Wrathalls of Gloucestershire

In Sept. 2004, Claire Casey of Cornwall, who can be reached at yesacnc(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk, mentioned her interest in the Wrathall family of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire:
My mother often spoke of her Great Uncle Harry, and I have recently read letters from my grandmother dated 1913 home from China to her father in London (Charles George Cook) referring to Uncle Harry Wrathall. I have a photograph which has "Grandma Wrathall" written on it. I have noticed that on the Lonsdale connection you have a marriage listed between Blanche Evelyn Wrathall and Robert Norman Cook. [Please see the] copy of my knowledge of the Wrathall family of Cheltenham from research and a little free licence! Other surnames connected with my mother's family are Rodbourne, Cook, Dovey, Rennie (supposedly to John Rennie, Engineer). Harry [Wrathall] was a professional cricketer: Gloucestershire (Main FC: 1894-1907); Marylebone Cricket Club (Main FC: 1896-1907); and London County (Main FC: 1900).

..... I now have the Cook connection. Sarah Caroline Dovey married Frederick Cook (1834 - 1862), Market Gardener, on 10 November 1856. They had three children: Charles George (b. 1857), Frederick William (b. 1859) and Albert Dovey (b. 1862, d. 1862). In 1863, Sarah Caroline Cook née Dovey married William Wrathall, Coal Merchant, b. 1835/7 Westmoreland/Westhouse, Yorkshire. It's interesting to see West House/Westhouse, appearing in different circumstances e.g. end of Harry's file, Thomas Wrathall marrying Jenny Grime at Westhouse, Bas-Rhin, France and beginning of file, William Wrathall elder, living at West House, Cheltenham in 1901. West house also occurs for Thomas, having been born in Westhouse, Yorkshire.

I've checked with 1837online.com and confirmed that William Wrathall married Sarah Caroline Cook, recorded in Gloucester, July to September, 1863. Now we just have to see if anyone can make a connection with MY WRATHALLS to your family. This makes Harry (cricketer) my great-grandfather's half-brother.
Claire provided scans of the photos of Grandma Wrathall: The name on the back of one of the photos (W. J. Wrathall) suggests that the lady in the photo is his wife, Elizabeth. However, Claire has reason to believe that she is actually Sarah Caroline Wrathall:
I don't think [that the lady in the photo was Elizabeth Wrathall], as my grandmother wrote in her letters of 1913 from China, to her parents in St Pancras, [in which she mentioned] Uncle Will [and] Aunt Lizzie. [In addition, there is] a letter of 1919, when she came over by steam ship from the U.S. to Liverpool, [which refers to] being met by Gilbert, who was in Liverpool visiting his brother, Harold, in hospital, having been shipped there from Germany, instead of to Cheltenham. Harry (the cricketer) was also there, and apparently pulled strings to get my grandmother, aunt (then about 11 years old) and my mother (about 1 year old), through the landing procedure ahead of time (queue-jumping).

I have been wondering whether my Sarah Caroline Dovey (married to Frederick Cook in 1856 and parent of Charles George Cook, b. 1857), might be the same Sarah C. Wrathall married to William and mother of Harry, the cricketer. This would make her both Grandma Dovey (referred to in the family) AND Grandma Wrathall. I know that you feel that the clothes are wrong for the photograph to match the dates, but I have traced the death of a Frederick Cook in Cheltenham to Jan. - Mar. 1862 through 1837online.com, but haven't confirmed age, etc.

Incidently, the reference to Lucy Agnes Wrathall (marriage in 1908) I think must be Arthur Wrathall's wife marrying again. He, according to [the St. Catherine's Index], died in 1903, so it seems plausible.
In Mar. 2006, Claire provided data from Sarah Caroline Wrathall's Death Certificate and Marriage Certificate. In addition, Claire transcribed 1861 census data from Bradley that includes William Wrathall, age 23. Claire also mentioned that, as a result of a search at ancestry.com for Ann Dovey living in Arle Cottage, she found that the family living at West House, Cheltenham, was listed as "Wralhall", which explains why earlier searches using variants of "Wrathall" produced no results.

Also in Mar. 2006, the Cheltenham Workhouse and Poor Law Union website had the following entry:
Union Officers, 1902: Relieving Officer - No. 1 District: William Jas. Wrathall


In Dec. 2004, Harry Wrathall's career as a cricketer was documented at the following links:
Although we have no parish records that include the Cheltenham Wrathalls, we have some listings for them in civil records: In Mar. 2006, the following census data were available: The Thornton-in-Lonsdale Parish Registers contain the following item:
21 May 1809 John, son of James WRATHALL of Ireby, husbandman, and Susanna, his wife. Born 29 Apr., Baptd. 21 May.

This is the same James Wrathall who is listed as the head of the Lonsdale-Wrathall Descendancy . Since John was William's uncle, then William's parent was another child of James.

The following record was transcribed from the FamilySearch International Genealogical Index :
WILLIAM RATHALL
Christening: 04 JAN 1835, Crosscrake, Westmorland, England
Father: ROBERT RATHALL
Mother: JANE
Crosscrake is 5 km northeast of Milnthorpe. This may not be the same William Wrathall listed above, due to the discrepancy in birth years.
There is also an IGI Individual Record for Elizabeth Wrathall in the FamilySearch International Genealogical Index :
Birth: About 1756; Cascombe, Gloucester, England
Spouse: Thomas Slater
Marriage: 20 NOV 1777