Rachel Myers - Birth 3rd June 1840
Rachel was was christened in Keighley in 1840 according to Family Search. As her birth came just after the start of national certification a birth certificate is available and this gives the following detail.
This gives her father’s name as
Wilkinson Myers and her mother’s as Mary - formerly Teale which allows them both to be traced.
Wilkinson Myers Predecessors
Family search has the birth of Wilkinson Myers on
2nd August 1796 in Skipton to parents John & Elizabeth.
May Teal Predecessors
There are several possibilities for the birth of Mary Teal (none actually in Skipton) so it is not possible to track this any further back using online sources.
Wilkinson Myers & Mary Teal - Marriage 21st May 1824
Family search has the marriage of Wilkinson Myers to Mary Teal on 21st May 1824 in York. This was before the start of national registration so no further information is available. The spelling of Teal on the Family Search records differs from that on Rachel's birth certificate which has a final 'e'. As these are the only two verifiable instances of Mary's maiden name it is not possible to verify which is correct.Christening records in Family Search can be found for all 9 daughters of Wilkinson & Mary as shown below.
Wilkinson Myers & Mary - 1841 Census
Wilkinson and Mary
already had a substantial family (9 girls) by the time of the 1841 Census.
Wilkinson was landlord of the King William pub in Skipton in Craven.
Wilkinson Myers & Mary - 1851 Census
In 1851 the address is given just as Water Street. The eldest daughter, Elizabeth, is missing - married in Skipton in 1845 to William Holdsworth - see grandson John Holdsworth in 1871 census. Louisan is also missing and there is a 1850 marriage of Lucian Myers to Richard Howarth. This seems to fit - see granddaughter Elizabeth in 1861 census. There is a 21-year-old Sarah who was absent for the 1841 census when she would have been 11. I cannot find where she was in 1841 (the 1841 census does not give relationships so if she is staying with relatives this is not apparent). There also seems to be a mix up about the age of Mary given as aged 10 in both 1841 and 1851. Family Search has her birth in 1832. Margaret and Kerranapuch seem to have swapped ages.
Wilkinson Myers & Mary - 1861 Census
In 1861 the pub name is again listed - now as the William the 4th. Again the girls’ ages jump around all over the place. This suggests an illiterate family who do not have records. Kerenhappuch is now married - in 1870 to John Benson. Elizabeth Howarth (daughter to Lucian) is also here, staying with her grandparents. The rest of the Howarth family are living some distance away in Hindley in Lancashire. Richard and Lucian now have 3 further children: Mary E (11), John T (8), Wilkinson (3) and Richard (1)
The William IV Inn in Water Street is no longer there but I have been able to trace its history through the Skipton library which also supplied the photograph below. The Inn seems to have opened in 1830
and it is quite possible that Wilkinson was the first innkeeper there. He was there
in 1841 aged 45 (and remained there until his death in 1871) so he could easily
have been proprietor 11 years earlier. The woman standing in front of the door
could even be Wilkinson's wife as the clothing clearly dates it back to the 19th
century. After Wilkinson's death,
his daughter Sarah took the place over as she is listed there in the 1881
and 1891 census records - see below.Through a contact made via Skipton library I have obtained a copy of an indenture for the eventual sale of the inn in 1897. It is a fascinating document, which pretty much maps out the lives of the Myers family
for a quarter of a century. After the sale, the inn changes hands a number of times until the licence was revoked in 1907 and it closed down. The building remained until it was demolished for new housing in 2004. The house that now stands on the site has an engraving above the door which says
'William IV Inn and Stables 1830 - 2004'.
Mary Myers - Death
Mary died sometime between 1861 and 1871. There are two possibilities in the records - December quarter 1865 or June quarter 1870. The age of Mary who died in 1870 is given as 76 which is older than our Mary would have been at this time (70). However, the age data in the census records for the Myers family is unreliable and so this does not rule her out. Unfortunately records pre 1867 do not give ages so we do not know the age of the Mary who died in 1865.
Wilkinson Myers - 1871 Census
In 1871 Wilkinson, now a widower, is still an Inn Keeper, strangely
listed as ‘Father’ instead of Head of household. Another daughter has left home
as Rachel is now
married to John William
Boothman - see Boothman Line.
There are three grandchildren staying in the pub: Elizabeth Howarth - daughter of Lucian & Robert - who was also here in 1861, Annie Robinson - daughter of Jane & Thomas (although her mother Jane is now remarried to John Thompson), and John Holdsworth - son of Elizabeth & William. John is there again in 1891 - this time employed as an Ostler/Groom - see below.
Wilkinson Myers - Death - 16th May 1871
Wilkinson died on 16th May 1871 and his probate record is interesting as John William Boothman (husband to Rachel) was one of his executors.
Willliam IV Inn - 1881 & 1891 Census
The 1881 and 1891 census records show that Wilkinson's unmarried daughter Sarah Ellen - one of the executors of the will - took over as Innkeeper after Wilkinson’s death. Staying with her in 1881 is Elizabeth Boothman, the eldest daughter of her sister Rachel, now married to John William Boothman.
In 1891 John Holdsworth - son of Elizabeth & William is working in the Inn as Ostler/Groom. I cannot determine who the ‘niece’ Ann Clark could be, as none of Sarah’s sisters married a Clark so far as I know.
For the remaining story of Rachel Myers and John William Boothman (including the death of John William Boothmans in 1883) see the Boothman Line and for Rachel's life into the twentieth century see Edwin's Story.