William Rhodes

Notes:

According to "The Pedigree of the Family of Rhodes of New Zealand"

"William Rhodes, of Balby, in the West Riding, county of York, formerly of Epworth, county of Lincoln, b May 7, 1781; baptized at Sherburn aforesaid; married at Epworth, April 15th, 1805, Theodosia Maria, daughter of Robert Heaton, of Epworth, county of Lincoln. She died May 27th, 1830, and buried at Bottersford, near Brigg, county of Lincoln, having had issue --- "
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William (1781?1869), died in 1869.
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Peter Barnard Rhodes
Peter Barnard RHODES, of Hooton Hall, farmer, was the son of William Rhodes (1781?1869), a tenant farmer of Epworth, Lincolnshire.

William RHODES, married in 1806 at Epworth, Lincolnshire to Theodosia Maria HEATON. Their children, were all born in Epworth:

William Barnard (1807-1878) m. Sarah Ann Morehouse
Margaret b.1810
Caroline b.1811
Mary Anne b.1812
Peter Barnard b.1814 married at Doncaster to Hannah Lee
Robert Heaton (1815-1884)
George(1816-1864)
Mary Anne b.1817
Joseph(1826-1905)

Sarah Ann Moorhouse was Sister of William Sefton Moorhouse(1825-1881), a pioneer of New Zealand, born on 15th November 1825 in Knottingley.

Sarah Ann went to New Zealand in 1859 and on 29 November 1869 she married William Barnard Rhodes at Merivale Church, Christchurch, and they resided in Wellington

Peter Barnard RHODES,married in 1849 at Epworth to Hannah LEE,born 1827 in Epworth, daughter of Thomas. Children:

b.1849 Anna Maria at Epworth
b.1851 Mary Elizabeth at Epworth
b.1855 Robert Peter at Laughton-en-le-Morthen
b.1860 Sophia Theodosia at Laughton-en-le-Morthen
b. 1861 Robert Heaton at Laughton-en-le-Morthen
William Barnard, Robert Heaton, George and Joseph went to New Zealand and became very successful. Peter Barnard went there too in 1843, but stayed only a few months, before returning to England shortly after his arrival, settling in Yorkshire rather than Lincolnshire.

Read the story of The Rhodes Brothers.

Notes:

Joseph Rhodes

According to "The Pedigree of the Family of Rhodes of New Zealand"

"Joseph Rhodes of Well House, near Micklefield, in the parish of Sherburn, in the West Riding and County of York, eldest son of the said John Rhodes, was born at Kippax, aforesaid, 1751; married at Sherburn, in 1776 to Ann Cawthron, of Sherburn, (who died 1827 and was buried at Hotham, near Cave, In the Wolds, County of York), and by whom he had issue --"
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"The Village Blacksmith - a Memoir of Samuel Hick, late of Micklefield" written by James Everett in early 1831 is a biography of a simple man who loved the Lord.

On pages 38 and 39 of that volume, mention is made of how Samuel longed to see lost souls redeemed by the saving grace of the Lord Jesus. As the village blacksmith, he was afforded many opportunities to speak to just about everyone in the village.

"It was not barely by reproof and exhortation that he sought to multiply the numbers of travelers to Zion, but also by earnest and affectionate invitation. The first-fruit of this description of labor - labor which has been extremely productive in a variety of instances, was a wealthy agriculturist. 'Mr. Thomas Taylor', said he, 'came to preach at Sturton Grange, and I invited all I could, to go and hear him. One of these was Mr. Rhodes,* a large farmer, who lived in the parish; and who said, if I would call upon him, he would go with me. Blessed be the Lord! on the same night the Gospel proved the power of God to his salvation. I remember the text; it referred to the tares and the wheat. The tares were gathered and tied into bundles. There was a bundle of sabbath-breakers and a bundle of swearers etc. These bundles were to be burnt; and before the sermon was finished, the preacher got Mr. Rhodes bound up in one of them.' " This was 1785 or 1786.

* "In a letter from Mr. Dawson, dated April 3, 1830, referring to Mr. Rhodes, he observes, "He is still living at Micklefield. I saw him yesterday. He is nearly blind, and his constitution is breaking up. He will not survive Samuel long. The Methodists always preached, and still preach at his house."

Like the heavy fog that pervades the English Isles, time has obscured our view of our ancestors.
For a few brief seconds, a gentle breeze has lightly parted that veil and we get an ever so brief view of what took place in the life of one who has gone on before us.

Although there is no proof of this being our Joseph Rhodes, I believe it is. That letter regarding "Mr. Rhodes" health was dated 3 April, 1803. Joseph Rhodes passed away 18 May, 1830. And if so, this brief mention in Samuel Hick's biography sheds a little light upon him. We know that Joseph and others of his family, before and after, were farmers. According to this text, he was a "wealthy" farmer. We know that those Rhodes brothers who came to America with their father in the mid 1830's were farmers. Not long after arriving here they had purchased land and were farming. The Rhodes brothers and their father had enough money to buy their way to the New World, maybe recently inherited money. They had enough money to buy transportation from England to Toronto, from Toronto to New York and then again a few years later from New York to Chicago and yet again from Chicago to Freeport. And they bought property along the way...large chunks of property. Joseph and his brother Philip traveled to Australia. At one point money was not a problem with this family.

This Mr. Rhodes lived in Micklefield, as did our Joseph. This Mr. Rhodes was probably not going to live out the year of 1830. Joseph died 18 May, 1830. This Mr. Rhodes became a Methodist, even to the point of having the traveling preachers preach in his house. I believe it is no coincidence that our Rhodes ancestors were mostly of the Methodist persuasion, and many descendants of these men are today Methodists.

The Rhodes Family history compiled by Philip Tate mentions the year 1841 as the year Benjamin and his sons came to America. Benjamin's father died in 1830 and his mother in 1837.
It's as if the deaths of Benjamin's father and mother were like the cutting of a great umbilical chord which, when severed, allowed Benjamin and his sons to launch out into the deep, to cut loose from what has been in order that they might create a new life for themselves. It allowed them a great opportunity to go to the new land they had heard so much about. It offered them a chance to start anew. Or maybe there was extended family already here. Remember that by 1831 Benjamin's cousin William Barnard Rhodes, son of his uncle William Rhodes of Balby, Lincolnshire, was already captain of his own vessel plying the waters of the western Pacific round about New Zealand and Australia and by 1840 was purchasing property in Wellington, New Zealand. Surely Benjamin was aware of all this. I'm guessing that there was a certain amount of restless was developing, a desire to get out and see the world like other Rhodes were doing.

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Notes:

John Rhodes

According to "The Pedigree of the Family of Rhodes of New Zealand":
"John Rhodes, of Kippax, in the West Riding of the County of York, died April 14, 1791, and buried at Kippax, aged 82, leaving issue --- Joseph Rhodes, hereafter mentioned, and other issue."

Being 82 at the time of death in 1791 would place his birth in about the year 1708. In the Parish registers for Rothwell, Yorkshire - Book 6, 1708 Baptisms, we find this entry: " 03 Nov 1708 John son of John Rhodes of Oulton."

"Oulton is a village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England, between Leeds and Wakefield. It is at the junction of the A639 and A642 roads. Though now adjoining the village of Woodlesford, it was once quite separate. It was once part of the urban district of Rothwell." Copied from the Wikipedia web site.

Also, I tend to believe that "other issue" has reference to more children than just the 2 that I show but I've not yet been able to identify others...still looking.

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Notes:

Died:
Oulton is located in the Rothwell, Yorkshire parish.