Another Walk Around Sugar Lane

William Jepson Rhodes was born in Wakefield in 1876. He was the son of Ezra Rhodes and his wife Hannah. By the time William was 15, his father, Ezra, was a widower looking after two teenage boys who both worked as joiner labourers with their father, a joiner. Home for the small family was Rhodes Yard, in the Primrose Hill area of Wakefield. Both Rhodes boys had been born in Wakefield, while Ezra had been born in Morley. Next door was widow Elizabeth Rhodes, who was living on ‘Own Means’ also from Morley – could she have been his mother? And could her husband have been responsible for the building of Rhodes Yard?

William, now 25, lived in Epsom Place in the Parish of St Mary, Wakefield, and was a cabinet maker.

Just short of ten years later, William was now the father to three daughters and one son. Home for the family was Mollacree’s Yard, Kirkgate, Wakefield. He had married Mary Ann nee Ward in the summer of 1898. William’s father, Ezra, was on the marriage certificate as a Master Joiner. He was also a witness on the happy day. Mary’s father was James Ward of Sun Lane, Warrengate, Wakefield, a foreman railway waggon shunter.

In 1939, William and his wife Mary were together in Duke of York Street, Wakefield – William was now a joiner and shopfitter.

Between the census dates, another set of documents tells another side of the Rhodes family – passenger lists. In 1908, mum Mary and three children were on SS Etruria bound for Middlesbro’ Kentucky from Liverpool. Why? The passenger list tells that the nearest relative was an aunt who lived in Northgate, Wakefield – no name of the aunt, but something maybe to research later. Where was William Jepson Rhodes? Had he died? No, I have seen the headstone; William was still alive. Did he stay in Wakefield? No. William, aged 32, travelled on SS Lusitania in February 1908. His wife Mary was living in Zetland Street, Wakefield, probably preparing for her upcoming journey.

Why did the family leave the country? They only stayed briefly, as they are in the 1911 census. All eight of the Rhodes’ are living in Mollacrees Yard. William, a shopfitter, works for George Blakey on Back Lane, Westgate, Wakefield.

Family headstone in Sugar Lane Cemetery ©

William died in May 1945. His wife, Mary, followed in October 1958. The headstone gives the reader one valuable snippet of information – Mary was the sister of Thomas Ward. Thomas, included on the memorial, died in Boston, USA, in November 1946. There is now a link to America. In modern-day traffic, the journey from Boston to Middlesboro, Kentucky, is over 14 hours and a longer and more arduous journey during the first decade of the twentieth century. A visit to Mary’s brother could be the reason for the short stay.

Although I am curious to delve a little deeper into the Rhodes / Ward families, I must tell myself to stop and leave any further digging to the family or someone with another connection – not me!