The Stickler's of Pucklechurch

On 18 September 1792 Thomas Stickler married Jane Mealing of the prominent Mealing family of Pucklechurch. The ancient village of Pucklechurch or “Pvlcrecerce” as it was called at the time of the Doomsday Book was to be the spiritual home for this branch of the Stickler family for the next hundred years.

The marriage took place at the church of St. Thomas a Becket and this church was to see many Stickler marriages, baptisms and funerals in subsequent years. Although Thomas could not write, he proudly made his mark on the certificate of marriage.

Thomas and Jane lived and thrived in Pucklechurch and there they raised two sons, James and Charles. Jane died on 22 November 1829, at the age of 63, and Thomas followed nine years later on 13 June 1838.

James and Charles, the two sons continued to live in Pucklechurch but their descendants formed the two branches of the Pucklechurch Sticklers.

Charles Stickler, the younger of the two sons was the head of the branch that would emigrate to America, beginning with Isaac [1864], Amos [1889] and George [1890]. The youngest of Charles’s daughters emigrated to Canada in 1904.

On the James Stickler side, only his grandson, John James Stickler emigrated to America. He arrived in Philadelphia, P.A. in 1882 and eventually settled in Hazelton P.A.

The desire to emigrate to America in the second half of the 1800’s was probably influenced by the harsh conditions faced by the working classes in this country at that time. James who had married Sarah Angell of Tormarton on 13 July 1815 worked as a cordwainer [shoemaker] and as time went on, encouraged some of his thirteen children to work with him. He was assisted by his eldest son Thomas and also his daughter Jane, who was a shoe binder. This was a tradition that was to remain with the family for many generations to come.

James was buried on 16 December 1855 at the age of 62 and Sarah was left as head of the household for the six surviving unmarried children. This she did for the next eight years at their home in Feltham Lane, Pucklechurch. However, on 26 April 1863 she died at the age of 65 and the children found separate homes. James and Enoch shared a dwelling, Ann married and lived elsewhere, but poor Ruth had difficulty coping and had to move into Pucklechurch Poorhouse. It was there that she died, at the age of 25.

Charles Stickler (1831-1891) was the ninth child of James Stickler (1793-1855) and Sarah Angell (1797-1863). He was born 14 May 1832 and like his parents and grandparents, he spent his life in the village of Pucklechurch. He married Sarah Everett of Breadstone, Berkeley at the church of St Thomas a Becket on 13 December 1856, the marriage being witnessed by his sister, Hannah Stickler and his younger brother, Enoch.

Charles and Sarah had ten children and were married for 35 years. Charles worked as an agricultural labourer in his younger days, later as a coalminer in the Parkfield Colliery and still later as a general labourer. He died in Pucklechurch on 28 January 1891. Sarah however, lived on for a further 21 years and died on 1 February 1912 at the age of 78. At the time, she was living at the home of her daughter, Hannah Sophia and son-in-law William Joint, surrounded by her grandchildren,

Some of Charles and Sarah’s children remained in or around the Pucklechurch area, others moved into the City of Bristol, whilst the more adventurous ones emigrated to America and Australia.

Thomas Stickler, the eldest son remained in Pucklechurch where he married Jeanetta Arthur on 20 October 1879 and through his industrious nature and keen interest and care for the community, earned the respect and gratitude of all. Thomas’s son Albert Thomas Arthur Stickler emigrated to Australia in 1909, unfortunately with tragic consequences.

Hannah Sophia Stickler went into domestic service and at the age of nineteen she was working at Beaufort House, Fishponds, the home of a Spencer Bransby and his family. Ten years later she was employed as a ladies maid in an all girls school in Clifton Bristol. However, in 1901 she met and married William Joint, a widower with three children. William was a postman and in order to be near his place of work he moved his family to the Bedminster area of Bristol. Hannah and William had four children and also cared for Hannah’s mother, Sarah towards the end of her life.

The youngest children of Charles and Sarah Stickler were the two boys, George and Jesse. The brothers moved to Keynsham, just outside of Bristol where they set up a shoemaking business, continuing a tradition that went back many generations.

By now the Pucklechurch Sticklers were dispersed throughout the country and some had even moved abroad to seek the opportunities offered by young, dynamic countries. One page in the Stickler story was closing but a new one was just opening.