Miller in Grinton Mystery

[JosiahS]

My GGG grandfather was born in Low Row, Swaledale which lies within Grinton parish, (or possibly Muker Chapel of Ease), but I cannot find his christening at all.

He was married in Whitburn, Co Durham on 1 March 1801 so he was probably born about the 1770s.

On the IGI there are 17 Miller marriages in Grinton between 1769 and 1860, 11 of which are men, but there are only 2 christenings, one in 1822 and one in 1842.

Where are all the other children? 

Is this an indication that they were non-conformist so while obliged to marry in the CoE they could christen where they wanted??

If so, where can I find the non-conformist registers for Swaledale??

Your assistance is welcome as ever!

Cheers

Jos

[daniel1111]

Jos:
The information you need is available on the upperdalesfhs website.
You will need to join.
It is free.
It is also very good!!

My records show 4 baptisms at Low Row for Miller:

10/03/1815 William son of Jas and Mary Miller of Birdnest
10/10/1819 Ann dau of James and Mary Miller of Birdnest
18/12/1823 Alice dau of James and Mary Miller of Healaugh
08/01/1826 John son of James and Mary Miller of Healaugh

And one baptism at Keld:

03/06/1792 John son of George and Jane Miller of Hartlakes

but there are 20+ baptisms at Askrigg for Miller between the dates you quote and Askrigg is not far from Grinton.

[JosiahS]

Thank you for  that and for the pointer to the website.

I had noticed the christenings in the 1800s but they are too late for my George - I also noticed that there are very few Millers in the 1841 census.

By chance our family has come full circle - George Miller moved to Sunderland from Swaledale and then 20 years ago our family moved back from Sunderland to Askrigg!!  I realise that it is very close to Grinton but it is a different dale.  On the christenings of George Miller's children in Sunderland it shows his 'parish' as being Low Row on the first two and then Reeth on all the others. 

I'll check out the website - thanks again

JoS

[christine8]

what names and dates do you have?
Miller tends to be interchangeable with Milner in Swaledale - and George is/was a common Milner name.
Christine
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/4320

[JosiahS]

Hi Christine

I'm a bit stuck on dates for George - all I know is that he was born in Whitburn just to the north of Sunderland in 1801.  The marriage does not mention his parish but the christenings of all of his children do and it is either Low Row or Reeth each time.

That would put him in the 1770 to 1780 period I suppose.

His children - in order - were :
Marion/Marian
Mary
Jane
George
Mary
John
Mary Ann.

Clearly the name Mary was of some importance.

His wife Isabella's father was a Robert so there seems no obvious influence from her side on the names though I don't know what her mother was called.

I had a wander round the cemeteries in Low Row the other week when I was visiting Dad and I could find no Millers or Milners at all either in the CoE, or non-conformist, graveyards.

Why do you say they were 'interchangeable'?  Is this the experience you have from your tree?

Any help or advise would be much appreciated.

Cheers

JoS

[Stubbsy]

Our Swaledale Milner ancestors were always having the "n" dropped, especially in the census returns although BDM entries usually got it right. The usual mistaken entry was Miller or even Millar throughout the 19thC. My uncle William Milner was known throughout his life as Billy Miller no matter how much he protested and some of my cousins are now Millers even though they were descended from Milners.

The thing is that Milner was the usual Swaledale surname derived from the Viking word for a corn miller. If you look on the surname distribution maps the majority of Milners are from the Dales. At one time the Milners were one of the 12 big Swaledale clans but they nearly all left when the leadmining slumped.

Cheers,
John Milner Stubbs

[JosiahS]

Hi John

Many thanks for getting in touch on this.

As the non-conformist records are coming on line I actually think I may have found my George being baptised in Gunnerside by the catholic priest with parents George and Hannah who don't seem to appear anywhere else.  If he were catholic it would explain why I've never found a burial in the CoE records in Sunderland (I found his wife)

I'll look under the name Milner and see if George and Hannah pop up

The odd thing is that after George moved to Sunderland my family moved back to the dales 15 years ago and his GGG grandaughter (my mother) is buried across the hill in Askrigg!

Ashley

[Roobarb]

The information you need is available on the upperdalesfhs website.
You will need to join.
It is free.
It is also very good!!

I have ancestors from Arkengarthdale, which is in the area covered by the group. However, when I have visited their website it just says "If you would like to know more please email". Does this mean that I have to email a specific query to them, or email to indicate my interest in the group?
                           

[Stubbsy]

Roobarb - I don't think so.

Dales Family History Society membership is quite straightforward and you can ask for regular updates on subjects you are interested in, ask a specific question and wait for answers or simply search the old messages for relevant info. You can be as involved or passive as you like.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dalesfhs/

They also have regular (I think monthly) meetings and lectures if you are close enough to attend.

Cheers,
John Milner Stubbs