James Stoliday (1772-1832) and Mary Gay (1784-1820).
My 4th great-grandparents.
James Stoliday (Stolady or Stolody depending on the record) was probably born in 1772, based on the fact his burial record states that he was aged 60 at his death. But I’ve so far found no birth record that matches him even remotely, regardless of the spelling of his surname. I write about some of his potential parents below.
He married Mary Gay on 13 February 1804 at Ingworth in Norfolk, about 14 miles north of Norwich. She came from the village, where she was baptised on 7 March 1784 to James and Mary Gay.
The couple then moved south to the village of Rackheath and raised their family there. This suggests that James either came from the area or had been working in and around the village previously. He was described in the parish registers as a husbandman (usually a tenant farmer) or labourer.
The family cropped up in one of the few surviving records of the 1811 census, which showed James Stolady as the head of a household consisting of four males and one female. A further census carried out in February 1815 showed a larger Stolady family in Rackheath but James and his children were missing from the 1821 village survey, suggesting they had moved elsewhere for work. His wife Mary had died in 1820 and was buried in Rackheath on 23 February that year.
James died in 1832 and was buried on 5 November that year in Rackheath, but was said to have been living at St Faith’s when he died. This may refer to the workhouse at Horsham St Faith, which housed elderly and infirm residents of a number of local parishes including Rackheath. In the late summer of 2020 we went searching through the somewhat overgrown graveyard at the remote and atmospheric All Saints Church. This sits alone amid farmland, the result of the village migrating further east to a more modern settlement and many old buildings having disappeared. The only evidence we found of the family was the gravestone of James and Mary’s son Thomas (see below).
James and Mary, my 4th great-grandparents, had several children:
- Robert Stoliday (1804-1862), my 3rd great-grand uncle. He was transported to Australia for larceny, became known as Holliday and died a miserable death there.
- James Stoliday (1804-1862), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Born on 8 April 1806 and baptised on the 13th in Rackheath, Norfolk, he was buried in the village aged just 10 weeks on 22 June 1806.
- William Stolida(1809-1903), my 3rd great-grandfather. He worked mostly as an agricultural labourer.
- George Stoliday (1811-1843), my 3rd great-grand uncle. George was born on 29 May 1811 and baptised at All Saints Church in Rackheath, Norfolk, on 2 June. A George Stolliday was buried in the village on 7 May 1843 and this is likely to be our man. No other records relevant to George have been found.
- Thomas Stoliday (1812-1897), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Born on 16 December 1812, Thomas was baptised at All Saints Church in Rackheath, Norfolk, on 1 January 1813. He married Elizabeth Dyball at All Saints on 26 January 1834. Census records showed that she came from Aylsham in Norfolk and was born in around 1806 but no baptism records match so it’s possible she was born elsewhere and settled there as a child. Thomas and Elizabeth had at least four children and the 1841 census showed the family living at Stone Hill in Rackheath with two children who I assume were Elizabeth’s relatives, John and Louisa Dyball aged 12 and nine respectively. It’s possible that these were Elizabeth’s children as John was described as Thomas’s son-in-law on the 1851 census, however Elizabeth was described as a single woman on their marriage record… Thomas had a number of jobs, working as an agricultural labourer for many years but by the 1871 census was a gardener and by 1881 a general dealer. His second wife’s death certificate described him as a fish hawker or salesman. Thomas continued to live at Stone Hill but Elizabeth died in 1880 and was buried in Rackheath on 10 October that year. Thomas then married widow Letitia Fuller (nee King) on 9 June 1882 at All Saints in Rackheath. She was baptised in Costessey, Norfolk, in 1834 and her first marriage was to William Fuller in Sprowston in 1860. By 1891 Thomas was living on parish allowances and residing at Stone Hill with Letitia and two of her children. He died in 1897 and was buried in Rackheath on 28 April. Letitia remained in the area for several years but the 1911 Census recorded her in Kennet Road, Newbury, Berkshire. She died in the town aged 87 on 2 March 1921 of bronchitis. Thomas’s children with Elizabeth were:
- James Stoliday (1835-1835).
- James Stoliday (1837-1837).
- Caroline Stoliday (1839-1914) was baptised in Rackheath and lived there for most of her life. She married agricultural labourer John Barrett of nearby Salhouse in 1861, had children and died in 1914, five years after her husband.
- Maria Stoliday (1841-1909) was baptised in Rackheath and married agricultural labourer John Worme in 1864. They settled in his home parish of Horstead with Stanninghall in Norfolk, where they raised their children. John died in 1915.
- Maria Stoliday (1815-1884), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Maria was born on 13 March 1815 and baptised on 16 April that year at All Saints in Rackheath, Norfolk. She married tailor James Stubbs at St George Colegate, Norwich, on 19 May 1839. He was born in the city to parents Edward and Ann in 1810 and baptised on 25 November at St John Maddermarket. Maria and her husband were recorded as living in Fishers Lane, Norwich, in the 1841 census and in the wonderfully named Golden Ball Street in 1851. There are no records of them having children. James died on Christmas Day 1858 in Barrack Street and the Norfolk Chronicle of 1 January 1859 described him as ‘well-respected’ in their death notice. Maria then married bachelor John Plummer, a shoemaker, at Christ Church, Catton, Norfolk, on 27 October 1859. He came from Hellesdon in Norfolk, where he’d been baptised on 24 September 1809. The couple lived in Golden Dog Lane, Norwich, for many years according to the census records. Maria died in 1884 and John a year later, both in Norwich.
- John Stoliday (1817-1896), my 3rd great-grand uncle. John was born on 25 April 1817 and baptised on 8 June in Rackheath, Norfolk. He and his family had various brushes with the law.
So who were James Stoliday’s ancestors?
It could be that he was born at Old Catton in Norfolk and baptised on 6 September 1783 to parents William and Elizabeth (and that the record of his age at death was recorded incorrectly). However, a James buried at St Stephen’s in Norwich on 16 July 1811 was described as the son of William Stoliday and Elizabeth Hayhoe.
A Thomas Stoliday was born in 1746 in Caister-on-Sea according to a Google search but I’ve not been able to confirm on the family history sites. Were there other Caister baptisms?
A Sarah Stolliday was baptised in Great Yarmouth in 1767 to William and Rebecca and a Thomas to Thomas and Ellen in 1756. The 1803 Census for Great Yarmouth showed William and Rebecca both aged 62.
A number of Stolidays were baptised in the Colby parish of Norfolk in the 1770s to James and Lydia Stoliday, ie Hannah in 1770, Robert in 1777 and Lydia in 1780. But I’ve found no James listed. Colby is close to Ingworth – the village where Mary Gay married James.
There are a range of baptisms elsewhere in Norfolk that need investigating, including in Foulsham.
Sources: Rackheath Parish Registers published in 1984 by Norfolk and Norwich Genealogical Society. BMD and census records at Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk. Newspaper archives at the British Newspaper Archive. 1811 Rackheath census. Workhouses.org.uk