Henry WORLEY and the Glass Button Factory

Amy Ella HAWKES 1898

Henry WORLEY was 70 years old
when his great grand daughter
Ella HAWKES (1897-1971) was born
he lived another 17 years sharing his
glass buttons with her.

Glass buttons made by Henry WORLEY

"My Great Grandfather Henry Worley owned a glass button factory in England. He made all kinds of beautiful glass buttons. I remember when we went to visit him he used to give us a big box filled with all shapes and colors of buttons to play with. We would spend hours looking at them, and admiring them, picking out and matching them for a dress. If we wanted them bad enough he would always let us have them for our dresses. For a long times I was his only great grandchild and he let me have what I wanted." (Amy Ella HAWKES SMITH)

From their history:
....As a boy he [Henry WORLEY (1827-1914)] apprenticed himself to different trades but none seemed to satisfy him until he learned button making from his brother-in-law Peter Poll. This was a very attractive business and later he owned and operated a button factory. They had a good business, a good home and were very happy. The factory was a two story building in the rear of their home with a stairway on the outside. William or Billie liked to slide down the stairs. When quite young he fell down the stairs and broke his nose which caused an eye condition that required attention. His mother used to take him to London for treatments by a specialist.

Catherine [WILLMORE WORLEY (1822-1904] always cooked a good hot meal for the men that worked in the factory and they all learned to love her dearly, they begged her not to leave them to go to Utah.

...twenty one years after Henry and Catherine were baptized they prepared to leave their native land. They offered their household goods for sale. When most of the things were sold, they turned the button factory over to Henry's brother William and Henry left for Liverpool where he went to say goodbye to his sister Ann. He was to meet his wife and children later. When all the things were sold a cabman came and took Catherine and the rest of the children which were Harry, Jane, Thomas and William or Billie (as he was called). She was put on board the ship with her family and no father was there. Can you imagine her feelings when the ship left the dock without him. On arriving at Queenstown to their happy surprise there was their father. He had missed the boat, so he took a train and met the boat as it stopped for passengers.

Thank You Mary for the Button photo.