A Family from Skinner Lane

The following has been supplied by Gill Parry, a Volunteer at The National Trust Birmingham Back to Backs.


A copy of a tintype photograph from circa 1860’s of Mary Cooke who would have been between 25 to 30 years old at the time

It is believed this picture to be Mary Cooke my great, great grandmother. She was born in Powick near to Worcester around 1824 to 1830. Her mother was Elizabeth Cooke and her father was John Cooke. At some point the family migrated to Birmingham and in the 1851 census they were in Skinner Lane, as follows:

Thomas Hines – railway servant
Ann Hines
John Cooke – Turner – suspect this is my great, great, great, grandfather
Elizabeth Cooke – great, great, great, Grandmother
Mary Cooke aged 20 – my great, great, Grandmother
Sarah Cooke aged 2 months

Sarah Cooke was the daughter of Mary – we know this from family information.

Mary Cooke was associated with a Travelling Salesman. She went on to have three more children – Ellen (great grandmother), George and Charlotte. As far as we know she never married. Whilst said Travelling Salesman was away and being short of money she is reputed to have sold his collection of violins. According to Ellen Cooke he provided well for them but she was bad at money management and several times they had to move house to avoid debtors. At one point and carrying all their belongings George refused to go any farther and sat down in the middle of the Bristol Road.

Eventually the children were taken over by the Workhouse Board of Guardians and our great grandmother (Ellen) lived in Pinfold Street with a railway worker and his family the Averys). She became a pupil teacher and eventually a mistress of a village school in Neen Sollars near Kidderminster. (The Avery family were benefactors and bought her a piano). George joined the merchant navy and Charlotte was reputed to have emigrated to Canada.

Mary Cooke always seemed to have lived with her family – first with Sarah and her common law husband (Danks) and ending up with her son George after he retired. The Danks family were brass workers who lived in Sheepcote Street. Ellen got a job in Neen Sollars she had previously lived in the Round Houses overlooking Wilson Green prison.

Her first boyfriend was Ned Keough who was a telegraph operator for the Post Office. He died in Santiago de Cuba. His father had been the Head Warden for Wilson Green Prison.