John EDWARDS was a machinist, engineer and millwright. This information is confirmed on all his children's marriage certificates, although he didn't live long enough to see any marry. Perhaps tellingly, the older children described him as a machinist and engineer, while the younger ones, who would have been 8 and 4 when he died, described him as a millwright as he self-identified on the 1841 census return. That census also records that he was also born in Warwickshire, but the same answer was recorded for his wife Sarah, even though we know that she was from Shropshire.

His death certificate of 1844 confirms that he was both engineer and millwright. So perhaps John was a machinist in the 1830s, then an engineer, and becoming a millwright shortly before his death in 1844.

A millwright and engineer at the beginning of the 19th century would have been responsible for the construction and maintenance of all the mechanical devices within a mill. This would include grinding cereals, brewers, manufacturing or any other endeavour. Millwrights tended to work on the moving parts while engineers would be more concerned with the steam engines that were increasingly replacing water, horse or human power. A millwright would have had to apprentice to a master millwright, but Birmingham was more liberal and the demand for expertise would enable John to expand his role.

John's origins

A family oral memory has it that John only spoke Welsh, however his marriages to women with English names suggests that this is not entirely accurate, but Welsh might have been his parents native tongue.

At the time of 1841 census John was '50', i.e. 50-54 years old, suggesting a birth year of 1790-1795. His 1844 death certificate gives an age of 49 suggesting a birth year of 1794/5.

In his son Enoch's marriage announcement, John is described as the late Mr. Edwards of Aston.

Possible baptisms

There are a number of candidate births for John in Birmingham, so it not possible to confirm which, if any Birmingham birth is correct. Possible Birmingham baptisms include:

• 1791 by John and Mary
• 1792 by John and Sarah - see Theory B
• 1793 by Joseph and Sarah. Also baptized: Mary 1796 and Ann 1798 - see Theory C
• 1794 by John and Sarah - see Theory A
• 1798 by Benjamin and Sarah. Benjamin and Sarah WOODALL m. 1785 - see Theory D
• 1799 by George EDWARDS and Catharine PAGE (twin of sister Catharine) - married 1789 in Wolverhampton. Too late. John had no child named Catharine.
• 1799 John EDWARDS and Rebecca. John and Rebecca PARKES married in 1792. Too late.
• 1800 by John and Lucy (FAWDRY). This baptism can be ruled out as Lucy mentions her deceased son John in her 1823 will.

Theory A - The best fit baptism by date. John is the son of John EDWARDS, plater of metal, died 1803 and his wife Sarah DAVIS

A possible christening for John Edwards is on 31 Jan 1794 at St Martin, Birmingham, by John and Sarah EDWARDS. They also christened a daughter Sarah Ann on 29 Jun 1792, who died of 'decline' and was buried on 13 Nov 1792. This John was a plater of metals, money lender and property developer. He was issued a game certificate in 1794 and 1798 [Aris' Gazette 29 Sep 1794 and 10 Sep 1798]. He died in 1803 when John was 8 leaving a will naming his wife and children, Elizabeth, Thomas .

The couple had several children, but confusingly, another John and Sarah EDWARDS were also raising a family at the time time and place. The following children were baptized by a 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.
• Mary on Jun 1787 in Sutton Coldfield. (Mary married John SLATER in 1813, by license aged 21 and above. The license was co-signed by John EDWARDS. The reason for the license is unclear: both were of age and of this parish. Could the license be needed to satisfy the will's condition or after the death of her parents. Mary's marriage was witnessed by her sister Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE and brother John. 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. )
• 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

There are two marriage records that might fit with the two families:

• John EDWARDS married Sarah DAVIS on 1 Oct 1778 in Edgbaston on 1 Oct 1778
• John EDWARDS married Sarah ASKEY, daughter of Thomas ASKEY d 1801

Given the timing it looks like the two families' children were as follows:

• John EDWARDS and Sarah DAVIS: Elizabeth 1779, Thomas Davis 1782, Mary 1787, Sarah Ann 1792-1792, John 1794
• John EDWARDS and Sarah ASKEY: Elizabeth 1782, Sarah 1790, John 1792

This is corroborated by John EDWARDS senior's 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. Their daughter Sarah had died in infancy. His net worth was estimated at £2000.

