jane cook
Jane was born in Kidderminster, Worcester in 1829 and baptised on 5 March at St George’s Church. The church was founded in the ancient parish of St Mary and after two years’ construction, it was consecrated in 1824.
In 1841, Jane was living with her parents and three younger siblings at Silver Hill in Kidderminster and her father was working as a Silk Weaver. Ten years later, the family had moved north to Macclesfield in Cheshire and although Jane moved with them, she was not living with the family when the 1851 Census was taken.
On 25 April 1852, she married Isaac Mallandaine at St Peter in Prestbury, a small village several miles north of the town of Macclesfield. After their marriage, they settled on Lamb Lane in Newton, Lancashire where their first son was born. Three years after their marriage, Isaac joined the army and was later assigned to the Army Hospital Corps. Over the next fifteen years, the family moved from Lancashire to Kent and Jane had four more children. Isaac’s only overseas posting was to the Bahamas, between 1867 and 1869, and the entire family followed him out there.
Sadly, Jane died on 29 August 1869 of Yellow Fever, aged just 40 years, and was buried at Christ Church Cathedral in Nassau.
isaac cook + amelia stevens
Isaac’s birth record has not been confirmed but subsequent census records lists his birth year as 1796-97 and the location as Kidderminster. There is a possible baptism record for the son of Thomas and Jane Cook on 24 July 1796 in Hartlebury, a small village 4 miles south of Kidderminster.
Isaac later married Amelia Stevens or Stephens and they had seven and possibily eight children. Amelia was born in Clifton-upon-Teme in Worcestershire in 1795 to John and Sarah Stevens. Their first confirmed child, John, was baptised in Kidderminster on 26 July 1822 followed by Thomas baptised on 12 September 1827 and the names chosen for the eldest sons align with the common naming convention of naming sons after their paternal and maternal grandfathers.
Their third son, Isaac, was baptised on the same day as his brother Thomas but it is not known if they were twins or if Thomas’ baptism was delayed. Sadly, Isaac died six months later and he was buried at St Mary in Kidderminster on 14 March 1828. After three sons, Amelia gave birth to two daughters, Jane in 1829, and Sarah in 1831 with both girls baptised at St George. In 1835, they had a second son, also named Isaac, and he was baptised at St George on 31 December 1836, the same day as sisters Sarah and Emma who was born earlier that year.
Can you help solve the mystery of James Cook?
On 11 October 1837, James Cook was convicted in the Bristol Court of 'feloniously breaking and entering the Dwelling house of William Simmonds and stealing his Goods therein' and sentenced to transportation to Australia for 10 years. The newspaper reports of his charge and conviction refer to his residence in St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol but his convict records list his native place as Kidderminster. There are no other references to his place of birth or family members in the convict papers or any public records following his release although references to his age place his year of birth about 1818. The lack of information in the available records made tracing James' ancestors almost impossible.
However, the advent of ancestral DNA has resulted in new avenues of possible research. A DNA test taken by a direct descendant of James has uncovered links to the descendants of John Cook, the eldest son of Isaac Cook and Amelia Stevens. This result opens the possibility that James was also the son of Isaac and Amelia but we need more DNA evidence from descendants to prove the link more conclusively.
Are you a direct descendant of Isaac and Amelia? Have you or would you be interested in taking an ancestral DNA test to help proved the family link? If so, please contact me via the Contact page.
In 1841, the family was still in Kidderminster and living at Silver Hill. Isaac continued to work as a weaver but like so many others in the trade, his income continued to fall and work became harder to find due to cheaper imports from the continent and the far east. As noted in Alison Toplis’, The Clothing Trade in Provincial England:
In Worcester, the choice of retailers selling cheap clothing, particularly for men, seems to have drawn in male consumers from other areas of the county, especially when clothing was needed quickly or in an emergency. According to his wife, Isaac Cook, a down-on-his-luck weaver from Kidderminster, travelled to Worcester in 1834; ‘His only intention in doing so was to Endeavour to Obtain some Apparel for himself and some shoes for the Children’. Having returned home newly outfitted, he then set off for Macclesfield to look for work, leaving his wife and children chargeable to the parish.
It’s not known how long the family was separated but by 1851, Isaac was reunited with his wife and younger children in Macclesfield. They were living on Buxton Road along with Sarah and her daughter Eliza, Isaac, and Emma and the entire family was employed in the weaving trade. Isaac was still working as a silk weaver, Amelia as a silk winder, and their three children as silk piecers.
Isaac and Amelia have not been traced beyond 1851 and there are a number of possible death records that could relate to them but none have yet been confirmed. Their eldest son, John, remained in Worcestershire but settled in Dudley where he married Ruth Nicklin in 1841. Thomas and Isaac have not been traced but Sarah married Edward Wilson at St Thomas in Ardwick, Manchester on 12 June 1854 and Emma married Robert Bamber in Salford in 1856.