· (last updated: November 1, 2005) Pile Family History  
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   Grantham 1854 - 1870 (Inner Street)
 Inner Street had been developing since the 1830's as housing for workers in the rapidly growing foundries of Richard Hornsby and James Coultas and later for those working on and building the new railways nearby. Hornsby's works totally dominated the small courts and alleys and, according to contemporary reports created serious problems with dust and smoke with the inevitable health problems.

Two years after they married, on 8 November 1857, Mary gave birth to her first child, Emma and another two years later on 30 December 1859 a son, Edmond, was born. Both were born in Inner Street.

In 1861 the census shows David and Mary Pile living at Back Street Courtyard in Spittlegate. Living in the household were David's children from his first marriage, George and David (here appearing with his hitherto unused second name of William), and David and Mary's second child Edmond who was two, absent from the house, however is Emma who would be four years old.

Where Emma was on the night of 7 April when the census was taken has not been established. Mary was seven months pregnant at the time and it is possible that Emma could have been living away with some of her relatives. Mary may have found that looking after two very young children too much of a strain given her condition and the fact that she was now forty! It is however, possible that Emma could simply have been overlooked by the census enumerator.

The 1861 census shows an Orman family living next door to David and Mary; Thomas Orman a 21 year old agricultural labourer was living with his widowed mother, Mary and elder sister Martha. The Orman family tree is large and complicated but it seems possible that Thomas' mother Mary is a sister of Mary Pile's father, (see "David's Wives" below).

Two months after the census, on 8 June 1861 Mary's third child, Henry was born in Spittlegate.
January 1867 was an eventful time for the family, on 12th David's eldest son George Henry married Mary Rippin at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Finkin Street, George was only seventeen years and five months old; we know from census returns that Mary was around a year younger. She was the daughter of an already deceased blacksmith called James Rippin and she was living in Grantham.

Where the nonconformist influence came from is unknown, Mary Rippin could herself have been a Methodist, although it is interesting to note that none of David and Mary 's children were baptised at the Parish church so it is possible that she could have influenced her family in that direction. Richard Hornsby, the founder of the Spittlegate Ironworks was a staunch Methodist and he was influential in the building of a Methodist Chapel in Inner Street.

Less than two weeks later and despite her age Mary gave birth to a fifth child, John on 25 January; she was by then almost 46. Why there is a six year gap between Henry and John cannot be explained, a likely explanation could be the birth of another child who subsequently died, however there is no birth or death certificate to suggest this unless a child was stillborn in which case there would be no record, this is however pure speculation.

At some time between 1867 and 1871 David and Mary moved their family to Folkingham where David became a Market Gardener. George and his wife Mary remained in Grantham where George was a labourer with Great Northern Railways, in 1871 they were living in Hardings Place.

In 1881 George and Mary were living at 1 Albert Terrace in Spittlegate, also in the house is George's brother Henry who is described as a gardener together with a visitor, Elizabeth Simpson a 25 year old domestic servant; her connection, if any, with the family is unknown.

George is not present in Grantham census records of 1891 and it has been suggested that he moved away, possibly to Nottinghamshire or Yorkshire to progress up the promotion ladder. Other records suggest that he became an Inspector around 1882 and returned to Grantham around 1893. He was an inspector at Grantham station in 1906 when one of the towns most famous incidents, the Grantham Rail Crash, occurred.		  
     
  Copyright © 2005 Andrew Pile