Isn't this document beautifully written (above). Not all parish registers are this easy to read. It records my 5xgreat grandmother Ann Wheatley’s (1766-1840) baptism in the church of St. Giles-without-Cripplegate, Middlesex. She was born on the 7th March 1766, the daughter of James and Penelope Wheatley.
James Wheatley is described as a wire drawer. This old occupation involved making wire by extracting metal through various size holes in a template. Documents show the Wheatley family living in Holywell Lane, Shoreditch.
South of Holywell Lane is New Inn Street were a warren of skilled craftsmen was beginning to thrive. Several generations of the Wait family worked here as carpenters and paid their rent to Lord Bateman. And it was probably along this cramped narrow street, amidst the sawdust and stacks of timber that James’s daughter Ann met up with her future husband, John Wait (1765-1831).
Just over a mile away from St. Giles, along Whitecross Street and its old market stands St. Luke’s Church. As the population continued to increase in the area, St. Luke’s was built to relieve some of the pressure on St. Giles. And it was in St Lukes, on St. Valentine’s Day 1790, just a year after the start of the French Revolution, that Ann Wheatley married my 5xgreat grandfather John Wait. Exactly a year later, on 14th February 1791, Ann gave birth to their first child- a boy. This date meant a lot to the couple and they had their son baptised William Valentine Wait at Holywell Mount Chapel, near Curtain Road.
I have written several articles about William. My research showed that he became a successful barrister's clerk and lodged in Sandwich Street in Marylebone. He left a very detailed Will that revealed much of his lifestyle. His funeral took place in Highgate Cemetery on the 7th of February 1857.
Meanwhile, Ann went on to have three more children, Sophia Wait (1792-1795), Ann Wait (1795-1867) and my 4x Grandfather, John Wait (1797-1868). She passed away during the severe winter of 1840 and the burial register shows that Anne’s body was brought from Grays Inn Road, along Old Street and passed St. Luke’s into Bunhill Fields Cemetery where she was buried on January 3rd 1841.
