TWO SIBLINGS ARE WED
In the year following the 1891 Census it is probable thirteen year old Nellie attended the wedding of her twenty-eight year old sister POLLY (MARY JANE) SHELLAKER who was married on Monday the 10th of October 1892. The wedding took place at the Finkin Street, Wesleyan chapel in Grantham, a chapel recorded as being a very substantial building with seating for 1,000 people.
On that day Polly married FRANK BROWN, bigamously as it later turned out, as he previously married in 1880 under his birth name of ‘Frank Cable’ and remained married when he married Polly on that October day but that is another story! Nellie’s sister Polly is pictured right with her husband Frank ‘Brown’ – this photograph was probably taken around the time of their ‘marriage’. Their sister Emma Shellaker was a witness at the wedding. Maybe Nellie was a bridesmaid? Probably not, I’m sure Nellie’s daughter Olive would have mentioned that fact had it been so.
During the year 1903, Nellie’s older brother WILLIAM is married at the age of forty years. His wife was MARY LOUISA SHEFFIELD. I do not have any details regarding the location of this wedding or if Nellie, who at that time was around twenty-four years, attended her brother’s wedding, as it is known that the family did not approve of this marriage.
NELLIE & JOHN BROWN START ‘COURTING’
Upon leaving school John started working at the local nurseries in Back Street, Billesdon run by a German from the Saxony region, Mr. Kupper. While working at the Nursery, John attended meetings of the Good Templars held in The Academy, which was located next to the Nursery. It was here that he again met Nellie Shellaker. Due to his unhappy experiences with both his mother and his grandmother, John Brown held strong views on the subject and was to remain a ‘teetotaler’ all of his life.
[A teetotaler is a person who pledges to abstain from drinking alcohol].
At that same time her younger brother, JOHN SHELLAKER, was also courting. He was seeing a young local girl whom he would later marry, MISS AGNES MILES. At that time the transportation between their farm and the village was by pony & trap. After visiting the village of Billesdon, John Shellaker would leave his pony & trap in Long Lane and would walk his young lady the short distance to her home to West Lane prior to the return journey back to Shellaker Lodge Farm. Likewise after the ‘Good Templar’ meetings Nellie would have to walk to the Long Lane and wait for her brother John in the trap. John Brown was, at that time, lodging in Long Lane with Mr.& Mrs. William Geary, so naturally he walked round with Nellie. This was around 1901.
The Good Templars were a Temperance organization that tried to offer young people alternatives to the public house. At this time in history drinking was a serious problem amongst poor people, who had little comfort in their homes. Leisure activities were arranged including the organization of cricket matches at Shellaker Lodge. Those taking part were encouraged to “sign the pledge” to drink no more and thenceforth become total abstainers.
A JOB OFFER AT SHEPSHED
Apparently one of Mrs. Geary relatives owned Wades’ Nurseries located in Shepshed, Leicestershire, and subsequently John Brown was offered a job which he accepted consequently it was not until around 1904 Nellie and John they started courting seriously.
While John Brown was working at Shepshed he would cycle over to Billesdon to see Nellie, who on occasions walked across the countryside from her home on the farm to attend services & meetings in the village. This walk would be by means of a public footpath from Shellaker Lodge across several fields reaching Billesdon via ‘Brick Yard Lane’.
The photograph on the right shows Brick Yard Lane which is the road behind the behind the group of children and the pony & trap. The chimney of the Billesdon Brick Works can be seen in the distance with the footpath to the Lodge, used by Nellie, situated to the left of the Brick Yard.
However John Brown was not the only man who ensured the safety of Nellie after these meetings – Mr. R. Kitchen later recalled;
“John was always a fine fellow to work with. I also had happy recollections of our Temperance Meeting which was held every week in the home of Mrs. Naylor near the chapel. I can bring to mind one or two names; Fred Taylor, Ernest Lewin, Albert Ford and after the meeting I often had the privilege of escorting Nellie half way home to Shellaker’s’ Lodge. Brick Yard lane used to be a very dark and frightening path for a lady to go alone. I think this must have been before John started courting or it might have caused a little jealousy but John not being of a jealous nature, so far so good”.
