John Kirk 1830

JOHN KIRK born 1830 in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire

John Kirk was born in 1830 in Mountsorrel, he was baptised on the 7th February 1830 at St Peters Church, Mountsorrel, you can see St Peters above. He is my great great great grandparent. His father was also called John, who had also worked in the family business as a Boat Builder. John's mother was originally called Mary Cooper.

In 1841 he is just 10 years old and living with his parents and brothers and sister on the Main Street, at the North End of Mountsorrel, you can see a picture of the house in the associated images below, it has since been demolished. In 1851 he was 21 years of age and living with his mother and two brothers William and Alfred in Main Street. His father had died in 1842.

He worked as a Boatwright and Wharfinger in the family firm based at Mountsorrel Wharf. As well as building boats, they dealt in coal and timber, this business had been built up by the Kirk Family over the last 50 years. From the 18th century granite chippings from Mountsorrel were used for surfacing a lot of the local roads but the distribution of the granite was actually damaging the roads, this was alleviated when transporting the granite moved from the roads to the newly constructed canal in 1794.

The Kirk family ran the Mountsorrel Wharf distributing granite, coal, timber and also boatbuilding but It was no coincidence that the wharf was put up for sale in 1860, this was the year the Mountsorrel railway was built to serve the granite quarries. This first section opened in 1860 and connected Mountsorrel with the Midland Railway main line near to Barrow-upon-Soar. You can still see the 80-yard long red-brick bridge over the River Soar which also opened in 1860. The rather grand brick built bridge has a main span of almost 90 feet. The railway was extended further later that century in 1896 towards the Great Central at Swithland sidings but by the sixties the line was out of use, in 1976 the section to Barrow was replaced by a conveyor belt system.

The railway rendered Mountsorrel Wharf redundant over night as far as distributing the granite and coal via the canal. With the wharf business disappearing and John's father gone it appears that the various businesses were now being wound down or sold off. John along with his brother William and business partner John Wale (Johns father's executor) first file for bankruptcy, this appears in the Leicester Journal on the 27th April 1860 - they are noted as Coal Merchants. Then on the Friday 18th May 1860 and again on November 23rd, the Boat Yard & Wharf are put up for sale.

Leicester Journal April 27th 1860

Bankrupts.

William Kirk, John Wale, and John Kirk, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire, coal merchants.

Leicester Journal May 18th 1860

Mountsorrel Dock and Wharf.

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H. HARRIS,

Has been honoured with instructions from the Executors

of John Kirk, sen., Gentleman, deceased,

TO OFFER BY PUBLIC AUCTION,

At the Home of Mr. Bampton, the White Swan Inn,

Mountsorrel, in the County Leicester, on Monday, the

28th day of May, 1860, at Six o'clock in the evening

precisely, subject to such conditions shall be then and

there produced.

ALL that very desirable FAMILY RESIDENCE,

pleasantly situate in Mountsorrel aforesaid, on the

main road leading from thence to Sileby, with garden in

front, together with the spacious Coal Wharf, Dockyard,

Warehouses, Workshops, extensive Shedding, commodious

Stabling, Corn Bay and Straw Lofts adjoining the same,

containing about 1 acre of ground or thereabouts, on which

the Boat Building and Coal and Timber Trade has been

carried on for upwards of 50 years.

There is a very extensive and highly respectable connection

in the Coal and Timber trade which might be much

extended by any person commanding capital. The

situation for a Boat Builder is undeniable and a great

business in that line has been carried on for several years.

To view the same apply on the premises, and for further

particulars to Messrs. HARRIS & LUCK, Solicitors, or the Auctioneer, both of Leicester.

It wasn't all bad news, John married Catherine Oswin on New Years Eve 1860 at the Parish Church, Sileby. He is noted as a Boatwright like his father. She would have been pregnant at the time with Alfred. Catherine was a hosiers daughter and was born on the 25th January 1840 in Sileby and baptised on the 1st of March 1840. Her father was called Goodwin Oswin who was a Frame Work Knitter and her mother was called Elizabeth. In 1851 she is living in Sileby with her parents, two sisters and two brothers. In 1857 she had a child called Emma Gill Oswin, the father is unknown.

In the 1861 Census both John & Catherine's families are living together at 22 High Street, Sileby. Their son Alexander Kirk is noted as living with them, he is only one month old, he was later named as Alfred, my great great grandparent.

John died in 1865 aged just 35 of phthisis, other names of the disease include pulmonary tuberculosis, wasting disease, white plague, consumption, tuberculosis or TB. TB was a big problem in England well into the 20th Century until the advent of immunization. The infection is usually spread by droplets in the air from infected individuals, it was more common in urban areas because of the density of the population but rural dwellers were also at risk, drinking unpasteurized milk also increased the risk of developing the disease. No doubt the families being squeezed together at 22 High Street contributed to his illness. He was buried at Christ Church, Mountsorrel on the 20th April 1865.

