Charles Edward Siddall lived at Shirecliffe House and was MD Sheffield Forge Millsands. He received visitors from the USA/Canada in 1896/7. I am looking for any info which can lead me to identify them. My great Aunt was a servant to C.E.Siddall and became pregnant to one of these visitors.

Wow Darryl,

Long time ago......

First how sure of the story are you?

Shirecliffe House was that a house of note?

Have you looked at records of any company meetings in that time period. Sheffield Archives/Library would be your best bet for those.

As managing director wouldn't Charles have known the story and some of his close relatives
may have been informed?

Just suggestions.

Elaine. in Ottawa.

From our Directories.
Siddall, Charles E (, Sec. & M. D., Sheffield Forge & Rolling Mills Co.Lim.).
Address: h. 225 Barnsley Road, Sheffield in 1905.
Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield &Rotherham.


SIDDALL, Charles E (~, J.P., Chairman & Manager (Sheffield Forge & Rolling Mills Co Ltd.)).
Address: h. Shirecliffe House, Shirecliffe Lane, Pitsmoor, ~ in 1925.
Recorded in: Sheffield & Rotherham Kelly?s Directory.


If Charles Edward was aware of the situation you can bet your great aunt would have been let go.

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Hi Elaine
The same story has come down from various branches of the family. Also my great aunt Rose lived with us until her death in 1967 aged 93. In essence Rose was a servant and nursemaid to Charles Edward's sick wife Clari. In 1896 the family had a visit from Canadian/USA family members of the Siddalls who were also involved in steel. Apparently there were three "nephews" one of whom took a fancy to Rose. Billy, her son was born in May 1897. He was raised by Rose and her parents, my grandparents. The story does not have a sad ending as Charles kept Rose's job for her and she worked for him until Clari's death and Charles' remarriage in 1938. The Canadians paid for Billy's education and gave Rose a small pension. In later years they also paid for medical treatment for one of Billy's daughter when she was a child. In later years, Billy was a skillful engineer and was offered job with his Canadian family. He chose to remain in the UK. There is so much accurate information but I lack the final contact name, that of the Canadian "steel" family. Nothing of Charles household accounts seem to exist and he had no children, thus no descendants I can contact. I just need a family name of those who came to the UK before August 1896 and left before May 1897 so that I can solve this mystery for myself and Billy's remaining granddaughter.
Rose never married and given the times, she nor Billy spoke of the matter.
Darryl

Hi Darryl,

I think you have probably gone as far as you can. BUT glad to see that at least the fellow
paid for his sons education etc.

Hamilton Ontario was/is a large Steel town in Canada. As was Algoma Mills in Sault St Marie Ont.

Without the town it would be hard to pinpoint exactly.

I had looked back at Charles Edward Siddall as I have Siddall rellies but none that were Managing Directors of Sheffield Forge. I note he was born in Sutton on Trent.....

Could it have been one of those rellies that went to Canada. I also note that Claire was from Shiregreen.Charles Edward was an office boy in 1881. Doesn't say which company.
In 1901 he was company secretary. Married Claire in 1893 no children as you stated.

Well sorry to say thats all I can offer.

Stay safe. Elaine in Ottawa.

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Hi Elaine
I have searched the rellies trees but cannot find a Canadian connection. Rose was in her early 20s so I would assume a similar aged or older lad would fit the bill. None were found. I could resort to checking the passenger lists for 1896-1897 crossings but without a name it's a mammoth task. Perhaps the archives in the two steel towns could come up with steel families names which I could follow up.

Hi Daryl,
The steel industry would have been in its infancy in 1897. I've done a little sleuthing on line to see if I can see anything that may be helpful to you, but it really doesn't look promising. Steel manufacturing really didn't begin in Canada until the 1880's and then took off with the need for steel during WWI. The main manufacturers were in Hamilton, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and Sydney, Nova Scotia. The plant in Hamilton was financed by Max Aitkin and combined 5 smaller firms into one larger firm which would become Stelco in 1910. The smaller firms were Hamilton Steel and Iron Company, Canada Screw Company, Montreal Rolling Mills, Dominion Wire Manufacturing Company and Canada Bolt and Nut Company. The first president of the company was Charles S. Wilcox who had been president of the Hamilton Steel and Iron Company. The plant in Sault Ste. Marie was financed by an American named Francis Clergue and began in 1901 and was named Algoma Steel. The plant in Sydney, Nova Scotia looks to have started up about 1899 as the Sydney Steel Corporation and then went on to become Dominion Iron and Steel. There may be some information on the Library and Archives of Canada web site, but I haven't found anything yet. Without a name or place to go on, its like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack.
That's my 2 cents worth.
Helen C.

Thanks Helen
At least from your reply, I have some firms and names to follow up. It could be that as the Canadian steel industry was in its infancy at the time, the family came over to see the Sheffield steel industry which was well advanced by this time and could provide them with valuable advice. Seems plausible.
Having exhausted all my lines of inquiry I am relying on a stroke of luck .... it has worked before. Thanks again for taking the trouble to sleuth.
Darryl

Good work Helen.....

Darryl did you look into Claire's family?

I couldn't find a 1891 census that might help with where Charles Edward was etc.

There is a Ships List but I haven't looked at it in years.

Before you go taking that route, they could have gone to the States as you mentioned. Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is just one of many that come to mind. I remember reading articles that they had relied heavily on steel workers from England.

Hope these little snippets help.

Elaine in Ottawa.

