1856
In 1856
1856
Harriet and Frederick were living at 69 Canal Street, Duckinfield— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
Clara Penrose Verity
1856 – 1890
✓ Validated against records · 2026-07-05
Clara Penrose Verity was born about 1856, on the Cheshire side of the Pennines at Stalybridge, the daughter of Frederick William Verity — a family Mum traced back four generations of its own. She came into the Wilson line at Oldham, where she married the Hull-born iron moulder Thomas Wilson on the 4th of June 1876, both of them of Cemetery Street, both signing their names. Five children followed in the Oldham years — Frederick, Harriet, Lydia, Annie and Thomas Morley — and it is through Lydia, born in 1882, that this line runs on.
She did not have long. In the autumn of 1890, after a four-month illness, Clara died — and the certificate holds a quiet story in its columns. The family's home was in Oldham, but she died at 141 Waterloo Street in Hull, among her husband's people, with Thomas present at the death; she was thirty-four. They buried her at Sculcoates, and though Thomas married twice more he kept her grave for his own: he was laid beside her forty years later, under two words the stone had held for her all that time — her end was peace.
Composed from validated records · 2026-07-05
- Birth
- January 30th 1856 Duckinfield, Ashton under Lyne, Cheshire
- Marriage
- June 4th 1876 to Thomas Wilson in St, Stephens Church, Waterhead, Oldham
- Death
- September 14th 1890, Hull aged 34 years
- Parents
- Harriet Penrose and Frederick Verity
- Siblings
- Elizabeth Penrose Verity born Horton, Bradford 1854 Clara Penrose Verity born January 30th, 1856 Ashton under Lyne, Cheshire
- Children
- Frederick William Wilson born 1878, Oldham Harriet Wilson born 1881, Oldham, died 1882, Oldham Lydia Wilson born August 15th 1882, Oldham Annie Wilson born 1884, Oldham Thomas Morley Wilson born 1888, Oldham
- 1856
- Harriet and Frederick were living at 69 Canal Street, Duckinfield
- 1861c
- Not traced
- 1871c
- Living in the parish of Duckinfield Frederick Verity, Head, aged 48 born Baldon (sic) Harriet Verity, wife, aged 37, born Yorkshire Elizabeth P. Verity, daughter, aged 17, born Bradford, Cotton Frame Tenter Clara Verity , daughter, aged 15, born Stalybridge, Cotton Weaver Henry P. Verity, nephew, aged 12, born Spelton, Yorkshire Ellen P. Verity, niece, aged 15, born Friargate, York, Cotton Weaver Address: 88, Kenworthy Street Occupation of Frederick: Iron Moulder
- 1876
- Marries Thomas Wilson
In your grandmother’s words · from her notebook
Family
Parents
The children of Frederick William & Harriet
· · Clara Penrose Verity b. 1856this page
Marriage
Children
Life
Confirmed — anchored to a recordEstimated — inferred
1856
Born
30 January 1856 at Ashton under Lyne
January 30th 1856 Duckinfield, Ashton under Lyne, Cheshire— From Janet Brock’s research
The record image is with the family — family sign-in
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1861
Census · 1861
1861
Not traced— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1871
Census · 1871
1871
Living in the parish of Duckinfield Frederick Verity, Head, aged 48 born Baldon (sic) Harriet Verity, wife, aged 37, born Yorkshire Elizabeth P. Verity, daughter, aged 17, born Bradford, Cotton Frame Tenter Clara Verity , daughter, aged 15, born Stalybridge, Cotton Weaver Henry P. Verity, nephew, aged 12, born Spelton, Yorkshire Ellen P. Verity, niece, aged 15, born Friargate, York, Cotton Weaver Address: 88, Kenworthy Street Occupation of Frederick: Iron Moulder
— From Janet Brock’s research
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research notebook.
1876
Married Thomas Wilson
4 June 1876 at St Stephens Church
June 4th 1876, the Parish Church, Waterhead. Thomas Wilson, 25, bachelor, moulder, of Cemetery Street — father James Henry Wilson. Clara Penrose Verity, 20, spinster, of Cemetery Street — father Frederick William Verity. Married by banns. Witnesses: William ✕ Whaley [his mark], Ellen Haslam.— Marriage certificate — Waterhead, Oldham (4 June 1876)
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research, cited — not yet re-verified at the image:
- Marriage certificate — Waterhead, Oldham (4 June 1876) — Certified copy of an entry of marriage, Oldham registration district, no. 316, the Parish Church of Waterhead — General Register Office (Mum's copy, ordered 1999). Both bride and groom signed their own names; the groom's witness, William Whaley — his mother's kin — made his mark. from Mum’s research
1890
Died
14 September 1890
Fourteenth September 1890, 141 Waterloo Street. Clara Wilson, female, aged 34 years, wife of Thomas Wilson an iron moulder (journeyman). Cause of death: enteritis 4 months, asthenia. Informant: Thomas Wilson, widower of the deceased, present at the death, 273 Greenacres Road, Oldham.— Death certificate — Sculcoates (14 September 1890)
Mum’s record Evidence
From Janet Brock’s research, cited — not yet re-verified at the image:
- Death certificate — Sculcoates (14 September 1890) — Certified copy of an entry of death, Sculcoates registration district, no. 144 — General Register Office (Mum's copy, ordered 1999). The family lived in Oldham (the informant's address); Clara died in Hull, among the Wilsons of Waterloo Street. The certificate and the gravestone agree on the 14th (Mum's narrative once slipped to the 17th). from Mum’s research
Records & papers
1 record image is with the family — family sign-in
Our research
The Verity line
Research · Wharfedale, Leeds and the Tame valley
Clara brought a traced ancestry of her own into the Wilsons. Mum followed the Veritys back through her father Frederick William Verity (1819–1874) to Abraham Verity (1798–1868) and William Verity (1760–1825) — four generations, with the Penroses behind them (Clara's middle name). They are now written and evidenced — press “open Verity” on the tree for the family's story and journey map. Frederick's 1859 marriage and 1871 census, and Abraham's 1850 marriage (which names his father the cartwright), are read at the register images this pass. The walls that remain are William's own origin (a Skipton baptism of 1759, his probable and unproven parentage) and the Penrose line behind Clara's middle name — her mother Harriet Penrose's people, a pass of their own.