In 1869 the Duke of York public house was put up for sale in York Street (Sileby Road), Mountsorrel. The Jelly family had run the pub for many years but it was owned by the Kirk's. With the death of John Kirk and his brother Zaccheus it was put up for sale although John's brother Alfred Kirk is noted as the landlord in 1871. You may know it as the Waterside Inn after it changed its name in 1965.

Catherine remarried in January of 1867 to Josiah Hull, who was a Sinker Maker at Parish Church, Sileby. In the Census of 1871 they are living at 18 Church Lane, Sileby with Josiah's Children Josiah Hull, Marshall Hull and Catherine's children Alfred Kirk and Emma Gill Oswin.

Catherine like most of her family worked as a Frame Work Knitter, an occupation almost unique to the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Alot of Framework Knitters were either unemployed or seriously under employed and dependent on Parish relief. You can read more about Catherine in the link below.

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Baptism John Kirk 7th February 1830. Mountsorrel. St Peters.

Father - John Kirk. Mother - Mary.

Father's Occupation - Labourer.

Census 1841. John Kirk Age 10

Born - In Leicestershire

Address - Main Street, Mountsorrel North

Parish - Barrow Upon Soar

Living with :-

John Kirk (40) - Boat Builder

Ann Kirk (35)

William Kirk (15), Charles Kirk (5), Alfred Kirk (2)

Joseph Osbourn (15), Matilda Antill (15)

Census 1851. John Kirk Age 21. Profession - Boat Builder

Born - Mountsorrel, Leicestershire

Address - Main Street, Mountsorrel

Parish - Mountsorrel South

Ecclesiastical Parish - Mountsorrel South end

Living with Mother Mary Kirk (42) - Boat Builder.

Born Brinklow, Warwickshire

Brother William (24) - Boat Builder & Boat Merchant.

Born Mountsorrel.

Brother Alfred (11) - Scholar. Born Mountsorrel.

Marriage: 31 December 1860. John Kirk (Age 30) . Boat Wright

Father - John Kirk. Boat Wright

to Catherine Oswin (Age 21) . Hosiers Daughter

Father - Goodman Oswin. Occ - Hosier

at Parish Church, Sileby. (By Banns)

Both Residence at Sileby

Signed by John - Marked by Catherine

Presence of George Pahnes, Lucy Oswin

Census 1861. John Kirk Age 30 - Head. Profession - Boat Wright

Born - Mountsorrel, Leicestershire

Address - 22 High Street, Sileby

Living With Wife - Catherine Kirk (21) - Frame Work Knitter.

Born Sileby

(her) Daughter Emma Oswin (3) - Scholar. Born Sileby

Son Alexander Kirk (1 Month) - Born Sileby.

(later named Alfred)

Also at 22 High Street :- (In Law's)

Goodman Oswin (44) - Head. Profession - Hosier. Born Sileby

His Wife Elizabeth Oswin (47) - Hosier Wife. Born Sileby

His Son's Thomas (18) - FWK, Goodman (14) - FWK.

Both Born Sileby

His Daughter's Lucy (16) - FWK, Betsy (12) - Scholar

& Rosa (6) - Scholar.

All Born Sileby.

Baptism (son) Alfred Oswin Kirk 11th March 1865

Sileby, Leicestershire

Father - John Kirk. Mother - Catherine Kirk.

Father's Occupation - Boatwright.

John Kirk Died 18th April 1865. Age 35

Registration District : Barrow Upon Soar

Sub-District : Quorndon

Where : Mountsorrel South

Occupation : Boatwright

Cause : Phthisis - 5 Months Certified

Informant : The mark of John Whittaker

Registered : 19th April 1865.

John Kirk : Buried 20th April 1865. Christ Church, Mountsorrel.

Child of JOHN KIRK and CATHERINE OSWIN is:

i. ALFRED OSWIN KIRK

b 2 April 1861, Sileby, Leics

bap 11th March 1865. Sileby, Leics

m 12 Apr 1883 to Charlotte Ann Mason,

at Register Office, Portsea Island, Hampshire

d 18 June 1929, Infirmary, Evington, Leics

bur 22 June 1929 Gilroes Cemetery, Leicester

Go to associated images - John Kirk (1830)

Go to John's Wife - Catherine Oswin (1840)

Go to John's Father - John Kirk (1801)

Go to John & Catherine's Son - Alfred Oswin Kirk (1861)

Go back to the Kirk Family Tree Page