George Quibell Cobley

My grandmother, Florence Readman, born Florence Sneath, would often boast to her friends that she travelled first class on the train. What she didn't tell them was that her husband, my grandfather George William Readman worked for the railway company as a clerk, and whenever he travelled by train, was allowed free travel so went first class. Florence was from a family of 5 daughters, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Clara & Maud all born to Thomas & Clara. Her husband, George, was from a family 5 children, Harry, Lizzie, Amy & Arthur, all born to Arthur & Ann Aylward Readman. My grandmother would always refer to her sister in law Amy Readman as "231", as opposed to Amy. Amy was married to Carl Cobley, and lived at 231, Freeman Street, Grimsby, where his father George Quibell Cobley had a house furniture business. Just recently I have been doing some more work on George Quibell Cobley-my first port of call was the Lincolnshire Echo where I found this entry which gives nice summary of his life.

SURFLEET Man’s Death:-Lincolnshire Echo - Tuesday 13 August 1940

The death has occurred at his home in Farebrother-street, Grimsby, of Mr. George Quibell Cobley, aged 81, a native of Surfleet. He went to Grimsby in 1878, where he established a house furnishing business in Freeman-street, now carried on by his eldest son. His widow, is a native of Pinchbeck West, being the daughter of the late Mr. W. Wiles, a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Cobley celebrated their golden wedding in 1932. Mr. Cobley was an energetic worker of Duncombe-street Methodist Church, was in the choir for 52 years and a Sunday School teacher for 35 years.
 A different newspaper report-sounds more local-Grimsby Telegraph.

SURFLEET NATIVE's DEATH

AT GRIMSBY

Mr. G. Q. COBLEY

The death is announced at the age of 81, after a short illness of a native of Surfleet in the person of Mr. George Quibell Cobley, at his home in Farebrother-street, Grimsby. The deceased gentleman, whose father was a shoemaker in the village went to Grimsby in 1878 where he established a house furnishing business in Freeman-street which is now one of the oldest and best known in the Borough. For the past 15 years it has been carried on by his eldest son, Mr. C. Cobley.
On his retirement, Mr. Cobley built a house in Farebrother-street naming it Glen Side after the stream which runs through his birthplace and that of his wife (West Pinchbeck), who is the daughter of the late Mr. William Wiles, farmer.
Although he did not take an active part in public life, both he and his wife were energetic workers in connection with Duncombe-street Methodist Church, and where at one time or another he held every office open to laymen. He was in the choir for 52 years and a Sunday School teacher for 35 years.
Mr. and Mrs. Cobley celebrated their golden wedding on December 27th 1932, having been married at the Money Bridge Independent Chapel, Pinchbeck, in 1882 by the Rev. Linton Bell.
Mr. Cobley was a charming gentleman of the old school and it could be said of him that he could "Walk with Kings, nor lose the common touch". He will be greatly missed. There was a family of four sons and three daughters. The other two sons were killed in the War of 1914-1918. The funeral took place at Grimsby on Tuesday.

So just to check out this newspaper article-a native of Surfleet?

Yes, well I found this baptism on Lincstothepast

http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=566333&iid=275025

Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms, No. 1466:February 13, 1859, George Quibell son of Joseph Reynolds & Betsy Ann Cobley, of Seasend Surfleet, Shoemaker, by E H Parry.

 So this shows that George's parents were Joseph Reynolds Cobley and his mother Betsy Ann Cobley, and that they lived in Seasend, Surfleet, with George's father being employed as a shoemaker in 1859. 

I found this record in the Stamford Mercury newspaper:

Stamford Mercury - Friday 01 June 1849

Stamford Friday June 1

Married

At Surfleet, on the 24^th ult., Mr. Wm. Roe Quibell, coal-merchant, to Miss Sarah Haw; also Mr. Jos Reynolds Cobley, boot and shoe maker to Miss Eliz. Quibell, sister to the above Mr. Quibell.

Lincstothepast does not publish online the marriages at Surfleet in 1849, so I went to another source, Lincolnshire Marriages from Lincolnshire Family History Society that are publisehed online

http://mi.lincolnshiremarriages.org.uk/

Just go to Spalding marriages and download, then search for Quibell marriages and this is the result.

Joseph Reynolds Cobly son of Thomas Cobly & Betsy Ann Quibell, daughter of George Quibell were married at  Surfleet on 24 May 1849.

I always look at Google maps to see where baptism places are-Seasend, Surfleet as opposed to just Surfleet., but having looked I went to NLS maps instead http://maps.nls.uk/view/101591075 and found this view.

