Francis Yarwood 1841-1908

Francis, son of Samuel and Mary (nee Dodd) was born in Crowton and baptised shortly after at Frodsham, Cheshire on 5th September 1841. He missed appearing on the 1841 census by a few months at which time the family were living within the grounds of Crewood Hall a farm located between Crowton and Kingsley where Samuel was employed as an agricultural labourer. Samuel died shortly before the 1851 Census wherein his wife Mary is described as 'Pauper (ag lab widow)', a sad state of affairs. Francis makes his first appearance aged 9, along with elder sister Elizabeth (12) and younger brother William (1). The address was simply Crowton, no mention of Crewood Hall, perhaps they had been evicted after Samuel's death? Two older children Thomas and Harriet who appeared in 1841 were not at the Crowton address, Thomas is a servant at another local address, but there is no sign of Harriet.

Moving into adulthood the 1861 Census finds Francis (labourer) lodging with his brother Thomas in Church Street, Weaverham. A week later (15th April) he married Alice Pownall of Bold at the Parish Church of Farnworth, across the Mersey in Lancashire. Strangely he is shown as John on his marriage certificate, he is also shown as John Francis on his son Albert's birth certificate. What was all that about? The couple spent their first four years married life in Weaverham, Cheshire before crossing back to Lancashire, first living in Bold then Earlestown where Francis was employed at the Viaduct Wagon Works.

The Viaduct Works had been established in 1833, McCorquodale's Printing factory in 1846 and the Sankey Sugar Co. in 1855. It was to accommodate the workers in these industries that Earlestown was built. A map of the area in 1850 shows that very few buildings of any sort existed in the Earlestown and Wargrave districts. In 1853 however, the Railway Company bought the Viaduct Works from the original owners and imported labour mainly from Salford. Houses were built for the men and their families and the resulting township was called after Sir Hardman Earle, a director of the Railway Company. By 1860 there were more than 600 houses in Earlestown. Francis would have been in Earlestown from around 1866 through to the end of the decade.

The 1871 Census has Francis (incorrectly shown as Thomas this time) and Alice once again living in Cheshire at Wincham Lane, Wincham. They had 6 children Elijah, Thomas, Annie, Samuel, Albert and Harriet (see Alice Pownall's page for details) and Francis' occupation was now carpenter.

In 1881 the family were at 28 School Road, Wharton, an area in the east of Winsford, salt mining country. The original house (left) still stands, this photograph was taken in 1990. On the Census Francis was described as a joiner and two more children had arrived, Alfred and Mary Alice, the latter of whom was baptised at the United Methodist Free Church in Wincham (May 23rd 1880).Significant other baptisms at this church were the children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Betsy) Moore, particularly Mary Ann whom Francis' son Albert would later marry. Kelly's Directory of Cheshire shows Francis as a joiner at the same Wharton address in both the 1896 and 1902 editions. He died in the March quarter 1908 aged 66. CLICK ON BACK BUTTON TO RETURN