Sorrel Hill, Wadsley?

[dmunwin]

Can you tell me where # 87 Sorrel Hill, Wadsley would have been located? My grandparents and father lived there before coming to Canada in 1910:help:

[hillsbro]

Hi dmunwin - welcome to the Forum!..Sorrel Hill was in the Wadsley Bridge area, between Fox Hill Road and Carrville Road. Here is a link to portions of two old maps on which I've arrowed the location. Here also are two links to photos on the picturesheffield.com site showing Sorrel Hill - click on "Zoom image" to enlarge..

[bobbyt64]

Wow Hillsbro, I use to have a cottage not far from there on Foxhill Road and I never knew there was a Reservoir site just below it. I'm trying to work out if that's it in one of the pics you've posted. Thanks for that...I'm gobsmacked!!

[dmunwin]

-----Original Message-----

From: The Unwins

Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 2:34 PM

To: Sheffield Forum

Subject: Re: Reply to thread 'Sorrel Hill, Wadsley?'

 

THANK YOU for the prompt reply to my Sorrel Hill inquiry. My great

grandparents lived there in the 1880's and now I'm wondering if my grand

parents, Joseph and Annie Unwin and family lived in the same area or home

before emigrating to Canada in the early 1910's? Is there any way of finding

the address of their home which is shown in the two attached 1960 photos? I

do not imagine that the buildings are there today but we are visiting

Sheffield in May 2012 and would like to have a look at the area. Thanks again

 

PS Looks like the attached photos are not there !!

[hillsbro]

Hello again dmunwin. I imagine you have looked at census returns but I found one likely couple with the names Joseph and Annie Unwin. I don't know if these are the right people but this Joseph was evidently the son of William Unwin and his Irish-born wife Kate, who appear at Sorrel Hill in census returns from 1871 to 1901. Joseph, born 1871, was living with his parents at Sorrel Hill the time of the 1891 census, and he evidently married Annie Baker in 1897. By 1901 Joseph and Annie had moved across the valley to Wadsley and had two children, Arthur and Ada. Joseph was a "licensed hawker and general dealer" (so he would have been competing with my Wadsley great-grandad!) By 1911 Joseph had become a "gardener, domestic" but still lived at "Town Head, Wadsley" with Annie and their 5 children.

 

Census returns show five or six households at Sorrel Hill, and so it was quite small; this is suggested by map evidence, and this early 1900s photo evidently shows all the whitewashed cottages in Sorrel Hill. It isn't too difficult to pinpoint where Sorrel Hill was, but of course your ancestors' homes have long gone. This aerial view from Google Earth is centred on where Sorrel Hill was - Fox Hill Road is at the left and Carrview Road West is the cul-de-sac in the middle.

[dmunwin]

Thanks again hillsbro; All the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit. My grandparents, Joesph and Annie's other three children were my dad William, Mabel and John. The 1912 Victoria, BC directory lists Joseph Unwin who for some reason traveled all the wa to the west coast of Canada. There was one other Unwin in Victoria at that time, a George Unwin, who had come from Sheffield in 1887, so maybe they were related and that was the reason, Apparently Joe liked what he saw and by by 1914 Annie and the children were also listed in the Victoria directory. Could you direct me to the present "Town head, Wadsley" area where they lived before emigrating. THANKS - Dave

[hillsbro]

Hi dmunwin - on this early 1990s map I have indicated Sorrel Hill and Town head with black arrows. Older maps show Town Head a little further down the hill near the church - I have shown this location with a blue arrow.

 

Most of the old houses in Wadsley were demolished by our local council in a 1960s act of vandalism, but a few remain. Among these are some 1830s cottages in the Town Head area.

 

It might be possible to establish how George was related to Joseph and William; I have sent you my email address via the Forum in a "Private Message". You are welcome to email me, in particular if you'd like JPEG scans of census pages.