Shirley Association Genealogical Research Website

The Shirley Association has been a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies since 1988 Shirleys of Dalbury
Derbyshire England

......
Shirleys of Dalbury, Radbourne, Shottle - Derbyshire Co.

From D. J. Shirley... research done by his 1st cousin, John W. Shirley and Jerry, his wife.

Charles Shirley born about 1821; living in Shottle, Derbyshire in 1841 census with wife Hannah and 2 month old child John Shirley in the household of William Goodwin (grandfather of son Thomas Shirley); Living at Barlbro farm at Barlborough, Derbyshire in 1851.

married Hannah ____ (Goodwin?)

children:

1(i). John William Shirley born April 2, 1841 Radbourne, Derbyshire England (date according to a gold-headed cane given him on his 75th birthday), He was a successful landscape gardner in the old country and was employed by different members of the English nobility residing in the vicinity of Derby. In 1866 he emigrated to the United States and located in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained for two years. At the expiration of the time he removed to Springfield, Illinois, settling just outside the city limits. There he purchased thirteen acres of land and engaged in truck gardening, meeting with success. Through his thrift and enterprise he managed to aquire sufficient capital to enable him to purchase a farm of three hundred aces of excellent land near Minburn, Dallas County, Iowa USA. He died 1918 in Iowa USA.

married Margaret Hailstone.

children:

2(i). William Goodwin Shirley born 1877 Springfield, Illinois, USA

2(ii). Thomas Jefferson Shirley born 1879 Illinois

2(iii). Walter Scott Shirley born 1881 Illinois

2(iv). Ruth Shirley born 1883 Illinois

2(v). Anna Shirley born 1883 Illinois

2(vi). Laura Shirley born 1889 Illinois

2(vii). John Wesley Shirley born Iowa

2(viii). Jessie May Shirley born 1896 Iowa

2(ix). Ian McLaren Shirley

1(ii). Phoebe Shirley born about 1842; living in Barlborough, Derbyshire in 1851

1(ii). Thomas Shirley born about 1845 Barlborough, Derbyshire; Living Barlborough in 1851; living with his grandparents in Shottle Derbyshire in 1861 census

1(iii). William Shirley born about 1847; Living in Barlborough in 1851

1(iv). Elizabeth Shirley born about 1849; Living in Barlborough in 1851

1(v). George Shirley born about 1851 Barlborough, Derbyshire; living with his grandparents in Shottle Derbyshire in 1861 census

My wife, Jerry, and I had three uncommitted days in England in May 1977 and ;mellowly decided to use them to see what, if anything, we could do to push our Shirley connections back beyond the grandfather for whom I was named. The basic facts on which we might build were sparse.

My grandfather, John William Shirley's birthday was April 2, 1841, according to a gold-headed cane in my possession, given him on his 75th birthday.

According to a statement written by my father for his biography in the HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY, IOWA, published in 1913 when my grandfather was still alive reads....

John Shirley (John W's... grandfather), was born and reared at Shottle, a village near Derby, England, and is of Norman extraction...... John Shirley was a successful landscape gardner in the old country and was employed by different members of the English nobility residing in the vicinity of Derby.

In 1866 he emigrated to the United States and located in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained for two years. At the expiration of the time he removed to Springfield, Illinois, settling just outside the city limits. There he purchased thirteen acres of land and engaged in truck gardening, meeting with success. Through his thrift and enterprise he managed to aquire sufficient capital to enable him to purchase a farm of three hundred aces of excellent land near Minburn, Dallas County, Iowa USA.

Preliminary study by going through British Gazetteers had revealed no town or village bearing the name of Shottle, so the "near Derby" seemed the best place to start our inquires.

We boarded a train to Derby and found a guest house within walking distance of the railway station. The desk attendant produced a large-scale map which showed not only shottle as a rural community, buy a village of Shirley, as well, which he insisted was the well-spring of the Shirley family. He also informed us that the local records were not maintained in Derby, as we supposed, but were housed at Matlock, where the County Council offices were---eighteen miles from Derby. We had to rent a car and by a map and off to Matlock we went.

We met Miss Sinar who was most helpful. she produced histories, maps and directories of Derbyshire for various periods of the nineteenth century. She said we were fortunate in that grandfather was born in 1841, (when the first British census was taken), and made arrangements for us to be assigned for census micro-film reader for the period from 1-5 PM that afternoon.

We checked out the reels containing the township of Shottle and threaded into our reader, and began our search. We found no Shirley. Then...noticed that the reel was split and checked out the second reel with the other half of Shottle township.

Suddenly, I stopped cranking, there was a William Goodwin and living in his household was a Charles Shirley who was 20 years old, a wife, Hannah Shirley who was eighteen and a son, John, two months old. I turned to the date of the census and it was June 8, 1841... thus 2 months would be correct as John was born in April.

No coincidence could account for two babies of the same name to be born in the same township in the same week. The John Shirley born at Radbourne was John Shirley who later told his son he had been born in Shottle; my grandfather's memory was mistaken.

