George Henry Freeth was the twelfth child of Thomas Freeth & Sarah Hemings born 1847 at Kings Norton.
In 1851 George was living with his widowed father Thomas (51) at Horton St, West Bromwich. With him were sister Ann (14), & brothers Thomas (12), John (8), & Noah (6).
By 1861 George was still living with his father, now at Albert St, West Bromwich, & he was working as a labourer at the glass works. Brothers John, & Noah, all working at the glassworks, & sister Eliza were also at home. Also listed on the census was Florence Freeth, aged 3, & Thomas Freeth, aged 1, both born at West Bromwich. However father Thomas was still described as a widower & as none of the children at home appeared to be married, the exact relationship of the 2 young children is uncertain.
George married Margaret Riley in Oct-December 1869 at Warrington. Margaret was born c1850 in Yorkshire, the daughter of Mary Riley. At the time of the 1861 census Margaret (11) & her widowed mother (47) were winders at a cotton mill living at Rawtenstall, Lancs. Margaret’s 2 brothers & 4 sisters were all working at the mill at this time.
In 1871 George & Margaret (listed as Frenth in Ancestry.co.uk census) were living at 37 Berry’s Yard, Warrington. George was a labourer (coal-wheeler) & Margaret was a fustian cutter. They had a 9 month old son, George H. Also with them was a 3 year old step-son, Thomas Riley & next to his name in the census was the abbreviation Illte. – presumably signifying that he was the illegitimate son of Margaret. Margaret’s mother Mary was also living with them & was described as house keeper.
By the time of the census in 1881 George was widowed & was living at
253 Warwick Road, Warrington. He was a labourer at the iron works. Living
with him were children Thomas (13) (now listed as Freeth), Noah (9), George
H (6), John W (4), Fanny (1), all born at Warrington. Also living with him
was Mary Jane Lawless, a 20 year old niece. There is a record of a death of
Margaret Freeth, aged 32, in April-June 1881 at Warrington.
The children of George Henry Freeth & Margaret Riley were:
fh.4.6.1.2.12.1 George Henry Freeth born July-September 1870 at Warrington
fh.4.6.1.2.12.2 Noah Freeth
born Jan-March 1872 at Warrington
fh.4.6.1.2.12.3 George
Henry Freeth born April-June 1875 at Warrington
fh.4.6.1.2.12.4 John
William Freeth born Jan-March 1877 at Warrington
fh.4.6.1.2.12.5 Fanny Freeth born c1880 at Warrington
In July-September 1881 George married Martha Gleeve at Warrington. Martha was christened February 4th, 1849, at Warrington, Lancs, the daughter of Ellen and Thomas Gleeve.
George & family were listed as Freck in the 1891 Ancestry.co.uk index & were living at 27 Oxford Lane, Warrington. George was still a labourer & with him & Martha were children Noah, an engine driver, George H & John, both labourers & Fanny. George & Martha had 4 children of their own by now, Letitia (7), Polly (6), Martha Ann (4) & Thomas (7 months). There was another son listed with them – Joseph Freeth, aged 17. As he was not mentioned in any previous census & no appropriate birth record has been found, the parentage of Joseph is unknown.
By 1901 George and Martha were living at 27 Oxford Lane, Warrington, where he was a scrap iron labourer. They had three daughters at home – Letitia (17) and Mary (Polly in 1891 census?) (16), both cardboard box makers, and 14 year old Martha Ann , a cotton weaver.
On June 15th, 1904 George set sail from Liverpool to Philadelphia, USA aboard the SS Westernland to visit his son Noah Freeth, whose address was given as: 256 Mayfield St, Philadelphia. According to the 1910 Philadelphia census, Noah had emigrated to The USA in 1903 with his wife Bridget and 3 children. Travelling with George in 1904 was Emma Reilly (36) and her 4 children, who were going to join Thomas Reilly (Emma’s husband) whose address was the same as that given for Noah Freeth. A note on the ship’s manifest appears to suggest that Thos. Reilly was George’s step son, as was noted in the 1871 census – see above, although note different spelling.
In the US census of 1910 George & Martha were living in Philadelphia Ward 33, Pennsylvania where George was a labourer. With them were daughters Mary & Martha A who were both weavers in the cloth mill. They all gave the year of emigration as 1905. Interestingly it was noted on the census that Martha had had 9 children, of which 6 were living.
By 1920 Martha had died & widowed George was living with his daughter
Martha Ann & her husband Luke Laycock (40) in North Swanson St, Philadelphia
Ward 33. George, aged 72, had no occupation but son-in-law Luke was a weaver
in the upholstery mill. Living with them was Luke’s sister Sophia (39)
& her husband Harry Bates (36) & their 1 year old son Harry who had
emigrated in 1919. All the household were born in England but none were naturalised.
The children of George Henry Freeth & Martha Gleeve were:
fh.4.6.1.2.12.6 Letitia Freeth born Oct-December 1883 at Warrington
fh.4.6.1.2.12.7 Mary Freeth born April-June 1885 at Warrington
fh.4.6.1.2.12.8 Martha
Ann Freeth born Oct-December 1886 at Warrington
fh.4.6.1.2.12.9 Thomas Freeth born Oct-December 1890 at Warrington, died July-September
1893 at Warrington