ANOTHER SISTER IS MARRIED.
Around the time Nellie commenced her courtship with John Brown, another of her sisters married. EMMA SHELLAKER married SAM ABELL GEARY on Tuesday 14th of November 1900. The wedding took place at the Baptist chapel in Back Street, Billesdon. The grandfather of John Brown, the Reverend J. B. Field, conducted the wedding service. This photograph of the interior of the Baptist Chapel was taken around 1906, six years after Emma’s wedding.
Emma Shellaker’s wedding was the first of many Shellaker family weddings to have taken place at the Baptist chapel in Billesdon: Nellie’s brother John (my grandfather) would be married in this chapel a few years later. Although Nellie herself was not married at this chapel, Nellie’s daughter and granddaughters would marry here in the future. I myself married my wife Christine in this Chapel in 1981.
As can be seen from the wedding certificate below the respective fathers of the couple, Richard Shellaker & William Geary, witnessed the marriage.
Twenty-one year old Nellie was the third witness.
The bridegroom at the wedding, Sam Geary was twenty-three years old, his bride, Emma Shellaker was thirty-four, and for the second occasion in her life, she was pregnant. Emma first pregnancy was two years before in 1898, Sam Geary her future husband, was undoubtedly the father. When it was known she was pregnant Nellie’ sister Emma was subsequently “sent away” to stay with their sister Polly at her home on the south coast of England to avoid the disgrace that pregnancy would bring to the family and to evade the wrath of the Reverend Field. It was planned by the family for Polly and husband Frank to adopt Emma’s baby. The following year, on Thursday the 16th of April 1899, Emma, who was then thirty-two, gave birth to a daughter, who was registered as “Doris Mary Geary Shellaker” – the name confirming the parentage.
However the adoption by Emma’s sister Polly did not take place as intended, as Polly herself became pregnant with her fourth child, most likely after Emma had travelled to stay with her. So Emma’s baby was subsequently adopted by Thomas & Emma Curtis. (Emma Curtis was the sister of Mary Shellaker – the mother of Polly, Emma, Nellie, et al.) But that is another story. Follow this link to read further details of the life of Emma Shellaker.
The Wedding Certificate of Emma Shellaker & Sam Abell Geary – November 1900 showing Nellie (Helana) Shellaker as one of the witnesses
Emma’s second pregnancy, which was the reason for her marriage, resulted in the birth of a nephew for Nellie. The child was a boy born in July 1901, approximately seven months after the wedding of Emma & Sam was christened ‘Sam Arthur’, however he was to die after just seven months. The funeral was held at the Baptist chapel and undoubtedly Nellie would have been present on that sad occasion. Nellie did however have many surviving nephews & nieces over the next few decades. Her older sister Polly gave birth to a total of six children; May, Dick, Bertha, Edith, Daisy & Joe. Her sister Emma had two further children, William, known as ‘Bert’ born in 1902 and Annie born in 1905. Nellie’s brothers, William and John also produced neices for Nellie; Mary and Anne & Joan, Molly and Beryl respectively.
SHELLAKER FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH – c.1900
As far as I have know the photograph below is the only Shellaker family group photograph that exists. Based on events and the appearance of those in the photograph I estimate it was between 1900 and 1904. Nellie’s father Richard (Back row – right) died in July 1904 which gives me a definitive end date for my speculation. The date of 1900 as the potential start point for the time period in which the photograph was taken is my belief that Emma (front row – right), is wearing a wedding ring – she was married in November 1900.
John – 19 years William – 37 years Richard – 70 years
Nellie – 22 years Polly – 36 years Mary – 63 years Sarah – 39 years Emma – 34 years
1901 – CENSUS
The Census of 1901, recorded on 31st March, records Nellie as living with her family at Billesdon Lodge Farm. Nellie’s two married sisters, Mary Jane (Polly) and Emma, are now recorded elsewhere.
