A RICH SEAM OF FAMILY HISTORY
The Naylors of South Normanton, Derbyshire

by Alan D Craxford and Brenda Eldridge

Introduction

Map 1: The English Midlands

In the dim recesses of our childhood we were barely aware of the intricacies of family relationships. We knew who grandma was, where our uncles lived and which auntie had a sixpence on the sideboard to cheer us on our way after a visit – didn’t we? We knew the tragedy of her mother's premature death and our Mum, Hilda Cook, had been brought up by her aunt and uncle in Leicester. Her father married again.

Map 2: Alfreton and District

The surname Naylor is a common one. Our researches into the maternal side of the family tree have been long and slow. We had a few photographs and other memorabilia and we had our own recollections to go on but documentary evidence was fragmentary. We were guided primarily by a family portrait taken about 1899 which showed all nine of the Naylor children and which had been annotated at the time with their identities. We soon discovered two other large Naylor families in this region of England with often repeated Christian names but we have not been able to link them with a common ancestor – at least not in records after 1800. Census returns were also complicated at one point (1881) by the family being registered in the indexes as Taylor. However we have now traced the family from the early 1800s and we know of the destiny of at least five of its branches.

This is the story of the Naylor family from South Normanton, a mining village near Alfreton in Derbyshire.

The Naylor Family (about 1873) REAR: Joseph (18); Thomas (16) MIDDLE: Mary (7); John (8); Ann Naylor with Arthur; John; Alfred (4) FRONT: Edwin (10); Maurice (2) This photograph was taken shortly after youngest son Arthur was born (and predates Miriam by about six years)

John Naylor marries Ann Cotterill.

John Naylor, our great grandfather, was born in Somercotes, Derbyshire in February 1836, the second son of John and Ann Naylor. Like his father before him, by the age of 15 years he had become a miner. He met and married local girl and dressmaker, Ann, the daughter of another miner Henry Cotterill in the nearby village of Pinxton on April 24th 1854. It is abundantly clear from the maps of the area that these are still tightly knit communities, even today, and the distances between them are small.

John spent his whole working life in the deep mines of the Derbyshire coalfield firstly underground and then moving into management. By 1896 he was under manager at the Cotes Park No.1. and No.2. pits in Alfreton which employed in excess of three hundred souls at the face and above ground.

John and Ann Naylor (abt 1870)

"Granny Naylor" Ann Naylor nee Cotterill

England Census: South Normanton 1841

England Census: South Normanton 1851

England Census: South Normanton 1861

England Census: Cotes Park, Alfreton 1871

England Census: Cotes Park, Alfreton 1881

England Census: Cotes Park, Alfreton 1891

John and Ann Naylor lived initially in South Normanton and then in the 1860s moved to the developing district of Cotes Park. They had a large family; seven sons (Joseph, Thomas, Edwin, John Henry, Alfred, Maurice and Arthur) and two daughters (Mary and Miriam) living to adulthood. We also know of a daughter, Bessey, born in 1863 who died in childhood. (NOW THIS IS A CONUNDRUM)

The sons and daughters of John and Ann Naylor. Thomas, Joseph, John, Arthur, Edwin, Maurice, Alfred. Seated: Miriam, Mary (Photograph taken about 1900)

Our information about the families of their children is very variable. We have added a first article recounting the stories of the three lines that we have direct knowledge or experience. We are in contact with several direct descendents of the other brothers and look forward to add further sections about them in the future.

The paragraphs below give an outline of our knowledge to date. These sections will be developed as more information becomes available.

Joseph

Joseph Naylor was the first born son of John and Ann Naylor. He married Elizabeth Marriott in 1877 and continued living in South Normanton, first at Fox Terrace and then at West End. They had five children: Harold (b. 1880), Elsie (b. 1885), Alwyn (b. 1888), May (b. 1892), Esther (B. 1893). He started work as a miner at the face and, like his father, worked up into management. In 1891 his next door neighbour was his newly married brother John Henry and wife Lily. He was a Colliery Deputy at Cotes Park in 1901. Also in 1901 his next door neighbour was his younger brother Alfred

Thomas

Thomas Naylor was born in 1857. He married Mary Armstrong (b. 1860, Alfreton) at the Baptist Chapel, Swanwick in March 1879 (Belper 7b 606 JFM 1879). They lived initially with her father, Samuel, at Lea Brooks, Alfreton. He was also a miner reaching the position of pit deputy by 1901. They do not appear to have had children and Samuel was still living with them (aged 75) in 1901.

