William1 Appleby was baptised 2 November 1757 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.  He married Elizabeth Bird 7 January 1777 in St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.

Elizabeth was born in about 1757.

Children of William Appleby and Elizabeth Bird are:

                         i .  William2 Appleby, baptised 2 November 1777 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.

+                      ii.    John Appleby, baptised 5 November 1780 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham; died 12 May 1848 in King Street, Chatham.  He married Eleanor Staples 24 August 1804 at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Gillingham.

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Generation No. 2

John2 Appleby (William1) was baptised 5 November 1780 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham and died 12 May 1848 at King Street, Chatham.  He married Eleanor Staples 24 August 1804 at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Gillingham, daughter of John Staples and Sarah Hobday.  She was baptised 15 October 1780 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.  

John's occupation was given as a waterman at the time of his daughter Emily's wedding in December 1840 and when his son John married in February 1843.  A waterman was a highly skilled boatman carrying fare-paying passengers on the River Thames and, before trading, required serving an apprenticeship with the "Company of Watermen and Lightermen".

A possible clue to other family links may lie in the middle names given to his son John.

The name Young is of particular interest since it was handed down a further generation to John's grandson, Alfred Young Appleby, who is my great-grandfather.

According to his Death Certificate, John died from “ossification of the aortic valves of the heart; pulmonary apoplexy”, 67 years old.  He was buried 16 May 1848 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.

Eleanor, also known as Ellen, was 53 years old when she was buried at St. Mary's Church, Chatham 27 July 1834.

Children of John Appleby and Eleanor Staples are:      

+                         i.    John Young Staples Appleby, baptised 12 December 1805 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham; died 31 October 1864 at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in Rochester.

                          ii.    Eleanor Appleby baptised 20 March 1808 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.  She married William Waddell on 8 February 1829 at Hoo St. Werburgh.

                         iii.   William Appleby baptised 15 April 1810 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.

                         iv.  Emily Appleby baptised 12 June 1814 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.  She married Daniel Adams 25 December 1840 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.

                                Daniel was a bachelor working as a mariner when he married Emily, a spinster.  Both Emily and Daniel were living at Clover Lane, Chatham at the time of their wedding.  Emily’s father’s profession was noted to be a boatman.  His father was Joseph Adams, a labourer.  The couple was unable to provide signatures on the marriage document and “placed their marks”.

                                 At the time of the 1841 Census, Emily and Daniel were living at 8 King Street, Chatham.  Emily's younger brother James Appleby was also living with them.

                          v.  Eliza Appleby baptised 26 September 1819 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.

                         vi.  James Appleby baptised 10 May 1824 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.

                               At the time of the 1841 Census, James was a 17-year-old cordwainer living with his elder sister Emily and her husband Daniel Adams at 8 King Street, Chatham.  

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Generation No. 3

John Young Staples3 Appleby (John2, William1) was baptised 12 December 1805 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham, and died 31 October 1864 at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in Rochester.  He married Maria Boatman 9 February 1843 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham, daughter of (John) Wilson Boatman and Martha Catherine Weaver.

John’s middle name "Staples" was taken from his mother's maiden name.

He was a "mariner and rigger" (a "rigger" is a hoist tackle worker).  In 1829, he was employed at the “Ship Yard”, Chatham and worked on the "Chatham Hulk" for about £1 and 17 shillings a month.

In February 1843, when John married Maria Boatman, he lived at 8 King Street, Chatham.  This was only a short distance away from the dockyard.  Daniel Adams, the husband of John's sister Emily, was one of the marriage witnesses.

John and Maria are recorded in the 1861 Census living at Whittaker Street, Chatham.

According to his Death Certificate, John died of "dysentery most probably from malignant disease".  He was buried on 6 November 1864 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham.  Maria’s Death Certificate records that she died in 1874 in Chatham from "phthisis" or tuberculosis.

Children of John Appleby and Maria Boatman are:

+                         i.   Maria Louisa4 Appleby born between 1843-1846 in Chatham; buried 13 June 1879 at Sutton-at-Hone.  She married Frederick George Cracknell 25 September 1872 in Horton Kirby Parish Church, son of Frederick Cracknell and Louisa.  He was born about 1845 in Hollingbourne.

                                Maria shares the same name as her mother.  She was baptised at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Chatham on 24 March 1844 though she may have been born in the previous year.  According to her burial record she was 36 years old when she died, implying she was born in 1843, the same year that her parents were married.