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Possibly the wills of Charles and later his widow may refer to Rose and Billy, they seem to have felt some responsibility for the situation.

darryl
Have you explored whether it could have been the family of John Wright, elder brother, born 1833, of Eliza Nee Wright, mother of Charles Edward Siddall.
He and his family seem to disappear from uk and he was a fork manufacturer.
Dave

Hi
No I've not spotted him. I've so far focused on Charles siblings and those of his first wife Clari with no luck
Thanks. I'll give it a go.

If you wish to give some more details on Rose, surname, place of birth etc. might be helpful to search her later life a little.

Hi Dave
Apparently John married Eliza (?) around 1860 but died in 1868. He is buried in St Mary's Ecclesfield. Eliza went on to remarry taking her children with her.
I will check out the rest of the family in case ......

Rose lived with us for the last 20 years of her life. She was born in Sheffield in 1874. Rose Ellen Smith lived in Pitsmoor with her parents George (Edge Tool Maker) and Annie Smith. She died in 1967. I know about most of Rose's life, apart from that period when she was in service in 1896.

I was amazed to come across this post whilst continuing with my own family history - I am just writing up my late mother's Clari's life story, and she was related to Charles' wife, Clari Elizabeth Siddall (nee Hollingworth) as she married Arthur Saunders Hollingworth, one of Clari's brothers.I will let you have further details if you email me back, as I have most of this family tree completed. There is a large memorial in Burngreave Cemetery to Clari and one of her sisters, Mary Alice Hollingworth, paid for by Charles.

My mother mentions Rose in her story,(but your article was news to me and would have been to my mother also, presumably, as she never mentioned it!) as well as details about Charles and Clari,when she used to visit Shirecliffe House, so I will have a look for you and see if I can add anything. In turn I have learnt a lot that I was unaware of. Wait to hear further! Regards, Margaret

Incidentally, the Saunders family from Bagthorpe, Nottingham, together with other members of the Hollingworth family also from Selston, Nottingham I believe, and the Saint family from Mugginton and Parwich, Derbyshire, then later Radcliffe on Trent, Nottingham, are also involved in our family tree if this is of interest to other researchers.

Hello,

Ooops, it was late when I replied to you, so apologies for getting my facts mixed up - it was my grandmother, Mary Fanny (nee Saint) who married into the Hollingworth family, but it is my mother's life story, Clari (nee Hollingworth) that I am writing up. Her story does not begin until after 1911, and she was named after her Aunt Clari, but being young, would not have been aware of the circumstances you mention. As I said, I do have other details about the family and their life, if you are interested, but cannot shed any light on Rose's earlier background.

Margaret

Hi Margaret
I've emailed you. Please let me know if it doesn't arrive.
Darryl

As a follow on, Charles Siddall married Clari in last quarter of 1893. Clari died late 1932 and he died in Feb. 1938 (never re-married as far as I know, but a Charles E Siddall married someone with the name of Johnston in Sheffield in 1933 according to FreeBMD website, though I've not checked this out any further to see if its the same person). The beneficiary of his will in April 1938 was Mary Elizabeth Siddall apparently - I have not researched his will further, so don't know who she was.

My mother's story (Clari, my mother, was born in 1911) says that Rose was maid/housekeeper to Clari Elizabeth's mother, Mary Hollingworth, who had a school for young ladies at 57 Andover Street, and when Mary died in 1919 she says Rose went to work for Clari and Charles Siddall. She reports that Charles and Clari Siddall had a cook/housekeeper whose daughter Jane was a maid there too, and they had a chauffeur, Booth. She mentions Atkinson the gardener, and his "boy"assistant BILLY as looking after the garden. It wasn't until later on that Clari became ill after a serious operation in Scarborough. The couple used to take a suite of rooms at either Scarborough or Blackpool for a couple of months in summer, and Charles would commute to work in Sheffield each day. After Clari's illness, her unmarried sister Alice lived with them, as companion, for several years.

It's all very complicated as those early dates don't seem to tie up, do they, and I suppose people's memories are not always accurate? I wonder if Rose worked for both families at the same time? I also wonder why my mother referred to Billy as a "boy" as surely he would have been well in his 20's by the time she recalls these facts? It's all very intriguing, so will continue to try and find out from census records to see if Rose is mentioned on them, and where both families were living at the time.

Margaret

Hi Darryl

This probably wont help much but...

On August 20th 1896 there was the 24th Annual General Meeting of the Sheffield Forge and Rolling Mills Company (Limited), which was attended by 'a fair number of shareholders'.

So presumably this is what the Canadians came for and were Shareholders (??).

So, not sure how you'd find this out but its another angle to research - if its possible to track down a list of Shareholders around that time!

Denise

Hi Denise
This sounds like a lead. I'll try to find a list of shareholders and match names up with those of the known family at the time. Hopefully it will reveal a Canadian link.
Darryl

Hi Denise
Can you please tell me the source of the article about the shareholders' meeting? I assume it would be reported in one of the Sheffield newspapers but which one.
Darryl

Hi Darryl

Its the Sheffield Daily Telegraph 21 August 1896.

I was looking on FMP and there are a lot of similar newspaper reports over the years in both the Sheffield Daily Telegraph and the Sheffield Independent. But this one stood out because of the date. Sort of makes some sense that the Canadian 'family' might well have been shareholders, being in the same business. Might have come over in 1896 for something completely different of courses or maybe a 'combined' trip!

Denise

Hi Denise
I agree the date matches perfectly with William's DoB. There's a family connection yet to be discovered and the names of the shareholder could hold a clue. I'll take a look at the Telegraph records when I'm next in Sheffield (when we're allowed out).
Thanks again
Darryl