It's not yet clear who the parents of John EDWARDS, engineer and millwright, born c.1794-1796 were.
There are severals theories.
Will of John EDWARDS 1803 theory
John EDWARDS' will, dated 22 Jan 1803, describes John as a plater of metals of Great Hampton Street, Birmingham. Great Hampton Street heads North West out of Birmingham towards Hockley and West Bromwich.
The will names his wife Sarah and children Thomas Davies EDWARDS, John, Elizabeth and Mary. His net worth was estimated at £2000. The theory is that his son John was John EDWARDS, millwright and engineer.
In the first paragraph he gives and bequeaths to Samuel JARVIS of West Bromwich , farmer and James HAYES of Little Charles Street, Birmingham, jobbing smith, the sum of £1300 which had been lent as a mortgage to a property in Chaddesley Corbett on trust to provide support for his widow, Sarah EDWARDS.
After her decease (or second marriage) then his four children were to receive equal portions. Thomas Davis also received property in Canon Street, Birmingham, one of six new built houses in Hockley in the parish of St Martin, Birmingham and Barr Beacon in Staffordshire. John also received dwelling houses in Canon Street, a house in Hockley and a fourth part of a brewing house. Elizabeth received a house in Hockley, a quarter of the brewhouse and two new shops. Mary got the two middle houses in Hockley and a quarter of the brewhouse, and two houses in Canon Street. His house in Great Hampton was to be managed in trust for his family until the children were 21 years old then liquidated. Should any of his children be married before they were 21 then they would receive £100 and nothing more.
In a codicil, dated 30 Jan 1803, he provides for his parents by bequeathing them the property that they were living in in Hockley and a pension to be paid by his wife and eldest son.
But would John's son John have been the right age?
The following children were baptized by John and Sarah EDWARDS in Birmingham, all at St Martin in the Bull Ring:
- Elizabeth on 30 Nov 1779
- Elizabeth on 8 July 1782
- Thomas 'David' on 23 Sep 1782.
- Sarah in Jun 1790
- Sarah Ann on 29 Jun 1792….died of decline aged 6 months.
- John on 25 Dec 1792
- John on 31 Jan 1794
The last of these could have been John, millwright.
There is no record of a Mary baptized in Birmingham by John and Sarah EDWARDS. There were, however, other possible baptisms:
- Mary EDWARDS baptized in Sutton Coldfield by John and Sarah EDWARDS on 3 Jun 1787. That was the only baptism by that couple in Sutton Coldfield, so potentially the family were living there temporarily.
- Mary EDWARDS baptized in Dudley on 29 Jul 1798 by John and Sarah EDWARDS.
This family's Mary married John SLATER in 1813, aged 21 and above, (witnessed by her sister Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE and brother John) and in 1871 was aged 83 when living with her niece Sarah A REEVES. This suggests that she was born before 1792 and in 1787-88 respectively and strongly indicates that hers was the Sutton Coldfield baptism on 1787.
Taking all these baptisms together it looks like there were two families:
- Elizabeth 1779, Thomas Davis 1782, Mary 1787, Sarah Ann 1792, John 1794
- Elizabeth 1782, Sarah 1790, John 1792
If this theory is true then John 1794, died of tuberculosis in 1844 leaving a wife Sarah (REYNOLDS) and at least seven children. If his mother outlived him
What happened to John putative siblings?
The admon of Thomas Davis EDWARDS of West Bromwich, Gentleman, was dated 23 Dec 1856. He died on 6 Feb 1854, intestate, a bachelor without parent. The estate went to Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE, widow, his sister. Why didn't Thomas Davis' money to his younger brother John ? Perhaps because his brother John had died in 1844 of TB? Perhaps this explains why John's sons were drawn to West Bromwich…their rich, single (gay?) uncle lived there, and now that their father had died, they were angling for their uncle's estate!
In 1851 Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE was a canal office keeper in West Bromwich, widow age 71, living with 2 unmarried daughters, and in 1861 ditto (but no longer a canal office keeper).
In 1861 Mary SLATER (John's youngest sister had married John SLATER in October 1813) was also living in West Bromwich, a widow living alone. In 1871 Mary was living in West Bromwich with her great niece, her sister Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE's granddaughter, Sarah Ann REEVES.
Coincidentally, Mary SLATER was also the name of a possible first wife of John EDWARDS, millwright. A John EDWARDS married Mary SLATER in St Peter & St Paul, Aston in 1820. Did the EDWARDS siblings, Mary and John, marry the SLATER siblings, John and Mary?
Some John EDWARDS, senior, back story...
John EDWARDS, d.1803, was a plater, money lender and property developer. He was issued a game certificate in 1794 and 1798 [Aris' Gazette 29 Sep 1794 and 10 Sep 1798].
A John EDWARDS married a Sarah DAVIS on 1 Oct 1778 in Edgbaston on 1 Oct 1778 which explains Thomas Davi(e)s EDWARDS' name. An alternative is that he was the John EDWARDS who married Sarah ASKEY, daughter of Thomas ASKEY d 1801, however this marriage doesn't explain the "Davis" and is too late for the baptism of Elizabeth in 1779 and requires the awkward baptisms of Elizabeth and Thomas Davis in July and September 1782.
The outstanding challenges for this theory to address are:
- where is the direct evidence to link John EDWARDS' wife Sarah (REYNOLDS) or his children to the above family?
- where did the inheritance go? why were Sarah and the children poor and engaged in manual labour?
- why was John living on Unett Street in 1841 when there were multiple family properties in that area?
Was Engineering a family profession? A longer shot theory!