Maurice

Maurice was born in 1871. He married Matilda Byard at the Congregational Chapel in Alfreton on December 23rd 1893. Her father was noted a Joshua Byard of Alfreton who had been a coal miner. His witness was his younger brother Arthur. There are suggestions that they had two daughters, Ivy (born 1894) and Marian. We are uncertain about the direction that the family took after that date. We have found an entry in the 1901 census return (although they are indexed as Maurice and Matilda Maylor) for the Selston District of Nottingham but this does not include any children.

Edwin

See article RECOLLECTIONS OF LIVING IN COAL MINING COMMUNITIES

Mary

See article RELOCATION TO LEICESTER: In the footsteps of Mary, John Henry and Miriam Naylor

John Henry

See article RELOCATION TO LEICESTER: In the footsteps of Mary, John Henry and Miriam Naylor

Alfred

Alfred Naylor was born on March 4th 1869 in Cotes Park. He married Ada Cutler the daughter of Thomas Tomlinson Cutler, a postmaster from Alfreton on December 2nd 1893. His brother Arthur was a witness at the ceremony. They had daughters Winifred (b. 1897) and Emily (b. 1900). Alfred also became a coal miner and had worked his was up to Colliery Manager in 1901. At that time he was living next door to his brother Joseph.

Arthur

Arthur was the youngest of the Naylor sons and was born in October 1872. Like his other brothers he became a coal miner after he left school. By the time of the census of 1901 he had moved to Shirebrook near Workshop and was employed as a railway signalman. Later that year he married Margaret Levick (Worksop 7b 91 AMJ 1901). Margaret was the daughter of a coal miner (Joseph Levick from Dronfield, Derbyshire). We know that they had a son, Cyril, born about 1911.

Miriam

See article RELOCATION TO LEICESTER: In the footsteps of Mary, John Henry and Miriam Naylor

Epilogue

Within a space of about ten years two of these family lines had died out; the third had been blurred for more than half a century. We had little inkling as children of the significance of these issues. Large families from a century before had become small families through infant mortality, singledom and childless marriages and then just disappeared. It was only through our recent researches that we have been able to uncover the links between these branches and how they relate to us. It is only now with the increasing accessibility of the internet that we have been able to reconstruct our full maternal family tree back to its roots in the coalfields of Derbyshire.

A GALLERY OF CERTIFICATES

BIRTHS

To John Naylor and Ann Cotterill

Thomas Naylor: 1857
Bessey Naylor: 1861
Edwin Naylor: 1863
Mary Naylor: 1865
John Henry Naylor: 1867
Alfred Naylor: 1869
Maurice Naylor: 1871
Arthur Naylor: 1872
Miriam Naylor: 1879

To John Henry Naylor and Lily Haywood

Ruby Naylor: 1891
Clarice Naylor: 1892

MARRIAGES

John Naylor to Ann Cotterill: 1854
Joseph Naylor to Elizabeth Marriott: 1877
Thomas Naylor to Mary Armstrong: 1879
Edwin Naylor to Elizabeth Calladine: 1885
John Henry Naylor to Lily Haywood: 1890
Mary Naylor to William Ball: 1891
Alfred Naylor to Ada Cutler: 1893
Maurice Naylor to Matilda Byard: 1893
Arthur Naylor to Margaret Levick: 1901
Miriam Naylor to George Cook: 1909
Ruby Naylor to Clarence Wych: 1919

DEATHS

John Naylor: 1897
Miriam Cook: 1916
Mary Ball: 1940

REFERENCES:

1) An electrical servant's call box: Salvo!: Archetectural Salvage and Antiques
2) Wright's Directory Leicester 1906 Pg 185. Historical Directories: A University of Leicester Project

Added: May 31st 2006
Updated: January 10th 2007