Family Life and Entertainment

The members of the Knight family grew older as the years passed, and the two 'babies' Sarah and Richard, soon became quite big. Tom, Will's younger brother, now worked for Matthew Boulton, like John Knight, but he lived at the factory, and so Mary and Will did not see him as often as they would have liked. John, who was now a very old man of over fifty, found the daily walk to Handsworth and back far more tiring than he had done a few years earlier.

In 1778 Will got married, for he was now much more skilled and was earning more money at Mr. Lanyard's. His wife Anne was sixteen, two year younger than Will, and her family also lived in Needless Alley. Will and Anne rented some tiny rooms in a house nearer to the canal. Soon Anne gave birth to a son whom they named Matthew.

Life for all the family was hard, and so they enjoyed the few times when they were able to relax and forget about work and where they lived. John Knight, now feeling like an old man, would pass some of his time in one of the taverns. In fact, Birmingham had the largest proportion of inns and taverns amongst her buildings in the whole of England.

John was a member of a social club which met in the "Salutation" on Snow Hill. Here, amongst his friends and fellow workers, he passed some happy hours talking and playing bowls on the bowling green behind the tavern. John always tried to be fairly careful with his drink, for he could easily spend a lot of hard-earned money. Matthew Boulton would be none too pleased if he turned up for work the next morning rather the worse for drink.

Will, too, enjoyed going to a tavern and usually went to one nearer to the canal. It was called "The Navigation". He was able to relax here in the company of men like himself. Besides, Matthew cried a lot and this got on Will's nerves when he was tired after a long day's work. Remember the conditions under which they lived, he was unable to get away from the crying at home - so he went out.

As the years were to pass, Will found himself drinking far more , and in taverns that were very rough. The ale would help him forget the things which greatly upset him.

In 1785 John Knight died and the following year his mother Mary and the two youngest children, Richard and Sarah, had been forced to go to the workhouse, for they had not got enough money to pay the rent of their cellar home.