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.

The advantage of this theory is that John would have been born in 1794 which matches the census and death certificate dates perfectly.

The key issues with this theory are:

• It is thought that John EDWARDS was unable to sign his own name (as evidenced on the record of his marriage to Sarah REYNOLDS.) Given the wealth of the family it would be strange for a son not to have been able to sign their name. And this family's John was able to co-sign and seal his sister Mary's marriage license alongside her husband John SLATER.
• If this was John's family then where did his inheritance go? Why is he living in a yard off Unett Street?
• There is no obvious link between John's family and his putative siblings (yet discovered):
• 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 parents. The estate went to Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE, widow, his sister. John had already died, but his surviving family received nothing.
• 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 (she 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. This confirms that Mary and Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE nee EDWARDS were sisters.

Theory B - John is the son of John EDWARDS and his wife Sarah ASKEY

If John was part of the second family described above then the census and death certificate would need to be off by a couple of years, which in the 1840s was not unreasonable. It would explain why no inheritance was received, and why John could not sign his own name.

If correct, and it was this John that married Elizabeth SLATER in 1820, then it would appear that he named his first two children after his sisters Elizabeth and Sarah.

Theory C - John is the son of Joseph EDWARDS and his wife Sarah

In this scenario, John would have been baptized in 1793 by Joseph and Sarah, that is closer to the target 1794/5. The couple also baptized Mary in 1796 and Ann in 1798. There was no obvious marriage in Birmingham, but further afield, for example:

• Joseph EDWARDS, cordwainer, married Sarah WOOD in Nuneaton in 1791. Both Joseph and Sarah were literate.
• Joseph EDWARDS married Sarah COLLINGS in Wolverhampton on 5 Nov 1792.

If this theory is correct then John's sisters would have been Mary and Ann. John's first child with his first wife was Sarah Ann, his second named for his first wife, and his first child with second wife was called Maria. So consistent, if this kind of naming was important to him.

Theory D - John is the son of Benjamin EDWARDS and his wife Sarah WOODALL

Benjamin and Sarah WOODALL married in 1785. Their son John EDWARDS was born in 1798, which is inconsistent with his age in 1841 and his death certificate.

Their children might have included: Benjamin 1791, Sarah 1793, John 1793, Sarah 1795 and Benjamin 1803. The names suggest that infant mortality was high, and the number of burials of children with these names at this time means that its not possible to know which, if any, of these survived.

Theory X - Something else

A John EDWARDS, boot maker aged 80 and born outside of Warwickshire, appeared in the 1841 census, with Elizabeth EDWARDS, 50 and Hannah GRIFFIN, 50. Hannah Maria EDWARDS, daughter of John EDWARDS and a minor, married Richard GRIFFIN, draper, in 1810 by license.

Possible Genetic connection

A DNA relative of Paul Weaver has GG Grandparents called William Thomas and Gladys Ivy EDWARDS. William Thomas was born on 16 Mar 1895 (1939 Register) and was a cabinet maker.

William Thomas' parents were James and Eliza EDWARDS of Blackheath, Rowley Regis, Staffordshire. His eldest brother was called Enoch.

James EDWARD was a gas tube maker and born in Rowley Regis in about 1869 (1901 census). In 1891 he was working as labourer at the furnaces, living with his widowed mother Rosehannah EDWARDS b ~1837, a nail maker, and his wife Eliza and son Enoch. Also in the house were James' siblings Selina 16, Willie 14, and John 10. (1891 Census). James' father was Enoch EDWARDS, a carter, born in ~1836 in Rowley Regis (1881 census).

