Most of these families had their origins in Cottingham, near Hull, with the exception being the Yates-Gosling branch (from Nottinghamshire).
Joel Coverdale and his father before him were sextons at St.Mary's church, Cottingham. This family position was handed down to Joel's eldest son Henry. William Coverdale was a butcher as was his son Thomas, who married Mary Wise in Grimsby in 1879. Though Frances was born in Hull (1880), Thomas and Mary still lived in Grimsby in 1881.

Matthew Wise worked on the Hull docks. After the early death of Thomas, Mary Wise married John Smith, an estate agents clerk from Goxhill, Lincs.