The Cree family of Pinxton, Derbyshire

Thomas Cree was the eldest son of the Mansfield carpenter, James Cree. However it was the youngest son who was made executor and main beneficiary of James's will in 1817, Thomas merely receiving forgiveness and release from his debts to his father.

However the debts were caused, the family seemed to have sunk into poverty by the "hungry forties" when the old-established iron mining area around Pinxton was in a deep recession. The 1841 Census returns show Thomas and Elizabeth living in South Normanton, while their eldest son Joseph was bringing up a growing family not far away at Swanwick. They lived hard by Swanwick Hall, home of the Reverend John Wood, the well-known "squarson" of Swanwick and Pentridge. In fact Joseph's sister Elizabeth was working as a servant at the Hall.

Two years later, in 1843, Joseph and Martha took their children, by then numbering six, off to America to make a new start. By and large they succeeded, Joseph settling in the apple country of Upper New York State and the children eventually going "out West" to the pioneer lands of Iowa. This emerges from the letters written to them by Joseph's mother Elizabeth and sister Rebecca, which were deposited in the Manchester Public Library by a descendant with whom we have now been in touch. There would appear to be no descendants bearing the name Cree, although this is not certain as the rest of the family lost touch with Joseph's only son Haber after Joe's death in 1870.

The letters are a remarkable record of the poverty of that part of Derbyshire in the 1840s and 50s. Rebecca moved to Manchester as a dressmaker, followed by her parents and their rather strange grandson Thomas Frisby. They also record the secret marriage of Elizabeth Cree to her deceased sister's widower, a marriage which was at that time unlawful, though they may not have known it. William Cree, Rebecca's youngest brother also moved to the Manchester area and became a gardener. One of Rebecca's letters shows her concern for the effect of labouring work on his health and mentions his two sons.

We still have hopes of tracing descendants of these Salford Crees.