Researching Wakefield Varleys (1800-1900)
Re: Researching Varleys From Wakefied, UK (1800 – 1900)
Greetings…Any information on the Wakefield branch of the Varley family would be most appreciated.The following info was told to me by my second cousin Vera (Varley) Gleason, along with her husband Bob, during a trip to the UK back in 1990:
* G Grandfather John Varley (b. 1840-60? at Green End?) – married Katherine (sp?) a.k.a. Kate Woodhead and was a cart greengrocer in Green End (per White’s Directory of 1887 for Alverthorpe, Thornes – “Professions and Trades”) living in Watson’s Building, Cross Lane, Thornes, Wakefield, UK.GGf John (and GGm Kate?) is buried in Thornes (St. James) Anglican Church graveyard on Thornes Rd., Wakefield.Children include Harry, Frederick, George, Clare, Emily and Charlie (my grandfather):
* Harry Varley (b. 1870/80’s?) – may have had 4 children (including Lois & Mabel) and ran a small hotel in Blackpool.Harry also may have adopted (?) a boy also named Harry (Smith) Varley who later wrestled under the name Pitman-Hercules Varley in reference to his earlier coal mining days.
* Frederick Varley (b. 1870/80’s?) – had daughters Vera (Varley) Gleason and Margery (Varley) Midgley.I understand that Margery had at least 2 children, Alan & Audrey, with family still living in the Wakefield area.
* George Varley (b. 1870/80’s?) – immigrated to New Zealand, via Canada (departing Dec 17, 1925), and had 2 daughters named Nora (Varley) Heath & Annie.Daughter Nora married Basil Heath having a son named Rodney Heath, a barrister who immigrated to Australia.Annie had daughters Cheryl and/or Fiona.
* Clare Varley (b. 1870/80’s?) – unfortunately no information was related other than that one of her brothers may have lived with her following his divorce.
* Emily Varley (b. 1870/80’s?) – is thought to have lived in the Leeds and had a daughter.
* Charlie Varley (b. July 8, 1881 at Wakefied, UK / d. 1950 at Vancouver, BC, Canada) – little is known of my grandfather’s life in England, but he is known to have sired a family of 5 (including children Ernest & Lilia?) who came to North America and settled in the Seattle-Tacoma, WA, USA area.Charlie eventually ended up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada where he married my grandmother, Catherine (Harrison) Varley and had a second family of 5 inclusive of my father (John Charles Varley).
* GG Grandfather was also named John Varley (b. 1810-30?)from the Wakefield area – I have located a John Varey (sp?), aged 38 yrs., living in Wakefied on the 1851 Pudsey District Census, File 2313, Folio 541 (spelling error noted in the census).Will research further as time allows.
* One last tidbit – some Varley’s cousins (including Martha) lived in Dewsbury, 5 miles west of Wakefield.
Again, greetings to all Varleys and thank you in advance for any assistance you may wish to offer ([email protected])!
Best regards,
Steven (Steve) Edward Varley
2955 Paisley Rd.
North Vancouver, BC
CanadaV7R 1C6
VarleyFamily-BasicInfo1.doc
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Re: Researching Wakefield Varleys (1800-1900)
Gordon Weaver 1/15/02