Francis Staveley, the son of William Staveley (1819-1849) & Frances (Fanny) Staveley nee Proctor (1824-1882) was born in Reighton on the 29th March 1846. It is worth mentioning that there is also another Francis Staveley at North Burton who was born 21st November 1846. North Burton ( Burton Fleming ) is just 3.7 miles from Hunmanby. They are related and would have known each other well.

Francis would never have known his father who died in 1849 leaving Frances (Fanny) responsible for the children. He would have been two or three years old. His sister Elizabeth was born in 1848 the last of the children of William Staveley. His brother John is a half brother and the father is likely to have been Richard Jenkinson, a family friend.

The 1851 Census tells us that Francis was living in Muston at 5 Hunmanby Street. It looks nice now but if you have read the details about his father you will know that living conditions would not have been ideal. He probably lived in cramped, overcrowded and damp lodgings during his entire childhood and working life. His father died from Typhus Fever, a bacterial disease associated with unhygienic conditions and caused by fleas, lice and mites. This family was poor and farming was in crisis.

At the time of the 1861 census he can be found in Grindale at the age of 15 and working as plough boy. Grindale is a small village located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated approximately 3 miles north-west from the town of Bridlington. Grindale is part of the civil parish of Bempton. The village is surrounded by beautiful countryside and farmland.

At the age of 25 we know that Francis is still living at 5 Hunmanby Street in Muston with his mother Fanny Staveley who is a char woman ( a cleaner ) and his half brother John who is now aged 9. Fanny is now 48 and Francis is an agricultural labourer. Elizabeth is not shown as living here and could have moved to find work. On the 11th November 1871 Francis marries Eliza Mary Burrows, aged 24, in Muston.

In 1881 Francis is a widower. He has no children. Either he divorced Eliza or she possibly died in child birth. He is living at West Street in Muston and is a farm labourer aged 34. We are fairly sure that the residence in West Street was the Ship Inn. I have not at the time of writing managed to find a record of the death of Eliza Mary Burrows.

Francis would then go on to marry Elizabeth Peam and the couple would have 5 children: Betsey born 1881, John Francis born 1883, Jane E Staveley born 1887, George born 1888 and Maud Mary born 1891.

There is an entry in the local press – Driffield Times 21st August 1886 – Farm servant Grindall was charged with assaulting Francis Staveley at Muston. The costs were a heavy fine amounting to 19s 10d and defendent was fined £1 10d including costs.

His half brother John Staveley would die from Tuberculosis in October 1909 and Francis had a heart attack and died on the 3rd December 1909. Anne Wilson is present at his death and is witness on the death certificate ( Note: his grandfather married a Wilson ). His wife Elizabeth Staveley ( nee Peam) died in Bridlington in 1913.

Note: The Imperial Gazetter of England describes Muston in 1870 as follows:

MUSTON, a parish, with a small village, in the district of Scarborough and E. R. Yorkshire; on the coast, and on the Hull and Scarborough railway, midway between Hunmanby and Filey r. stations, 1¾ mile S W of Filey. Post-town, Filey, Yorkshire.

Acres, 2, 226. Real property, £4,068. Pop., 391. Houses, 74. The property is subdivided. The manor belongs to Admiral Mitford. Muston Hall and Muston Lodge are chief residences. Stone is quarried.The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of York. Value, £256. Patron, Admiral Mitford. The church is ancient but good, and has a bell-turret.There are chapels for Independents and Primitive Methodists, and a national school.

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