1841 Census

This was the first proper census in England, taken on the 6th June, 1841 and the information requested was sparse. At this time John Shaw (b. 1790) had been dead for about eleven years, leaving his wife Mary (née Wagstaff) who was living with two of her sons and a daughter at The Nab (hill) in Darley Dale, Derbyshire.

  Mary Shaw aged 50, widow

  John Shaw aged 20, son, journeyman bleacher

  George Shaw aged 13, son, agricultural labourer

In the same dwelling were their daughter and her family:

  John Lomas aged 20, journeyman flax dresser

  Elizabeth Lomas (née Shaw) aged 20, wife (of John Lomas, daur of John Shaw and Mary)

  Joseph Lomas aged 1, son (of John + Elizabeth Lomas)

All the above were born in Derbyshire.

Nearby in Toadholes (Two Dales), living next door to James and Edward Dakeyne the flax mill owners were:

  George Shaw aged 50, farmer (son of Jethro Shaw and Sarah Wall. He married his cousin in 1815 at St Helen's)

  Mary Shaw aged 45 (daur of George Shaw and Alice Marsden)

  George Shaw aged 13

All three were born in Derbyshire.

John Shaw was living in Steeple Grange but his wife Dorothy (Alsopp) had died eight years earlier.

   John Shaw aged 60, farmer (son of James Shaw and Hannah Roper)

   William Shaw aged 24, maltster

   John Shaw aged 20, farmer

   Mary Frost aged 24, female servant

All the above were born in Derbyshire.

Jethro Shaw lived in Bolehill, Wirksworth with his family. He married his cousin Mary Shaw in 1804 at St Helen's.

   Jethro Shaw aged 52, agricultural labourer (d. 25/5/1853)

   Mary Shaw aged 56 (probably d. 1852 or 1853)

   Jethro Shaw aged 30, agricultural labourer (d. 1847)

   Francis Shaw aged 12, agricultural labourer (probably d. 1857)

   William Shaw aged 15, agricultural labourer

It appears that Jethro jr and William were sent to prison for one year for larceny at the County Sessions in Derbyshire on 20th October 1846. Jethro jr. seems to have died in prison. All the family were born in Derbyshire. It is likely that Elizabeth Hibson aged 33 and John Hibson aged 7 were living in the same dwelling at the time.

James Shaw lived in Wensley (he was a registered voter in 1832 and 1835):

   James Shaw aged 73, farmer (d. 1844)

   Hannah Shaw aged 71 (née Hannah Roper, d. 1850)

   Robert Shaw aged 44 (son of James and Hannah, d. 1863)

   Pheoby Shaw aged 45 (née Fawley, daur-in-law of James and Hannah, she married Robert in 1830, d. 1878)

   Sarah Shaw aged 1 (daur of Robert and Pheoby, married Joseph Clay in 1859, d. 1889)

Sarah was Sarah Hannah. All the above were born in Derbyshire.

Sarah Shaw lived in Rowsley:

   Sarah Shaw aged 65, farmer (d. 1845)

   Thomas Shaw aged 35

Sarah was the wife of John Shaw who had died earlier in 1841. John had been a registered voter in Rowsley in 1832 as a freeholder. Matthias was a brother of Thomas. Both of the above were born in Derbyshire. There were four other people living in the same dwelling, probably farm workers.

James Shaw lived in Cross Green (he was a registered voter in 1832 and 1835):

   James Shaw aged 50, lead miner (he was a son of George Shaw and Alice Marsden)

   Elizabeth Shaw aged 45 (Shaw was her maiden name too)

   James Shaw aged 13

James and Elizabeth had another son called Jesse or Jethro who d. 1834 aged 1. All the family were born in Derbyshire.

Elizabeth Shaw lived at Cross Green, two dwellings from James Shaw. (Her son Jethro d. 1839 aged 3, another son called William d. 1843 aged 16)

   Elizabeth Shaw aged 35 (d. 1876, she was Elizabeth Bradley from Winster, her husband was Jethro who was not listed)

   Sarah Shaw aged 12 (bapt. 14/4/1828 at St Helen's)

   George Shaw aged 10 (bapt. 17/11/1830 at St Helen's)

   Mary Shaw aged 8 (bapt. 12/5/1833 as Mary Ann at St Helen's)

   John Shaw aged 3 (bapt. 7/1/1838 at St Helens, b. 11/12/1837)

   Alice Shaw aged 6 months

All the family were born in Derbyshire. It is not clear what happened to Elizabeth's husband Jethro snr. who was bapt in 1803 at St Helens.

George Shaw lived in Wensley (he was probably a son of George Shaw and Alice Marsden)

   George Shaw aged 40, lead miner (d. 1850)

   Sarah Shaw aged 40 (d. 1864)

   George Shaw aged 10 (probably d. 1878)

   William Shaw aged 8

   Francis Shaw aged 2

   Edmond Shaw aged 2 months

All the family were born in Derbyshire. Sarah was née Taylor.

