People of Welton: The Knibb and Porter family

This history is complex – you can return to this colour coded timeline of key events to help you understand it at any time:

The photograph, left above, was taken in Welton graveyard and records the lives of Harriet Knibb, wife of Samuel Knibb, who died on May 11^th, 1900, aged 65, and her baby granddaughter, Doris Elizabeth Porter, who died 4 years later on 20th April 1904 aged just 10 months.

The right hand photo depicts the headstone in the cemetery recording Samuel Knibb himself – who ‘departed this life March 18^th, 1900, aged 66 years.” 

The headstone offers no more detail than that, but together they opened up an amazing family history that, in itself, captures the complex inter-familial relationships that influenced the settlement patterns in English villages and towns in centuries past. 

Our research into the house on Churchill Road called The Firs, first led us to the Porter family. Through accessing the extensive house archive, with deeds and records going back as far as 1696, we discovered that the Knibb family , followed by their younger daughter’s family, the Porters, had occupied the house for at least 48 years between 1910 and 1958. 

The records also showed that in 1910 a retired Welton farmer, Martin Smith, sold the freehold of the house and the leasehold of the paddock of The Firs on Churchill Road for £500.  This, we later discovered, was not just a sale of property – but the passing of land between extended family members!

We learned that Martin Smith was not simply a Welton farmer living two doors away from the Knibbs in the Lower Village of Welton but was also a relative – more on that below. There is more detail of the incredible chain of people who have lived in The Firs over time here.

The 1891 census – the starting point

Entry 47 on the 1891 census records the Knibb family at 3 Lower Church Street, living in a small 4 roomed property (2 up / 2 down cottage), which would probably be on the lower part of Churchill Road.

• Samuel Knibb – head – an agricultural labourer aged 57 – born in Charwelton
• Harriet Knibb – his wife – aged 54 and born in Bicester
• Annie E – their daughter – aged 12 – a scholar and born in Everdon.

We know from other sources that the Knibbs had two daughters and that their first-born daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, was born in 1875 so would have been 16 at the time of the census. She was working as a servant in London at this time.

The census tells us that Samuel was born around 1834 and his wife around 1837. Samuel was born in Charwelton, on the Banbury Road out of Welton and the family had been established for some time in Charwelton as the 1891 census for Charwelton confirmed that Samuel’s sibling, Francis, (born 1828 and working as a gardener – not domestic) lived there with his wife and son, Francis junior (born in 1860) who was working as a teacher in the elementary school in Charwelton. Samuel’s wife Harriet (nee Hadland) was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

So, what else could we discover about Samuel Knibb?

Samuel was the son of William and Elizabeth Knibb. He was baptised in Charwelton on March 30^th, 1834. His father was a labourer. 

The 1841 census for Charwelton records William and Elizabeth with 6 children: Francis (13), Mary (11), George (9), Samuel (7), Eliza (5) and Ann (1).

By 1851 Samuel is still living in Charlwelton but has moved out of the family home and is recorded as a lodger in The Manor House, the home of Elme Browwick. Samuel is 17 and is employed as a groom. Ten years later, he is again lodging within Charwelton and still employed as a groom. 

Samuel Knibb married Harriet Hadland on September 5^th 1865 in Charwelton. The marriage was witnessed by Thomas Adams and Sarah Elizabeth Causby (more on the Causbys later). 

In 1871 Samuel was recorded on the census for Kelmarsh, on the outskirts of Kettering. He is recorded as being 37 years old, married and working as a ‘stableman’ living in rooms over The Coach House. Incredibly he is working at Kelmarsh Hall, the huge country estate of landowner Richard Naylor.  Interestingly he seems to be with a relative there, likely his nephew, as the next listing is for William Knibb, aged 24, unmarried, also employed a stableman and, like Samuel, also born in Charwelton. 

The 1881 census shows us that Samuel and Harriet Knibb were living on Church Road in Everdon, with Sarah E aged 5 and Annie E aged 2. Samuel’s occupation is recorded as ‘groom’.