In 1871 Enoch EDWARDS, then a coal miner, was living with his wife Rosanna (PAYNE), daughters Mary A 14, a nailer, Emily 4 and James 2. (1871 Census). In 1861 he and 'Rosannah' were living in Blackheath with daughters Mary A and Amelia. (1861 Census) Enoch's father was John EDWARDS.

John EDWARDS was a coal miner, born in about 1805 in Cock Green, Rowley Regis, Staffordshire. In 1841, he was a coal miner living with his wife Hannah and 6 children in Blackheath. His children were William 16, Selina 15 (mother Hannah), Elizabeth 13, John 11, Joseph 8 and Enoch 6. In 1851 he was living in Blackheath with wife Elizabeth and son John 20, Joseph 18 and 'Enock' 14. (1851 Census)

John's parents may have been William and Mary EDWARDS, of Rowley Regis who baptized a John on 2 Jun 1805. Other children baptized include: Elizabeth 1794, Hannah 1796, Nancy, Joseph, Leah, John 1805, William, Thomas and Samuel 1813. William married Mary HACKITT in February 1794 in Rowley Regis. A burial of a William EDWARDS in Rowley Regis in 1830 gives his ages as 57, i.e., born in ~1773.

Despite the DNA connection and the name Enoch, there is no evidence of a recent connection between William Thomas EDWARDS' family and John EDWARDS, millwright of Birmingham. It is a coincidence that both families had a John EDWARDS who had a son, Enoch, born between 1836-1840.

Enoch EDWARDS engineer to the Birmingham Fire Office

The court testimony of Enoch EDWARDS, engineer to the Birmingham Fire Office, was reported in the Birmingham Journal on 10 Aug 1839. He had attempted to attend the fires lit by rioters, but had been assaulted in the process.¹⁰ Could this have been John's brother?

John's first marriage

There were many marriages between a John EDWARDS that could potentially be John's first wife - see Additional notes below - but only one that identifies John as an engineer and has his first wife dying shortly before he remarried as a widower.

In 1820, a John EDWARDS married Elizabeth SLATER. Neither bride nor groom were able to sign their names. The couple had two children: Sarah Ann in 1822 and Elizabeth in 1824. In both cases the couple were living on Constitution Hill and John is an engineer. Their use of the name Sarah explains why John and his second wife, Sarah, did not name one of their daughters Sarah after their mother.

Elizabeth EDWARDS, wife of John EDWARDS of Constitution Hill, died (probably in childbirth) in 1826, which correlates with John marrying Sarah REYNOLDS in 1827.

The only lose end is the witness to Elizabeth's marriage to Nathaniel TWIGG was Ann EDWARDS. Who was Ann EDWARDS?

John's second marriage

John married Sarah REYNOLDS, born in Kinlet, Staffordshire, in January 1827, and they baptised their first child in December that year. At the time of this marriage, John was a widower. He was unable to sign his own name. In modern times it seems strange for an engineer and millwright not to be able to write. We know that John was also a machinist from his daughter Sophia's marriage record, so a natural progression from apprentice machinist to engineer to millwright might not leave time for book-learning.

We know for certain that Sarah REYNOLDS was John's second wife because Reuben, Stephen and Andrew Enoch's baptismal record her maiden name.

John and Sarah had seven children between 1827 and 1840.

John's death

John died of consumption (tuberculosis) on 7 September 1844 at home at 1 Court, New Summer Street in the presence of his wife Sarah. He was buried in the Chapelry of St Paul, in the parish of St Martin, in Birmingham, on 15 September 1844.

