Hannah Genders

 And so finally, we get to Hannah Genders, my 3x great grandmother. It would be hard for me to know less about Hannah. She has proven so elusive it has been much easier to prove who she wasn't rather than who she was. I only have two records that I know for sure relate to to my Hannah and they are the birth records of her children, Mary Hannah, and John.

Mary Hannah Whilock birth (1846)

So from this record I know that on the 8th April 1846, Hannah gave birth to her daughter at 22 Court, 8 House, Lionel Street. I know she was still there on the 9th May that year because that is when she registered the birth, and I know that she can't sign her name. The surname Wheelock is transcribed as Whilock, and she makes the claim that she is William's wife. 

Mary Hannah Wheelock Death 1848

 

When Mary sadly died in 1848, she did so at her grandparents' home, Court 22, House 2, Weaman Street. Now although it states that Hannah Wheelock was present at the death, this almost certainly refers to William's mother Hannah Collier. This does not mean that Hannah Genders was not present, but it is impossible to know. It is doubtful that Hannah was living with the family, however, as when John was born in December that year, her address was Henrietta Street.

John Whilock Birth 1848

I have no idea what reception Hannah would have received in the Wheelock household as there is still a big question mark over what happened to Eliza. However, if as I suspect, William spent a number of months in 1849 in prison, Hannah may have relied on them for support while she raised her baby.

I have found no evidence of any more children from William and Hannah. If William was the live wire that some of the sources suggest, then she may have had the good sense to break off the relationship, particularly as there was no prospect of him ever marrying her if Eliza was still alive. Of course if he was abusive with her she may have absconded for her own safety, but again that is entirely hypothetical. 

I know William and Eliza are still living together in 1841 and I know there is no sign of Hannah in the Wheelock household in 1851, so in both censuses Hannah is elsewhere. I have searched for her and have found some potential candidates. The problem is that I don't know where or when she was born, when she died, or who any of her family are, which makes pinpointing the right woman very tricky.

1841 census showing a Hannah Genders on Hall Street

 There is a Hannah Genders living on Hall Street in Birmingham in 1841. The source gives her age as 20, so anywhere from 20 to 24, and it states she was born in the county of Warwickshire, but I shall take that with a pinch of salt given I know William gave his birthplace as Birmingham when he was almost certainly born in Leicester. This Hannah is a female servant in the Maybury household, so unfortunately there are no clues about her own family. This Hannah is a pretty strong contender as Hall Street is pretty close to Lionel Street and Henrietta Street, which is where Hannah's children were born. Her age is also very close to William's so it is entirely possible that this is the right lady. 

1851 census showing a Hannah Genders in New Inkleys

 

There is another contender in the 1851 census, but once again there are limited clues as this Hannah is lodging in the Morris household. It states that she was 33, unmarried and from Birmingham. She was also working as a stay sticker, which I believe relates to corset making. This lady could well be the one who was living on Hall Street a decade prior. If she is my Hannah then she confirms that she never married William. New Inkleys is not at all near to Weaman Street, so if this is the right woman, she was somewhat distanced from the Wheelocks and John. We can but guess why. Escaping William? Not able to work and look after a 2-year-old so relying on William's parents? Would this therefore suggest her own parents were unable or unwilling to care for John? It's probably impossible to know, but a year later John's grandfather, Thomas Wheelock would die and the family would have to relocate anyway. Whether Hannah had any hand in raising John I do not know. All I will say is that John had many daughters and did not name any of them Hannah. This doesn't say anything conclusive about his relationship with his mother, but may be a hint. Ironically, given the general portrayal of his father as a brute, he did name his only surviving son William. Maybe William was not heavy handed with his only child.

Genders is another tricky surname to work with. I have found it transcribed as Gonders, Ganders, Ginders, Jenders, Jinders, and even Jedro. If you search for the initial spelling you get a few hits in the databases for families in Birmingham round about this time. When you add the other spellings they become more numerous. If you search a map of surname frequencies the name Genders gets the most hits in Warwickshire and Staffordshire, so it is less likely that Hannah came from further afield. 

In my efforts to trace Hannah I have had many promising starts, only for the trail to go cold and so as mentioned it has often been easier to discount people who definitely aren't her. In the upcoming posts, I will demonstrate how I managed to rule out some of the candidates and narrow down who Hannah might be.