WRATHALLS OF CUMBRIA
Robert Wrathall of Silloth writes the following about his
branch of the family:
"... [Brenda Heinsma's ancestor] Stephen Wrathall [was born in] Barbon,
which is quite close to where I live, ... a place called Silloth [west
of Carlisle] on Solway Firth in northern Cumbria. As far as I can trace
back my lineage, it is based around Skipton in North Yorkshire, where
most of my ancestors were farmers. .... In our family, first names tend
to be Robert, Thomas, Fred, or William. There are 4 generations of us
still alive.
" [As far as early history of my family is concerned, ]..... I believe
that my great-great-grandfather William .... was given the job of
restocking Europe with cattle after the First World War.....The reason
we came to be based near Carlisle in Cumbria was that the Wrathalls for
many years used to buy cattle from Scotland to take down to Yorkshire to
feed the big towns such as Leeds, and we used Carlisle as a stop-off to
rest the cattle before sending them onwards by train to Skipton [in
Yorkshire]. My family were cattle dealers up until the 1950s, when my
grandfather Thomas settled in Carlisle and became a dairy farmer. My
father Tom carried on in [the business] until 1970, when a fire
destroyed his barns and winter feed for his stock. He then started to
repair and sell motor cars in the old stock buildings; in 1972 he bought
a garage and petrol station in Silloth where my brother Andrew and I
are joint managing directors. We recently bought another garage in
Maryport [down the coast from Silloth on the A596 north of Workington].
It is now clear that the William mentioned above is the same William as
the great-great-grandfather of Bill Wrathall of
Inuvik, establishing the pedigree of Robert of Silloth in the line
of Richarde Wrathall of Linton (1585-1650). One of Bill's documents also confirms the Canadian's
relationship to Thomas (above) and Fred (next paragraph), and to
Robert's great-grandfather Bob, who was probably the Wrathall involved
in the restocking of Europe.
Robert continues with a report of his recent genealogical work:
"I have started to trace the history of the Wrathalls [in my branch of
the family] that
are still alive. I have asked my father Tom Wrathall to contact his
uncle Fred and aunt Edna, who are still living in Skipton, [and are
approximately] 90-95 years old..... Apparently my great-grandmother
Margret Maud Spence made a family tree many years ago, but it seems to
have disappeared .....
"[Although we have been very busy getting our new garage up and running,
I have being doing more research into our side of the family and so far
can go back 6 generations to Robert (Bob) Wrathall, born about 1842. I
have written to my uncle Bill, ... who moved to Northeast England in the
eary 70s, for the details of his side of the family.
"My father has found some photos of the family in Grassington and .....
I could have them scanned and sent by E. mail. ...... we [also] found
my paternal grandmother's diary, which gives me a lot of accurate dates
of births & deaths going back to the late 1850s.
"I have bought a program for my computer on which I am compiling
all the information that has been gathered. I will forward [this info to
you] when
complete.......
"I have read the article on Wrathalls
in Rhodesia and I know that I am related, as I can remember my
Grandmother Violet talking about John Wrathall [of Rhodesia,
who had roots in the southern Cumbrian villages of Milnthorpe and
Beetham]."
[Robert's pedigree information is available in the Descendants of John Wrathall and Elizabeth Leech ]
In 2000, Derek Wrathall of Skipton reviewed Robert's info, and
had these comments:
I haven't found a link with Robert Wrathall of Cumbria. About 20 years
ago my father, Frank Nelson Wrathall, met the "Uncle Fred and Aunt Edna
Wrathall" referred to by Robert Wrathall, but could not find a common
link in the Wrathall side, although they were able to find a link
through marriage to Edna. If Robert's family have made reference to
being related to John J Wrathall, then there must be a link there
somewhere. Fred died last year, but Edna is still alive and living
about 2 miles from where I reside. If Robert can produce (via his
father) their family tree, we may be able to spot the link.
Working with Roy, Derek has done considerable research on Yorkshire and
Lancashire Wrathalls. To read his findings, jump to Yorkshire Wrathalls .
In Jul. 2008,
The Memoirs of Stanley Challenger Graham (2002) contained the chapter
DRINKALL YEARS 1969 TO 1973, from which the following was excerpted:
One feature of the auction yard at Ayr which was still there in those days was the old loading docks for transferring cattle from the auction to cattle wagons on the railway. This used to be the standard method of shifting cattle long distances and Gisburn had a siding as well. John Harrison has told me that his father and Tommy Wrathall from Skipton used to bring cattle down from Scotland to Earby and Skipton. At Earby, they were unloaded in a siding next to the station and walked straight into the yard of the White House Farm the family home. John says that it was a good service and very fast and reliable. Andy could remember these days and told me how fast they could clear the auction at the end of the day.