This map dated 1887, so 30 years after the birth of George, shows a railway station, and railway line crossing the River Glen near Glen House. I saw the railway and remembered that I had travelled as a boy from London to Grimsby by train-the route went through Peterborough, Spalding & Boston, so I would have travelled then past Surfleet Seas End. The station at Surfleet was opened on 3 April, 1849 and the line was used mostly to carry farm produce and shellfish to London. 

The census of 1861, shows that George's father Joseph had quite a good business in Surfleet then. 

2. Seasend Road,

 Joseph Reynolds Cobley, head, married, 40, Cordwainer, employing 2 men, born Walton, Northamptonshire

Betsy Ann Cobley, wife, married, 33, Cordwainer’s wife, born Surfleet, Lincolnshire

Eleanor Cobley, daughter, 9, Cordwainer’s daughter, born Surfleet, Lincolnshire

John Thomas Cobley, son, 4, Cordwainer’s son, born Surfleet, Lincolnshire

George Q. Cobley, son, 2, Cordwainer’s son, born Surfleet, Lincolnshire

Davis Thorp, Boarder, Employee, 33, Journeyman Cordwainer, born Swineshead, Lincolnshire

Thomas Gail, Boarder, Employee, 24, Journeyman Cordwainer, born East Dereham, Norfolk

Edward Clark, apprentice, Employee, Cordwainer’s Apprentice, born  Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire

So Joseph's business supported 2 full time employees and an apprentice, all making & repairing shoes & boots, an essential business in an agricultural area where everyone working on the land needed  a good strong pair of boots to wear. 

So I went searching for the baptism records for George's siblings on Lincstothepast and this is what I found.

Ellen Cobley

http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=566333&iid=274982

Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms, 1297: January 25, 1852, Ellen, Daughter of Joseph & Elizabeth Cobley, of Seasend Surfleet, Shoemaker, by E. Humphreys Parry.

Betsy Ann Cobley

http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=566333&iid=275004

Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms , 1391: September 9, 1855, Betsy Ann, daughter of Joseph Reynolds & Betsy Ann Cobley, of Surfleet Seasend, Shoemaker, by  E H Parry.

John Thomas Cobley

http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=566333&iid=275019

Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms December 27, 1857, John Thomas son of Joseph Reynolds & Betsy Ann Cobley, of Surfleet Seasend, shoemaker, by E.A. Parry

Joseph Cobley

http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=566333&iid=274982

Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms, August 6, 1861, Joseph, son of Joseph Reynolds & Betsy Ann Cobley, of Surfleet, Shoemaker, by E. H. Parry

So this shows that Betsy Ann Cobley may have died between her birth and the census of 1861, and that Eleanor was indeed Ellen. Yes Betsy did die quite soon after her birth & baptism:-

http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=559538&iid=275948

Surfleet Parish Records - Burials, 685: Betsy Ann Cobley, of Surfleet, buried November 17 1855, age-infant, by E H Parry.

Then I looked at the 1871 Census to see what changes had taken place in those 10 years.

1871 census: Joseph Reynolds Cobley  (No sign of George Quibell Cobley)

30: Joseph R Cobley, Head, widower, 49, Cordwainer, employing 2 men, born Walton, Northants.

Eleanor Cobley, daughter, unmarried, 19, Servant, born, Surfleet, Lincolnshire

John Thomas Cobley, Son, 14, unmarried, scholar, born Surfleet, Lincolnshire

Joseph Cobley, Son, 9, unmarried, Scholar, born Surfleet, Lincolnshire

Joseph Motley, 17, & William Doughty, 21 are Cordwainers employed in the business.

George, aged 12, wasn't at home in the 1871 Census but visiting his uncle in Peterborough, a George Waterfield and his wife Betsy Ann. 

1871 Census for George Quibell Cobley

18: 14 Westgate George Waterfield, Head, Married, 38, Upholsterer, born Stamford, Lincolnshire

Betsy Ann Waterfield, wife, married, 48, Confectioner, born Deeping, Lincolnshire

Geo. Quibell Cobley, nephew, 12, born Surfleet, Lincolnshire

Ah, it looks like George Quibell Cobley is elsewhere other than at home, and his mother has died at sometime. The business still supports 2 men.

Back to Lincstothepast and this record:

 http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=559538&iid=275970

Surfleet Parish Records - Burials ,797: Betsy Ann Cobley, of Surfleet, 3 January 1864, age 37, by E H Parry.

So that must have been a sad day for all the family, burying their mum and wife at such a young age of 37.

