasons given above, I have now dismissed this.

In any event Thomas Winchurch and Ann Shakespear were married in Tipton on 25 March 1820. It is likely that nine year old Sarah Winchurch, Thomas's daughter from his first marriage was present because she seems to have been close to her father and stepmother throughout their lives.

marriage certificate from Tipton

Interestingly, both Thomas and Ann made 'marks' rather than signing the marriage register. This may, however, have been the result of the curate John Howells either assuming that his parishioners could not sign their names or making the entries this way for speed.
On 20 June 1820 Hannah Winchurch daughter of Thomas and Ann was christened at St Thomas Dudley. (Note that there was less than three months between those two events ). Sadly, Hannah died the following year.

St James the Less (Birmingham) from Bishops Transcripts
Hannah d of Thomas and Ann Winchurch, Love Lane buried 30 Dec 1821 1½ years

Sometime between June 1820 and December 1821, Thomas and Ann had moved to Birmingham, to Love Lane in Aston to be precise, which was the home at which their next five children were born. 
Thomas was a glass blower, like his father, Paul and glass making was spreading eastwards from Dudley to Birmingham. In all probability they travelled on a barge on the newly constructed canal system between the Black Country and Birmingham. The same means of transport also helped Birmingham and particularly Aston to grow into a busy centre of industry and technology away from the basics of mining and forging that had nurtured Dudley and it surroundings for centuries. 
Aston was the 'Silicon Valley' of the early nineteenth century. Metalworking of all kinds flourished in the town. Artefacts made in Aston included buckles for shoes, blades, pins, nails, screws, bolts and buttons. Some craftsmen made brass fittings such as handles for coffins. There were also many gunsmiths, leather workers and some locksmiths. In the late 18th century glass making boomed in Stourbridge, Brierley Hill, Birmingham and Aston and continued in those areas well into the twentieth century.

Thomas and Ann had five children born at Love Lane :

Thomas bapt 31 Dec 1821 at St Philips Birmingham (must have died in infancy. Name reused, as was common)
Thomas bapt 30 Aug 1823 at St Philips Birmingham
Ann bapt 23 Jul 1825 at St Philips Birmingham
William bapt 2 Aug 1828 at St Philips Birmingham
(William) bapt 1 Jan 1830 at St Philips Birmingham

BUT that last entry is from the bishop's transcripts and has to be wrong. Benjamin (my great grandfather) was born on 3 December 1829 (so the date fits for his christening) and the first William was still alive.

By the time of the 1841 census the family was living at 3 Lord Street and now consisted of:
Thomas Winchurch, 50, Glass Maker, Not in county, (ie not born in Warwickshire ..Dudley was in Worcestershire)
Ann Winchurch, 50 ,Not in county,
Thomas Winchurch,19, Glass Maker,WAR,
Ann Winchurch 15 WAR,
William Winchurch,13, WAR,
Benjamin Winchurch,11, WAR,

So, all the ages are approximately right. Ann senior's date of birth as entered in documents such as censuses varied a lot through her lifetime but tellingly finished as eighty two on her death certificate in 1875, where her cause of death is listed as 'old age'. This finally confirms her year of birth in Dudley as 1793.
Notice that the 'second' William has become Benjamin, aged 11 in 1841, which agrees with Benjamin's birth date of  3 December 1829.

In the 1851 census, still at 3 Lord Street
ref. HO 107/2061
Aston 395/2/12
(note transcribed MINCHURCD by Find My Past - disputed twice by JW)
3 Lord Street Aston Birmingham
Thomas Winchurch Head 62 Glassmaker Warwickshire Warwick
Ann Winchurch Wife 47
Ann Winchurch Daughter 25 Dressmaker Birmingham
Benjamin Son 21 Glassblower Birmingham
Thomas Nephew 3 Birmingham

Thomas died on 27 February 1856 at the Cross Keys in Aston. Ann continued to run the pub after his death. 
There is a record of a robbery from the Birmingham Gazette: Saturday 29 September 1860:
'On Monday night, the house of Mrs Winchurch, Cross Keys, Lower Windsor Street, was entered by forcing the cellar grating and several boxes of cigars, £5 in gold and silver and a till containing a small sum in farthings and postage stamps were stolen; four boxes of cigars and the till were afterwards found at a short distance from the house.'

Benjamin had his own personalised tankard with his name and the Cross Keys logo engraved on it.

1861 Census
ref RG9 Reel 3
Cross Keys 45 Upper Windsor Street
Ann Winchurch Head Wid 68 Lic Vic Worcs Dudley
Ann Winchurch Dau UM 34 Dressmaker Birmingham
Benjamin Winchurch Son UM 31 Glassmaker Birmingham
Caroline Wain Serv UM 17 House servant Derby
By the time of the 1871 census, Ann was living with her daughter, also named Ann, who had married William John Hicken in 1865 when she was forty.

1871 Census
Front Of Brearley Street, Birmingham
HICKIN, Wm, Head, M 36 1835, Maltster, Warwickshire
HICKIN, Ann, Wife, F 40 1831, Warwickshire
WINCHURCH, Ann, Mother, F, 79, 1792, Licensed Victualler, Dudley, Worcestershire
Notice that she is still registered as a Licensed Victualler, but by this time her daughter Ann and husband William Hickin were running the Cross Keys.

Ann's death certificate records that she died of  'old age' Ladywood Birmingham on 19 April 1875, aged 82 - confirming her year of birth as 1793. Her daughter Ann Hicken was present at her death.
Ann and Thomas had at least sixteen grandchildren, one of whom was Percy Walter Winchurch, my grandfather. 
Percy often spoke of his Black Country roots. I believe that Ann Shaw was an important influence on the Winchurch family in terms of survival and prosperity.

John Winchurch
November 2012