William Appleton 1889 -1917

William Appleton was the son of John and Elizabeth Appleton. John Appleton was a well-known figure in Shincliffe. In 1891, he is described as a general labourer. He had been born in Whitwell Colliery in 1853 but was living in Shincliffe at the time of the 1871 Census. He is listed with his parents, William, and Mary, as well as a brother, Henry (24) and a sister, Sarah (12). In 1881, he can be found in what is now 3 Overman Street (formerly Row) and still living with his parents.

William had two stepsisters and a stepbrother because of his father’s marriage to the former Elizabeth Greenwell. There was Isabell(a) Greenwell (13) and Margaret (10). Thomas Greenwell was aged seven. In addition, there was Mary Appleton (3), William himself, aged 1, and Henry, barely a month old. Henry, or Harry, as he was better known in later life, was a bright child and won a scholarship to the grammar school after attending Shincliffe C of E. He would later return to be its Headmaster for many years, succeeding his guide and mentor, John Carr.

Elizabeth Greenwell had been married to Thomas Greenwell. The latter had been born in Whitwell Colliery. At the time of the 1881 Census, the family lived in Esh Colliery. As well as Isabell(a) and Margaret, there was another daughter, Lydia (2). Thomas Greenwell died two years later. The consequences for a young mother with three young children in this situation must have been enormous. It appears that Lydia was taken on by her brother-in-law, Joseph Greenwell, and his wife, a not unusual practice either then or later in the twentieth century as large families sometimes struggled to cope. Lydia went on to enter domestic service in Piercebridge in 1901 before marrying and settling down in Marske and Saltburn with her husband.

1901 saw the family firmly ensconced in Pond Row, most likely Number 6, as that is where they were for the 1911 Census. Margaret was living with the Luke family in Pond Row as a domestic servant. Isabella had married Frederick Peacock in 1897 in St. Mary’s in Shincliffe and went to live with him in West Rainton. She had had three children by the time of the 1901 Census, the third of whom was called Lydia. It can only be hoped that the siblings and their mother retained some sort of contact with Lydia Greenwell after their enforced separation. The couple went on to have two more children, moved to Grange Villa and Frederick became a fruiterer. It was in Grange Villa in 1911 that we find William lodging with the family.

At the same time, 1901, Thomas Greenwell seems to have adopted his stepfather’s surname, although he reverts to Greenwell later in life. He, too, like John, is working in the brickyard. He went on to fight in WW1 but thankfully survived. In 1939, he is married with two children and living on Rectory Terrace in Shincliffe. His children would have attended the school where his stepbrother was the Headmaster.

Mary Elizabeth Appleton married John Latue, a neighbour of hers in Pond Row, in 1907. John Latue's brother George would be killed in France in 1918. She is listed as living with her parents in the 1911 Census, along with her stepbrother, Thomas, and her two children, Maggie, and Phylis. We know that William was working as a labourer in Grange Villa while Harry was down in York, at what is now St. John’s University, undertaking his teacher training course.

William Appleton married Elizabeth Hannah Clough on 26^th October 1912 in St Mary’s Church in Shincliffe. She lived with her parents in what is now High Shincliffe, near Quality Street. William died on 3^rd November 1917. He was in the 5^th Battalion of the Essex Regiment and is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial in Israel in what was formerly Palestine. Elizabeth remarried in 1919. Her second husband was William Robert King and they had one child, Sidney, born in 1922. 

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