The Jeffcocks of Sheffield

An Account of the Family

My knowledge of this family came from Douglas Smith of Sunderland who wrote to me in 1997. He had traced a link in his family tree with the Jeffcock family of Handsworth in Sheffield, making a further connection with Frances Badger who had written an article in 1984, concerning William Jeffcock, the first Mayor of Sheffield.

 As I explained to Douglas, the Jephcott name was extensively written as Jeffcock in 16th and 17th century Warwickshire, but underwent a complete transformation around 1650 to drop the 'cock' completely, in favour of the 't' sounding ending. Why that happened I know not and it can only be guessed at.

Consequently, I did not include it in my study, other than to record the early instances. What I had noted, however, was that later recorded Jeffcocks all seemed to have come from Sheffield, with Douglas' letter adding weight to that.

It therefore seemed sensible to include Douglas' family tree in this book, in the hope that, one day, a link with the Warwickshire Jephcotts might be found.

Frances had become interested in the Jeffcocks after being told that her grandmother, Fanny Ramsbottom, was related to William Jeffcock (1800 - 1871) 1st Mayor of Sheffield. She seems to have had the usual fun that family historians have when they set about tracing their family tree, finding eventually conclusive evidence that Fanny was William's cousin. What also came out of her research was a strong involvement with the mining of coal, for which the Sheffield area was famous.

Within Frances' research, she discovered a reference in the library which read:

'John Jeffcock of Handsworth was a collier and kept the house known by the sign of Adam and Eve at Hallgates, Handsworth and was killed in a pit 25th April 1777 aged 41.'

 John turned out to have been both William's and Fanny's grandfather.

On the following page is an article written by Frances Badger and which accompanied letter 996.

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A glance at the IGI and the 1881 census index will reveal a considerable number of Jeffcocks in the Yorkshire section and not mentioned in this section.

There is clearly more research which needs to be done, and which, hopefully, will lead to this family being more fully documented in a future edition of this book.

THE JEFFCOCKS OF HANDSWORTH

(or Don't Believe Official Pedigrees)

by Frances Badger

I became interested in the Jeffcocks of Handsworth after being told that my great great grandmother, Fanny Ramsbottom (nee Jeffcock) was related to William Jeffcock, (1800-1871) 1st Mayor of Sheffield, and was possibly his daughter or sister.

Fanny had married John Ramsbottom and their son John (my great grandfather was born on 6th March 1848). I knew that John was one of their eldest children (they had 12, of whom all but one reached adulthood) and I found the marriage of John and Fanny in Sheffield Parish Church on 12th September 1844. (1) The marriage certificate revealed that Fanny was 18 and her husband 10 years older at the time. Fanny had lived in Duke Street and her father was one Joseph Jeffcock, a miner. Fanny was born on 25th October 1825 and baptised in the Parish Church on 4th December 1825 (1). Her mother was called Sarah - it was obvious that Fanny was not William Jeffcock's daughter.

As William Jeffcock had been Sheffield's first Mayor, I thought there might be some information in the library. In the local history department I found 'A pedigree of the Jeffcock family' written by one of William Jeffcock's family (2). The book stated that William was the eldest son of John Jeffcock and his wife Elizabeth Dunn. John Jeffcock was in turn described as '...the only son of John Jeffcock (1736-1771) of Handsworth, by his wife Katherine n‚e Habershon'. It seemed that if Fanny and William were related the connection was through their grandfathers and certainly not as close as had been told to me.

I began to doubt that there was any truth in the tale and my search went into cold storage, until I met a very distant relative who repeated the story of Fanny and William. I decided that as the story had been handed down through more than one branch of the family there might be some foundation for it after all. The search was resumed. The 1841 census (3) showed Fanny's family living in Duke Street, Sheffield;

Joseph Jeffcock 65 Miner

Sarah Jeffcock 50

Fanny Jeffcock 15

Horatio Jeffcock 18 Grinder

Fanny's father Joseph Jeffcock was therefore born between 1771-1776 and was about 50 when Fanny was born. He was quite a bit older than his wife and I wondered if Fanny and Horatio were the younger members of a larger family.

Handsworth Parish Church (4) records were then searched. Although John Jeffcock was described in the pedigree (2) as the only son of his parents John and Katherine the records showed the baptisms of five children, as well as the burials of two of them. In all cases the father was described as 'John Jeffcock of Hallgates, Collier'.