George would have grown up in a family where his father made and mended shoes, using leather and needles. The last would have been a common tool in the home, maybe wooden clogs were made as well.

So George went to Grimsby, Lincolnshire in 1878 according to those obituaries at the age of 19, so maybe by then he had finished an apprenticeship. One source says he walked to Grimsby, but he could have gone on the train. Grimsby was a boom town then with the building of the docks by the railway company, plenty of trade with the continent and the fishing industry with the building of the fish docks, so plenty of work. George set up a furniture business in Freeman Street, Grimsby. This street was close to the fish & commercial docks, one of the main streets in the town. On census day 1881, George, a single man, is living at 10, Hainton Street, Grimsby, Hainton Avenue, today. The house he is living in has as its head of the family Charles Oliver, and George's relationship to him is brother-in-law. His occupation is shown as upholsterer, aged 22, born Surfleet. Charles Oliver is married to Annie Q Oliver, that's Olive Quibell Cobley, that's George's sister. According to Free BMD Charles & Olive married  in the Spalding registration area which includes Surfleet in the March quarter of 1873.  Yes here is the marriage on Lincolnshire Marriages from LFHS
http://mi.lincolnshiremarriages.org.uk/, just go to the Spalding sheet, download it, and search for Oliver.
1873 23-Jan Oliver Charles son of Mager Oliver married  Cobbley Ann Quibell daughter of  Joseph Reynolds Cobley  sig. Cobley Surfleet Charles Oliver is shown on the census as a commercial traveller, married to Olive Quibell Oliver, nee Cobley-clearly soon after their marriage they too went to live in Grimsby, because in the census they have 2 daughters Annie & Mabel, both born in Grimsby. Annie in the December quarter of 1875 & Mabel in the March quarter of 1879. Annie married Alfred Bell on 17 December 1897-the record states that her father Charles Oliver was a commercial traveller for a Timber Merchants in Grimsby.  The Oliver family were then at 10, Heneage Street, Grimsby. It also says that Annie was 22 years old at the time. This is that record from a CD I have of Grimsby & Cleethorpes Marriages which you can obtain from Denise LIGHT of Grimsby at  http://www.angelfire.com/de/delighted/

Register Office Grimsby 17/12/1897 BELL Alfred 22 Bachelor Fruiterer 61 Albert Street Grimsby Alfred Carpenter OLIVER Annie 22 Spinster --- 10 Heneage Street Grimsby Charles Timber Merchants Traveller witnesses Leslie SWANSON & John W.PARKIN.

So I wonder if that's why George Quibell went to Grimsby-his sister and her husband were there too, so he would have a place to stay. Anyway George was back in Surfleet in October 1882 to marry Eleanor Wiles, the daughter of William Wiles a farmer and his wife Sarah Ann Wiles nee Briggs at Money Bridge Independent Chapel. A website about this chapel explains all about it.
http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MLI97739&resourceID=1006

I don't have their marriage record, but only know that they married there because of that obituary in the Grimsby Telegraph above: "He was in the choir for 52 years and a Sunday School teacher for 35 years.Mr. and Mrs. Cobley celebrated their golden wedding on December 27th 1932, having been married at the Money Bridge Independent Chapel, Pinchbeck, in 1882 by the Rev. Linton Bell"

Using NLS Maps I have found this 6 inch map from 1906 which shows the chapel in respect of Pinchbeck. The chapel is on the far left hand side of the picture.

Then they go back to live in Grimsby, maybe not at the same house as where George was at before. Their first child was Olive Wiles Cobley, who according to FreeBMD was born in the March quarter of 1884 (Cobley Olive Wiles  Caistor 7a 632) At that time the registration district of Grimsby was called Caistor, a town about 10 miles away to the west. Finding her baptism might reveal where the family were living at that time. The Parish church of Grimsby was St James, there was a parish church called St Andrew in Freeman Street, Grimsby, the nearest for the Cobley Family who were living in Hainton Avenue at one time. I am having difficulty finding the baptisms of these children-they may have been baptised at Duncombe Street, Methodist church as opposed to the local Anglican Church.
Olive's siblings were: Carl Cobley in June 1885, George Harry Cobley, born 1 June 1887,  Ivy Nellie Cobley, April 1889, Frank Cobley, April 1891, Doris May Cobley, born 2 May 1895, Wilton Cobley, born April 1897-all births in Grimsby.

In the 1891 Census, Carl Cobley, aged 6, is living with his family at 231, Freeman Street, Grimsby. Carl Cobley is related to me, because he married my grandfather George Readman's sister Amy. I had trouble finding Carl in the 1891 Census at first. The only way to do it was to go to the 1891 England Census and search for a person called Carl, born 1885 in Grimsby and living in Grimsby.