It is possible that, given that the gravestone for Harriet also commemorates a Knibb granddaughter who died four years after her death, Samuel and Harriet Knibb lay in less well marked graves for a few years until the stones were erected possibly by their daughter and son-in-law – the Porter family.

Harriet Knibb – extending the research: talking with descendants!

The Oxfordshire Connection

Around 1800 there lived a shepherd in Bicester, Oxfordshire by the name of William Causby. With his wife, Ann, he had several children and grandchildren, including: Hannah, John, Mary, Thomas and Susannah – who went on to marry a man called John Hadland. Susannah and her husband were the parents of Harriet, who married Samuel Knibb in 1865. If you are interested in the Hadland family you can read more below:

Harriet Knibb’s aunt Hannah (Susannah’s sister) had married and had a daughter, Sarah. Sarah married a man called Phillip Beach, a bank clerk in Paddington, and would have been reasonably well off for the times. They were well off enough to employ Harriet as a servant before her marriage to Samuel Knibb. Harriet is listed on the 1861 census living at 16 Park Place Terrace, Paddington with:

• Phillip Beach – 33 – Cashier in London and Westminster Bank – born Lymington, Hants
• Sarah – 37 – wife – born Bicester
• Phillip R. Beach – 2 – born Paddington
• Hannah Bloomfield – 63 – mother-in-law- born in Launton, Bicester, auctioneer’s wife
• Harriet Hadland – 24 – general servant – born Bicester

Meanwhile, another of Harriet’s aunts, Mary, had also married and given birth to a daughter called Sarah Elizabeth who went on to marry one Martin Smith – the Welton farmer mentioned earlier.

It was Sarah Elizabeth who was a witness to the marriage of Harriet and Samuel Knibb – which probably explains why the Knibbs moved into Welton, living just two doors away from Martin Smith, farmer and owner of The Firs. Harriet Knibb and Sarah Elizabeth Smith were cousins! We can presume it is this cousin that Harriet’s elder daughter is named after.

Meanwhile, Harriet’s uncle, Thomas Causby, had a daughter Jane, who married a farmer, John Brooks, of Oakley in Buckinghamshire. Jane Brooks* became a very important figure in the life of her niece, Harriet’s elder daughter Sarah Elizabeth Knibb (see * later in article). Additionally, John and Jane Brooks of Oakley had a daughter, Rhoda, who went on to marry the son of Martin and Sarah Smith in Welton. If you are following the genealogy you may spot that Rhoda and Martin’s son were cousins.

The Knibb daughters; Sarah Elizabeth (1875-1946) and Annie E (1879-1967)

The 1901 census for Welton shows us that Sarah Knibb aged 25, is listed as the head of the family living in the lower village of Welton, and living with her is Annie Knibb (also listed as 25 years old, however we believe this to be an enumerator’s error and that Annie was actually 22 years old).  By this point both Samuel and Harriet Knibb had passed away – both died in 1900, which would explain why Sarah is listed as the head of the household, in the same home as that of the 1891 census, two doors away from her Smith relatives. 

This census also confirms that Sarah was born in Lincolnshire (she was baptised in Boultham) and Annie in Everdon. In 1901 Annie was working as a dressmaker, but there is no occupation for Sarah suggesting a recent move back to the village. 

Annie E Knibb married Ernest Porter, a mechanic and engineer in 1903. The headstone for her mother at the top of this article tells us that their first child, daughter Doris died aged 10 months old in 1904. Ernest was born in Acton, Cheshire on 5^th September 1880. 

In 1910 The Firs was purchased by Francis Knibb, a school master from Radford in Warwickshire. The census below is from 1881 and shows him as a young man living with his parents in Coventry.

Francis was Samuel’s nephew. Samuel Knibb had many siblings one of whom, also Francis, had died in 1899 leaving a son also called Francis. This is our purchaser!

This helps to explain how Annie Porter (Knibb) – daughter of Samuel and Harriet, came to live in The Firs. It seems that that their more affluent relatives from both sides of the family – Martin Smith and Francis Knibb – came together to transfer ownership of the property of The Firs, so that Annie and her husband could move into a more substantial house to bring up their daughter, possibly to reduce the risk of early death linked to poor living conditions, which may have been what happened to baby Doris – an extraordinary act of generosity. 

