WEEK 42

Sheffield Cathedral

I have so far traced the Rowbottom family in my pedigree back to Thomas who was born circa 1789 in Sheffield and married Ann Swindin in 1815 in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Sheffield (now Sheffield Cathedral).

Thomas and Ann, to my knowledge, issued four children; the descendants of which I have researched extensively over the past fourteen years. One of their children was called, George Rowbottom, who was born in 1818 in Sheffield.

Daisy Walk

George married Elizabeth Vickers in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Sheffield in 1839. George and Elizabeth issued two sons, one of them being Albert Rowbottom, who was born in 1842, in Daisy Walk, Sheffield.

In 1864, in Christ Church, Pitsmoor, Sheffield, Albert married Charlotte Yates. Albert and Charlotte issued nine children, called, George Henry (1866 to 1944), Albert (1869 to 1917), Tom (1871 to 1936), Fred (1873 to 1918), David (1875 to 1935), Lily (1877 to 1966), Clara (1879 to 1964), Rose Valentine (1881 to 1955) and Mary Elizabeth (born in 1882).

Christ Church, Pitsmoor

George Rowbottom and his wife, Elizabeth, along with their son, Albert and daughter-in-law, Charlotte, moved to Parkgate, near Rotherham, in the 1860s; I suspect when the Parkgate Iron and Steel company was founded. For the next 100 years, the streets around Rawmarsh Hill in Parkgate were populated by many descendants of George and Elizabeth, particularly on Goosebutt Street and Netherfield Lane. In fact, some of their descendants still live in the area today.

George and Albert were both File Cutters by occupation, which I believe involved cutting teeth into files. Albert actually went blind in later life as a consequence of his occupation, presumably, no protection was worn to prevent fragments of metal flying into his eyes.

Rawmarsh Hill

My mother remembered her parents always shopping in Parkgate on Saturdays and didn’t understand why until she realised that many of her father’s aunts, uncles and other relations still lived in Parkgate.

George died in 1879 in Holly Bush Street, Parkgate.

ROTHERHAM AND MASBRO ADVERTISER, SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1879

ROWBOTTOM. – April 12, at Rawmarsh, Mr. George Rowbottom, aged 60.

Holly Bush Street

George’s wife, Elizabeth died in 1886 on Rawmarsh Hill.

THE ROTHERHAM ADVERTISER, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1886.

ROWBOTTOM. – October 5th, at Rawmarsh hill, Elizabeth, widow of George Rowbottom, aged 67.

Albert died in 1909 in Goosebutt Street, Parkgate and his wife Charlotte died in the Almshouses on Dale Road, Rawmarsh in 1919.

Rawmarsh High Street Cemetery

George, Elizabeth, Albert and Charlotte are all buried in the High Street Cemetery in Rawmarsh, Rotherham.

It is of interest to note that the names ‘Rowbottom’ and ‘Rowbotham are interchangeable and are essentially one and the same. Other variations include Robottham, Robottom, Roebottom and Rewbottom. It is thought to be of Anglo-Saxon origin and is either a topographical name from a residence in an overgrown valley or a locational name from some lost, minor or unrecorded place believed to have been situated in the Staffordshire/Lancashire regions. Another theory is that Rowbottom is an English occupational last name of old Scottish origins. One thing I know for sure is that my grandfather didn’t stand for any of the crude variations of the name!