Personal Record
Hugh (28) married Mary Ride (26) from Duffield at St Giles Church Matlock on 2nd February 1847. Hugh left Dairy Wood Farm and took on the tenancy of a farm at Morton. The 1851 Census recorded that it was a farm of 120 acres and provided lodging for a farm labourer. At the time of the census his sister Lydia was also staying at the farm. She was probably there to help Mary who was then seven months pregnant with son Hugh.
Hugh (great-grandfather) was born on 8th June 1851 and a sister, Mary Ellen, was born in February 1853.
The 1861 Census stated that the farm was now 112 acres and Hugh and Mary had a boarder - one Hannah Peat (62), who was still living there 10 years later.
Like his father before him, Hugh volunteered for public service. At the Alfreton Petty Sessions during the 1860's he was appointed as Constable and as Overseer of the Poor for the parish of Morton.
In December 1873 Hugh acted as the agent involved in the sale of the Crown Inn and other properties at Wensley. The notice of the auction, placed in the 6th December 1873 edition of the Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald, can be seen below. These properties belonged to Hugh's father who had inherited them from his father and step-father. The pub, which was an 18th century coaching inn, was said to have the finest views in Derbyshire from its bar. Sadly it closed its doors to the public in the late 1980's.
Hugh lost his wife Mary in 1874 and his father died in 1875 at Dairy Wood Farm. His brother Henry took over the farm but he died in 1879. So Hugh gave up the farm at Morton and moved to Dairy Wood to help his sister-in-law, Susannah. The notice of the auction in January 1880 of his farm implements, dairy utensils and household furniture is shown below. The 1881 Census shows that Hugh was still living at Dairy Wood Farm.
Hugh and Mary's Children
Son Hugh(great-grandfather), aged 20, married Maria Bower (21), the daughter of farmer Charles Bower, at North Wingfield parish church in January 1872. (See separate Personal Record.)
Daughter Mary Ellen married a John Brown in June 1874 at the Holy Cross Church, Morton. Sadly Hugh's wife Mary did not live to see her daughter married: she died in early 1874 aged 53. It's possible that Mary Ellen first met John through an unlikely coincidence. In January 1872 he was seriously injured when his mare and trap was forced off the road in Morton by a drunken carter who had lost control of his horse and cart carrying a load of lime. John was taken in to Hugh Hole's farmhouse where he became unconscious and suffered fits. A surgeon was called to treat his injuries. John, who was a deputy at Morton colliery, which was owned by the Clay Cross Company, was subsequently awarded damages at Alfreton County Court.
In October 1874 John and Mary Ellen had a son: John Hugh Brown. However, two years later in August 1876 John, the father, died aged just 26. His death may have been caused by the working conditions in the mine or as a consequence of the injuries he had suffered four years previously.
In 1878 Mary Ellen met Charles William Silversides, a bank clerk at the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Bank in Chesterfield. He too had recently suffered great loss: his wife Fanny had died whilst giving birth in August 1877, just 16 months after they were married. Daughter Fanny Evelyn survived. It is possible that Mary Ellen had met Charles because her father Hugh was a customer of the bank.
In September 1878 the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Bank went in to liquidation caused by fraud and bad debts. A Derby bank took over the business but the shareholders lost their investment and the former directors and bank manager were charged with publishing false statements of accounts. Charles William Silversides was a witness at the trial in Chesterfield in March 1879 where he stated that he had been a clerk at the bank for seven years and that he had received an advance of £1,200 (equivalent to £125,000 today), which had not been recorded in the bank's ledgers. See below the editorial comment that was published in the Derbyshire Times on the findings of the bank's liquidator.
After the trial Charles William Silversides married Mary Ellen Brown at Camberwell, London in October 1879.
In 1881 Charles William and Mary Ellen Silversides and their respective children were living in Crofton Street, Camberwell. By 1883 they had moved to a large house in Hendon and had two children of their own. Mary Ellen's father Hugh was living with them at Hendon when he died there in May 1885 aged 66. He was buried with his wife Mary at the Holy Cross Church, Morton.
Hugh's will provides some interesting facts. He had drawn up the will in March 1878 making Charles William Silversides and Mary Ellen Brown the joint executors. This was before they were married and only six months after Charles had lost his first wife, Fanny. Hugh left £200 in trust to his grandson John Hugh Brown for his education and the remainder of his estate to Mary Ellen. He left nothing to his son Hugh (great-grandfather). Probate was not granted to Charles William Silversides until February 1896, nine months after Hugh's death. His estate was valued at £402, equivalent to £45,000 in today's money.
John Hugh grew up in Hendon and became an apprenticed "mantle maker". He later worked as a commercial traveller dealing in drapery. In 1901 he returned to Derbyshire and married a Gertie Webster from Belper giving his name as John Hugh Brown Silversides. He died at Goole, Yorkshire in 1951.
Charles William Silversides had a successful career as an incorporated accountant with offices at 28 Great James Street, near Grays Inn, London.