Baptised Buried

Samuel 20 Aug 1761 30 Dec 1761

John 17 Apr 1763

Benjamin 25 Nov 1770

Joseph 1 Jan 1774

Anne 30 Jun 1776 11 Jul 1777

Another baptism was found at Old Church, Sheffield (1)

Peter, son of John Jeffcock, collier, 8th April 1765

The fact that this is the same family as referred to in the pedigree (2) appears to be confirmed by John Jeffcock's date of birth, 1763, which is the same as that given in the pedigree. The burial of John Jeffcock the father was also found in the registers (4):

Burial. 27th April 1777, John Jeffcock of Hallgates, collier.

This date, however, does not agree with the pedigree, which suggests that John Jeffcock the father died in 1771. However, a John Jeffcock was buried in Handsworth in 1771:

Burial. 22nd Sept John Jefcock, Snr.

I believe that this burial refers to the grandfather of the John Jeffcock born in 1763. A document in the Local History Dept., at the Library gives more information on the John Jeffcock who was buried in 1777 (5):

'John Jeffcock of Handsworth was a collier and kept the house known by the sign of Adam and Eve at Hallgates, Handsworth and was killed in a pit 25th April 1777 aged 41.'

Joseph Jeffcock

The Joseph Jeffcock baptised on 1st Jan 1774 could be Fanny's father. This would make her and William Jeffcock first cousins, but more evidence was required. The fact of Joseph's survival, and possibly that of two other brothers, Peter and Benjamin, contradicts the pedigree (2). However, other details in the pedigree were subsequently found to be incorrect, notably the birth dates of some of John and Elizabeth's children, and also the date of their marriage. The dates could have been checked in the registers (1,4) so it does suggest that the author might not have checked his source material. John and Elizabeth Jeffcock were married by licence on 30th March 1798 in Sheffield Parish Church (1); the pedigree (2) gives the date as 1797 and does not give the place. Their first child was baptised two months later in Handsworth (4); the couple were living at Dourhouse Colliery at the time.

Joseph and Molly Jeffcock

At this stage in my research another member of S&DFHS contacted me. It was a familiar story; she believed she was related to William Jeffcock. She was descended from one Hannah Dale (n‚e Jeffcock), a daughter of Joseph and Morley (or Molly) Jeffcock. Hannah was born on 30th July 1810 and baptised at Handsworth on 26th August (4). Handsworth records (4) showed more details of Joseph and Molly's children:

Born Baptised Buried

Benjamin c1798 Not Handsworth 30 Aug 1807 aged 9

John c1800 Not Handsworth 4 Aug 1807 aged 7

Joseph 22 Jan 1808 28 Feb 1808

Hannah 30 Jul 1810 26 Aug 1810

Mary Ann

Emanuel 4 Oct 1812 22 Nov 1812

The marriage of Joseph and Molly was not found at Handsworth. If Hannah was related to William Jeffcock, it was presumably through her father Joseph. I had by this time begun to regard the Joseph Jeffcock son of John and Katherine, baptised 1st Jan 1774 to be Fanny's father and husband of Sarah. I now had to find another Joseph Jeffcock, the one who married Molly and was father to Hannah. But in the Handsworth registers, from 1774 until 1808 when Joseph and Molly's own son Joseph was born, no Joseph Jeffcocks were baptised.

I then remembered the mental note I had made about Joseph being 50 when Fanny was born and that her mother Sarah was 11-19 years younger than her husband. Was this possibly Joseph's second marriage, his first being to Molly? Another search of Handsworth registers from 1813 to 1826 showed more children of Joseph and Molly, plus an interesting burial:

Born Baptised Buried

Eliza ? 26 Feb 1815 ?

Elizabeth ? 23 Nov 1817 ?

Isabella 8 Apr 1820 12 Jan 1823

Sarah 14 Nov 1822 12 Jan 1823 14 Nov 1823

Molly wife of

Joseph Jeffcock ? ? 11 Jun 1823

aged 45 years

It was therefore possible that Joseph had subsequently married Sarah. If so, Hannah and Fanny were half sisters and first cousins to William Jeffcock.

A chance find on the Mormon IGI (as yet unverified) threw more light on the family. The following baptisms were recorded at Oldham Parish Church (6), Lancashire (St Mary's). Children of Joseph and Molly Jeffcock:

Baptised

Benjamin 7 Jan 1798

John 23 Mar 1800

Ann 14 Nov 1802

Ketty (?Kitty) 21 Jul 1805

The dates of Benjamin's and John's baptisms tie in with their ages when they were buried at Handsworth in August 1807. The marriage of Josesph and Molly has not been found at either Handsworth or Sheffield Parish Churches, the search will now include parishes in Lancashire.

