John Stainsby was the third child of Thomas Stainsby & Elizabeth Sunley christened June 22nd, 1806 at St Peter’s, Pickering, Yorks.
John married Ann Ward on November 26th, 1835 at St Mary the Virgin, Whitby. Ann was born c1806 & was of the parish of Hutton Buscel, Yorks.
Ann, aged 30, died the next year on December 15th at Church St, Whitby & was buried December 17th, 1836 at St Mary’s, Whitby. She was described as the wife of Mr Stainsby, farrier & publican.
In the 1837 Poor Law Valuation of Whitby John Stainsby was mentioned as occupier of a public house and stable, “Duke of Wellington” with a rateable value of £10, owned by Ann Moore. It was also noted that two tenements over part of John Stainsby’s stable were unoccupied. The address was given as Kiln Yard, near to Church St, Whitby. The following is an extract from the transcription made by Steven Whitaker from the original document held at the National Archives, Kew:
The funds to pay for the relief of the poor were collected from the population of the township or parish, according to the value of the property they occupied. The value of each property, or more particularly, the rent it would fetch if rented for a year, was assessed. The local Board of Guardians would decide how much they needed in each year and each householder was liable for a proportion of this, depending on the annual rateable value of his property. In 1837, the Board of Guardians for the Whitby Union came to the conclusion that the rateable values that they had been using prior to that date was out of date. They requested permission from the Poor Law Commission to conduct a new valuation. When this was granted, in order to record the annual rateable value of each property, the Board of Guardians appointed a valuer. He wrote a list of properties with their owners, occupiers and their rateable values, presumably by walking around the town and interviewing people. This list was published by a local printer so that people could check that their rateable value was correct and also that no-one else was being charged too low a rate.
John is again listed in Whites Directory of Whitby for 1840 under the section Hotels, Inns & Taverns. The entry is: King’s Head John Stainsby (& farrier), Church Street. (The Duke of Wellington is no longer mentioned at this time.)
John married Priscilla Wood on April 29th, 1839 at St Mary the Virgin, Whitby. Priscilla was a 35 year old spinster & John was a 32 year old widower. Witnesses at the wedding were James Wood & Hannah Charter. Priscilla was born November 11th, 1798 at Ugglebarnby, near Whitby, Yorks, the daughter of Elizabeth & James Wood, a farmer.
By 1841 John & Priscilla were living at Church St, Whitby where John was a publican with a 1 year old son, Thomas. Sadly Thomas died aged 4 at Church St & was buried May 9th,1844 at St Mary’s, Whitby.
The Hull Packet of September 17th, 1847 noted that John Stainsby of the Blacksmith’s Arms Inn, Church St, Whitby was severely reprimanded by the magistrate’s bench for encouraging drunkenness & loose company in his house to a very late hour on the night of August 27th , whereby the whole neighbourhood was much disturbed by fighting in the street. His license was suspended until January 1st of the next year.
In 1851 John & Priscilla were still at Whitby living at St Ann’s Staith & John was described as an inn keeper. They had a son John (9) at home.
John & Priscilla were living at Howergate, Whitby in 1861 & John had now become a butcher. There were no children at home. Intriguingly John was also recorded in the 1861 census as being with his mother Elizabeth Stainsby at North Side Potter Hill, Pickering. (As the details for the 2 Johns are identical i.e. a married butcher aged 55 born at Pickering it is presumed that he was visiting his mother & was therefore entered twice in the census.)
Priscilla & John’s son John had become a merchant seaman in 1856 & on December 14th, 1865 he obtained his Certificate of Competency as a Master in the Merchant Service. He gave his address at this time as Golden Lion Bank, Whitby.
Priscilla died aged 66 in 1865 at Whitby & was buried on March 31st at Sneaton, N. Yorks.
The children of John Stainsby & Priscilla Wood were:
sb.3.1 Thomas Stainsby christened February 24th, 1840 at Whitby; buried May 9th, 1844 at St Mary's, Whitby
sb.3.2 John Stainsby born July 2nd, 1841 & christened July 25th, 1841 at Whitby, died November 20th,
1879 at York Terrace & buried November 24th at Sneaton, Whitby
John advertised his shop & dwelling house to be let in May 1866. The address was given as 5 Golden Lion Bank, Whitby which was where he was currently living & working as a butcher. (Whitby Gazette, May 19th, 1866)
At the time of the 1871 census widowed John, noted as a retired butcher, was lodging in Ruswarp at 14 Silver St which was also a shop selling jet. The landlord was Frederick R Winterbarn, a jet ornament manufacturer.
On October 9th, 1873 John, of 12 York Terrace, married again at the Congregational Church, Whitby. His third wife was spinster Margaret Ward, born April 21st, 1822 at Hawsker, near Whitby & christened May 17th, 1822 at Whitby. She was the daughter of Elizabeth & William Ward, a farmer.
John’s only surviving son, John, died on November 20th, 1879 at York Terrace, Whitby. He was a master mariner & was to be buried at Sneaton.
John & Margaret were living at 12 York Terrace, Ruswarp, Whitby in 1881 & John was described as a retired butcher. Margaret’s sister Mary Ward, aged 71, was with them at the time of the census.
John died on June 29th, 1883 aged 77, at Whitby & was buried July 2nd 1883 at St John’s, Sneaton, N.Yorks. His will was proved by John Weighill, wine & spirit merchant & Robert Gray, auctioneer, both of Whitby & his personal estate was £186.19s.
Margaret died, aged 63, the following year in July-August, also registered at Whitby.
In August 1884 John’s 2 business premises with dwelling houses at 5 & 6 Golden Lion Bank & his home at 12 York Terrace, Fishburn Park, Whitby were for sale, along with the household furniture & effects. (Whitby Gazette, August 23rd, 1884)