William Shaw lived in Wensley:

   William Shaw aged 35, lead miner

   Mary Shaw aged 35

   Sarah Shaw aged 10

   William Shaw aged 8

   Joseph Shaw aged 6

   Mary Shaw aged 4

   George Shaw aged 1

William snr. was the son of William Shaw and Sarah Bradley and was baptised at St Helens on 9/6/1805. Mary Shaw was née Wall from Youlgreave. All the family were born in Derbyshire.

Matthias Shaw lived in Rowsley. He was baptised on 12/5/1811 in Beeley and was the son of John Shaw (b. 1775, d. 1841) and Sarah (d. 1797), the grandson of Matthias (1744-1818, keeper of the Red Lion Inn at Rowsley) and Eunice Smith, great-grandson of John Shaw (1720-, also keeper of the Red Lion Inn at Rowsley) and Elizabeth Goodwin and great-great-grandson of Jethro Shaw (1686-1767) and Silence Godbehere. Thomas Shaw , also in Rowsley, was a brother. Matthias married Ann Elliott.

   Matthias Shaw aged 30, farmer

   Ann Shaw aged 25

   Eunice Shaw aged 5

   William Shaw aged 4

   John Shaw aged 9 months

The family were all born in Derbyshire. There were also three farm workers at the dwelling. Matthias (Ambrose) Shaw and Ann had another son, Matthias Augustin who was born in (August?) 1840 and died in January 1842. That implies that he must have been a twin brother to John. Or alternatively it is the same child and the name was recorded incorrectly or he had two names. John does not appear in 1851 or later. Other brothers were Roby (1805-1806) and another Matthias (b. 1801) who died aged 6. Matthias Ambrose's grandfather Matthias paid 8 shillings land redemption tax in 1798 for land he occupied in Great Rowsley that was owned by the Duke of Rutland.

Alice Shaw lived in Wensley. (She was a daur of George Shaw and Sarah Taylor and bapt. 4/6/1824 at St Helen's, d. 1849)

   Grace Purdy aged 65, grocer

   Alice Shaw aged 15, female servant

Alice was born in Derbyshire.

Sarah Shaw lived at the Pig Market in Wirksworth:

   Sarah Shaw aged 60, toy seller

   Mary Shaw aged 40

   Hugh Shaw aged 35, joiner

All were born in Derbyshire.

Mary Shaw lived at the North End of Wirksworth:

   Mary Shaw aged 65

   William Shaw aged 20, shoe maker

   Richard Shaw aged 7

All three were born in Derbyshire. John Moles, a 20 year-old watch maker, was living with them.

Ann Shaw lived in St John's Street, Wirksworth:

   Ann Shaw aged 25

   Margaret Shaw aged 2 months

Both were born in Derbyshire.

John Shaw was living at Shaw Farm in Pendleton, Salford with his family before moving (back?) to Rowsley:

   John Shaw aged 40, farmer, not born in Lancashire

   Rebecca Shaw aged 35, not born in Lancashire

   Phillis Shaw aged 12, born in Lancashire

   John Shaw aged 10, born in Lancashire

   William Shaw aged 7, born in Lancashire

   John Shaw aged 2, not born in Lancashire

   Mahala Shaw aged 15, not born in Lancashire

There were also six servants/agricultural workers. Phillis apparently married Peter Newton (1821-1873) in 1852/3 and returned to the Manchester area after the move to Rowsley. In 1851 John Shaw was listed as born in Rowsley.

James Shaw aged 15, a lead miner,lived in Wensley with the James Taylor family (he was probably a son of George Shaw and Sarah Taylor and bapt. 24/4/1826 at St Helen's. James Taylor was probably his grandfather. It seems that he later became a policeman and then a publican)

William Shaw aged 14, a male servant lived at Tor Side in Darley in the Betty Wall household (he might have been a son of Jethro Shaw and Elizabeth Bradley, bapt 22/10/1826 at St Helen's or a son of Jethro Shaw and Mary Shaw of Bolehill)

Elizabeth Lomas was one of John Shaw's younger sisters. It is not known what happened to another, Emily Shaw. The other children of John Shaw and Mary Wagstaff not referred to above appear to have all died young. John Shaw (b. 1819) was married Mary Dakin in 1847. George Shaw aged 50 was a son of Jethro Shaw and Sarah Wall. In 1816 he married Mary Shaw, daughter of his Uncle George. George and Mary also had a daughter called Sarah. All the above were born in Derbyshire (no further geographical information was available). It is almost certain that John Shaw and John Lomas worked in the Dakeyne Mill on Darley Nab (or Knab as it was also spelled).

Jethro Shaw m. Elizabeth Bradley in 1825 in Winster with banns being read at St Helen's. It is not clear what happened to him as he does not appear in this census nor in 1851. It is possible he moved to Bolehill and d. in 1847. He seems to have been with Elizabeth in 1840. He is likely to have been a son of George Shaw and Alice Marsden and b. 1803.

Ages are as written on the census returns, however, for this first ever census in England those declared to be 15 or older had their age rounded down to units of 5. So someone of 18 would be listed as 15 and someone of 24 would be 20. This rounding methodology was inconsistently applied and was dropped in the next census in 1851.