Joseph and Sarah Jeffcock

The marriage of Joseph and Sarah Jeffcock was found at Rotherham Parish Church (7). As was expected, it was Joseph's second marriage.

Marriage solemnised between:

Joseph Jeffcock Widower of this parish

Sarah Moor of this parish

Married at Rotherham Parish Church by Banns 19th July 1824

Signed Joseph Jeffcock

Sarah Moore (both signed their names)

Witnesses Wm Jeffcock

Wm Jessop

Minister Thos Blackley

It appears then that Joseph's nephew William, then aged 24, attended the ceremony. This connection between William and his uncle Joseph continued even after the latter's death, in 1848. In his will, written in 1856 (8), William left a legacy in the following terms:

 '... and to my Aunt Sarah Jeffcock (the widow of my late Uncle Joseph Jeffcock) an annuity of ten pounds during her life to be paid by equal half yearly payments the first of such payments to be made at the expiration of one calender month next after my decease ...'

 So, here in William Jeffcock's will was evidence that his father was not an only son, and Fanny's story was right after all, even though the relationship had moved a little closer over the years of telling. It is possible that William was giving his Aunt Sarah financial assistance for some years. In the 1871 census (3) taken some 9 months before William died, Sarah Jeffcock is described as having:

'income from friends'. She was then aged 84 and was living in Fentonville Gardens, Sharrow. Sarah's daughter, Fanny Ramsbottom died on 24th Han 1871 (9) and is buried in the General Cemetery. Sarah and Joseph's son Horatio Wm Jeffcock had become a victualler and ran the Bulls Head at the corner of Duke Street and South Street in the 1860's. He died on 10th March 1873 and is also interred at the General Cemetery. (9) Joseph Jeffcock died on 5th May 1848. He was living in Duke Street at the time and was described as a coal miner. His widow Sarah outlived the rest of her family and died aged 87 on 7th May 1874 (10). She was living in Hill St, Ecclesall Bierlow. Her husband's occupation appears to have been elevated since his death: Sarah is described as 'widow of Joseph Jeffcock, colliery steward'. To date, neither Joseph's nor Sarah's graves have been located.

The connection between Joseph Jeffcock's two families was strengthened by the discovery of Isabella Jeffcock's marriage certificate. She was the daughter of Joseph and his first wife Molly and had been baptised at Handsworth on 12th Jan 1823, aged 2« years. She married James Cam at Sheffield Parish Church on 25th Jan 1841. Her father is described as Joseph Jeffcock, miner and her residence as Duke St, the same location as Joseph and his second wife Sarah were found in the 1841 census taken some two months later.

Peter Jeffcock and family

Peter Jeffcock was baptised at the Old Church (1), Sheffield on 8th April 1765. His father was 'John Jeffcock, collier'. The next recorded mention appeared unexpectedly in Lancashire. On 30 July 1787 Peter Jeffcock married Maria Williamson, both 'of this parish' at St Michael's Parish Church, Aston under Lyne (11). The baptism of their first child is recorded in the same parish registers:

17th August 1788. Baptism

John, son of Peter Jeffcock, collier by Maria

So it appears that Peter went to the Manchester area, just as his brother Joseph was to do. Enquiries have revealed that the area was a centre of much coal mining activity at that time, indeed this ready source of energy was the basis on which the Lancashire cotton industry was founded. (12)

Peter and Maria moved back to Handsworth and a succession of daughters followed. Their baptisms were at Handsworth (4) and all are described as 'daughter of Peter and Maria Jeffcock'.

Born Baptised Location if given

Charlotte 5 Apr 1790 2 May 1790 Woodhouse

Edith 16 Jun 1794 17 Aug 1794 -

Henriette 22 Feb 1797 16 Apr 1797 -

Barbara 30 May 1799 1799 Woodhouse

Mary 22 Jul 1802 27 Jul 1802 Woodhouse

The registers also give Maria's burial:

4th Sept 1811 Maria, wife of Peter Jeffcock of Sheffield Park aged 46 years

It seems that two of the sisters married close relatives. Harriet (Henriette) Jeffcock married William Hobson at Sheffield Parish Church (1) on 10 July 1814 and signed her name which was quite unusual for a woman at that time. Barbara Jeffcock married Samuel Hobson at Handsworth (4) on 21st May 1821 and the witnesses were Harriet and William Hobson.

Nothing is yet known about the fortunes of the family, other than Harriet.