Francis never married and it seems took his responsibilities to his family seriously. In the 1911 census for example, he is recorded as being 51 years of age, living at 102 Radford, Coventry with his 85-year-old widower uncle, Thomas Knibb, his cousin Annie Gardner – 48 and single who worked as a housekeeper [his housekeeper, perhaps?] and a 20-year-old school master, Arthur Waterhouse who was a boarder.

The archives for The Firs also show that in 1925 Francis Knibb, who was by then retired and living in Cheshire, sold the property to the eldest daughter of Samuel and Harriet Knibb, Sarah Elizabeth, however Ernest and Annie Porter continued to live at The Firs until 1958, which is confirmed by both the 1911 and 1921 census returns. In was in the 1911 census that we found the record for their daughter: Cicely Porter – aged 5 – born in Welton.

The Baptism record for St Martin’s Church, Welton confirms that Cicely Ethel, daughter of Ernest and Annie Porter was baptised on April 23^rd, 1905, by F Hilton, Vicar of Welton. 

Also living in the house at this time was Ernest’s younger brother Clement – see below – who was employed as a grocer’s assistant. 

By the time of the 1921 Welton census Ernest Porter was aged 40, Annie was 42 and their daughter Cicely was 16. Ernest was now a smallholder, still living in The Firs. The census also shows us that another family was resident in The Firs at this time. We can find no family connection so maybe they were lodgers:

• Alfred Stay – head of family – a plasterer from Rugby with a child under 1, no age given.
• Nellie Stay – his wife, also no age given, born in Epsom, Surrey. 

By 1958 things were hard for the Ernest and Annie Porter. Ernest was now 77 and Annie around 79. Annie was struggling with the challenges of advancing years. She died in the 1967 and was buried in the new cemetery on Ashby Road.  Ernest seems to have continued living in the village where he died on 14^th August 1974 aged 93. He too was buried in Welton cemetery, at the top of the village. 

The Porter Family Connection

We know from the records above that Ernest Porter was not Welton born, however the Porter family does appear on the 1891 census for Welton:

Entry 10 of the census tell us that at 11 Station Road lived: 

• Alfred Henry Porter – aged 39 -a stud groom employed and born in Whitchurch, Salop – now Shropshire c 1852
• Elizabeth Porter (nee Hassall)  – aged 38 – his wife, born in Acton, Cheshire c 1852
• Albert H Porter – aged 15 – their son – also born in Acton, Cheshire in 1876
• Clement Porter – aged 12 – born in Hill Cliff in Cheshire in 1878
• Ernest Porter – aged 10 – born in Lymm – Cheshire in 1880
• Percy Porter – aged 9 – born in Welton in 1883

So, we can see that the Porter family originated in Cheshire. They had obviously moved south any time between 1876 and 1881 and came to settle in Welton. As a stud groom it is likely that Alfred Porter was doing well and may have been employed by one of the large land-owning families in Welton or a nearby village. Their boys all feature on the school logs of Welton School, so evidently there was a commitment to their son’s education, rather than putting them out to work at a young age as was often the case.

There is no record of the older Porters in the 1901 census and our family with Ernest and Annie, with daughter Cicely and Ernest’s brother, Clement, are the only Porters living in the village on the 1911 census.

Sarah Elizabeth Knibb – the tale of a travelling woman

The detective work to uncover her story has been fascinating. We already knew that Samuel and Harriet Knibb had two daughters. The history for the younger, Annie, was easier to unpick through census and parish records as she had stayed in Welton. However, with Sarah it was a very different story and one that started with a gravestone and led us to New Zealand. 

It was a chance comment by the current owner of The Firs, and the discovery online of the photograph of this headstone in Rapaura Anglican Cemetery in New Zealand commemorating Sarah’s death on 23^rd February 1946 that enabled us to make direct contact with surviving members of the family and explore the fascinating history of Welton House, Marlborough, NZ, a restored Victorian villa just north of Marlborough.