1901 Census – The Shellaker Family at Billesdon Lodge Farm
| Name of House | Name | Relationship | Condition | Age | Occupation | Employer/Worker | Working at Home? | Where Born |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Billesdon Lodge |
Richard Shellaker | Head | Married | 70 | Grazier | Employer | At Home | Leicester, Tugby |
| Mary Ann Shellaker | Wife | Married | 63 | Leicester, Hallaton | ||||
| Sarah Shellaker | Daughter | Single | 39 | Leicester, Tugby | ||||
| William Shellaker | Son | Single | 37 | Grazier | Employer | At Home | Leicester, Tugby | |
| Helana Shellaker | Daughter | Single | 22 | Leicester, Tugby | ||||
| John Shellaker | Son | Single | 19 | Grazier | Worker | At Home | Leicester, Tugby |
NELLIE’S FATHER DIES.
Shortly after this Census Nellie’s father, Richard Shellaker, pictured on the right, died on Wednesday 20th July 1904 at the age of seventy-four years. After a service at the Baptist Chapel, Back Street Billesdon he was buried in the cemetery at Billesdon, which is located relatively near the chapel. Nellie was twenty-five years old when her father passed away.
JOHN BROWN’S PARENTS PASS AWAY
John Brown’s father passed away on Monday 14th March 1910 and was buried three days later on Thursday 17th March at Medbourne Churchyard in Leicestershire. The Reverend Uffen of Market Harborough preached the funeral sermon. John’s mother died later that same year in Sunday 11th December 1910 she was also buried at Medbourne with the Reverend Uffen again officiating.
1911 – CENSUS
In the Census of 1911, recorded on 2nd April of that year, Nellie is still living with her family at Billesdon Lodge Farm. This was to be the last occasion Nellie would be recorded on a Census with her family, a family that had changed since she was first recorded on a Census thirty years previously in 1881. Nellie’s sister Elizabeth has died as had her father Richard so her mother Mary Ann is now recorded as a ‘Widow‘. Nellie’s sisters Mary Jane (Polly) and Emma are both married and living with their own families. Her Brother William is living on his own farm. Of her siblings, only her elder sister Sarah and younger brother John remained within the family home.
In the household at this time are also her niece, seventeen year May Brown, one of Polly’s daughters also Nellie’s ‘intended’, Nurseryman, John William Brown. The household also has a ‘servant’, John Daneks.
1911 Census – The Shellaker Family at Billesdon Lodge Farm
| Name | Relationship | Age | Marriage Status | Occupation | Employer/Worker | Working at Home? | Where Born |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary A Shellaker | Head | 73 | Widow | Leicester, Hallaton | |||
| Sarah A Shellaker | Daughter | 49 | Single | Farmers daughter dairy work | At Home | Leicester, Tugby | |
| Helana Shellaker | Daughter | 31 | Single | Farmers daughter house work | At Home | Leicester, Tugby | |
| John Shellaker | Son | 29 | Single | Farmer | Employer | At Home | Leicester, Tugby |
| May Brown | Granddaughter | 17 | Single | Help | Lincoln, Grantham | ||
| John William Brown | Visitor | 26 | Single | Nurseyman | Worker | Leicester, Medbourne | |
| John Daneks | Servant | 20 | Single | Farm Servant | Worker | Leicester |
Nellie would have attended this wedding, although on this occasion she was not a witness. The witnesses were the bride’s father, Thomas Edward Miles, Ethel Miles (bride’s sister) and Thomas Edgar Thornton. A newspaper report of the wedding details the wedding presents given. Nellie gave her brother a set of silver teaspoons. A present from John Brown is also recorded, an Oak timepiece.
This wedding was the first of two Shellaker weddings that occurred in the year 1911; five months later it was to be Nellie herself who was to be married ….
Next Page: Nellie is wed