From their marriage record, Maria was a 26-year-old spinster living in Horton Kirby when she married Frederick George Cracknell in 1872.  George was a 27-year-old bachelor living in Sutton-at-Hone, working as a plumber.  They were able to sign their own names in the Marriage Register.

Witnesses were James Pearce, Henry Appleby (possibly Henry James Appleby the brother of Maria Louisa Appleby?), and Agness (sic.) Appleby.  Each of the witnesses was able to sign their own names in the Register.

In 1881, Frederick was living at 13 Barfield Terrace, Sutton-at-Hone.  The Census also reveals that his mother Louisa Cracknell, a nurse, was living with him and his children.  It seems quite probable that she helped him to bring up his young family after Maria's death.  Furthermore, because his father's name was not mentioned in the Census, it is likely that his mother was widowed by this time.

Maria died at or about the same time as the birth of her fourth child, Ethel Louise.

Frederick soon remarried.  He was a 36-year-old widower working as a plumber and living at Sutton-at-Hone when he married Sarah Hammond 25 June 1881 at Holy Trinity Church, Dartford.  Sarah was also 36 years old and a spinster from Dartford.  Her father was George Hammond, a labourer.  Witnesses were William Bolton and Maria Hammond (second name unclear).  Before her marriage to Frederick, she is recorded in the 1881 Census living at The Grange, Darenth.

However, the marriage was short-lived.  Frederick died later the same year and was buried 8 November 1881 at St. John the Baptist Church, Sutton-at-Hone.  The 1891 Census records Sarah Cracknell, a 48-year-old widow, lodging at 8 Fulwich Road, Dartford.  She was living together with her 8-year-old daughter, Gertrude Cracknell, in the household of Caroline Symonds. 

+                        ii.   Eliza Harriet Appleby born 26 March 1846 at King Street in Chatham; died 8 January 1928 at 54 Hythe Street, Milton Regis, Sittingbourne.  She married Matthew James Gardiner on 13 November 1869 at Paradise Chapel, Milton Regis, son of John Gardiner and Mary Rockcliffe.  He was baptised 15 June 1838 at Chatham, and died 10 January 1920 at Milton Regis, Sittingbourne.

At the time of the 1861 Census, Eliza was living at 36 Brougham Place, Chatham.  Before 1869, she was employed at Sittingbourne as a cook for Dr. C.H. Fisher.

Eliza and Matthew were married at Paradise Chapel in Milton Regis.  This building was subsequently redeveloped and became Milton Congregational Church.  In late 1997, this church was also demolished and has now made way for housing. 

When the oldest four of her children were baptised in 1876 Matthew and Eliza were living at Nest End, Sittingbourne. 

The address was just Sittingbourne when two more children were baptised in 1880 and 1882 though on the 9 April 1881 Census the address was given in more detail as 35 West Street, Sittingbourne.  They lived between 1885 and 1909 at 20 The Wall, Sittingbourne (The Wall no longer exists as a residential area and is now part of a large industrial estate immediately north of Sittingbourne railway station).

The East Kent Gazette for Saturday 15 Nov 1919 mentioned their Golden Wedding.  It describes Matthew as "a wholesale baker of muffins, crumpet and gingerbreads" and that he followed his father in this occupation.  For Eliza it said that she "belongs to a Chatham family named Appleby, her father being a rigger in Chatham Dockyard."  The Rev. Palmer Law celebrated their Golden Wedding at Milton Congregational Church (formerly known as Paradise Chapel), which was evidently the church they attended on a regular basis.

An obituary in the 17 Jan 1920 East Kent Gazette for Matthew mentions Matthew was then still living at 54 Hythe Road, Milton Regis and that he died in his 82nd year.

According to her Death Certificate, Eliza died of died of cerebral thrombosis (a stroke), 81 years old.  She is buried at the Old Cemetery on Little Glovers in Sittingbourne. 

+                       iii.   Frederick John Appleby born 26 June 1848 in King Street, Chatham; died in Wortley, Leeds, Yorkshire.  He married Jane Ashby 25 December 1868 in Rochester, daughter of Richard Ashby and Jane.  She was baptised 21 December 1845 in Rochester, and died between January - March 1916 in Wortley, Leeds, Yorkshire. 

At the time of the 1861 Census, Frederick was a ropemaker's boy.  In 1869, when his son Frederick was born, he was a labourer at "Chatham Yard" (i.e. Chatham Dockyard) and living at 18 Best Street, Chatham.

Jane was baptised 21 December 1845 at St. Nicholas' Church, Rochester.

She was 71 years old when she died in 1916.

