I bought this brilliant wedding photo from eBay back in February. It had a date and two names, so I thought that shouldn’t be a problem to identify the couple. Well, it wasn’t as straightforward as I thought it was going to be.

Searching all Wilson marriages in 1896 with the name Sydney or Sidney, I found no matches with the surname Shipley at all. So, I decided to try a search for 1895 and 1897 marriages, and there was only one that matched: Sydney Wilson marrying Mary Elizabeth Shipley in the third quarter of 1895, registered in Kendal, Westmorland.

Just to be sure, I enlisted the help of my good friend Linda, and we spent a few hours going through every marriage or possibility we could find on all sites, but no other record matched except this one. The bride was obviously known as Ella, which is a shortened name for Elizabeth. The date was only one year out.

Sydney Wilson was born on 22 December 1868 in Garstang, Lancashire. His parents were Charles Wilson (1813-1900) and Susanna Jesper (1828-1916). Sydney was the youngest of four sons that I’ve found the couple had. Alfred 1851-1922, Frederick Wilson 1861-1861, Albert Wilson 1862-1949 and Sydney 1868-1951. The family were Quakers. Sydney’s father, Charles Wilson, was an Elder.

“A Quaker elder is a member of the Quaker community who is appointed to primarily focus on the spiritual well-being of the meeting, responsible for maintaining the quality of worship, offering guidance and support to other members, and ensuring the meeting runs smoothly, with their role not necessarily based on age but rather on their spiritual maturity and ability to nurture others within the community; essentially acting as a spiritual leader within the Quaker meeting“.

We have some great information on this probate record. Alfred Wilson, a gentleman, Albert Wilson, a Chemist and Sydney Wilson was a Surveyor.

Sydney married Mary Elizabeth Shipley in the July Quarter of 1895 in Kendal, Westmorland. Volume 10b. Page 1097.

Mary Elizabeth Shipley was born in January 1869 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. Her parents were John Shipley and Hannah Smith (1837-1878). They were also Quakers. Quaker records are always so informative; below are two showing John Shipley’s birth in 1829.

Hannah was John’s second wife; his first wife was Hannah Bowman (1837-1858), who died just after the birth of her only child. Having two wives with the first name Hannah has also resulted in many family trees I’ve come across being totally wrong about this family!

In 1861, when their son John Bowman Shipley (1858-1910) was just two years old, John was listed on the 1861 census as a widower, butcher and grazier of 30 acres of land. Living in the marketplace at Uttoxeter.

John Shipley married Hannah Smith in the second quarter of 1866, registered in Liverpool, Lancashire. The couple had four children, three sons, Joseph Alfred b1867, William Henry b1872, Charles Edward b1873 and Mary Elizabeth b1869. After Hannah died in 1878, we find John and his family, including Mary Elizabeth and her three full brothers, and staff, in 1881, living at Natland Park (farm), Kendal.

In the following year, 1882, John Shipley married his third wife, Anna Jesper (1839-1933), a spinster; they had no children. The Jespers were also a Quaker family. If you recall, Sydney Wilson’s mother was also a Jesper, Susanna. They were indeed related; Anna was one of Susanna’s sisters. So Mary Elizabeth‘s stepmother was the sister of her mother-in-law. Some families do get complicated.

By the time of the 1911 census, the couple were living at the Carrs, Dimples Lane, Garstang, Lancashire, now called Tarnside. John Shipley died in March 1915, and Anna died in November 1933 at the age of 94.

Sydney and Mary Elizabeth on the 1921 census. Sydney’s occupation was as a Traveller for J.Bibby & Son Ltd, Liverpool. They were seed crushers. Their speciality was feeding stuff for cattle. They had 2,000 employees (in 1914). No children. This is the link to the family tree I’ve compiled on Ancestry: Ella Shipley and Sydney Wilson family tree

Sydney and Mary Elizabeth lived at Trem Y Coed, Sea Road, Abergele, Denbighshire, Wales. It looks to be a lovely area of Abergele with many detached houses. Trem Y Coed is still there!

Mary Elizabeth died in 1933. In 1939, Sydney is still living in the same house, with a Housekeeper and another couple living in part of the house.

Sydney died in December 1951 in Denbighshire at the age of 83. So they had no descendants to pass their lovely wedding photo on to.

So now we can almost certainly identify four people in the wedding photo apart from Sydney and Ella. They are no 1 Charles Wilson 1813-1900. no 2 Susanna Jesper 1828-1916, Sydney’s parents. No 3 John Shipley 1829-1915, Ella’s father, and Anna Jesper 1839-1933, John’s third wife and Ella’s stepmother. Obviously, there are other close family members also in the photo; you can see the likeness with the couple.

Are you a descendant of one of these families? If you are, please do get in touch either with a comment on here or via email to lynnswaffles@gmail.com. 

Till next time then………