Diarist Gill Shaw charts the rollercoaster ride of researching her family history

Ihave a hunch. I’ve been mulling over the reason why my 2x greatgrandfather Martin Leah might have decided to up sticks and move his family from Macclesfield to Manchester at some point between the 1861 and 1871 Censuses. Did anything significant occur during those 10 years? Well, possibly… One thing that definitely did happen is that in 1865, Martin’s father died.

Now, I’ve a soft spot for my 3x greatgrandfather Joseph Leah. Most of my ancestors were weavers, mill workers, iron workers and the like, and very few of them left a will so, when they have, I’ve been near delirious with excitement.

And, it has to be said, farmer Joseph’s will is an absolute cracker. (It’s online at Findmypast, so if you have a subscription, check it out – the line about leaving his second wife Mary Ann ‘one cow of my livestock’ gets me every time.)

Now Joseph farmed five acres in Cheshire, a place called Gawsworth Gardens, although I suspect he only leased the land as the farm isn’t mentioned in his will. But he did bequeath a whole load of other stuff (besides the magnificent cow) to be divided between Martin, his four siblings and Mary Ann, from dwelling houses he rented out in Macclesfield to railway company shares. So, did Martin come into money in the mid-1860s? Maybe not a huge sum when split between six, but perhaps enough to relocate his little joinery business to the booming city.