Descendants of William WOODWARD
Notes
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Baptism: church records, Muker, Yorkshire. Recorded as "Eliz. daughter of Jn. & Nanny Woodward"
MARRIAGE: He was mentioned as the husband of Elizabeth Woodward in the will of John Woodward, Elizabeth's father, who died in 1829.
John may have emigrated to the USA, or he may have remarried to Elizabeth Tiplady and then emigrated to the USA.
Baptism: Hawes church records, Yorkshire, England
WILL: The 1829 will of John Woodward said that of the marriage of Elizabeth Woodward (deceased by 1829) and John Metcalf, there was only one child, Thomas Metcalf.
BORN & Baptism: Muker church records, Muker, Yorkshire; her and her husband are both mentioned in the 1829 will of her father John Woodward
DIED: She left England with her husband on May 22nd of either 1831 or 1832, and by the Spring of 1833 her husband had wrote to England saying that he had remarried, implying that his first wife had passed away. She may be buried in Medina, Ohio, USA where her husband had settled, or she could have died at sea. See pages 32 and 39 of "Men of Swaledale" by Edmund Cooper
(Clapham - 1960) published in England, and page 105 of "The Dalesmen of the Mississippi River" by David Morris (William Sessions Ltd, The Ebor Press, York, England, 1989). The church records of Medina, Ohio, USA indicate that Metcalf Bell married Rachel Lowerman on Nov 6, 1832.
Durham Baptisms
William Woodward
Baptism date 10 Jan 1790
Baptism place Barnard Castle Durham England
Denomination Anglican
Residence B C
Father Thomas
Mother Jane
Archive Durham University Library
Archive reference DDR/EA/PBT/2/17
Document type Bishop's TranscriptsOn the death certificate of William Woodward, who died in 1865, the informant was Wilson Newcombe, who was married to William Woodward's granddaughter, Mary Ann Middleton, the daughter of John Middleton and Mary Woodward.
The baptism record of Jane Woodward, who is most likely his sister, gives the names of Jane's parents and also her grandfathers and where they once lived. It reads as follows: "Jane Woodward, daughter of Thomas Woodward, the son of William Woodward, deceased, of Grinton parish, and of Jane Coates, the daughter of William Coates, deceased, of Brignall parish". This clearly ties the Woodwards in the town of Barnard Castle to the Woodwards in Grinton parish, Swaledale,Yorkshire.
The will of William Woodward (1729-1796) of Gunnerside, Grinton parish, Swaledale, Yorkshire names all of his living children, including "James Woodward of Stockton-on-Tees, Durham" and "Thomas Woodward of Barnard Castle, Durham"
The 1841 census of Drypool, Hull, Yorkshire, indicates that William Woodward was born outside of Yorkshire in about 1789. The 1851 and 1861 census of Drypool, Hull, Yorkshire, indicates that he was born in the town of Barnard Castle, Durham, England in about 1779. His death certificate and his church burial record indicate that he was born in about 1779 as well. There are four sources that say he was born in 1779, but only one source that says 1789. In the entire history of the town of Barnard Castle there appears to have been only one family of Woodwards to have ever lived there, and this family contains a birth that fits so very close to 1790.
One example of William Woodward's signature exists. It is on the government inquiry into the accidental death of one of his granddaughters, a Middleton, in the 1850s. His signature is very "refined and genteel" with fancy curves, etc. suggesting that when he was a child, in the 1790s, he definitely had an above average education. In fact his signature is many times better than that of his son Robert Woodward, born about 1828, who became a "steamship engineer". William Woodward's likely father, Thomas Woodward, was a businessman in the town of Barnard Castle, Durham and possibly was well off financially. Back then wealthier people could afford to have their children educated, whereas a large number of ordinary people could not read or write.
DEATH: death certificate "William Woodward, marine store dealer, age 86"
BURIAL: church records, Drypool, Hull, "William Woodward of Drypool, age 86"
MISC: labourer (from 1838 directory of Hull and the 1841 census); marine store dealer in 1850s and 1860s (business directories of Hull, and the 1851 & 1861 census).
It seems that when William Woodward was a young man when he was a soldier in the army, and it seems that he served in British North America, which is now called Canada. His daughter Mary (the future Mrs. John Middleton) was born in Canada in about 1822, according to the 1851, 1871, and 1881 census of Hull, Yorkshire, England, where she appears with her family. It is not known when or where in Canada that William Woodward served, but it may have been in Quebec, according to a story heard by Mrs. Laura Henry (nee Woodward). It may or may not have been for the War of 1812, when the United States attempted to invade Canada, since British soldiers were stationed in Canada both during war and during peace, since the United States and Britain (and thus Canada) were not on good terms in those days.
According to Mrs. Laura Henry (nee Woodward), her father Thomas Albert Woodward (1859-1922) said that his grandfather or great grandfather Woodward was a British soldier serving in Canada, and he received a grant of some land in Quebec. But instead of taking up farming in Canada he returned to England, and a copy of the deed to this land remained in the family. Mrs Laura Henry thought all of this took place at the time of the Battle of Quebec, fought on the Plains of Abraham (1759), when Britain acquired Quebec from France.
Thomas A. Woodward (1859-1922) remembered seeing this deed in the family bible when he was young. Thomas A. Woodward moved to Canada in about 1884, and in 1909 and again in 1910 he returned to England to visit friends and family, since his mother in England was quite ill. At this time he tried to find the deed, hoping he might have some claim to the land. However by this time the deed had disappeared from the family bible and it could not be found.
A Mary Woodward, who was born in about 1822 in Canada, returned to England at a young age, married John Middleton in Hull in 1837, and remained in England the rest of her life. Mary's parents were William and Mary Woodward, both born in the town of Barnard Castle, Durham, England.
Britain had a number of soldiers in Canada during and after the War of 1812, when the United States tried to conquer Canada from England, or at least be a major irritation to England. England was busy fighting the wars with Napoleon at this time, and then the United States decided to declare war on England. Even after the War of 1812 was over, England had soldiers serving in Canada for decades. At this time the majority of people in Canada were the French, since not many British people had yet settled in the country. The British government granted farmland along the U.S. border to former British soldiers, so if there was an attack from the U.S., the farmers there could help defend Canada from the invasion. Or it may be possible that William Woodward just came to Canada on his own, and may have just bought some farmland.
It seems that farming did not work out for William Woodward, so he, his wife, and family returned to England and they were never in Canada again.
After William Woodward and Mary (both born the town of Barnard Castle, Durham, England) and his family returned to England, their first known residence is the village of Sutton (also known as Sutton upon Hull), near the city of Hull (also known as Kingston upon Hull), Yorkshire, England. By 1841 they had moved a short distance south to the Drypool area of Hull.
The parish of Sutton is just north of the parish of Drypool, and Drypool is on the east side of the River Hull, just across from the central part of the city of Hull, Yorkshire. Today, Sutton and Drypool are both part of the city of Hull, and Hull is now in the County of Humberside.
Hull is an important ocean port on the northeast coast of England, and shipbuilding, fishing, and trade were its main industries. Therefore it should come as no surprise that some of the Woodwards were sailors.
BIRTH: 1841, 1851, 1861 census of Drypool, Hull, Yorkshire, England gives age and place of birth.
DEATH: death certificate "Mrs. Mary Woodward, wife of William Woodward, marine store dealer, age 80"