In the census his surname of COBLEY has been transcribed as CILLEY-so well different from the actual name, so no wonder I had trouble finding the family. So Carl's father George Quibell COBLEY 13 years after his arrival in Grimsby has an upholster's business up and running in Grimsby.
240: 231 Freeman Street, Grimsby: There are 4 rooms occupied at this property:
George Q. COBLEY, Head, Married, 32, Upholsterer, Employer, Born Surfleet, Lincolnshire
Eleanor COBLEY, Wife, Married, 33, Born West Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire
Olive COBLEY, Daughter, Single, 7, Born Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Carl COBLEY, Son, Single, 6, Born Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire.
George H. COBLEY, Son, Single, 4, Born Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Ivy N. COBLEY, Daughter, Single, 2, Born Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire.
Ten years later in 1901,
30: 231 Freeman Street, George Q. Cobley, Head, Married, 42, Upholsterer & shopkeeper, Employer, Born Surfleet, Lincs.
Eleanor Cobley, wife, married, 43, Born Pinchbeck Lincs
Olive Cobley, daughter, single, 17, born Grimsby, Lincs.
Carl Cobley, Son, Single, 16, Upholsterer, born Grimsby, Lincs.
George H. Cobley, son, single, 13, born Grimsby, Lincs.
Ivy Cobley, daughter, 11, single, born Grimsby, Lincs
Frank Cobley, son, single, 9, Born Grimsby, Lincs.
Doris Cobley, daughter, single, 5, born Grimsby, Lincs.
Wilton Cobley, son, single, 3, Born Grimsby, Lincs.

Carl Cobley, was born on 17 March 1885 at 217, Freeman Street, Grimsby, the son of George Cobley, who registered his birth on 25 April 1885 and his wife Ellen Cobley formerly Wiles. George Cobley's occupation was upholsterer-details from copy of Carl's birth record at G.R.O.So George called his wife Ellen not Eleanor and on that date in 1885 the family were living at 217, Freeman
Street, Grimsby. It's possible that since that date the street numbers were re-numbered of course.

Yesterday I did a bit more about this family, but went looking back instead of fowards, trying to learn about this William Roe Quibell.

William Roe Quibell was born in Surfleet in 1825, and christened at Surfleet on February 9 1825, William Roe, son of George & Mary Quibell, of Seas End, Surfleet, Farmer, by J. Wilson.. So at that time his father, George Quibell was a farmer, and the family lived at Seasend, Surfleet, as we saw on the map above.In the Census of 1841, William is at home with his parents, aged 15 in Surfleet, & 10 years later after his marriage to Sarah Haw, he is in Surfleet still, but now a farmer, lime burner and beer seller. We know that at the time of his marriage to Sarah, At Surfleet, on the 24th ult., Mr. Wm. Roe Quibell, coal-merchant, to Miss Sarah Haw; his occupation was a coal merchant, so William seems to have had a number of different occupations. Certainly by 1861, William and family have moved away from the country to the town as many people did then. I have found him in Lancashire in the 1861 census living in the deep industrial area of Manchester close to Manchester Picadilly Station working as a porter and living in Pit Street. A far cry from the green area of Southern Lincolnshire. He and his wife called Sally in the census have 2 children, both daughters called Eliza, 7 & Sally,2 both born in Surfleet, so William hasn't been long in Manchester. Sally was christened at Surfleet Parish Church:

Children of William Roe Quibell & Sally Haw

1. Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms (1851-1852)

August 10 1851, Sally Haw, daughter of William & Sally QUIBELL, of Surfleet, a Farmer, by J. D. Greenside.

Surfleet Parish Records - Burials (1850-1851)

Sally Haw QUIBELL, of Surfleet, buried on September 17, 1851 aged-an infant, by E. H. Parry

http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=559538&iid=275935

2. Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms (1853)

June 5, 1853, Eliza, daughter of William Roe & Sally QUIBELL, of Surfleet, Farmer, by E H Humphreys Parry Minister.

3. Surfleet Parish Records - Baptisms (1858-1859)

January 13, 1859, Sally, daughter of William & Sally QUIBELL of Surfleet, a Land Measurer, by E H Parry. (http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=566333&iid=275022)

4. Manchester St Simon and St Jude.

Born April 4 1862, Christened May 4 1862, Wm. Son of Wm. Roe & Sally Quibell, of Number 2 Sutton Court, Supernumerary Porter, by W. Saunders