We hurriedly checked out the reels of 1851 census for the Parish of Radbourne to follow the Goodwins and Shirleys and were in for a slight shock. They were no longer there!

In 1861 census grandfather John Shirley had reappeared as a "Farm Servant" and living with his grandparents. Also living with their grandparents were two of John's younger brothers, THOMAS 16 years and GEORGE 10 years, who was in school.

George Shirley was new on the scene (1851 Thomas was living with the Goodwins). This could give us a clue as to where the Charles Shirley family moved when they left Radbourne, and sure enough, he was listed as having been born in Barlborough.. The census for Barlbourgh for 1851 and 1861 were missing. so that proved to be a dead end. The library was closing and we found a lovely country Inn in Ashbourne and spent part of the evening reviewing our records and planning for visits the next day to localities from which these people came, both to view our roots and to take pictures for a permanent record.

We first drove to Shottle, the town which we had so long associated with my grandfather. One of the residents, surprised by our stopping, came out in the rain to see what we were doing. She pointed us in the direction of Holly House where my Shirleys had lived. There it was almost exactly as it must have been in 1866 when they packed up and headed for Derby on their first leg of their journey to the fabled land of America. We traveled around to some of the other areas and saved a half day to visit the Public Records Office in London. We wanted to plug the gap in the Charles Shirley family.

In London, the census room was much busier that the Derbyshire Public Library. There were about sixty micro-film readers at long tables, most of them busy. Number thirteen was open and since I am not superstitious, I took it. They informed me I could only have one reel at a time and I requested the 1841 Radbourne. I checked for discrepancies and found none. I got the second reel- for 1851census of Barlborough. I turned the sheets of Barlborough and read slowly and sure enough... item #39 told the story; there laid out before me was the whole Charles Shirley family, with the exception of Thomas, age 6 who was recorded as as being at Holly House, Shottle, visiting his grandparents at the time of the census...1851. The remainder of the Shirley family was at Barlbro Farm; Charles Shirley, age 31, farmer of 62 acres, and Hannah, his wife, age 27, John (my grandfather), age 9, Phoebe, age 8, William age 4, Elizabeth, age 2, and George, one month old.

The arrival of the 1841 census of Dalbury and Lees wound up my search. It met with success, or so it seems. On page 10 of this census, in a house designated as "THE LEES" IN DALBURY, lived a family of three. The head was William Shirley aged 60, his wife, aged 55, and one child, Roseeta, aged 10. William was listed as AG Labaourer. Charles Shirley listed his place of birth as Dalbury Lees and these Shirleys lived on a farm called "THE LEES" in DALBURY, gives practical assurance that they must have been his parents.

Our search had gone as far as our time would permit.

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The Shirley Association has been a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies since 1988		Shirleys of Dalbury Derbyshire England

