I'm quite new to this though have researched back to 1500's that there were ascestors of mine in Shropshire. I have now started working back in time from myself using information I know to be factual and cross referenced though census, parish records etc. I have now got a bit stuck. It appears that a few others have been researching Morris's of Shropshire (though proving difficult due to multiple generations of family having the same name and also due to lots of Morris's in Shropshire).
My current difficulty is locating and filling in gaps for this part of the family, mainly surrounding
- Arthur as he continued the Wemm name as his mother and father were not married at his time of birth.
- How to ensure it is the correct part of the Morris family,
- How to find any living relatives (it seems alot emigrated to Australia or Canada though some continued living in UK.
Martha Wemm: born in 1858 Rushbury, Shropshire to father John Wemm (1818-1899) son of William Whem and Elizabeth Pickton. Mother Martha Clarke (1831-?), who was the daughter of Rebecca Harrington and William Clarke. Martha Wemm had a sister Sarah, Brothers William, Mary, Elizabeth, John, Henry, Joseph and Charles (all Wemm) all born between 1847-1870.
Charles Morris: born in Middleton Scriven, Shropshire in 1861 to parents Thomas Morris (1821-1901) and Ann Matthews (1826-1919). Charles had brothers George, William, Frederick, sisters Hannah, Sarah, Ellen all born them were between 1850-1866.
It seems Martha Wemm and Charles Morris had a child Arthur Rose Wem 1881 in Much Wenlock (unmarried when Arthur was born, also some transcriptions on ancestry are incorrectly read as Wern)
and Thomas Edward Wemm in 1885 in Dudley, Martha and Charles Married in 1901 in West Bromwich.
Martha Died 1931 Clun, Shropshire.
Charles Morris Died Unsure though this could be lost somewhere in my notes so far. Though someone else has Arthur Rose Wem listed as Wemm/Roberts in someone elses tree, death 1967 Lancashire, Manchester.
An 1881 census shows that at
153 Mardol Lane, Much Wenlock:
John Wemm (head, ag lab), Martha Wemm(wife, Chairwoman), Charles Wemm(son, Scholar).
154 Mardol Lane, Much Wenlock and a Martha Wemm(head, Laundress?), John Wemm(Brother, ag lab) and Arthur Rose Wemm (son).
155 Mardol lane lived a farmer Joseph with wife Mary a, Joseph a landowmer of 52 acres, John Wemm may have worked for them as an agricultural labourer.
1901 census Arthur Rose Wemm is at Moat Lane, Short heath listed as stepson to Martha Morris and Charles Morris.
Arthur Rose Wemm married a Lilian Ison/simpson in Staffordshire and had 4 children one named Dorothy Wemm.
If anyone could help with this it would be much appreciated
I will be joining the society soon which seems like it will be useful due to others research and records etc that can be shared and hopefuly I will also have information useful for others
Thanks in advance
Hwemm
There is another newspaper article about a Charles Morris (from Middleton, near Bridgnorth) in the “Worcestershire Chronicle” dated December 1, 1900. Assuming this is the “Charles Morris” you are seeking, the article provides a glimpse of his situation shortly before he married Martha Wemm.
--John
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Hwemm
You are making great progress with your research. At the moment, it seems that your main challenge is identifying the father of Arthur Rose Wemm. What you know for sure is that Arthur’s mother is Martha Wemm, she was unmarried at the time of his 1880 baptism in Much Wenlock, and Arthur’s father was not recorded. So how can you determine who the father might be?
You have taken one approach which is to consult additional BMD and Census records. You observed that:
- Martha remained single until marrying Charles Morris (born Middleton Scriven)
in 1901,
- Charles accepted Arthur into their household after the marriage,
- Charles was living in the Much Wenlock area around 1880 when Arthur was
baptized there.
So, as you concluded, it is quite possible that Charles was Arthur’s father.
You probably know that (the same) Charles Morris married Anne Alice Broome in Bridgnorth in 1887. I could not find any death record for Anne before 1901, so it is unclear what happened to their marriage to free Charles to marry Martha in 1901. This does not change the fact that Charles could be Arthur’s father.
A second approach for finding Arthur’s father, is based on Arthur’s middle name “Rose”. For a boy, “Rose” is likely to come from somebody’s surname. If Martha does not have any relatives with the surname “Rose”, then “Rose” could be the surname of Arthur’s father. In particular, look at John Rose, a Much Wenlock veterinary surgeon, in the 1881 through 1901 censuses. To me, John appears to be a possible father of Arthur.
A third approach is to search Bastardy Bonds, and Bastardy Examinations, for the name of the father. I checked Shropshire Archives On-line Catalogue, but could not find any relevant Bonds or Examinations. However, there were several Quarter Sessions documents for a Charles Morris in the Much Wenlock/Bridgnorth area around 1880, including one from 1879 placed in Middleton Scriven. Only the index of the Quarter Sessions documents is available on-line and may be searched on Find My Past. To view the original documents, it will be necessary to visit the archives or order electronic images on-line. Before doing that, it is helpful to review the different document types as listed here: https://www.findmypast.com/articles/shropshire-quarter-sessions-document-types
Finally, there is a short article about Charles Morris (from Middleton Scriven) in “Eddowes’s Shrewsbury Journal and Salopian Journal for March 3, 1880”. This may be read in the Newspaper Collection on Find My Past.
After following these three approaches, Arthur’s father may still remain uncertain, but at least fewer stones will have been left unturned.
--John