William Lear and Hester Willis.  

William Lear and Hester Willis were married at Bitton in the parish where they both lived on the 22^nd September 1776.

There were eight known children of the marriage, all baptised at Hanham:

• Thomas 1777
• Elizabeth 1779-1838 – never married
• John 1781-1862 – Farmer/Quarrier
• William 1784-1843 Grocer/Quarrier
• Samuel 1785-1832 – Methodist Minister
• Hester 1788 – Lime Burner
• Francis 1790 – 1870 – Grocer/ Confectioner
• Robert 1795 – 1844 - Grocer

Hester was the daughter of Thomas Lear, baptised at Hanham of 23 Jan 1757. William’s date of birth is not known but he died in about 1805, leaving Hester a widow with nine children, seven of whom were dependent upon her. It is possible that William is the son of James Leer, baptised on 10 Jan 1748 at Hanham. Another possibility is that he is son of William and Grandson of William Lear of Bitton who left a will which was proved in 1770. The name Lear first appears in the parish registers of Bitton in the 1680s.

Following the death of William, Hester Lear committed herself to the Methodist Church. Her son Samuel became a Methodist Minister in 1808. Samuel died in 1832 and Hester died in the following year, 1833, at Kingswood, Bristol, in her 78^th year. She had suffered chronic ill health for four years prior to her death and was confined to bed for the last five months of her life. History repeats itself – Samuel’s father, William, died, also at an early age, some thirty years previously.

Hester is described in her official obituary as a woman of integrity, who in tragic circumstances, showed great fortitude in caring for her family, the community and the Church, in a quiet and dignified manner.

The census records show that many generations of William and Hester’s descendants were stone masons and shop keepers.

Samuel Lear and Mary Fisher.

Samuel Lear was born in 1785; in Bristol; the Bitton/Kingswood area being his likely birthplace, where his mother and several members of the Lear family are known to be buried. He was the fifth Child of William Lear and Hester Willis.

The family appeared to have strong Methodist links. Samuel converted to Methodism at the age of 18 years and became a Minister in 1808. His first posting (station) as a Minister was at Dursley, moving to Gloucester, Brighton and Salisbury. In 1814 he was posted to the Wesleyan Ebenezer Chapel, Cheltenham, Gloucester, where he met and married a year later, Mary Fisher. Mary’s parents Thomas and Hannah, born circa 1750, lived at nearby Winchcombe, Gloucester. Samuel’s ministry continued with two-year postings mainly in the South West of England. He was also stationed at Guernsey on the Channel Islands, his final posting to Dudley, Worcestershire.

There were ten children of the marriage, five boys and five girls:

• Mary Fisher 1815
• Samuel Willis 1817-1889 – Commercial traveller, based in Birmingham
• Thomas Coke 1818
• John Wesley 1819-1896 - Commercial traveller
• Lydia Esther 1821
• Joseph B 1822 – Teacher of languages in France
• Jemima 1826 - Went to Australia in 1848
• Priscilla 1826 - Went to Australia in 1848
• Jabez 1829 – Went to Australia in 1849
• Julia 1832

The four oldest boys boarded at Kingswood School, a Methodist School, which exists to this day.

In his later years Samuel suffered from ill health but continued his arduous work ministering to his congregation and preaching the word of the Lord. On a Sunday morning in 1832 his sermon praised the glories of the heavenly world, which he claimed he “would soon know.” The following Saturday his prophetic words came true and he died of a heart attack in his 47^th year. At the time of his death, his wife, Mary, was “with child.” The grieving widow returned Cheltenham, carrying the child that Samuel would never see; his child Julia was born six months later on the 16.12.1832. 

In the 1841 census Mary, aged 50 was living at Gurnsey Cottage, Bath Rd, Cheltenham with children: Thomas 20 a Painter, Jemima 15, Priscilla 15, Jabez 10 and Julia 5.

In the 1871 census Mary was 74 and living at St Marylebone, Middlesex with daughter Mary F Bate 45, son-in law George Bate 43 and their four children.

John Wesley Lear and Sarah Powell

John Wesley Lear was born in 1819 in Tunbridge, Wiltshire. He was the fourth child of Samuel Lear and Mary Fisher. He attended Kingswood School, Bristol, as a boarder with his brothers.

On the 26^th December 1846, at the age of 27 years, he married Sarah Powell, born circa 1826, in Brecknock. There were eight children of the marriage, five girls and three boys:

• Ann Maria 1848
• Sarah Powell 1853
• Rebecca Powell 1855
• Mary B 1858
• John Wesley Hugh 1861
• Samuel 1864 – 1921
• Julia E 1866
• David 1870

Sarah’s parents, Hugh Powell and Eliza Bowen, were born circa 1800 in Brecon. 

John Wesley and his wife Sarah moved north to the Manchester area, which was then at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. The birth certificate of John’s son, Samuel, gives John’s occupation as Master Grocer. John’s death certificate gives his occupation as retired Commercial Traveller.

