I have decided to start a series called Walking my Ancestor's Streets where I tell you about some of the streets that were important in my ancestor's lives. Today we are starting with Coltham Road, Short Heath, Willenhall. Coltham Road runs between Wesley Street and Bloxwich Road North. This small, unassuming street holds many family history connections for me. Connections to Coltham Road exist on my paternal grandfather's and paternal grandmother's sides.

COLTHAM ROAD LOCATIONS

In the below image you can see the full length of Coltham Road. In the red marked squares are the locations of Holy Trinity Church, hall, and graveyard, along with the graveyard extension. In the image in the inset, you can see numbers 100 and 102 Coltham Road on the lefthand side with number 87 on the far righthand side.

In the map above, you can see number 87 Coltham Road, Short Heath. This is where my second great-grandparents on my paternal grandmother's side, Thomas Richardson and Susannah Appleby lived. Thomas was born in 1842 in Silsoe, Bedfordshire and was the eldest child of Samuel Richardson and Ann Rands. On 19 July 1852, the trajectory of Thomas' life changed irreparably when his father drowned after becoming inebriated. The Bucks Chronical reported, "He was of good character when sober but had taken to drinking regularly in recent weeks." Ann was left with 10-year-old Thomas, 8-year-old Charles, and 7-year-old Susannah, and pregnant with their younger child, Elizabeth, who was born sometime before March the following year and baptised in April. Their 4-year-old daughter, Betsey, had died in 1851, a year prior to Samuel. Ann was left reliant on the church to support her family, and in 1857, Ann, Charles, Susannah, and Elizabeth were sent to the United States to be reunited with her parents. This is the point at which Thomas is separated from his family. Sometime between 1852 and 1857, Thomas was sent to Staffordshire to become an apprentice lock maker. I am not sure exactly when this occurred; however, in the 1861 Census, he was living in George Tuckley's house with other apprentices.

Susannah Appleby was born on 9 February 1842 in Short Heath, Staffordshire, to Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace and was the fifth of their nine children. She was born after her two older sisters had died in infancy. Thomas and Susannah married on 24 November 1861 in St Stephen Church, Willenhall. They had thirteen children, with my great-grandmother, Fanny, being their fourth child. They spent their entire married life in Short Heath and moved into 87 Coltham Road sometime between the 1901 and 1911 censuses. They remained there until their deaths. Thomas died of bronchitis and cardiac failure on 3 December 1914 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church graveyard. Susannah was buried with him following her death from senile decay on 3 April 1916.

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

The parish of Holy Trinity Church was in 1848 with services held in the Jolly Collier until the church was consecrated on 25th July 1855. It was built on the corner of Coltham Road and Church Road with a hall and graveyard within its grounds, and a graveyard extension across the other side of Church Road extending to Drancy Street. Reverend Leckie was the first minister and upon his death in 1853 he was succeeded by the Reverend WL Rosedale. It is part of the Diocese of Lichfield, the Archdeaconry of Walsall, and is in the Wulfrun Deanery.

The church is of Gothic style that was designed by W Horton with a marble and Bath stone monument erected at the entrance in 1875 in the memory of Enoch Dutson. A stained glass window at the eastern end was erected in memory of the Reverend WE Rosedale, the first vicar of Holy Trinity Church. My family connection to Holy Trinity Church runs deep. When I was gathering information about my Staffordshire ancestors from my dad and Auntie Eileen, I was told that Thomas Richardson had been a deacon at the church. Auntie Eileen told me there was a plinth with a lamp dedicated to him there. I contacted the church, but they said they had no record of this. When I went to England in 2018, one of my cousins, on my paternal grandfather's side (so unrelated to the Richardsons), took me to the graveyard, and showed me the plinth, the lamp having long since disappeared.

"Erected by public subscription in memory of Thomas Richardson who for over 30 years was a faithful church worker in this parish, May 1915."

THE WALKERS

In the map above you can see I have mentioned 100 and 102 Coltham Road. My paternal grandfather, Howard Walker, was born 29 July 1893 in Short Heath, the eldest son and third child of Aaron Walker and Alice Elizabeth Washbrook. On 26 October 2025 (100 years ago today), he married Dorcas Stokes at Holy Trinity Church, Short Heath. Howard, a mental nurse and a WWI veteran, was the third child, and eldest son, of the eight children of Aaron Walker and Alice Elizabeth Washbrook. Dorcas, a teacher (although this was left off her marriage certificate), was the eldest child of three children. She was the only daughter of Samuel Ernest Stokes and Fanny Richardson, Thomas and Susannah's daughter.

By 1938, when my dad, Eric, was born, they were living in Rowley Grove, Stafford, with their daughter Eileen. Dorcas died in 1949, and Eileen, who was an adult, moved out not long after, and Dad grew up there until he joined the British Army when he was 18.  I don't know when Howard moved from Stafford back to Short Heath, but it is the place he was living in when he died on 18 November 1966 of a cerebral haemorrhage, cerebral arteriosclerosis and hypertension. I was told by a cousin that he fell into the fire; however, his death certificate makes no mention of this.

His younger sister, Lilian Pritchard, twelve years his junior, lived next door at 102 Coltham Road at the time and was his carer. My grandfather was reportedly a difficult and sometimes abusive man, and both Dad and Auntie Eileen did not like to talk about him at all. I have pieced together some of what happened from snippets of information from Mum and other relatives. Apparently Dorcas had made a plan to leave him in 1949, lining up a job as a teacher, but she died of cancer before this happened. Howard was in WWI and apparently returned a different person, as so often was the case with returned soldiers. He was in the war from 1914 to 1918, firstly as a medic, and then after he was injured, he went into the tank corps. He also told Dad that he was gassed during the war, but I am yet to find evidence of this. He tried to get disability as a result of his service but was unsuccessful and worked as a mental nurse in Stafford Mental Hospital, apparently holding people down as they received electric convulsive treatment. While I do not condone his behaviour, I understand that he was clearly suffering from PTSD from his experiences, something that was not understood at the time.

OTHER FAMILY CONNECTIONS TO HOLY TRINITY

Holy Trinity Church is featured in many life events of my family – baptisms, marriages, and burials.

Dorcas was baptised at the church on 25 December 1898, a month after she was born on 19 November 1898 in New Invention. Her parents, Samuel Ernest Stokes and Fanny Richardson, married at the church on 27 December 1897.

Aaron Walker was born in 1867 and died in Short Heath in 1932 and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church Cemetery at that time. His wife Alice Elizabeth Washbrook was born in 1868 and died in Short Heath in 1957 and was buried with Aaron at this time. Their second eldest child and daughter, Sarah, who died aged 31 years in 1922, is buried with them.

Other people buried in Holy Trinity Church graveyard

Alice's parents were Frederick Washbrook, who died in 1895, and Sarah Taylor, who died in 1913.

Frederick's parents were John Washbrook, who died in 1875, and Mary A. Johnson, who died in 1877.

Samuel Ernest Stokes, who died in 1930; I am unsure where Fanny is buried at this time.

Do you have any streets that were important in your ancestors' lives?

Drop a comment and tell me about streets that mean a lot to your family.