	......	Shirleys of Dalbury, Radbourne, Shottle - Derbyshire Co. From D. J. Shirley... research done by his 1st cousin, John W. Shirley and Jerry, his wife. Charles Shirley born about 1821; living in Shottle, Derbyshire in 1841 census with wife Hannah and 2 month old child John Shirley in the household of William Goodwin (grandfather of son Thomas Shirley); Living at Barlbro farm at Barlborough, Derbyshire in 1851. married Hannah ____ (Goodwin?) children: 1(i). John William Shirley born April 2, 1841 Radbourne, Derbyshire England (date according to a gold-headed cane given him on his 75th birthday), He was a successful landscape gardner in the old country and was employed by different members of the English nobility residing in the vicinity of Derby. In 1866 he emigrated to the United States and located in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained for two years. At the expiration of the time he removed to Springfield, Illinois, settling just outside the city limits. There he purchased thirteen acres of land and engaged in truck gardening, meeting with success. Through his thrift and enterprise he managed to aquire sufficient capital to enable him to purchase a farm of three hundred aces of excellent land near Minburn, Dallas County, Iowa USA. He died 1918 in Iowa USA. married Margaret Hailstone. children: 2(i). William Goodwin Shirley born 1877 Springfield, Illinois, USA 2(ii). Thomas Jefferson Shirley born 1879 Illinois 2(iii). Walter Scott Shirley born 1881 Illinois 2(iv). Ruth Shirley born 1883 Illinois 2(v). Anna Shirley born 1883 Illinois 2(vi). Laura Shirley born 1889 Illinois 2(vii). John Wesley Shirley born Iowa 2(viii). Jessie May Shirley born 1896 Iowa 2(ix). Ian McLaren Shirley 1(ii). Phoebe Shirley born about 1842; living in Barlborough, Derbyshire in 1851 1(ii). Thomas Shirley born about 1845 Barlborough, Derbyshire; Living Barlborough in 1851; living with his grandparents in Shottle Derbyshire in 1861 census 1(iii). William Shirley born about 1847; Living in Barlborough in 1851 1(iv). Elizabeth Shirley born about 1849; Living in Barlborough in 1851 1(v). George Shirley born about 1851 Barlborough, Derbyshire; living with his grandparents in Shottle Derbyshire in 1861 census My wife, Jerry, and I had three uncommitted days in England in May 1977 and ;mellowly decided to use them to see what, if anything, we could do to push our Shirley connections back beyond the grandfather for whom I was named. The basic facts on which we might build were sparse. My grandfather, John William Shirley's birthday was April 2, 1841, according to a gold-headed cane in my possession, given him on his 75th birthday. According to a statement written by my father for his biography in the HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY, IOWA, published in 1913 when my grandfather was still alive reads.... John Shirley (John W's... grandfather), was born and reared at Shottle, a village near Derby, England, and is of Norman extraction...... John Shirley was a successful landscape gardner in the old country and was employed by different members of the English nobility residing in the vicinity of Derby. In 1866 he emigrated to the United States and located in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained for two years. At the expiration of the time he removed to Springfield, Illinois, settling just outside the city limits. There he purchased thirteen acres of land and engaged in truck gardening, meeting with success. Through his thrift and enterprise he managed to aquire sufficient capital to enable him to purchase a farm of three hundred aces of excellent land near Minburn, Dallas County, Iowa USA. Preliminary study by going through British Gazetteers had revealed no town or village bearing the name of Shottle, so the "near Derby" seemed the best place to start our inquires. We boarded a train to Derby and found a guest house within walking distance of the railway station. The desk attendant produced a large-scale map which showed not only shottle as a rural community, buy a village of Shirley, as well, which he insisted was the well-spring of the Shirley family. He also informed us that the local records were not maintained in Derby, as we supposed, but were housed at Matlock, where the County Council offices were---eighteen miles from Derby. We had to rent a car and by a map and off to Matlock we went. We met Miss Sinar who was most helpful. she produced histories, maps and directories of Derbyshire for various periods of the nineteenth century. She said we were fortunate in that grandfather was born in 1841, (when the first British census was taken), and made arrangements for us to be assigned for census micro-film reader for the period from 1-5 PM that afternoon. We checked out the reels containing the township of Shottle and threaded into our reader, and began our search. We found no Shirley. Then...noticed that the reel was split and checked out the second reel with the other half of Shottle township. Suddenly, I stopped cranking, there was a William Goodwin and living in his household was a Charles Shirley who was 20 years old, a wife, Hannah Shirley who was eighteen and a son, John, two months old. I turned to the date of the census and it was June 8, 1841... thus 2 months would be correct as John was born in April. No coincidence could account for two babies of the same name to be born in the same township in the same week. The John Shirley born at Radbourne was John Shirley who later told his son he had been born in Shottle; my grandfather's memory was mistaken. We hurriedly checked out the reels of 1851 census for the Parish of Radbourne to follow the Goodwins and Shirleys and were in for a slight shock. They were no longer there! In 1861 census grandfather John Shirley had reappeared as a "Farm Servant" and living with his grandparents. Also living with their grandparents were two of John's younger brothers, THOMAS 16 years and GEORGE 10 years, who was in school. George Shirley was new on the scene (1851 Thomas was living with the Goodwins). This could give us a clue as to where the Charles Shirley family moved when they left Radbourne, and sure enough, he was listed as having been born in Barlborough.. The census for Barlbourgh for 1851 and 1861 were missing. so that proved to be a dead end. The library was closing and we found a lovely country Inn in Ashbourne and spent part of the evening reviewing our records and planning for visits the next day to localities from which these people came, both to view our roots and to take pictures for a permanent record. We first drove to Shottle, the town which we had so long associated with my grandfather. One of the residents, surprised by our stopping, came out in the rain to see what we were doing. She pointed us in the direction of Holly House where my Shirleys had lived. There it was almost exactly as it must have been in 1866 when they packed up and headed for Derby on their first leg of their journey to the fabled land of America. We traveled around to some of the other areas and saved a half day to visit the Public Records Office in London. We wanted to plug the gap in the Charles Shirley family. In London, the census room was much busier that the Derbyshire Public Library. There were about sixty micro-film readers at long tables, most of them busy. Number thirteen was open and since I am not superstitious, I took it. They informed me I could only have one reel at a time and I requested the 1841 Radbourne. I checked for discrepancies and found none. I got the second reel- for 1851census of Barlborough. I turned the sheets of Barlborough and read slowly and sure enough... item #39 told the story; there laid out before me was the whole Charles Shirley family, with the exception of Thomas, age 6 who was recorded as as being at Holly House, Shottle, visiting his grandparents at the time of the census...1851. The remainder of the Shirley family was at Barlbro Farm; Charles Shirley, age 31, farmer of 62 acres, and Hannah, his wife, age 27, John (my grandfather), age 9, Phoebe, age 8, William age 4, Elizabeth, age 2, and George, one month old. The arrival of the 1841 census of Dalbury and Lees wound up my search. It met with success, or so it seems. On page 10 of this census, in a house designated as "THE LEES" IN DALBURY, lived a family of three. The head was William Shirley aged 60, his wife, aged 55, and one child, Roseeta, aged 10. William was listed as AG Labaourer. Charles Shirley listed his place of birth as Dalbury Lees and these Shirleys lived on a farm called "THE LEES" in DALBURY, gives practical assurance that they must have been his parents. Our search had gone as far as our time would permit.
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