Sheffielder tracing Staniforth Pioneers in Texas
Growing up in Beighton and Hackenthorpe, I paid little attention to local history, and my own links to the area. In 2014, I emigrated to North Texas, married and settled just south of Dallas.
Being so far away from home I began to pick my grandad's brain and to research my family history. I soon disconcerted just how notable my direct lineage was in Hackenthorpe.
From 1743 to 1980, my family operated the Thomas Staniforth & Co. Sickle and Scythe works on Main Street, the workshops remain today, now housing small businesses and now proudly featuring a large ‘Staniforth Works’ mural. My research project soon turned into a wider Surname study and I soon began tracing as many lines of Staniforth’s as I could find, organising stories, newspaper reports, wills and documents onto my website StaniforthFamily.com
I came across an interesting link to the very area I now call home. William Staniforth was one of the first doctors to work at the old Sheffield Royal Infirmary, he was born in 1749, marred Ann Cam, had six children and died in 1834. His grave can still be found in the Hill Top Chapel at Attercliffe. His son William (1788-1835), took after his father, also working as a surgeon. The younger William married Amy Susannah Lowley.
Upon his death Amy and her children moved to Australia, and it was their son William Lowley Staniforth that brought the family to Texas. William joined the Royal Navy and participated in a number of battles.
His marriage record is found in Chile, where he marries Alice Gaze in 1855. By 1900, the family are living in Marble Falls, Texas, and by 1910 they moved north of Fort Worth to Gainesville. Williams grave can be found in the city, showing his death date: 12 November 1910. His descendants still live in Texas, Oklahoma and beyond, and having another connection to Sheffield helps tremendously with homesickness.