Additional notes

John's first wife

Theory B, above, proposes that John's first wife was Elizabeth SLATER (which is consistent from her being married to an engineer, her death in 1826 and the couples' illteracy. But there were other possible first wives, assuming a local marriage 1815-1825, including:

• Nancy HARRISON, youngest daughter of Joseph HARRISON, on the Tues before 13 Dec 1813 Edgbaston (Aris's B'ham Gazette)
• Elizabeth BODEN 21 May 1815 Aston Juxta - Could not sign name. This was not John (Iron Founder) and Elizabeth of Digbeth
• Mary DAVEN 16 May 1816 Aston Juxta
• Mary YARDBY 18 Oct 1818 Birmingham
• Elizabeth BEACH 13 Apr 1819 Birmingham - Could sign³ This was not John (Iron Founder) and Elizabeth of Digbeth
• Rebecca CLARKSON 25 Dec 1819 Birmingham - Could sign
• Roseanna CARR 30 May 1819 Handsworth - Could sign
• Lydia PENN(E)Y 6 Aug 1820 Harborne - Could sign - Married John EDWARDS, millwright of Heneage Street. Both living in 1851.
• Nancy EVERTON 27 Sep 1820 Aston Juxta - Widower & widow - Could sign
• Elizabeth STAKES 24 Dec 1820 Aston Juxta - probably a mistranscription of ...
• Elizabeth SLATER 24 Dec 1820 St Peter & St Paul, Aston⁵. Could not sign. Sarah Ann and Elizabeth EDWARDS was born in 1822 and 1824. She died in 1826, possibly during childbirth aged 23, and was buried on 15 Aug 1826 at St Mary's Cemetery.
• Maria KEMP 17 Jun 1821 Harborne - Could sign
• Sarah MASON 4 Dec 1822 Birmingham - Could sign - This may have been the John and Sarah EDWARDS who were in the 1841 census, a packing box maker, with children Sophia (15), John (10) and Ruben (4).
• Sarah CARTER 15 Jul 1823 Birmingham - JE was a boot closer, father Joseph, underage, could sign
• Elizabeth BASHFORD 14 Jun 1824 Edgbaston, Birmingham in 1824. Could sign.². Witnesses Charles BROOKS & Lydia BROOKS (PAYTON) who had married in the same church three weeks earlier.
• Jane MORRIS 3 Jul 1824 Birmingham - Married John EDWARDS, victualler.
• Ann WHARTON 27 Dec 1824 Aston Juxta - Could sign
• Sarah RANCE 30 Dec 1824 Edgbaston

Where the above grooms were able to sign their name, it suggests that their were different John EDWARDS as John could not sign his name when he married Sarah REYNOLDS.

An Elizabeth EDWARDS wife of John EDWARDS of Market Street died in 1824 and was buried in Saint Martin on 16 Apr 1824 aged 37. This was most likely Elizabeth BODEN, Elizabeth BEACH or an Elizabeth from an earlier marriage.

Elizabeth the wife of John EDWARDS of Constitution Hill, died in 1826 aged 23. We know that this John EDWARDS was an engineer from their children's baptismal records.

There are two possible Elizabeth's discussed below. On balance, my preference is for Elizabeth SLATER.

Elizabeth SLATER

An Elizabeth SLATER married John EDWARDS on 24 Dec 1820 at Aston Juxta Birmingham. (It looks like the record was mis-transcribed by LDS as STAKES.) Neither John EDWARDS nor Elizabeth SLATER could sign their names. John's daughter Sarah Ann could (in 1850) but Elizabeth could not. The witness was called Margaret SLATER.

No wills for for her father or mother have been found, and no link to John EDWARDS' or John and Elizabeth's daughters Sarah Ann or Elizabeth have been found.

Elizabeth SLATER's parents may have been:

• John and Ellen SLATER, born 14 Sep 1802, baptized 1 Dec 1802
• John & Elizabeth SLATER, baptized as Eliza on 19 Sep 1803, aged 3 months.
• John and Mary SLATER, 29 July 1805.

Given that John EDWARDS and Elizabeth SLATER married by banns in December 1820, the most likely was John and Ellen SLATER in September 1802 as she would have been 18 years old in December 1820.

