Samuel Nicklin (Senior) was born in 1814 in Cold Hatton in the parish of High Ercall, Shropshire, He was the son of Richard Nicklin (a shoemaker) and the father of Samuel Nicklin, my great grandfather and 11 other children.
His first marriage was on 17th February 1838 to Sarah Lloyd, born in 1811, and this marriage was at Water Upton, Shropshire.
With Sarah he had four children. Richard, born in 1840, George (1842) Elizabeth (1846) and Mary (1848)
I believe that Sarah died in 1852 after giving birth to these four children.
Sam then married Emma Davies on June 14th 1853, and
with her he had another 8 children including Great Granddad Sam. The Children were Fanny (1854), Edwin (1855), Thomas (1857), Samuel (1860),
John (1862), Emma (1863), Henry (1867) and Alice (1869). Sadly, according to later census records Edwin, John and Alice were all suffering from some form of mental illness, being described on
the census as either Imbeciles or (Harmless) Lunatics Samuel (Senior) was a shoemaker by trade but trade must have been poor, or he
was careless with his money as he was declared bankrupt in 1862 and in early 1863 his property and land in Heath Lane, Cold Hatton
was put up for auction
to clear his debts.
He continued to live in Heath Lane near Rowton until he died in the latter part of 1891, aged 77 years. In 1901 his widow
Emma, now aged 72, was still living in Heath Lane, with two of their sons.