Nat Gould

Ann Middleton 1845-

Ann Middleton was born in 1845 at Tideswell in Derbyshire, the daughter of John Middleton and his wife nee Elizabeth Collis 1818-1885.

In 1851 Ann Middleton was living with her parents and siblings at High Street in Tideswell, and attending school. Her father was then working as a carrier, running a weekly service between Tideswell and Chesterfield, but by 1861 his business had gone and he was then employed as a railway labourer, and the family had moved to Back Lane in Tideswell.

Ann Middleton, then aged sixteen, was employed in a cotton factory, presumably one of the mills established in the nearby Wye valley. Her younger sisters Mary Ellen Middleton (aged thirteen) and even Ruth Middleton (aged only eleven) were similarly employed.

Aged seventeen, Ann Middleton was married to Samuel Sheldon in 1862 at Tideswell. He was born in Bonsall, Derbyshire in 1845.

They had the following children:

Edith Sheldon. She was born in 1863 at Tideswell. She was married in 1884 at Stockport to Benjamin Laycock Pratt, the son of John Pratt, a railway agent. They had three children. She died in 1944.

Ellen Sheldon. She was born in 1864 at Tideswell.

John William Sheldon. He was born in 1870 at Tideswell. He married Mary Harriet Yarwood Staley at New Mills in 1897. They had eight children. He died in 1954.

Joseph Sheldon. He was born in 1875 at Strines, New Mills. He married Mary Julia Applegate in 1908, and died in 1965.

Bertha Sheldon. She was born in 1878 at New Mills.

James Sheldon. He was born in 1880 at New Mills. In 1905 he married Lucy Price at Stockport, and died in 1948.

Samuel Sheldon. He was born in 1883 at Disley (presumably Newtown). He married Maggie Thurling at New Mills in 1928.

When the Census was taken in 1871 Ann Sheldon and her husband and growing family were living at Lodge in Tideswell, Samuel Sheldon then being recorded as a labourer. By 1875 they had moved to New Mills, Derbyshire. By 1881 they were living there at Meal Street in New Mills, Samuel Sheldon then working as a carter for a mason. The eldest daughter Edith (also known as Ada) was employed as a cotton piecer, and twelve-year-old Joseph William was working as a lap carrier in a cotton mill.

Samuel Sheldon died in 1882, and the widowed Ann Sheldon was living in 1891 at Woodside Cottages, Torr Vale Road in Newtown at New Mills. With her were her four youngest children, of whom Joseph (aged 16) was employed in a print works, and Bertha (aged 13) in a cotton mill. Eleven-year-old James Sheldon was at work as a bobbin maker. Only Samuel (aged 8) was still at school.

In 1901 Ann Sheldon was living at Springfield Terrace in Newtown at New Mills, together with her unmarried sons James and Samuel. James Sheldon was then a railway porter, and Samuel Sheldon a maker up in a bleach works. By 1911 she had moved to 10 Crownwell Terrace in Heaton Norris near Stockport. Still with her then was her youngest child Samuel Sheldon, aged 28 and unmarried, employed as a a maker up of cloth.