Not much is known about the history of the McNeils. Gay, the family historian, started to explore this but once she discovered that a McNeil from a few generations earlier had been imprisoned in York following a criminal trial, she seems to have given up. A theory that McNeils of Whitby are closely related to the very grand MacNeils of Barra (as opposed to being part of a wider, global McNeil clan) was dismissed by both Gay and Sylvia as being somewhat fanciful.
Gay had more luck with her mother’s family—the Turners. The Turners were a well established Whitby seafaring family. 1851 census data found by Gay shows her great grandfather William Turner, Master Mariner, living in Baxtergate, Whitby with his wife Mary (b. 1813), and children Ann, William (b. 1842), Henry and Charles.
The 1891 census entry shows her grandfather William Turner, also a Master Mariner, living at 3 Raglan Terrace, Whitby with his wife Hannah Mary (b.1848) and daughters Annie Grace, Lilian Mary and Hannah May (our grandmother b.1886).
The 1911 census shows the family living at 8 Gray Street, Whitby, with William retired, daughter Lilian employed as a draper’s assistant, and Grace and (Hannah) May working as school teachers. William Wardell, an unmarried brother-in-law aged 54 was also recorded as living at Gray Street ‘on private means’. Previously the Turners had lived around the corner at 11 Scoresby Terrace.
(Hannah) May Turner married (Herbert) Bert McNeil around 1911/12. They had 6 children:
- Herbert W – b.1913
- Ivor – b.1916
- Reginald T – b.1918
- Sylvia M – b.1920
- J Lionel – b.1922
- Grace A (Gay) – b.1929
The family home was at 11 Park Terrace. Around 1934/5 they moved to 12 Chubb Hill. ‘Great Aunt Grace’ May’s elder sister, who never married, also lived at Chubb Hill after the death of ‘Bert’ in 1944.
Wardill family history
Hannah May (Gay’s grandmother) was born a Wardill. A family tree created by Gay traces the history of the Wardell family back to 1709.
