The ancestors of George Dodsworth were very well established in the village of Minskip long before the birth of George Dodsworth and have so far been traced back to 1764. Very little information is available relating to his ancestors other than dates of their births, marriages and deaths.
Figure 1 : George Dodsworth’s Ancestors
Thomas Dodsworth was born at Minskip in 1844 the son of Thomas and Isabella Dodsworth. His birth certificate gives his father’s occupation as a cordwainer. Note again that Isabella’s maiden name had also been Dodsworth. Isabella registered the birth and signed with ‘her mark’, from which it is assumed that she was unable to write. This is interesting in that both her parents could write, although the education of girls was not considered to be important in those days.
Sarah Slater was born at Skelton in 1850 the daughter of William and Ellen Slater. Her birth certificate gives her father’s occupation as a labourer. Note that the certificate has been formally amended by the registrar in respect of the mother’s forename, ‘Ellen’ has been amended to ‘Helen’.
Thomas Dodsworth married Sarah Slater at Aldborough Parish Church in 1869.
Thomas was aged 24. He gave his occupation as a labourer, declared his father to be Thomas Dodsworth a shoemaker, and his residence as Minskip. Sarah was aged 18. She did not give an occupation, declared her father to be William Slater a labourer, and her residence as Minskip. Information from various certificates shows that Thomas could write but that Sarah could not.
The couple had 12 children all born at Minskip and baptised at Aldborough Parish Church. Their 10th child was named George. Unusually, none were named Thomas!
Figure 2 : Descendants of Thomas Dodsworth and Sarah Slater
Jane died aged 3 years.
Elizabeth was born in the first quarter of 1871. She only appears on the 1881 Census aged 9 years and as she does not appear on the 1891 Census it is assumed that by then she had either married or was away at work.
Isabella was born the same year as Elizabeth in the fourth quarter of 1871. Note her birth as she features largely in the last year of George Dodsworth’s life.
Christopher was born in 1873 but not baptised until 1875.
Lilian’s birth registration gives her Christian name as Lilly, but she was baptised as Lilian.
Mary Jane’s life was very short, she died aged 3 months.
John (1) was aged 1 week on the 1881 Census for Minskip. His birth was not registered and there is no record of either his baptism or burial It is to be presumed that he died within a week or two of birth.
James was born in 1881 but not baptised until 1882.
John (2) was born in 1888 but not baptised until 1889. This is another indication that the first John died.
Sarah Dodsworth died at Minskip in 1911 aged 60 years [[1]] and was buried in the cemetery at Aldborough. Her death certificate gives that her son Thomas was with her when she died. This Thomas was actually her grandson, the illegitimate son of Isabel. The day before had been his 19th birthday.
Thomas Dodsworth died in 1916 aged 72 years [[2]] at the home of his daughter Isabel, 44 Electric Avenue, Killinghall in Harrogate. Isabel was with him when he died. Thomas was interred with Sarah in the cemetery at Aldborough [[3]].
Isabella Dodsworth was born at Minskip in 1871, the 3rd child of Thomas and Sarah Dodsworth. Her birth certificate gives Thomas’s occupation as an agricultural labourer. Sarah registered their daughter’s birth and signed with ‘her mark’, from which it is assumed that she was unable to write. Isabella was eleven years older than her brother George.
In 1892 when she was 20 years old, Isabella had an illegitimate son whom she named Thomas. Since the baby’s father was not named on his birth certificate, it is assumed that Isabella named him after her father [[4]]. Thomas was baptised at Aldborough Parish Church when he was one month old. The baptism entry in the church registers describes Isabella as ‘a single woman’. Isabella’s youngest brother, John, was born in 1888 making him only 4 years older than his nephew Thomas.
Isabella eventually married at Aldborough Parish Church in 1897 when she was 26 years old. Fred James Baxter Galway was the same age and lived at Bilton in Harrogate. Fred James Baxter was the illegitimate son of Mary Elizabeth Baxter of Killinghall in Harrogate. Mary later married Fred’s father, Francis Galway, hence his rather long name.
Young Thomas Dodsworth was brought up by his grandparents. The 1901 Census for Minskip shows Thomas as the son of Thomas and Sarah Dodsworth aged 9 years. His grandfather Thomas was by then aged 60 years and grandmother Sarah aged 54 years.
Isabella and Fred lived at 44 Electric Avenue in Harrogate. By the 1901 Census the couple had two sons – Harry [[5]] aged 2 years and Francis aged 1 year. How many more children were born to the marriage is not known.
The later years of the First World War must have been very distressing for Isabella. Although we do not know how many of her own children were still living at home, by October 1916 she had her brother George’s three children to look after. She was also nursing her terminally ill father, Thomas, who died at her home in December 1916. In August 1917 her son Harry was wounded in action. Finally in October 1917 her brother George committed suicide in Lincolnshire. There then must have followed the problem of the custody of his children.
Despite extensive research [[6]], no record of the deaths of either Isabella or Fred has been found. The electoral registers for 44 Electric Avenue show no record of Isabella having lived there after 1932 and no record of Fred after 1935. It remains a possibility that they emigrated. The only way of finding out whether a person emigrated is by searching ships passenger lists. This would be a tremendous task without knowing which port a person left from, where they were going, or when. Isabella’s later years, therefore, remain a mystery.
[1] Sarah Dodsworth was born 21/09/1850 and died 22/02/1911.
Her death certificate gives her age as 62 whereas she was actually aged 60.
[2] Thomas Dodsworth was born 07/07/1844 and died 17/12/1916.
His death certificate gives his age as 73 whereas he was actually aged 72.
[3] The gravestone of Thomas and Sarah is inscribed :-
‘In affectionate remembrance of Sarah Dodsworth the beloved wife of Thomas Dodsworth of Minskip who died Feb 22nd 1911 aged 62 years. Her end was peace. Also of the above named Thomas Dodsworth of Minskip who died Dec 18th 1916 aged 73 years’.
[4] Note from the Ancestors Section that none of Thomas & Sarah’s sons were named Thomas.
[5] The families of casualties of war frequently wrote to the local papers of the time to report the death or injury of a member of their family. The Roll of Honour published in The Knaresborough Post of Saturday 8th September 1917 contained the following extract :-
‘Pte. Harry Galway, West Yorks. (Regiment), son of Mrs. Galway, 44 Electric Avenue, New Park, Harrogate, was called up on the 15th February last, and was 19 on the 22nd May. He went out to France the first week in June, and was wounded in the leg on the 1st of August. He is now in hospital in Edmonton, London. He worked with Mr. Handley, hairdresser, Gold Rush Road, before joining up. A letter from the chaplain says the wounded man is bright and cheerful, and getting on all right.’
[6] In later life Isabella’s name became ‘Isabel Galway’. However, searches of the indexes at the Family Records Centre using www.1837online.com have been made using not only that name but also variations including Isabella / Isabell / Bella and Galaway / Galoway / Gallway. Note that Isabella registered her father’s death and her name appears on the certificate as Isabell Galaway.