 Harriet Hobson, a widow was living at High Hazles yard at the time of the 1871 census (3). She gives her age as 73 (it should have been 74) and was the only occupant of the house. Her accommodation was attached to high Hazles house itself, at that time owned by Harriet's first cousin, William Jeffcock. William also mentioned her in his Will (8)

'...to my cousin Harriet Hobson an annuity of twenty four pounds during her life to be paid by equal payments to two pounds every calender month, the first of such payments to be made at the expiration of one calender month next after my decease.'

 At the time of writing this is all I have found out about Peter Jeffcock's family.

Benjamin Jeffcock

Benjamin, son of John Jeffcock of Hallgates, collier, was baptised at Handsworth on 25 Nov 1770 (4). From his baptism until 1811 there is no mention in the Handsworth registers of any baptisms or burials of any children of a Benjamin Jeffcock, neither does his marriage or burial appear.

Although there are some gaps in my Jeffcock pedigree, I feel I have established most of the facts. My search for the nature of the connection between my great great grandmother, Fanny Jeffcock and Sheffield's first Mayor, William Jeffcock has taught me a lot about family history. For instance, not to take at face value everything that has been published, but to go to the original sources (something we are frequently told, but sometimes ignore); also to follow up hunches (as in the case of Joseph Jeffcock's two marriages) and to leave no stone unturned. When William Jeffcock's father made no mention of any brothers in his Will, it did not occur to me that William would remember one of those brothers' widows in his will.

I have also realised that occasionally tales of 'good connections' are true, and I hereby apologise to my father (also a member of S&DFHS) for accusing him of having a family who had 'delusions of grandeur'.

Frances J Badger

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References

1. Registers of Sheffield Parish Church. At the Cathedral.

2. Jeffcock W P. A pedigree of the Jeffcock family 1932.

Jeffcock W P. Family recollections. 1941.

3. Census returns for Sheffield South Yorkshire County Record Office, Sheffield.

4. Handsworth Parish Records. At the church, to view contact Martin Ripley, 12 Richmond Park Road, Handsworth, Sheffield S13 8HL.

5. Reference lost.

6. Mormon IGI 1981. Lancs.

7. Rotherham Parish Records on microfilm at Rotherham Library.

8. William Jeffcock's Will. Proved 31st January 1872. Copy at Somerset House, London.

9. Grave registers at Local History Dept, Sheffield Library.

10. Certificate from Registry Office, Sheffield.

11. St Michael's Parish Church, Ashton under Lyne, Lancs. Records at the church

12. Information from Local History Dept, Ashton Library.

William Jeffcock

First Mayor of Sheffield

William Jeffcock was born in April 1800 in Handsworth. His baptism is recorded in the Parish Registers and, although he died in Ireland, he is buried in the family vault in Handsworth. Both his ancestors and his descendants were prominent local figures, wealthy and respectable. But the historical importance of William Jeffcock lies in the fact that in 1843 he became the very first Mayor of Sheffield ...

The Jeffcocks settled in Handsworth in the 17th century, having moved from Eckington in Derbyshire. The first record of the family name occurs in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Eckington in 1351. But they settled in Handsworth parish where there are over sixty entries in the Registers regarding the family between 1636 and 1768.

picture

It was a Mr John Jeffcock, the father of William, who established the family name as coalmasters by becoming Colliery Engineer at Dore House Colliery in Handsworth. William was able to build upon his father's commercial success by entering the realm of local government. He was keen to play an active role in the civic affairs of Sheffield and so became a candidate for Attercliffe Ward in the town's first municipal elections on November 1st, 1843. Although he polled only eighty votes, he was elected. Meeting for the first time on November 9th (1843), the new Town Council unanimously chose William Jeffcock to be the first Mayor of Sheffield. He also became an Alderman and remained on the Council for ten years. In addition, he was nominated as a Justice of the Peace for the West Riding in 1846. He also held a commission in the West Yorkshire Yeomanry Cavalry for some time.

For many years, the Jeffcocks resided at High Hazels. John Jeffcock was the first to live there, but it was his son William who built a new mansion on the site in 1850. The closeness of the Jeffcock connection to Handsworth can be seen in St Mary's churchyard. Two box-tombs in memory of the family bear inscriptions to over a dozen Jeffcocks, whilst there are also tributes to them in the Church itself as well as one in the form of a fountain on the curve of Handsworth Road ...

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I do not know who wrote the above article. It was sent to me by Douglas Smith in 2000 (source letter 1075). The reference to the name being recorded in 1351 is very interesting in that it makes it one of the earliest references to the name.

These items, together with the family tree that I have been able to draw up, is only a brief summary of Douglas' various letters and Frances' article and hardly does justice to the Jeffcock families of the Sheffield area. However, it is a start!

Source letters 988, 995, 996, 1075

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