Moses Cole was the great, great grandfather of my wife Elaine Louise Cole. He was born in Lower Moor, near Pershore in Worcestershire on 27th September 1843. He was the 7th child of nine to Joseph and Elizabeth Cole (nee Roper). In the 1851 Census he was one of only 5 surviving children, with Mary, the first born in 1831, passing away in 1844 and William, Joseph and Sarah all dying within the first year of their lives. Upper and Lower Moor consisted of mainly farms and hence his father Joseph was an Agricultural Labourer. By the 1861 Census, Moses was aged 17 and still living with his parents and now, just 3 brothers – James(Jas) aged 22, Alfred 19 and Charles(Chas) 10. It seems that Ann the daughter named in the previous census had also passed away in the 10 years between. Moses along with his father and two elder brothers was also now an Agricultural labourer.
The 1861 Census that included Moses Cole was described by the enumerator as follows: “The whole of the hamlet of Hill and Moore, comprising Moore village, Upper Moore, Hill village, Mrs Workman’s farms, the Brick yard, Red Field, Mr Hunt’s farm, Morris’s on the Hill, Haggets Cottages including all the cottages lying on the west side of Salters Lane.” William Wagstaff, Enumerator.
Moses Cole married Louisa Maria Collins 0n the 2nd November 1869, but by that stage Louisa already had a son George who was aged about 18 months. We can probably, rightly assume that Moses was the father, as the child was christened George Moses Collins! Louisa was born on the 12th March 1845 and in later census reports she states that she was born in Wyre Piddle, the next village on the road towards Pershore. Moses and Louisa went on to have 11 children between 1868 and 1890 and incredibly every single one of them were boys. By the 1881 Census, Moses had progressed from being an Agricultural Labourer to being a Platelayer on the railways, and Walter Cole, their 5th child had been born on the 27th September 1876. They were now living just outside Moor at Hill Furze, and despite having 6 children living at home under the age of 13, Louisa was listed as a Gloveress – self explanatory as a maker of Gloves.
By 1891 Moses and Louisa had finally completed their family with Harvey arriving last of 11 in April qtr. of 1890. There were now 7 of the children still living at home – Thomas at 19 was an Agricultural Labourer, Henry at 17 was a Gardener, Walter at 14 and William at 11 were both Agricultural Labourers and also at home were Charles 6, Arthur 3 and Harvey at just 1 year old. Moses was still working for Great Western Railways as a Platelayer and Louisa was not listed as a worker, though it is quite likely she continued making gloves to bring in money. At the 1901 Census, Moses was 54 years old and continued to be employed by GWR as a Platelayer, living at Upper Moor with Louisa and 5 of their children. Walter Ernest Cole – the next line in the tree -had by this stage married and was living just 5-6 houses down the same street in Moor.
Moses passed away on the 21st February 1905 aged just 61 years. It appeared that it was a sudden death while visiting his niece in Wyre Piddle, according to the coroners report. He was survived by Louisa who continued to live in Lower Moor and was doing so in 1911 along with 3 of her unmarried sons, Charles, 26 and a GWR Platelayer, Arthur, 24 a County Council Roadman and Harvey aged 21 working as a Railway Porter, untill her death in 1928 aged 83. Louisa’s death at 83 was also sudden as can be seen from the cutting below describing the inquest into her demise.
The Late Mrs. L. M. Cole. An inquest was held on Monday in connection with the death of Mr. Louisa Maria Cole. aged 82, of Lower Moor. Mrs. Cole died following a domestic accident. The inquest was conducted by the District Coroner (Mr H Basil Harrison). Mrs. Cole had been living with her son, Mr. Thomas Cole, who was called to give evidence and stated that at about 8.30 p.m. on the previous Wednesday his mother had a light supper and was then retiring to bed. Having gone about three or four steps up the she suddenly fell backwards, striking her head on the kitchen floor. He and his wife picked her up and bathed her head, finding slight cuts and bruises, he then put his mother to bed. On the following morning Dr Emerson of Pershore was called in and he attended Mrs Cole up to the time of her death. This took place on Saturday. The fall had not rendered his mother unconscious, but had bruised the back of her head. Mrs Cole, wife of the previous Corroborated. Dr Emerson said that there were bruises on deceased’s head and she was suffering from shock. There was slight bleeding, but no serious cuts. He had treated deceased on many occasions. A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned, the cause of death being heart failure due to shock, as the result the accident. Mrs Cole had been in fairly good health, considering her age, and was of a cheery disposition. She had lived in Moor all her life, and had many friends. She was married in Moor, her husband, the late Mr Moses Cole, died about 20 years ago. Mr. Cole also died suddenly after visiting his niece at Wyre. There were eleven sons by the marriage, seven of whom are still living. This was the third inquest in the family, Mr and Mrs Cole and one of the sons all dying suddenly. The funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon the Rector (Rev. H. B, Liddell) conducting the service. The chief mourners were: Messrs. Thomas, Henry, William, Frank, Alfred, Arthur and Harvey Cole (sons) Mrs A. Cole, Mrs H. Cole and Mrs. Alfred Cole (daughters-in-law), Mr. Harvey Cole (nephew), Mrs N. Wootton, Miss P Cole, Mrs J. Moss, Mrs H Sorrell, Mrs A Clarke, Miss N Cole, Mrs E Cole, Mrs V Taylor (nieces), Mr, W. H. Clarke, Mr Winkett, Mr and Mrs Moseley (Pershore). The bearers were: Messrs F Cole (nephew), W Collins, J W Payne and F Spiers.