John Cheshire was born on 2 Mar 1776, the eldest son of Edward Cheshire and his wife Eleanor. Details of his siblings all survive in the Cheshire Family Bible. He was baptised on 12 May 1776 at St Leonard’s Bilston and seems to have spent most of his life in the Smethwick-Oldbury area.
He married Priscilla Onions on 1 May 1797 and they had eight surviving children. The Cheshires were evidently a fairly wealthy farming family and John Cheshire is usually described as a Maltster. The family intermarried with a number of other farming families that form part of the research on this web site. Up until the 1830’s it was still possible to make considerable money off the land by providing to the burgeoning brewing and meat trade.
John Cheshire’s eldest son, John Onions Cheshire, married Charlotte Willets. His eldest daughter, Anna Maria, married Thomas Collins. Both the Collins and the Willets families were butchers by trade – but this appears to mean that they owned considerable quantities of livestock and pastoral land in their own right. John Cheshire’s granddaughter Anna Maria Collins married George Downing, the younger brother of William Downing. A letter of hers to Sarah Downing her sister-in-law still survives.
John Cheshire’s fourth daughter, Sarah, married Joseph Hartill of Dudley and his granddaughter through this marriage was Sarah Cheshire Hartill, the wife of Walter Showell the important Oldbury brewer.
Of his other children Eliza married Thomas Richard Cooper, a surgeon and his son William married Ann Collins, the niece of his son-in-law Thomas Collins.
John Cheshire’s address in the 1841 census is the Spout House, Smethwick.
John Cheshire died on 1 Sep 1844 and left a long will detailing considerable property in the three counties of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. His wife Priscilla survived him by four years and she died on 28 Apr 1848.
Family of John CHESHIRE and Priscilla ONIONS
| Husband: | John CHESHIRE (1776-1844) |
| Wife: | Priscilla ONIONS (1782-1848) |
| Children: | John Onions CHESHIRE (1798-1885) |
| Anna Maria CHESHIRE (1800-1838) |
| Hannah CHESHIRE (1803-c. 1893) |
| Mary CHESHIRE (1805-1859) |
| Sarah CHESHIRE (1807-c. 1883) |
| Thomas CHESHIRE (1810-1813) |
| Priscilla CHESHIRE (1811-1813) |
| Eliza CHESHIRE (1813- ) |
| William CHESHIRE (1815-aft1869) |
| Hellen CHESHIRE (1818-1819) |
| Priscilla CHESHIRE (1820-1822) |
| Edward CHESHIRE (1822-bef1891) |
| Marriage | 1 May 1797 | Kingswinford, Staffordshire |
| Married as Priscilla Bacon her Mother’s name |
Husband: John CHESHIRE
| Name: | John CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Male |
| Father: | Edward CHESHIRE (c. 1748-c. 1824) |
| Mother: | Eleanor LINTON (bap.1751, d.1829) |
| Birth | 2 Mar 1776 | Bilston, Staffordshire |
| Baptism | 12 May 1776 (age 0) | St Leonard’s, Bilston |
| Residence | 1841 (age 64-65) | Spout House, Smethwick |
| Occupation | 1841 (age 64-65) | Maltster |
| Death | 1 Sep 1844 (age 68) | Harborne, Staffordshire |
Wife: Priscilla ONIONS
| Name: | Priscilla ONIONS |
| Sex: | Female |
| Father: | John ONIONS (c. 1735-1814) |
| Mother: | Ann Maria BACON (bap.1764, d.1817) |
| Birth | 12 May 1782 | Kingswinford, Staffordshire |
| Death | 28 Apr 1848 (age 65) | Harborne, Staffordshire |
Child 1: John Onions CHESHIRE
| Name: | John Onions CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Male |
| Spouse: | Charlotte WILLETS (bap.1798, d.1876) |
| Birth | 23 Jul 1798 | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
| Occupation | 1881 (age 82-83) | -; Retired Cattle Dealer |
| Death | 1 May 1885 (age 86) | Kingswood3 |
| Burial | 5 May 1885 | St Nicholas Church, Kings Norton |
Child 2: Anna Maria CHESHIRE
| Name: | Anna Maria CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Spouse: | Thomas COLLINS (bap.1796, d.1863) |
| Birth | 28 Nov 1800 | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
| Baptism | 25 Dec 1800 (age 0) | Oldbury by Halesowen, Presbyterian |
| Death | 11 Sep 1838 (age 37) | |
| Src Cheshire Family Bible |
Child 3: Hannah CHESHIRE
| Name: | Hannah CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Spouse: | James POTTER (c. 1800-c. 1867) |
| Birth | 26 Jan 1803 | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
| Baptism | 13 Feb 1803 (age 0) | Oldbury by Halesowen, Presbyterian |
| Death | c. 1893 (age 89-90) | |
Child 4: Mary CHESHIRE
| Name: | Mary CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Spouse 1: | Richard DUCE (1802-c. 1833) |
| Spouse 2: | William BROOKES (c. 1796- ) |
| Birth | 27 Feb 1805 | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
| Baptism | 4 Mar 1805 (age 0) | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
| Death | 11 May 1859 (age 54) | |
Child 5: Sarah CHESHIRE
| Name: | Sarah CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Spouse: | Joseph HARTILL (1805-1859) |
| Birth | 19 May 1807 | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
| Baptism | 7 Jun 1807 (age 0) | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
| Death | c. 1883 (age 75-76) | |
Child 6: Thomas CHESHIRE
| Name: | Thomas CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Male |
| Birth | 10 Apr 1810 | |
| Death | 13 Feb 1813 (age 2) | |
Child 7: Priscilla CHESHIRE
| Name: | Priscilla CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Birth | 5 Jan 1811 | |
| Death | 5 Feb 1813 (age 2) | |
Child 8: Eliza CHESHIRE
| Name: | Eliza CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Spouse: | Thomas Richard COOPER (1810-1865 ) |
| Birth | 4 Jul 1813 | |
Child 9: William CHESHIRE
| Name: | William CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Male |
| Spouse: | Ann COLLINS (1821-1869) |
| Birth | 6 May 1815 | |
| Occupation | 1841 (age 25-26) | Grocer and Retailer; Maltster’s Labourer – living next door to parents |
| Occupation | 1851 (age 35-36) | Retail Brewer |
| Occupation | 1861 (age 45-46) | Former Victualler |
| Death | aft 1869 (age 53-54) | |
Child 10: Hellen CHESHIRE
| Name: | Hellen CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Birth | 20 Apr 1818 | |
| Death | 16 Feb 1819 (age 0) | |
Child 11: Priscilla CHESHIRE
| Name: | Priscilla CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Female |
| Birth | 12 Mar 1820 | |
| Death | 15 Dec 1822 (age 2) | |
Child 12: Edward CHESHIRE
| Name: | Edward CHESHIRE |
| Sex: | Male |
| Spouse 1: | Elizabeth (c. 1825- ) |
| Spouse 2: | Fanny WEST ( – ) |
| Birth | 16 Mar 1822 | Oldbury |
| Occupation | 1841 (age 18-19) | Medical Student (Aged 15) |
| Occupation | 1861 (age 38-39) | Surgeon(MRCS.Eng) and Dublin (Probably in Dublin 1851) |
| Residence | 1871 (age 48-49) | St Pancras |
| Occupation | 1871 (age 48-49) | MRCS General Practitioner |
| Residence | 1881 (age 58-59) | Smethwick (cohabiting with Fanny West) |
| Death | bef 1891 (age 68-69) | |