John Wesley appears to have cast off his Wesleyan roots and rebelled against his father’s teachings. In evidence, we note that his first child was named Ann Maria (Roman Catholic connotations.) His three daughters were married in the High Anglican Church of Manchester Cathedral.

In the 1871 Census, John is living at Clifford Street, Openshaw, Manchester with his wife their youngest seven children.

The 1861 census shows him as John Lea 46, a Grocer living at 4 Eliza St Stockport, Cheshire with wife Sarah 35 and daughters Maria 13, Sarah 8, Rebecca 6 and Mary 4.

In the 1881 Census he is a drysalter, aged 64, living at 18 Thorpe St, Newton, Prestwich, Lancashire with his wife Sarah, 55 and sons Samuel ,17 a colliery joiner and David 11.

In the 1891 Census, John, aged 73 was living at living at 24 Ashton New Rd, Clayton , Lancashire with his daughter, Sarah Foulks, 38, her husband Edward Foulks, 39 and their five children

John Wesley’s wife, Sarah, died in Prestwich Manchester, in 1890. John Wesley died on the 4.8.1890, of senile decay, at 39 Pottery Lane, Openshaw, Manchester, the home of his daughter Ann Maria Lomas. By this time the family had become firmly established in East Manchester, which in the 1890’s was a newly developing area, offering excellent work prospects.

Samuel Willis Lear and Mary Ellen Lloyd

Samuel Willis Lear was born on 5.9.1864. at 57 Edward St., Stockport. He was the sixth child of John Welsey Lear and Sarah Powell. In 1885 he married Mary Ellen Lloyd, born 1864, who emanated from an established Manchester family. Samuel Willis and Mary Ellen had nine children, four boys and five girls.

• Jane A Lear 1887
• Julia E 1889
• Eliza Jane 1891
• Robert 1892
• Samuel Willis 1895
• Herbert 1897 - 1971
• Bertha 1900
• Edith 1902
• Charles 1904

Their family home was Butterworth Street, Openshaw, Manchester. Samuel Willis was employed as an engineer, working at the famed engineering works, Crossley Motors, Pottery Lane, Openshaw, Manchester.

In the 1891 Census, Samuel was General labourer, aged 27, living at 2 Sandal St, Manchester with wife Mary E Lear 25 and children: Jane A Lear 4, Julia E Lear 2.

In the 1901 Census, Samuel was a Steam Engine Fitter Aged 36 livng at 46 Rhodes St, North Manchester with wife Mary Lear 36 and children:Bertha Lear 11 months, Herbert Lear 3, Jane Ann Lear 14, Julia Eliz Lear 12 Robert Lear 9 , Samuel Lear 8

Samuel Willis died at the age of 57 years in l92l. His wife, Mary Ellen, lived on in the family home with her youngest daughter, Edith, and died twenty years later.

Herbert Lear and Alice Simester.

Herbert Lear, born 4.l0.l897, in Manchester, was the sixth in a family of nine children. During the First World War he served in the Manchester Regiment and was posted to the Front Line in France. He was invalided out of the Armed Forces with a known heart condition and for several years following, worked as a miner at the coalface in Bradford Colliery, Manchester. The last thirty years of his working life were spent with the then named, Manchester Corporation.

Herbert Lear met Alice Simester, born 28.5.05., and the couple were married on the 6.12.1924. There were six children of the marriage, four boys and two girls. Herbert and Alice spent the early years of their married life at Redvers Street, Ardwick, Manchester, and it was during this period that the six children were born. Following bomb damage during the 1941 Manchester Blitz, the family were re-housed to Ryton Avenue, Gorton, Manchester.

Alice Simester’s grandparents, George Thornley and Emma Davies, born 1841, lived in the small country village of Wetwood, Staffordshire. They had five children, three sons and two daughters. The older daughter Alice met and married George Simester, who had served as a sailor in the Royal Navy. George and Alice moved from Staffordshire to Manchester, unfortunately, Alice died in childbirth. Two years later George returned to Wetwood and married Alice’s younger sister, Annie, and the couple raised two children, Sidney and Alice Simester. Sidney moved to Broadheath, Altrincham and Alice remained in the Manchester area with her husband Herbert and their six children.

The family suffered some hardship during the war years and the dark post-war years, but both Herbert and Alice were fully employed and the family managed to keep their heads above water. They gained some pride in the fact that their oldest son, Herbert, obtained an Honours Degree at Oxford UniversityerbertHHHer

 H, which was no mean feat for a working-class family in the 1940’s.  Herbert and Alice were happy to witness the new prosperity of their family in the growing economy following the Second World War.

Herbert Lear died on 5.10.1971, the day after hiss 74^th birthday. Alice, his wife, died on Christmas Day, 1986, aged 81 years.