Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
NameN.N. 
Spouses
1Emma Eccleston [19, The baptism of her son William Henry Eccleston on 30th April 1865 in Cannock], [19, The baptism of her son George Whitehouse on 30th April 1865 in Cannock], [4, 1871 ref: RG10, piece 2925, folio 68, p. 23], [4, 1881 ref: RG11, piece 2786, folio 40, Page 9], [4, 1891 ref: RG12, piece 2221, folio 142, p. 12], [4, 1901 ref: RG13, piece 2665, folio 7, p. 6]
[19, The baptism of her son William Henry Eccleston on 30th April 1865 in Cannock], [19, The baptism of her son George Whitehouse on 30th April 1865 in Cannock], [4, 1871 ref: RG10, piece 2925, folio 68, p. 23], [4, 1881 ref: RG11, piece 2786, folio 40, Page 9], [4, 1891 ref: RG12, piece 2221, folio 142, p. 12], [4, 1901 ref: RG13, piece 2665, folio 7, p. 6]ChildrenWilliam Henry (1864-ca1928)
Notes for N.N. & Emma (Family)
We know nothing of the father of William Henry Eccleston.
His did not marry Emma. William henry did not have his birth registered, so there was no opportunity to enter his name there.
The only record we have of William Henry’s birth is on the baptism register of St Luke’s Cannock for 30th April 1965, which turns out to be a Sunday.
Emma had taken both her children along to be baptised, the elder William Henry and the new-born George. Emma lived at Chelyn Hay and this was three or four miles from St Luke’s in Cannock. There were no buses and no trains in those days. People could cadge lifts from a carrier. My assumption is that she walked to St Luke’s. Could she have carried both children? I doubt it, probably someone carried William Henry, possibly this was her then husband John Whitehouse as it was on Sunday and most likely the mine did not work then. I think John would have been at the christening.
The baptism service was a mass baptism with about ten babies baptised on that Sunday. I have no idea how the mass baptism proceeded. There was little chance of making arrangement beforehand over the phone; I imagine that people just turned up, they were baptised and the priest asked for their names while doing so and other details when entering the register, or rather when entering his notebook prior to fair copy into the register.
At this stage, let us imagine that George was presented first, as his entry is prior to William Henry’s. Everything would have gone smoothly. He was fairly recently born and his parents were recently married too and it could even have been, the marriage at Walsall, a day or two before George was born. So George’s parents were indeed John and Emma Whitehouse, as entered on the register. Then William Henry was presented. Might Emma have said that he too was the son of her and John Whitehouse. Might the priest have noticed that William Henry was at least a year old and so was born well before John and Emma got married. Might the priest then have said sternly: “No you, John and Emma, are not his religiously defined parents. At the time of William Henry’s birth, you were not married, what was your name then, Emma?” So she gave the name of Eccleston and this was what was written down in the register, albeit with her married name on the line above!
The above account is to show that there is a case for concluding that William Henry’s father was none other than the father of all his brothers and sisters, John Whitehouse. For some strange reason, possibly to prove that the law was an ass, Emma then made sure that William Henry did not forget that he had been baptised William Henry Eccleston.
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In a different way my paternal grandfather was baptised with the surname of Powys. By the time his sister, the second of the children of his parents, he being the first, was born, his father, and mother, had changed their name to Powys-Lybbe and his sister was registered and baptised with that surname.
Through his childhood my grandfather was always called Powys-Lybbe. But he knew he was really ‘Powys’. So within three weeks after his 21st birthday he changed his name by deed-poll to Powys-Lybbe. It was open to William Henry to adopt the Whitehouse name once he was 21 but he chose not to do this; did he think that he was not Whitehouse? Or did he think that the law was an ass? Or did he not know he had that option? We shall never know.
____________________
His did not marry Emma. William henry did not have his birth registered, so there was no opportunity to enter his name there.
The only record we have of William Henry’s birth is on the baptism register of St Luke’s Cannock for 30th April 1965, which turns out to be a Sunday.
Emma had taken both her children along to be baptised, the elder William Henry and the new-born George. Emma lived at Chelyn Hay and this was three or four miles from St Luke’s in Cannock. There were no buses and no trains in those days. People could cadge lifts from a carrier. My assumption is that she walked to St Luke’s. Could she have carried both children? I doubt it, probably someone carried William Henry, possibly this was her then husband John Whitehouse as it was on Sunday and most likely the mine did not work then. I think John would have been at the christening.
The baptism service was a mass baptism with about ten babies baptised on that Sunday. I have no idea how the mass baptism proceeded. There was little chance of making arrangement beforehand over the phone; I imagine that people just turned up, they were baptised and the priest asked for their names while doing so and other details when entering the register, or rather when entering his notebook prior to fair copy into the register.
At this stage, let us imagine that George was presented first, as his entry is prior to William Henry’s. Everything would have gone smoothly. He was fairly recently born and his parents were recently married too and it could even have been, the marriage at Walsall, a day or two before George was born. So George’s parents were indeed John and Emma Whitehouse, as entered on the register. Then William Henry was presented. Might Emma have said that he too was the son of her and John Whitehouse. Might the priest have noticed that William Henry was at least a year old and so was born well before John and Emma got married. Might the priest then have said sternly: “No you, John and Emma, are not his religiously defined parents. At the time of William Henry’s birth, you were not married, what was your name then, Emma?” So she gave the name of Eccleston and this was what was written down in the register, albeit with her married name on the line above!
The above account is to show that there is a case for concluding that William Henry’s father was none other than the father of all his brothers and sisters, John Whitehouse. For some strange reason, possibly to prove that the law was an ass, Emma then made sure that William Henry did not forget that he had been baptised William Henry Eccleston.
____________________
In a different way my paternal grandfather was baptised with the surname of Powys. By the time his sister, the second of the children of his parents, he being the first, was born, his father, and mother, had changed their name to Powys-Lybbe and his sister was registered and baptised with that surname.
Through his childhood my grandfather was always called Powys-Lybbe. But he knew he was really ‘Powys’. So within three weeks after his 21st birthday he changed his name by deed-poll to Powys-Lybbe. It was open to William Henry to adopt the Whitehouse name once he was 21 but he chose not to do this; did he think that he was not Whitehouse? Or did he think that the law was an ass? Or did he not know he had that option? We shall never know.
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