RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Yorkshire (West Riding) => Topic started by: Truia on Thursday 16 June 11 20:42 BST (UK)
-
Can anyone help me find a marriage for William Bleasby (born Whitkirk, 1785) in Hunslet or Whitkirk, some time around December 1808 when his daughter, Martha, was born in Hunslet, please? I have searched the microfiche at the West Yorks. Archive Office but couldn't find any sign of a marriage around this time. The family appears on the 1841 and '51 census living near Waterloo Road, Hunslet. There were at least three children: Martha b 1808, Ann b 1821 and Grace b 1826. In 1841 William had a wife named Ann (nee Spurr I think) but she died in the 1840s. I am not sure she was the mother of Martha, however. He might have married someone else first, given the gap between his children. Can anyone help me find a marriage for him, any time up to 1821 please? So far this search has been very frustrating! - Truia.
-
Hi Truia,
Welcome to Rootschat. :)
Are you quite sure that Martha b 1808 Ann b 1820 and Grace b 1826 are in fact sisters. You mentioned the big age gap between Martha and the other two.
Usually if a man was widowed with young children he normally remarried quite quickly after the death of his first wife. unless perhaps he had an occupation that took him away from home for long periods, ie a mariner etc or in the military.
-
No not sure they were sisters but they were all living under the same roof in 1841 with William and his wife Ann Bleasby. By 1851, Ann Snr was gone (it appears she died in 1847) but in her place was William's mother-in-law a very old woman named Mary Spurr. This is why I have concluded that Ann Snr's maiden name was Spurr. She was in her fifties in 1841 so it's likely she was born around 1790. Mary Spurr on the other hand was born in Leeds in the 1760s! Anyone got a record for her or Ann?
The Hunslet records appear to be very patchy. Martha's Bleasby's birth is listed in 1808 but there are no records of the other girls' births (Ann or Grace) and no record of William and Ann's marriage either as far as I can see. Until I get a date for it, I don't know if Ann was the mother of all of them or none. Are some of the Hunslet records missing?
-
There is an extracted IGI record for Grace Bleasby ch. 18.4.1824 Hunslet, father William.......mother Ann, cannot see a Ann or Hannah in the same area though.
It may turn out that Wm might not have been legally married to either wife, this was very commonplace, but purely speculation at this point.
-
Mary Spurr born c 1760 would be her maiden name so we cannot find that unless there is a marriage, on the 1841 there are 2 possibles both born around the same time.
HO107; Piece 1309; Book: 14; Civil Parish: Campsall; County: Yorkshire; District: 1; Folio: 9; Page: 9
William Spurr 35 Butcher
Mary Spurr 80
Martha Spurr 9
HO107; Piece 1267; Book: 4; Civil Parish: Batley; County: Yorkshire; District: 6; Folio: 46; Page: 21
William Spurr 80
Mary Spurr 80
-
Thanks for this... Mary Spurr stated in 1851 (when she was about 89) that she was from Leeds but this could have been wrong (maybe her relatives spoke for her!). Ann Spurr (if Spurr WAS her maiden name) said she was born in Hunslet.
What a shame there were two Mary Spurrs aged 80 living so close together in 1841!!! Go figure...
I take it you cannot find a record for the birth of Ann Spurr (abt 1790) or a marriage?
Thanks for your help.
-
The biggest problem with the name Ann is it has many derivations, ie. Anna, Hannah, Annie, Nancy etc.
There are some 6 records around the right time frame in Yorkshire on the IGI but not an actual Ann, all but one give different mothers names to Mary, 1 just gives father as John , Hannah ch. 8.4.1792 Birstall. I am not from the area so have no idea of the distances between places.
With Mary Spurr being such a great age its also possible that she was a second wife of Ann's father :-\
-
Another thing that has just occurred to me is, that if Ann (Spurr) was born circa 1790 its is fairly safe to assume that her daughter is Grace b 1826 as it gives Wm and Ann as parents and an extracted record, she would have been about 36 when she was born.
So I am wondering if she was a widow when she married Wm :-\ as we cant seem to find a suitable birth for her. :(
-
The IGI lists 6 children born to William & Ann between 1808 & 1833 in Hunslet .... Elizabeth Christened 1814, Emma 1833, Mary 1816, Daniel 1826, Grace 1824 & Martha 1808. I think they are all extracted records...... the new online version of the IGI does not indicate if the records are extracted or not but they do cite England Births and Christenings 1538-1975 as a source so I think they are accurate....... interestingly Martha's christening record does not have a mother listed, all others list Ann
Fiona
-
Truia I have done a bit of searching tonight and it looks like William Bleasby could have been christened at St Peters Leeds in 1788....... and there is a marriage on 22 May 1814 at St Peters Leeds between William Bleasby and Ann Wood and also between William Bleasby & Elizabeth Gill on 4 September 1803...... I'm speculating here but Elizabeth could have been Martha's mother. Martha's son James Bleasby came to Australia via New Zealand and by the time he married in Sydney in 1869 he had changed his name to Frank Atha Westbury. Frank was my gggrandfather.... hence my interest.
Fiona
-
Hi Fiona - Thanks for this suggestion. I think you are my relative from up north….? I have done a lot of research into FAW (currently writing his biography) He was my gg grandfather and I looked into this matter many years ago when I first started searching. I doubt Elizabeth Gill was Martha's mum as William was only 15 in 1803 and while girls married early back then it would be unusual for a boy of 15 to do so. Instead as I put on my family tree some years ago (distributed as PDF files to everyone in the family - did you get this?) I believe Martha's mother was Mary Cudworth of Rothwell who married a Wm Bleasby in Sept. 1808 (Wm was 20 then). Martha was born the following Feb in Hunslet. Mary Bleasby, "wife of William Bleasby" died in Hunslet in July 1812 (Rothwell deaths) and William married Ann Wood in 1814. This all seems a much better fit don't you think?
Regards - Virginia
-
Hi Virginia
Yes it is me :-) Yes I agree with Mary possibly being Martha's mother. I saw the marriage to Mary on the IGI but wasn't sure about the geography. I've lost your email address in my computer change over.
Fiona
-
Pardon the intrusion here!
Covered by Rothwell registers.
Found a Hunslet marriage of Wm Bleasby to a Mary Cudworth 4th Sept 1808.
22nd July 1812 burial of Mary wife of Wm Bleasby (fitts) aged 25 Hunslet.
Brian
-
Hi Brian thanks for your input.... are their any other Bleasby burials in the Rothwell registers.... especially Hulcote
Fiona
-
Just done a quick scan on all Bleasby named people, sorry no mention of Hulcote.
[Mind you my records finish at 1812]
Brian
-
A William Bleasby married Ann Wood in May 1814. Martha born 1809, Elizabeth born 1814, Mary born 1816, Ann born 1818, James born 1821 (D. 1823), William born 1823 (D. 1823), Grace born 1824, Daniel born 1826 (D. 1828) and Emma born 1832. All children except Martha were baptized at St. Mary the Virgin, Hunslet, Martha was baptized at St. Peter. Does any of this fit in with what you have?
Lanshaw