Nat Gould

George Adams 1847-1926

Former Alstonefield Village Shop

George Adams was born on 1847 at Narrowdale in Alstonefield parish in Staffordshire, the son of George Adams 1802-1858 of Narrowdale and his wife nee Frances Oliver 1823-1910.

In 1876 he married Lucy Ann Wood (born in 1841 at West Side in Alstonefield parish). She had been working as assistant in the grocer's and draper's shop of her uncle Richard Adams, and after he died in 1874 the shop was taken over by George and Lucy Ann Adams (1).

They had the following children, all born at Alstonefield:

Richard Adams. He was born in 1878.

George Adams. He was born in 1880.

and two others.

Signature on 1911 Census Return

Their father George Adams died aged years, and was buried at Alstonefield, where there is a gravestone inscribed to his memory and that of his wife.

His widow Lucy Ann Adams died on aged years, and was buried at Alstonefield.

(1) The shop had been purchased by his great-grandfather Ralph Adams 1722-1784 in 1754, and stayed in the possession of the Adams family for over 160 years.
"The building was a shop as early as 1754 when it was sold by John Gibbs (grocer and flaxdresser) to Ralph Adams, husbandman of Narrowdale, for £40. It remained with the Adams family until George Adams retired in 1914, and was then run by a Mr Stone. Ernest Arme took over the tenancy in 1922, and later bought the property, which included a warehouse with a loft above that had been added by the Adams family during the 19th century as a store for feeding stuffs." Alstonefield Memories by Tim Eades, Dorothy Critchlow and Doris Goodwin (2002) page 16.
The shop closed in 1981.