We shall return to New Zealand in a moment – but we knew from Welton census records that Sarah was born in 1875 in Lincolnshire, and her wider family was primarily based in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. 

From her descendants we have learned that as a teenager, aged 14 or 15, Sarah worked in domestic service. She was employed as a servant in London for an Elizabeth Major, which is why she does not appear on the 1891 census in Welton, but does appear on one in London.  This may have come about through family connections again!

In around 1899 at 23 years old, Sarah was working as a servant in Oakley in Buckinghamshire where she gave birth to a boy named Frank Knibb. The birth certificate does not name a father.

As an unmarried mother, Sarah would have almost certainly have lost her job. This may well explain why the 1901 census for Welton shows us that she was now living back in the ‘Lower Village” (Churchill Road) in Welton with her sister. By this point Sarah would have been 25 years old and had no listed occupation. Her younger sister, Annie, would have been 22 and is a dressmaker. There is no record of baby Frank Knibb in Welton – the family told us that they believed he was in the care of a family in Oakley where Sarah had been working.

Further investigation led us to the 1901 census record below, showing that Frank Knibb, aged 1, was living in Oakley with John and Jane Brooks*, Jane being Sarah’s aunt mentioned earlier, and that he was described as their ‘nephew’. Such arrangements were not uncommon in the past to hide the stigma of illegitimacy. 

Frank was still at school in Oakley in 1911, but boarding with a Coleman family.

As an adult, Frank Knibb joined the Royal Navy, serving as a telegraphist on HMS Renown during the First World War and HMS Faulknor in World War II. 

Although brought up in Buckinghamshire, Frank must have had some connection with his Welton family, as in 1941 he married his cousin, Cicely (daughter of his aunt Annie Porter – nee Knibb – and Ernest Porter of The Firs). Given the discretion of his early life circumstances, it is not clear whether either knew for a fact that they were first cousins, however it is hard to believe that their mothers Sarah Elizabeth and Annie did not know.

Frank and Cicely later settled on the Wirral, raising their son, Phil Knibb, who remembers visiting The Firs as a child!  Frank died in 1977. Cicely died in 1988 in Birkenhead, on the Wirral. 

But back to New Zealand ……..

Arthur Mills – husband of Sarah Elizabeth Knibb

We know that Sarah Elizabeth Knibb married Arthur John Mills, who was born in New Zealand around 1867 but had travelled back to the UK for a period during which he married Sarah. The family believe that his parents bought land in the area with a view to Arthur and his brother “breaking in’ the land as adult farmers. His parents had emigrated to New Zealand possibly during the 1840s.  Read more about his pioneering parents here:

Arthur and Sarah married in Welton on September 8^th 1906. He was 39, identified as a farmer resident in Welton at the time of the marriage, and she was 30. The witnesses to the marriage were Francis Knibb and Alice Maud Mills. 

We have the ship’s manifest recording Arthur’s voyage to Britain from Wellington on the SS Corinthic, docking in London on 14^th May 1906, presumably to prepare for his wedding. He was accompanied on this outward trip by his relative Alice Maud. 

Soon after their wedding, Sarah emigrated to New Zealand, travelling back with Arthur and Alice on the SS Athenic. 

Some puzzles still to answer…

We also have records to suggest an Arthur John Mills travelled back to New Zealand in 1901 on the SS Waiwera, accompanied by a Mrs Mills. If these voyages are for our couple, it does raise questions regarding how and when they met, and how exactly their relationship developed prior to the 1906 England wedding. This Arthur is described as a ‘car man’ so may not be our man at all.

These matter aside, we do know that, living on South Island, New Zealand, Arthur Mills had become a prominent Marlborough farmer and local official. He and Sarah would have been significant people within their community. 

Welton House – down under!

If you were in any doubt about the Knibb connection to Marlborough, New Zealand, you need only look at the name of the cottage that Arthur Mills built for his English born wife – Welton House!

