Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry

The Leavers

Hannah Leaver was one of my 3 x great grandmothers. She was born in 1821 in Nottingham, the 3rd of 5 known children of Joseph Leaver (or Leavers) & Sarah Knight. Joseph was a framework knitter and he and Sarah had married in 1811 in Lenton. Sadly Sarah died in 1830, aged just 40 leaving Joseph with 5 children, the youngest of whom was only 3. I've traced all the children except the youngest one, Eliza Leaver. Hannah Leaver married my 3 x great grandfather Charles James in 1839. Her father eventually remarried in 1846 (with Hannah & Charles James as witnesses). Joseph Leaver appears on the 1851 census living in Meynell Street, Nottingham with his second wife Ann and his married daughter Sarah Marshall and her family. The table below gives a transcription from the 1851 census (H.O.107 2132 Folio 705 Page 5 schedule 25):

I had previously been stuck tracing Joseph Leaver's origins, but finding him in the 1851 census and finding a post-1837 marriage for him solved the mystery. He was born in Oakham in Rutland and his father's name was John. This helped track down his baptism record from 1791. His family were Baptists, so appear in non-conformist registers. His mother's name was Sarah, but I've yet to find a likely marriage for her and John Leaver. On Joseph's 2nd marriage certificate he gives his middle name as Osman or Osmond - perhaps this was his mother's maiden name? Joseph's father John was also born in Oakham in 1754. His parents were Richard Leaver and Elizabeth Richards. Somewhat strangely to modern thinking, Richard & Elizabeth had 5 sons that they called John. The first 4 all died in infancy, but they seemed determined to have a son called John, so persevered with the name and thankfully the 5th John (my 5xgreat grandfather) survived. I can only assume the name was a family one and that it was important to them that it was carried on.

Hannah's sister Mary Ann Leaver married Daniel or Nathaniel Stevenson in 1831. He seems to have used the names Daniel and Nathaniel interchangeably, before settling on Nathaniel in later life. As far as I can tell, the couple had just the one child - John Stevenson born in Nottingham in 1832. John Stevenson made up for being an only child by producing 10 children of his own, or rather his wife Emma Martin produced 10 children! The table below gives a snapshot of them in the 1871 census with 8 of their children.

The Stevensons paid a heavy price in World War One. 6 of John Stevenson's grandsons died in the war, 4 of them brothers. There are links to memorial pages for each of them below.

There is more work to be done on the Leaver family and I'm hopeful that I will be able to take them back further generations in the future.

The family tree below summarises what I know about the above generations of the Leaver, Stevenson, Wagstaff & Hunter families. It is hopefully reasonably accurate, but if you spot any errors, or any relatives, please feel free to E-mail me

Please click on one of the red links on the tree to move to a different page.

If any of the above is of further interest, please feel free to contact me at: n.rowberry@btinternet.com

Nicky Rowberry 2025

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Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry