Southwell 2 Branch

This page sets out information that we have found about the Southwell 2 branch of Fairholm in England.

So far, there are 26 people on this tree.

This branch is headed by George and Ann Fairholm. Somewhat confusingly, George seems to have married Ann Revil in 1820 and then Ann Edson in 1835. George and his first wife had six children and with his second wife he had three more.

George was a wheelwright and his son, Henry, was a master wheelwright, employing thirteen men and two boys at his workshop in Nottingham in 1871.

Although we have a place of birth for George from the 1851 census - Saxondale - we have not been able to find his christening there or in adjoining parishes. We suspect that he was the brother of William Fairholm who heads the Southwell 1 branch. They were both wheelwrights and it seems unlikely that two wheelwrights called Fairholm would both set up business in such a small village without being related. Their father may have been George Fairholm, who was living near to William in the 1851 census and was the right sort of age.

Other relatives lived at Sneinton.

There are no present day descendants for this branch at the moment.

Snenton

Sneinton grew up on the eastern side of Nottingham, in a similar way to New Radford and New Lenton on the west side - to help cope with the overcrowding in Nottingham.

The bottom map from 1881 shows some of the streets in Sneinton where members of the Radford branch and the Southwell 2 branch lived in the the mid to late 1880s : West Street, North Street and Walker Street. The old photograph shows Carlton Road circa 1917 on a postcard published by W. H. Smith. The streets where family members lived were just to the right of the two boys.

Piecemeal redevelopment of the area took place under clearance schemes in the 1930s and a larger scheme took place later.

Reproduced with permission of Reflections of a Bygone Age from their book Sneinton and St. Ann's with Carlton Road on old picture postcards (ISBN 0 900138 18 2)

Henry Fairholm - the trawler man

Henry Fairholm was the son of George Thomas and Ellen Fairholm, who lived at Sneinton on the edge of Nottingham. As far as I have discovered, he was the only member of the English families to have worked at sea. This was an unusual career choice because Nottingham is almost as far away from the sea as it is possible to get in England.

In the 1881 census, when he was seventeen, Henry was already working aboard the Harrier, a ship operating out of the port of Hull. He was part of the four man crew, working as the cook. It is highly probable that the Harrier was a fishing vessel. Later, he was a deck hand on the Canada - a steam trawler - which also operated out of Hull. Unfortunately, his time as a trawler man was cut short. On 20 September 1889 the boat was on Hanstholm Bank in the North Sea when "the snatch block and stopper holding the trawl warp broke". Henry and one of the other crew members were thrown overboard and were lost in the water. The mate was killed on board. The incident was reported in several newspapers, including the Nottinghamshire Guardian.

The two images show the Canada. They were taken some time around 1912-1914. The colours were applied directly to the slides from which the images were produced.

Includes information from Nottinghamshire Guardian via britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk, Lost Trawler of the Port of Hull. Hull History Centre and James Morley.

Photograph from the whatsthatpicture photostream on flickr

Wheelwrights

"Mr Fairholme, wheelwright, Carter-gate,

Nottingham, has just completed a very

handsome covered cart, for the Bombay Gas

Company (Limited). ... It is highly

complementary to our Nottingham artisans

that one of their number has been selected

for the completion of this work by a

company as remote as that of the

Bombay Gas Company."

Nottinghamshire Guardian 20 January 1865

Reproduced from a copy held by Nottinghamshire City Library

Several generations of the two Southwell branches were wheelwrights. The trade was a highly skilled one and extended beyond the manufacture of wheels to the creation of a variety of wagons, drays, traps and carts. The process of producing just one wheel was lengthy and a wagon could take up to six months to complete. The various parts of a wheel are shown in the diagram below.

Family businesses were included in the trade directories of the time:

Pigot and Co. 1828 - 1829 and for 1830

Southwell - William Farnholme - wheelwright - Westhorpe

Nottingham - George Fairholm - wheelwright - Carter gate

White’s Directory Nottinghamshire 1832

Southwell - W Fairholme - wheelwright - Southgate(?)

Nottingham - Geo. Fairholme - wheelwright - Water Street

Pigot and Co Nottinghamshire 1835

Southwell - William Fairholme - wheelwright - Westhorpe

Nottingham - George Fairholme - wheelwright - Cartergate

Pigots Commercial Directory Lancs, Leics, Lincs, Northants, Notts, Rutland, Yorks 1841

Nottingham - George Fairholme - wheelwright - Carter gate

Kelly’s Directory Lincs, Derbys, Leics, Notts, Rut 1849

Southwell - Mrs. Mary Fairholm - Wheelwright - beer retailer - Westhorpe

Nottingham - George Fairholm - wheelwright, & C, - Carter gate

Francis White and Co 1864

Nottingham - Geo Fairholme - wheelwright - 35 Cartergate

Morris and Co 1869

Nottingham - Henry Fairholm - wheelwright and carriage builder - Cartergate.

Henry was a member of this branch. His business was well renowned and included the building of a wagon for the Bombay Gas Company in India and a cart for the Earl of Scarborough. Henry transfered the business to William Burgess, Robert Mellors and William Henry Burgess. The company closed in 1885.

Includes information from a book about wheelwrights the details of which I have lost and from copies of the trade directories noted that were held at Nottinghamshire Archives, Nottinghamshire Guardian via britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.

Diagram produced by Roger Fairholm

Photograph by NakNakNak on pixabay.com

Southwell 2 Branch

Click on the image to open a pdf of the early tree for this branch.

It will open in a separate window in your web browser.

The following abbreviations are used on the tree:

b : birth

c : christening or baptism

m : marriage

d : death

bu : burial.

Southwell

Southwell (pronounced Suv-ell) is a village to the west of Newark in Nottinghamshire. It is known for its minister and as being the home of the Bramley apple.

The fairly poor quality map from 1884 shows the part of Southwell where members of the Southwell branches lived from at least 1828.

They lived on Westgate from the 1840s onwards. The two old postcards show the street. The second card was issued circa 1907.

Reproduced with permission of Reflections of a Bygone Age from their bookSouthwell on old picture postcards

(ISBN 0 946245 61 4)

Reproduced with permission of Reflections of a Bygone Age from their book Southwell on old picture postcards

(ISBN 0 946245 61 4)

OS Map 1884. Image produced from the www.old-maps.co.uk service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and Ordnance Survey