Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

84 Chapter Thirteen Family Life and Decline 1880 to 1901 In 1870, as we have seen, Jackson accepted a position with the Dingle Cricket Club in Liverpool. Clearly he could not carry out these tasks while based in in Nottinghamshire so he finally moved from the county he had come to regard as home and set up home with his family on Merseyside where he was to spend the rest of his life. Liverpool had developed over the previous half century into a prosperous and thriving port with a diverse population. It dominated the North American cargo and passenger traffic and the resultant prosperity attracted many Welsh and Irish settlers. The expanding dock area, which eventually stretched from Bootle in the north to Toxteth in the south, offered plenty of unskilled work. A sizeable Welsh presence had built up in the south of the city in the Toxteth area. In one of these streets of terraced houses, 8 Madryn Street, Mahala Jackson was to die. The 1871 census shows the Jackson family living at No.26 Smith Lane, North Toxteth. John and Mahala now had a family consisting of, firstly, Elizabeth born in 1858 and shown as 13 year-old scholar. Second was John, born in Ollerton on 19 June 1861 and therefore nine years old and not 11 as claimed on the Census. He was also shown as a scholar. Kate, born in Ollerton on 12 September 1863, is listed as an eight year-old scholar. Harry, born in Retford on 29 March 1866, had just had his fifth birthday and was a scholar. Samuel who had been born in Liverpool in 1870 was just five months old. Also still living with them was Margaret Jackson, listed as a lodger, but in reality Jackson’s mother. She is shown as being aged 82, a fine age for a Victorian matriarch, if the age is to be believed. By 1881 the family had moved to 23 Carlton Hill, still in North Toxteth. John’s mother had died and so, sadly, had Elizabeth, the eldest daughter. We have to remember that it was very rare for all the children in a family to survive to adulthood with killer diseases like tuberculosis, smallpox and diphtheria taking their toll, and it was a considerable achievement for the Jacksons to lose only one child at a relatively young age. Another 1881 Census which gives Jackson’s occupation as Professional Cricketer.