John Davenport (1828-85) and Betty Holland (1840- 1899) Brickmakers of Marton

John Davenport (1828-85)established a brick and tile making business in Marton from about 1868 which continued with his widow Betty Holland (1840-1899) and then through his son John Holland Davenport (1868 - 1909). This was a family business and the children and grandparents laboured in the brickworks with the adults.

John was born in Congleton in 1828 and lived there until his marriage in 1868 to Betty Holland at Prestbury. In the 1851 census, John was employed as a brickmaker, and in the 1871 census he was also employed as a brickmaker living at Bunn Lane Marton with his parents Daniel and Hannah, and his family. However by the 1881 census, he was recorded as a Brickmaker living at the brickworks, and employer of four men and four boys. His mother had died but his father was still living with him, as were five children. John died in 1885 and left a will and an Estate worth 448 pounds, and a pregnant widow Betty aged 45 with six children, the eldest John aged 17.  Daniel went to live with his daughter Harriet Curzon in Congleton. Family Tradition holds that John died of pneumonia caught while was repairing a field harvesting engine over several nights - he died in April. He was buried in Marton Churchyard in a grave next to his mother Hannah, and with his deceased children  Ruth (1873-74) and Frank (1870-78).

This must have been a difficult time from Betty with her mother passing away in 1884 almost 12 months before her husband died, and pregnant with her youngest daughter Betty (born in May 1885). However Betty had two sisters living nearby on farms at Siddington - Ann Worth and Martha Handforth. Betty Davenport continued on the family business aided by her eldest son John Holland Davenport. In the 1891 census Betty had become the brickmaker and was also recorded as a farmer with three daughters and two sons living at home, and a boarder Paul Cartwright. John Holland had married widow Phobe Hargraves in 1887 and lived next door to his mother with the three children of Phoebe's marriage. Betty's eldest daughter Hannah was living away from home in 1891 but married in 1893 at Marton to Paul Cartwright and lived in Marton. In March 1895, Betty's next eldest daughter Florence married Albert Edward Brownsett at Marton.  However a month later in April 1895 Betty died and was buried alongside her husband John at Marton.

With the death of their mother Betty, the family began to move away from Marton. Hannah (1872 -)and Paul Cartwright moved to Stockport where Paul was employed as a Grocer worker in the 1901 census. In addition to her two children, the 1901 census showed that Hannah was also caring for her brother Frank Davenport (1880-1954)- an agricultural laborer and her sister Betty (1885-1965) a milliner. Both Frank and Betty married and settled in Manchester. Betty married James Mellor at Salford in 1910 and raised six children. Frank married Lama and raised three children. Florence and Albert Brownsett settled at Buglawton on a farm in the 1901 census, and hade one daughter Violet who died aged about 18. Margaret (1876-1953) moved to Denton, Lancashire and married Harry Howarth working as cotton polishers. Their son John Howarth married Margaret and raised two children.

John Holland Davenport and his family remained at Marton working the brickyard. John raised four children who married and whose descendents still live around Marton and neigbouring villages/towns. After his death in 1909, the three sons aged 15 through 9 were too young to run the brickyard and it was sold. Widow Phoebe Davenport (1857-1944) lived at Moss cottage in Marton. One of John Holland's grand daughters Mary Percival still lives in Marton today.  In 1901, John was also caring for his younger brother Henry Davenport (1881 -1961) a traction engineer in the 1901 census. Henry moved to Manchester and married in Jun 1909 where they had one son and then migrated to Melbourne Australia, where he became an accomplished power engineer with a local shire, and raised three sons and one daughter whose descendants live throughout Australia.