Henry and Sarah (Roberts) While
Images and Notes from Bob Leathers
Pictured above is Halesowen Road in Netherton, Dudley, Worchestershire, England. The village of Netherton was the home of Sarah and Henry While and is located in the heart of the Black Country. The shop on the far right with the awning and a shopkeeper in the doorway is 73 Halesowen Road where Henry and Sarah lived and raised their family. The shopkeeper could be Henry and Sarah's oldest son Samuel While. Samuel took over the home and grocery business after Henry's death in 1881. The grocery store was located on the ground floor and the family lived upstairs. It was Samuel's son James that immigrated to America to work for Joseph Cox.
Life Story
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1822: Henry While was born in Netherton, Dudley, West Midlands, England. His birth place is located in an area of England called the Black Country.
1845 September 28: Henry While married Sarah Roberts in the Church of St. Mary in the Parish of Kingswinford in the County of Staffordshire. The wedding was in the presence of John While and Mary Jane While. Sarah Roberts was of full age to marry. She was a spinster, no occupation and living at Common Side at the time she married. She signed the marriage certificate with an X. Her father was Joseph Roberts, a miner and still living. Henry While was of full age to marry. He was a bachelor, a miner, and living at Common Side as well. He signed the marriage certificate with an X. His father was William While and deceased at the time of the wedding.
1851: Henry While, age 26 a coal miner and his wife Sarah, age 24, were living at 73 Haleswomen Road, St. Andrews, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. They had two children living with them, Mary Ann, age 2 and Samuel, age 2 months. (1851 England Census)
1861 April 7: Henry age 36, a coal miner and Sarah While, age 34 were living at 73 Halesowen Road, Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. They had five children living with them, Mary A., age 12, Samuel, age 10, William, age 8, John, age 4 and James, age 16 months. (1861 England Census)
1881: Henry, head of house, age 59 a grocer by occupation and his wife Sarah, age 57 a housekeeper were living at 73 Halesowen Road, Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. They had four children living with them at the time, John, age 25 a coal miner, Jane, age 16 a servant, Job, age 13 and Richard, age 11. (1881 England Census)
1881: Sarah While, age 57, was living at 73 Halesowen Road in Netherton England with her husband Henry, age 59 along with John, Jane, Job and Richard. (1881 England Census)
1881 April 13: Henry While died at 73 Halesowen Road in Netherton, Dudley, England. Pricilla While, daughter-in-law present at the death at 74 Halesowen Road, Netherton, Dudley placed an X, the mark of Pricilla While as the informant of his death. (Certified Copy of an Entry of Death Dudley, England) The burial records indicate he was buried at St. Andrew's Church in Netherton, but his burial plot was not found.
1885: John While, single, immigrated to America from England to work in the coal mines at Carbon, Wyoming. He was recruited to America and Carbon, Wyoming by his aunt and uncle Richard and Elizabeth Cox and cousin Joseph Cox.
1885: James and Emma (Lord) While immigrated to America from England. They were recruited to America and Carbon, Wyoming by James' aunt and uncle Richard and Elizabeth Cox and cousin Joseph Cox.
1891: Sarah's son John While returned to England from Carbon, Wyoming. He married Louisa Hadley while visiting from America. He returned to Hanna, Wyoming that same year.
1891: Sarah While, age 68, a widow living on her own means, was living with her son Samuel and his family at 73 Halesowen Road in Netherton. The same place she had been living for years with her husband Henry. Her sons John and Richard were also living there at the time. (1891 England Census)
1897: Sarah (Roberts) While died in Netherton, Dudley, West Midland, England. The burial records indicate she was buried at St. Andrew's Church in Netherton, but her burial plot was not found.
1900: Sarah and Henry's son Jobe and wife Millie (Marsh) While immigrated to America from England to work in the Union Pacific Coal Company mines in Hanna, Wyoming. They were recruited by Joseph Cox and fellow family members.
1903 June 30: Sarah and Henry's sons James While and Jobe While, along with their grandson James Jr. While were killed in the explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna, Wyoming. They were buried together in the Carbon, Wyoming cemetery.
Henry and Sarah's three sons - John, James and Jobe along with Samuel's son James - were all recruited to the coal mines in Carbon and Hanna by the Cox family. By 1921 the only survivor of the Hanna coal mines was John While Sr.
Bleak living and working conditions in the Black Country along with new job opportunities in America were probably the reasons for Elizabeth and Richard to leave England in 1869 and seek a brighter future in America. It was probably the same reasons the While families were convinced by the Cox families to make the move as well.
Henry and Sarah (Roberts) While had eight children together:
- Mary Ann While: born about 1849 in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. Mary Ann, age 22, a spinster, no occupation, married John Smith, age 23, a bachelor, a puddler by occupation on August 1, 1870, at St. John's Church in the Parish of St. John's in Dudley in the county of Worcestershire. No record of children has been found. Mary Ann and her brother Samuel were married on the same day and at the same church. There is no evidence that she ever left England.
- Samuel While: born January 19, 1851, in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. Samuel, age 21, a bachelor, a miner by occupation, married Priscilla Ball, age 20, a spinster, no occupation on August 1, 1870. Married the same day in the same church as his older sister Mary Ann While. There are no indications he ever left England. Samuel's son James and his wife Eliza Ann (Allen) While immigrated to Colorado. James immigrated in ?? and Eliza and the tree children in June 1917.
- William H. While: born about 1852 in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. William, June 1917, at age 55, accompanied his brother Samuel's daughter-in-law, Eliza Ann (Allen), age 30, wife of James While and her three children, John, age 4; Samuel, age 7; and Edith, age 8 months to America to be reunited with her husband James in Forbes, Colorado. There is no evidence that William stayed in America.
- John While: born on August 3, 1856, in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. He emigrated to America in 1885. He returned to England in 1891 and married Louisa Hadley, Oct 26, 1891, in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. John, with Louisa, returned to Hanna, Wyoming, United States, in December 1891. John died October 21, 1934, in Hanna, Carbon, Wyoming. He is buried in the Hanna cemetery.
- James While: born in June 1859, in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. He married Emma Lord about 1880 in England. They emigrated to America from England in 1885. James died June 30, 1903, in Hanna, Carbon, Wyoming in a violent coal mine explosion. He is buried in the Carbon, Carbon County, Wyoming cemetery next to his brother Jobe and son James Jr.
- Jane While: born about 1865 in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. There is no indication that she ever left England.
- Jobe While: born about 1868 in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. He married Millie Marsh in 1900 in England. They emigrated to America from England in 1900. Jobe died March 30, 1903, in Hanna, Carbon, Wyoming, U.S.A. in a violent coal mine explosion. He is buried in the Carbon, Carbon County, Wyoming, Cemetery next to his brother James and nephew James Jr.
- Richard While: born about 1870 in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England. There is no evidence that he ever left England.
St. Andrew's Church in Netherton
Henry and Sarah were buried at St. Andrew's Church in Netherton according to the records obtained from the Dudley Archives, but we were unable to locate a grave.
St. Andrew's Church in Netherton (Image by Bob Leathers)