1880s…mysterious goings on in Bishop Auckland? Are the Hulls redeemed?
16th June 2009…some interesting thoughts from Rick McGarry on the life of Joseph Sunter. What were the goings on in Bishops Auckland in the early 1880s? Did the Hulls do something decent for Jane Snowball? Read on…
Re Joseph SUNTER (b.1849). I am a little puzzled about Joseph SUNTER. As you know, he was born at Lodge Green, Gunnerside, Swaledale, in 1849 and married a local lass, Isabella GUY, in 1870. They had two children, William b.1872 at “Heights Farm”, Gunnerside, and Hannah b.1878 at Bishop Aukland. Then, like many young Swaledale couples, they seem to have gone to Liverpool and earned their living as “cowkeepers”, where, in 1881, Isabella is listed as such, with their two children, but Joseph was not at home. WHERE WAS HE? I don’t know, and, like you, I cannot find him. Was he back at Bishop Aukland?
I don’t think the “cowkeeper’s” business suited Joseph — it was a gruelling 7-days-a-week job — and it seems that he stuck at it for only three years, from about 1878 to 1881, and part of that time (at the 1881 census) he was absent, possibly seeking fresh fields of enterprise. I think he sold his “cowkeeping” business at Liverpool, shortly after 1881, and moved back to Bishop Aukland, where his wife, Isabella, died about February 1883. It appears that, whilst at Bishop Aukland, Joseph became acquainted with Thomas HULL (b.1834), who was an “Auctioneer & Valuer”, and, as you know, lived at 3 South Road, with his family and a servant named Jane Ann SNOWBALL, who had given birth to an illegitimate son, named Charles, in March 1882. As you suggest, the father of this illegitimate child was probably one of Thomas’ sons and, as such, Jane and her son were a problem for Thomas HULL. He may have solved it by marrying her off to Joseph SUNTER, although it has to be said that this solution probably suited Joseph very well, because he was in need of a wife and housekeeper, and she was some thirteen years younger than he. Jane Ann SNOWBALL was probably happy to escape the HULL household and to have a man, to be the bread-winner and to care for her and her son. Marriages, in Victorian times, were often like that — they were marriages of convenience, not a product of romantic love. So about 6 months after Isabella died, Joseph married Jane Ann SNOWBALL, at Bishop Aukland. It appears that they then went to Guisborough, where two daughters were born, and then to Redcar, where another was born, and then, about 1891, to Thornaby, Stockton, where another daughter and two sons were born. It would be interesting to see the Birth Certificates for these children, and so learn how Joseph was earning his living during those years, but certainly the 1891 census reports him as a “furniture dealer”. I wonder if Thomas HULL had been an influence on this choice of career? Perhaps he even gave Joseph some money to help set himself up in the business, perhaps on condition that he left Bishop Aukland? All speculation I am afraid — but interesting thoughts. As you know, in 1891, Joseph was living at Thornaby with Jane Ann and their young family, including the son from his first marriage, namely William SUNTER (aged 29), but excluding Jane’s son, Charles, who was with her parents.
I think Joseph died in 1901, shortly before the census. He died at Toxteth Park, Liverpool, probably on a visit to see two of his brothers, who both had cowkeeper’s businesses there. Joseph may have been caught in the terrible smallpox epidemic which raged in Liverpool between 1901 and 1903.
Joseph’s death would have left his widow, Jane, with a serious problem. She had 7 children to care for, and was pregnant with another. However the three eldest were aged 19, 17 and 13, so they would probably all be working and contributing to the family income.
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