The EDWARDS of Bermondsey and Neath:
In April 1811 Messrs Woolf and Edwards demonstrated Woolf's new high-pressure compound steam engine design at their premises on Mill Street, Bermondsey. Alfred WOOLF and Humphrey EDWARDS had formed a partnership in 1806.
On the east side of Mill Street were warehouses lining St Saviour's Dock (an inlet of the Thames) and on the west side were factories including flour and rice mills and a cooperage.
The tests demonstrated huge efficiency gains over Boulton and Watt's steam engine design by measuring the amount of wheat that could be ground using a measured amount of coal in a given time. In attendance as a witness was Richard Trevithick, whose locomotive engine had completed the world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey seven years earlier, and "John Edwards, engineer".1
It's likely that this John EDWARDS was the millwright John EDWARDS (1738-1819) son of Humphrey EDWARDS of Neath (1697-1768) and brother to a third Humphrey EDWARDS (1747-1806) also a millwright.
John had travelled to London from Neath to seek his fortune with his uncle John NASH, a millwright and later father to John NASH the famous architect. This John, who did a lot of work for water companies, lived in Lambeth where the engine tests were conducted.
Following the demonstration the patent and business were to be sold, and Woolf returned to Cornwall later that year, but the partnership wasn't dissolved until 1822. The "best flour mill in England ... that well-known STEAM ENGINE and FLOUR MILL, which has for some time been at work at H. Edwards's Steam Engine Manufactory, Mill-street, Lambeth Walk was put up for auction on 17 Feb 1812 at Jack's Coffee-house, Corn Exchange, Mark-lane.2
Woolf and Trevithick are lauded as the creators of the steam engine, with Woolf's improvements widely acknowledged, but Humphrey EDWARDS was largely forgotten for any part he played, but the Woolf compound steam engine manufactured by Humphrey EDWARDS was popular in France where the price of coal was high. An 1827 report of the French coal mines in Anzin, stated that 15 of Edwards's engines were being used in the extraction of coal, and following the 1811 he focussed on the French market. One of his engines supplied water to west Paris and the Left Bank. Humphrey had a son Henry Hind EDWARDS who inherited the business but gave up in 1847, joining the Paris Railway Company in Strasbourg. This French connection suggests that Humphrey was not John EDWARDS' father, and there is no evidence he had a son called John.
Whether Humphrey EDWARDS of Bermondsey was in some way related to the Humphrey EDWARDS of Neath if unclear, but the use of the name Humphrey appears more than coincidence.
How does our John EDWARDS fit in?
In 1811, our John EDWARDS would have been 15. A possible baptism for John EDWARDS junior was conducted on 3 Apr 1796 at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, by John EDWARDs, bricklayer of "Five foot lanes", and Elizabeth his wife. This John was born 27 Feb 1796. The church is 5 minutes walk from Mill Street and "Five foot lane", which was later called Russell Street and is now called Tanner Street, ended at the beginning of Mill Street. Perhaps this older John EDWARDS was a brother to Humphrey? If so then our John EDWARDS could have apprenticed at Woolf and Edwards there and then struck out for himself in Birmingham after Humphrey left for France. The Woolf and Edwards engine had not been a commercial success in England, so his family may not have had much capital to invest in nephews.
Another tantalising connection is that it is believed (but not confirmed) that Humphrey EDWARDS of Neath was originally from Broseley Shropshire (a noted iron-making centre), and had migrated to Neath, where their employer has married advantageously and wanted to invest in local mills. While there is no baptism of this Humphrey in 1697, there is one in Kinnerley for a Humphrey EDWARDS son of Edward EDWARDS of Kynaston in 1693.
As yet there is no documented link between John EDWARDS the London and Neath EDWARDS, other than a baptism.
Elsewhere, on 11 Sep 1834, Messrs EDWARDS and Co, engineers, millwrights, brass and iron founders etc etc opened a new establishment in Hanley, Staffordshire. There is unconfirmed suggestion that this was a Joseph EDWARDS.
Was Reuben a family name?
A Reuben EDWARDS of the parish of St Dunstan-in-the-West, Fleet Street, Holborn, son of Benjamin and Hannah, born July 1790, had a non-conformist burial on Christmas Day 1791 at Spa Fields burial ground. No other children were baptized. A John EDWARDS was baptised in Birmingham by Benjamin EDWARDS and SARAH in Sep 1798
A Reuben EDWARDS of Uley, Gloucestershire was baptized by William and Sarah EDWARDS in Aug 1786. Other children: Elizabeth in 1782, Mary, William, George and Mary in 1791.
A Reuben EDWARDS of Denbigh was baptized by William, a stonemason, and Elizabeth in Oct 1793. Other children baptized but no John or other 'family' names.
A Reuben EDWARDS of Halesowen was baptized by Joseph and Anne in March 1803 in Cradley Park Lane Chapel. No John or other family names.
Was Matilda a family name?
A Matilda EDWARDS was baptized by John & Elizabeth in May 1802 at St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham4. This couple also baptized a John EDWARDS in November 1787 at the same church, but this John would have been too old.
Other clues
On 29 Jan 1827 notice was published in Aris's Birmingham Gazette of the dissolution a partnership between John EDWARDS and Samuel COY, of Great Brooke-street, Stone Masons. Could this have been John EDWARDS junior or senior?
Local wills
Richard EDWARDS probate 1802, all goods to Mary COOPER married Joseph COOPER 20 Aug 1799 as a widow named Mary EDWARDS, possibly Richard's then re-married wife, or a brother's widow.
Catharine EDWARDS, victualler or Bull Street, probate 1804. Children: Harriot Elizabeth HANCOCK, Eliza, George, Daniel and John. (This was wife of George.)