Elizabeth BEACH

An alternative is the Elizabeth BEACH who married a John EDWARDS on 13 Apr 1819⁸. Witnesses included G EDWARDS and John FABER/SAKEL/JAKES. Both John EDWARDS and Elizabeth BEACH could sign their names.

Again, if she died in 1826 aged 23 then she would have been born in 1803, leading to two possibilities:

• Elizabeth BEECH baptized by Joseph and Letitia BEECH on 2 Jan 1804. This this would imply she was only 16 when she married and unable to legally marry by banns as that marriage was conducted. She had siblings baptized in 1802 and 1806, so we was probably very young when baptized. Joseph died in 1817 before any marriage of his daughter to John EDWARDS could have happened. He did not mention the names of his children, but did name his wife "Lettice".
• Elizabeth BEACH baptized by John and Sarah BEACH on 21 Jun 1803. Again she had siblings who were baptized in 1802 and 1804. She would have been 17 years old.

The witness to the BEACH marriage, G EDWARDS, might have been:

• George EDWARDS, born 15 Jul 1793, baptized 1 Dec 1794 by John and Elizabeth EDWARDS at St Martin's in the Bull Ring
• George EDWARDS, baptized 28 Dec 1795 by James and Elizabeth at St Martin's in the Bull Ring
• George EDWARDS, born 24 Mar 1795, baptized 1 Jul 1796 by George and Catharine at St Martin's in the Bull Ring
• George EDWARDS, baptized 2 Aug 1802 by Owen and Mary at St Martin's in the Bull Ring

Contrasting these to possible birth parents for John EDWARDS, the only couple to have both a John and a G EDWARDS were George and Catharine:

• 1791 by John and Mary
• 1792 by John and Sarah
• 1793 by Joseph and Sarah
• 1794 by John and Sarah
• 1798 by Benjamin and Sarah
• 1799 by George and Catharine
• 1799 John and Rebecca

George and Catharine had children Eliza(beth) 1794, George 1795, Daniel Dixon 1798, twins Catharine and John Joseph in 1799 and Charles in 1801. George would have been John's eldest brother. Catharine must have died in infancy as she was not mentioned in her mother's will of 1803⁹. One of the executors was Thomas MILLWARD. Daniel married Elizabeth BERRYMAN in 1861 at St Martin's. John Edwards was a witness and made his mark. While thin evidence, John's illiteracy is inconsistent with him being able to sign his name when marrying Elizabeth BEACH.

Other John EDWARDS

Notes on other John EDWARDS in the area at that time:

• In June 1806, John EDWARDS of Friday Bridge Wharf entered an advertisement seeking a 2-4HP engine for grinding corn was placed in Aris's Birmingham Gazzette.
• John EDWARDS in the building trade in Birmingham and active after John's death in 1844. He worked from 126 Heneage St and lived at No 30 "Bloomsbury cottage", Lupin street with wife Lydia PENNY of Knighton, Worcs.
• John EDWARDS, 44, Iron founder, of Summer Lane (where John's widow Sarah lived in 1851, and where John PARKER's plating business was located). He was living with son John EDWARDS, pearl button maker, his wife Elizabeth, 44 and daughter Mary. Are the name, street and button making just coincidences or was this a cousin of John EDWARDS? A Mary HIGGINS, 82, living with them might be his mother-in-law.
• On 29 Jan 1827 notice was published in Aris's Gazette of the dissolution a partnership between John EDWARDS and Samuel COY, of Great Brooke-street, Stone Masons.
• In the 1841 census there was another John EDWARDS, packing box maker, married to a Sarah, and with children called Sophia (15), John (10), and Ruben (4). At this time John EDWARDS' daughter Sophia was 13 and son Reuben was also 4. Are these families related or is this an amazing coincidence?⁶

Trade Directory References

Wrightson's Triennial Directory of Birmingham, 1833⁷ and 1839 and Pigot's 1841. John EDWARDS, builder [and retail brewer in 1833], 126 Heneage Street.