11 - Hiram Robinson
Household 11 had contained a couple just months before the census was taken, but on 2nd April 1871 Hiram was living alone. His wife Mary was staying at Knutsford House of Correction for a 6 month sentence with hard labour.
Mary was born Mary Whitelegg in 1821, the daughter of a Norbury shoemaker. She married a coal miner named John Cope in 1838 and moved to Romiley, living on Barrack Hill. They had two surviving children, Sarah and William. Sarah was already working full time at the age of 10.
In 1855 John Cope died, leaving Mary widowed, and 3 years later she married Hiram Robinson. Hiram was Samuel Robinson's brother and worked in the hat trade in Bredbury. He accepted William and Sarah as his stepchildren. We already know William Cope's story (household 8) but his sister Sarah married a widower named John Charlton in 1866 and the couple ran The Rising Sun pub on Buxton Road, Hazel Grove. She became a stepmother to his children and also had 3 of her own. 9 years after marrying, John died. Sarah later married another widower named John Gresty, a farmer. He kept the farm running whilst she continued to manage the Rising Sun until 1897 when they retired.
Mary and Hiram didn't have any more children and they moved to Romiley Road where their new neighbours were Andrew and Mary Ridgway (Household 12). Mary Ridgway was drying some clothes on a line in the yard when Mary Robinson stole a woollen petticoat. She took it to Cheetham's pawn shop in Stockport but was apprehended. Mary refused to admit to her crime and was quite truculent in court, which may have explained the harsh sentence.
Mary served her sentence during the era of the silent system. Prisoners were not allowed to speak to anyone unless spoken to by staff, including singing and whistling. She would have had to do mind-numbing and unpleasant tasks like turning the screw or picking oakum.
Back home on Romiley Road, one can imagine how Hiram would have been treated by his next door neighbours. Hiram and Mary left the street and moved to Redhouse Lane, where Martha Gregory lived (Household 2) in her grand house. Hiram likely worked at her company Ward's.
The pair were eventually forced to enter the workhouse in Stockport. Mary died there in 1902, Hiram surviving until 1907.
You can find out more about Hiram Robinson's family in the book "Residents of Romiley Road" which will be coming soon.