Adams, Henry

Gender: Male

Cecil Sharp visited Henry Adams on 2 April 1912 when he sang The Jolly Waggoner.

Henry Adams was probably born in 1832, the son of James and Anne Adams. He said he was born in Hambrook but in 1841 they were living in nearby Winterbourne with Henry’s two brothers, James born about 1830, Oliver born about 1834 and a sister, Mary, born about 1837. By 1861 Henry was innkeeper at the Royal Oak , Stonehouse as well as a painter. He had married and was living with his wife, Sarah, and three daughters, Ann A. born about 1856, Clara born about 1857, and Elizabeth born about 1858 and a son, Harry, born about 1860. There was also a 16 year old girl living with them as a servant. In 1871 Henry was still a painter and his wife and his two eldest daughters who were still at home, Clara and Elizabeth were working in the local industry as wool cloth workers. Henry and Sarah had two more daughters, Agnes born 1861 and Alice born 1864 and a son, William born in 1869. All the family except Henry were born in Stonehouse. Henry was still a painter in Stonehouse in 1881. His daughter, Elizabeth M. Adams, was still living at home working as a cloth picker, their son, William, was a scholar and they had a grandson, John W. B. Adams born about 1878. Henry’s wife, Sarah, died in 1887 and by 1901 Henry had entered Stroud Workhouse where he was described as a retired painter journeyman. He was still there in 1911 and died in 1915.

Henry’s children

Henry’s daughter, Ann A. Adams, had left home by 1881 and was working as a housemaid in Clifton in the house of Joseph Wethered, a retired colliery proprietor.

Henry’s daughter, Clara Adams, was also working as a housemaid by 1881, in Painswick in the house of Lindsey Wm. Winterbotham, a Solicitor. . Clara married James Austin in 1883 and by 1891 they had moved to 17^th Avenue, Wortley, Leeds where James was working as a railway wagon inspector. They had a daughter, Florence, born in Leeds about 1890 and Clara’s brother, Harry, was lodging with them, working as a cloth warehouseman. By 1901 the family were still living in 17^th Avenue, at number 5. James was working as a railway wagon examinee and they had two more daughters, Ethel born about 1887, and Elsie born about 1892 and a son, George born 1885. Staying with them was Clara’s niece, Evelyn Cook, who was born in Kings Stanley about 1898, daughter of her sister, Agnes.

Henry’s daughter, Elizabeth Margaret Adams married Maurice Marlow Wyman in 1887 in the Stroud registration district. They had a son, John A. Wyman born about 1888 and a daughter, Alice Maud M Wyman in 1889 and by 1901 were living in 3 Cow Lane, Stonehouse where Elizabeth and Maurice were woollen cloth workers. They were still in Cow Lane in 1901 when Maurice was working as a wool dyer and Elizabeth as a cloth picker and weav(er). Alice was still at home and they had another son, Oliver Morley, born 19 March 1893. By 1911 they had moved to Gloucester Road and Maurice was working as a general labourer at a brickworks. Alice was single and working as a children’s nurse, domestic, at a private residence and Morley was also single and a porter at the Midland Railway Company railway station. Alice married Alfred J. Harris, a turner, on 25 August 1917 in Stonehouse. At this time Maurice was working as a labourer. Maurice Marlow Wyman died in Selsey Hill, Kings Stanley on 28 December 1926. At the time he was living at 8, The Reddings, Stonehouse and his son, Oliver Morley was a motor driver. Morley had enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery Territorials in 1914, where he served as a driver, when he was living in the Reddings, Stonehouse, away from his family and working on the railway. He married Dorothy Eldrich Wall in the Stroud registration district in 1919. She died in the Stroud Registration district in 1975 and Oliver Morley Wyman died in 1978 in the Stroud registration district.

Henry’s son Harry Adams, was lodging with his sister, Clara in Leeds in 1891.

Henry’s daughter, Agnes Adams and her sister Alice were lodging in Stonehouse two doors away from her father in 1881. They were both working in the wool industry, Agnes as a weaver and Alice was ‘quiling’. Agnes married James Henry Cook from Kings Stanley in 1885 in the Stroud registration district. By 1891 they were living at The Hollies, Stonehouse where John was a clothworker. They had a son, Oliver Reginald born about 1887. By 1891 Agnes’ husband was keeping the Cross Hands Inn in Stonehouse .Their son, Oliver, was a schoolboy and they also had a domestic servant. They then had a daughter, Evelyn, born about 1898 in Kings Stanley who was staying with Agnes’ parents, Henry and Sarah, at the time of the 1901 Census.

James Henry Cook remained at the Cross Hands Inn until at least 1902, according to Kelly’s Directory then moved to the Beacon Railway Inn at Stonehouse where he was landlord at least from 1906 until his death on 24 December 1924, leaving Agnes a widow.

Henry’s son, William Richard Adams, was born 24 October 1869 in Stonehouse. In 1891 he was boarding with a widow, Ann M. Glover, in Stonehouse and working as a mason’s labourer. He married Julia Eliza Webb in the Stroud registration district in 1895. In 1911 William’s wife, Julia was living in Regent Street, Stonehouse with their son, Archibald Percy Adams born in Stonehouse at the end of 1897. William was not at home on the day of the census. By 1911 William Richard and Julia were living at Tunnel Cottage, Upper High Street, Stonehouse. He was working as a railway platelayer, their son William was a scholar and they had another son, William Norman Stewart Adams born early in 1906. They had also had another child who had died. An Archibald P. Adams married Edith Kent in Barnet, Middlesex in early 1932. A William N.S. Adams married Nellie Bott in Alcester, Warwickshire in 1930.William Richard Adams died in 1940 in the Stroud registration district and his wife, Eliza in 1945 in the same district.

Henry’s daughter, Alice Adams, Adams and her sister Agnes were lodging in Stonehouse two doors away from her father in 1881. They were both working in the wool industry, Agnes as a weaver and Alice was ‘quiling’.

Notes by Carol Davies March 2015