Records suggest that the development of the garden at Welton House became a labour of love for his Welton raised wife. Here she is in the grounds of the house.

The Welton House website tells us:

We know that Sarah and Arthur returned to England in the 1930s, with their two daughters, as the headstone tells us that Arthur died in England on July 7^th, 1933. A newspaper obituary for Arthur reads as follows:

It was whilst in England that Sarah may have been reunited with her illegitimate son, Frank Knibb as, also in 1933, she made her will, which was witnessed by her uncle, Clement Porter – who by this time was living in Virginia Cottage, Welton which is at the top of the hill.

She had returned to New Zealand by 1936 as personal correspondence to her, found in Welton House, is dated that year.

On her death in New Zealand, in 1946, under the terms of her will, The Firs and its paddocks was left to her son Frank, although the will does not state their relationship. 

Sarah and Arthur’s daughters

Our next point of investigation lay in the secondary stone, placed by Sarah Elizabeth’s grave, which is dedicated to J.L (Bill) McHugh and Cicely Beatrice McHugh. 

‘In loving memory of J.L (Bill) McHugh died 12^th July 1982 aged 69 years, loved husband of Cicely Beatrice – died 10^th June 1986 aged 73 years.

Sarah Elizabeth and Arthur Mills had two daughters: Cicely Beatrice and Eileen Mary Mills. Remember that in 1925, their great uncle, Francis Knibb sold the leasehold and freehold of The Firs to his niece, Sarah Mills – their mother.

The property was sold ‘in trust’ which meant that the house (The Firs) could not be sold on without the agreement of the trustees. Unusually the trustees were Cicely and Eileen Mills, Sarah Elizabeth’s daughters. This was to provide inheritance safeguards and tax advantages.

Cicely and Eileen resigned as trustees in 1948, and new trustees were appointed:  Annie Porter and Cicely Knibb (her daughter and wife of Frank Knibb.)

Finally in 1958, Frank Knibb sold The Firs and its land on to Jack and Mill Ellison, although by this point Annie Porter was suffering with probable dementia and Ernest held power of attorney in relation to the transaction. You can read more about Sarah and Arthur’s daughters here:

Read more

Cicely Beatrice McHugh was born Cicely Mills in 1907 or 1908, likely named for her cousin, Cicely Porter, born in Welton in 1905. She was buried in the Blenheim Anglican Cemetery in 1986. Although some of her online family‑tree details were posted by a Norwegian researcher, most verified information comes from direct New Zealand descendants.

The MyHeritage Norway entry confirms that Cicely Beatrice McHugh (née Mills) was born around 1908, died on 10 June 1986 aged 78, and was married to Joseph Linds (“Bill”) McHugh, who died in 1982. Her parents were Arthur John Mills (d. 1933) and Sarah Elizabeth Mills. Bill McHugh was a well‑known figure in New Zealand’s racing world.

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Eileen Mary Mills, later Stace, Sarah and Arthur’s second daughter, became closely associated with the history of Eliza’s Garden Cottage and Welton House in Grovetown, Blenheim. Both properties are now recognised by the New Zealand Gardens Trust. Eliza’s Cottage, built in 1967, sits within a one‑acre woodland garden developed over fifteen years, reflecting the family’s deep horticultural interests.

Eileen was born on 19 June 1909 and married Henry Joseph Stace in 1943. Henry, born in 1878, died in 1958. They had at least one daughter, Elizabeth H. Stace (1945–2019), who in turn has two surviving children. The Stace family originated in England: Henry’s father, born in York in 1847, was a Colonel in the Royal Engineers and emigrated with his family to Marlborough, New Zealand, in 1861.

Eileen Stace died on 4 May 1984. Her home was on Staces Road, Grovetown—almost certainly named for her husband’s influential family. Her probate record shows an estate valued at £3132.

The Knibb and Porter families are just a small part of the story of the Firs. You can find out more here.

With thanks to Wendy Palmer of Welton House New Zealand for her help in finding Arthur’s history from information provided by Arthur’s grandson and for providing the photos of Welton House and the family