+                       iv.    Martha Catherine Appleby born 6 May 1850 in Gillingham.  She married (2) Thomas Britton July 1877 in St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, son of James Britton and Mary Kennedy.  He was born about 1843 in Colomel, Ireland and died in the third quarter of 1889 in Fareham, Hampshire.

The General Register Office has a birth registered for William Calb Appleby in the Gillingham Sub-district of the Medway Registration District.  The mother is registered as just Martha Appleby and no father's name is included on the Birth Certificate.

Martha had six other children with Thomas Britton after 1878.

+                        v.    Henry James Appleby born 5 December 1851 in Gillingham.  He married Jane Ann at Sheerness in the fourth quarter of 1877.

At the time of the 1881 Census, Jane was living at 12 Ebenezer Place, Minster-in-Sheppey together with her sons Henry and Alfred.

Records at Chatham Registry indicate Henry was born at Gillingham.  The Old Brompton Parish records mention a child of John Young Staples Appleby being baptised 8 February 1852, presumably Henry?

Old Brompton was a parish created in 1848 from the parishes of Gillingham and Chatham.

                         vi.    Albert Charles Appleby born 22 September 1855 in Gillingham.

At the time of the 1861 Census, Albert was living at 6 Whittaker Street, Chatham.

+                      vii.    Alfred Young Appleby born 10 January 1858 in 6 Whittaker Street, Chatham; died 23 January 1937 in 16 St. John's Terrace, Sutton-at-Hone.  He married Jessie Ann Dartnall 23 October 1899 in Sutton-at-Hone Parish Church, daughter of Thomas Dartnall and Mary Sims.

Alfred Young Appleby (my great grandfather), Jessie's second husband, was living at 6 Whittaker Street, Chatham at the time of the 1861 Census.

At the 1891 Census, he was a lodger in his father-in-law's house, 24 St. John's Terrace, Sutton-at-Hone and worked as a painter, journeyman, and house decorator. 

A "journeyman" is someone who has served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft, not bound to serve a master, but hired by the day - the origin is from the Old French 'journée', day.

It is believed Alfred met his wife Jessie while he was a lodger at her parents' house.

Alfred was 42 years old and Jessie was 36 years old when they married.  Witnesses at the wedding were Edward Thomas Ludlow and Jessie's niece Annie Jordan Dartnall.

He was buried 27 January 1937 in Grave No. 48, together with his wife Jessie who died in 1930.  The grave is marked by a headstone with a crucifix (now broken and laying across the grave).  It is located near the flintstone wall at the rear of the Parish Church, a short distance down and to the right of the Treadwell Grave No. 1133.  According to the headstone, Alfred was 80 years old when he died on 23 January 1937, implying he was born in 1857 whereas he was actually 79 years old. 

Jessie's first name is registered as Jessy on her Birth Certificate though on her grave headstone it is written as Jessie.

Of particular note is the gift of a ladder-backed chair she made in January 1925 to Sutton-at-Hone Parish Church, where she used to sing.  The chair was restored by Martin Tallents of St. John's Jerusalem in 1967 and can still to be seen there.  I was told that the Bishop of Rochester uses it when he visits and it is still very much admired to this day.

Jessie was 67 years old when she died 16 January 1930.  At the time, she was living at 16 St. John's Terrace, Sutton-at-Hone.  Cause of death was officially described as "softening of the brain (L frontal) and mitral disease of the heart".  The contraction of scarlet fever earlier in life can weaken the heart and lead to mitral stenosis in later life.  Poor heart function can also affect blood supply to the brain.  She was buried 20 January 1930.

                       viii.    Samuel George Appleby born 5 March 1860 in Gillingham. He married Annie Partridge (née Chambers) 4 July 1908 at the Register Office, Chatham. She was the daughter of William James and Elizabeth Sarah Chambers.

At the time of the 1861 Census, Samuel was living at 6 Whittaker Street, Chatham.

By the 1881 Census, he is recorded as 21 years old and living as a lodger at Gillingham in the household of Elizabeth Dunlery.  He was working as a labourer in "HMD" (H.M. Dockyard).

Samuel was a 46-year-old bachelor living at 30 Sidney Road, Gillingham and working as a skilled labourer when he married. Annie was a 40-year-old widow of no profession living at 42 Mill Road, Gillingham. Marriage witnesses were Alfred S. Martin and Joseph Brown.

Annie had earlier married Thomas Partridge in the third quarter of 1897.  He died in the first quarter of 1904.

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[1] The Appleby Research Organisation.  A one-name family history research organisation based at Hintlesham, Ipswich, England.  

For the  e-mail address which is best for you wherever you are look at website  http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/2434/ 

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