Finds from the church:
This is one of the grave markers found in the churchyard, mostly during recent trench digging for a new sewer pipe.
Fragments of about 20 stones were found altogether. All are made out of local sandstone. Most have inscriptions, although a couple are blank, perhaps being edges of larger stones. About half contain enough wording to make out something useful about the stone or those commemorated.
The stones generally date from the 18th century with some running into the 19th century.
Dating has been done by the obvious means of looking at any dates on them, also by looking at style and content - style of lettering and form of inscriptions, and the phrasing used as this changed over time.
As well as a physical examination of the stones, we have researched appropriate historical sources. These include the parish registers (baptisms, marriages, burials), Cheshire wills and inventories, histories of the area, and various archival sources, although further research always remains to be done. We selected this one as a starter, as it is in many ways a typical family from Wilmslow parish and it seemed to be good to let them start us off.
Preston/Hulme
Edward Preston
1716
Dinah Preston
Died 1777
A:H aged
24, 1813
Samuel Hulme
aged 65, 1836
At first sight suggesting a stone re-used by unrelated persons because of the different surnames, this turns out to be one family, the names here representing different generations. The stone is broken but complete, and measures 72 cms (2′ 5″) high by 50 cms (18″) wide, making it typical of stones of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The stone was still visible in the 1960s.
The Preston family were in this area from Tudor times, and are mentioned both in Wilmslow and at the neighbouring parish of Nether Alderley. In 1603, Robert Preston was buried at St Bart’s and an inventory was taken of his goods; he was described as being ‘of Chorley’.
Over a century later, Edward Preston was buried at St Bart’s, and it is his memorial stone which has been recovered. Edward was a watchmaker, son of another Edward who died in 1700, and whose will describes him as a yeoman - a farmer on a fairly substantial scale - also from Chorley. His mother was most probably Alice Ledsham, and Edward and Alice married in 1669 at Nether Alderley.
Other members of the family kept up the tradition of farming and allied trades. An earlier Edward , who died in Nether Alderley in 1617, was a butcher; Lawrence Preston of the Hough, yeoman, died in 1696. For all of these we have both a will and an inventory of the goods they left at their death.
Edward the watchmaker seems to have broken with family tradition in his choice of trade. He would have served an apprenticeship but we do not have any details of that. Only a tiny proportion of apprenticeship papers survive.
A marriage licence dated 29 Sep 1696 lists Edward Preston, watchmaker, of Chorley and Martha Smith, spinster, of Wilmslow; they are stated as marrying at Prestbury - we find a number of Wilmslow residents marrying there. Did they live nearer to Prestbury church or were there other, perhaps social, reasons?
Baptisms at St Bart’s list Edward and Martha’s children:-
27 July 1700, Alice, daughter of Edward Preston of Chorley; 8 Sep 1702, ‘a dead born child of Edward Preston of Chorley’; 4 Oct 1703, John, son of Edward Preston of Pownall Fee; 14 March 1707/8, Cecil, son of Edward Preston of ‘Styall’, ‘born ye 10th’; 29 May 1711, George, son of Edward Preston of Styall; 9 Aug 1713, Hester daughter of Edward Preston of Styal.
Burials at St Bart’s also show, in September 1702, ‘a dead born child of Edward Preston of Chorley’; 20 Jan 1705/6, ‘a dead born child of Edward Preston of Pownall Fee’; 30 May 1711, George, son of Edward Preston of Styall.
Chester Record Office has a catalogue (the Allen Archive) containing details of a will of John Preston of Mottram St Andrew, dated 13 Jan 1710/11, containing a bequest to Edward Preston of Styall.
Edward died in 1716. Buried St Bart’s 15 June, when he was described as Edward Preston of Styal. The Cheshire Wills project shows Letters of Administration and an Inventory for him, rather than a will. Did he die unexpectedly - accidentally rather than as result of illness? He would be in his 40s, leaving children aged betwwen 15 and 5. So far we have found no trace of most of his children but those who may have survived to adulthood are Alice, John, Cecil, and Hester.
On 13 January 1727/8 John Preston married Dinah Davis at St Wilfrid, Northenden. On 7 Jan 1733, Robert, son of John and Dinah Preston of Styal was baptised at St Bart’s.
On 9 Feb 1767 the marriage took place of Samuel Hulme and Martha Preston, both of Wilmslow - both signed their names, worth a mention at that date. As there are no other Preston families evident in the locality, this must surely make Martha a daughter of John and Dinah, though her baptism has not been traced.
On 6 Aug 1777, Dinah wife of John Preston of Styal was buried at St Bart’s. The second person named on our stone, she was therefore daughter-in-law of Edward whose name appears above hers.
There is a considerable gap between the date of Dinah’s death and the next person mentioned on this stone, ‘AH’, aged 24, 1813. Burial registers show the only possibility for AH to be Ann Hulme of Styal, buried on 4th April 1813. Her age is given on the stone, making it possible to identify her as Ann, daughter of Samuel and Martha Hulme of Styal, baptised on 12 April 1789. She was the youngest of four children of Samuel and Martha baptised at St Bart’s, the others being Martha (1779), Harriet (1782), and Sarah (1787).
The fourth name on our stone is given in full as Samuel Hulme. Buried 23 years later than Ann, he seems nevertheless to be of the same generation as her, as he lived to a much greater age. The probable solution is that Samuel was an elder brother of Ann, another child of Samuel and Martha. However, there is no baptism for him in St Bart’s registers, and it is interesting to note that Martha’s baptism does not appear until 12 years after the marriage of Samuel and Martha. They may have lived in another parish and had children baptised elsewhere; Samuel junior would have been born about 1769. A final tragic note appears in the parish registers. Beneath the entry for Samuel’s burial appear the words ‘Found drowned in the River Mersey’. To date we have no further information on the circumstances of his death.
If you have any further information about this family or would like to join in, please contact Birgitta at birgitta.hoffmann@btinternet.com
Dr. Birgitta Hoffmann