Author Topic: Street names Thornton Bradford (Read 37941 times)

johnnyboy

Hi Jen: Thanks for looking for my Dobsons. There seem to be two lines of Dobsons in Thornton after 1800, but only one of the lines seems to be directly related to me. They may be connected a generation or so back, but I haven't been able to figure it out yet. There were lots of Dobsons in Thornton, and I haven't sorted many of them out.

Gilbert Dobson might be a direct ancestor or collateral relative of mine. I base that on the fact that my 3x great grandmother Susey Dobson (born Thornton in 1825) had a nephew or cousin (I think) named Gilbert Dobson, who might have been named after Gilbert Dobson. Gilbert Dobson and Hannah Dobson could be Susey's uncle and aunt or less likely her grandparents.

Timothy Dobson is from the Dobson line that doesn't seem to be related.

Hope you sort out out the picture problem. I tried to send you a PM about the your first reply of today here. Instead I clicked the wrong link and ended up at your thread about the image posting problem. I replied with a solution.

Regards,
John

northernsearcher

Thanks John still working on that one. Think I may have shrunk it but not enough yet will try now.
Jen

johnnyboy

Hi Jen: Thanks very much for posting the picture of the grave stone. My 3x great grandmother Susey Dobson left home in Thornton at age 15 to work at a cotton or woolen mill in Bradshaw, about three miles from Thornton. She lived with her uncle and aunt, John Dobson and Susey Dobson (nee Wood).

I assume this John Dobson was from Thornton. The young Gilbert Dobson I mentioned was either the son or grandson of John and Susey Wood Dobson. Either way, I think that links me to the Gilbert Dobson mentioned on the grave stone in your photo. He is either the brother or a cousin of Joseph Dobson (my 3x great grandfather and the father of 16-year-old Susey Dobson). John Dobson is Joseph Dobson's brother, I'm fairly certain.

But there are so many similary named Dobsons in Thornton that it's difficult to keep them straight. In the 1841 census my 3x great grandfather Joseph Dobson is living next door to a 65-year-old John Dobson. This John Dobson could be his father, his uncle, or a cousin, or possibly a distant relative.

Gets confusing.

Regards,
John

johnnyboy

Hi Jen: Was Charles Driver--named in your first post on this thread--born in 1809, son of Thomas and Hannah Driver?

I found Charles while using the IGI batch numbers to search for the baptisms of Dobsons in Thornton. Many of my Dobsons became connected with Mount Zion Methodist Church (New Connexion) in Bradshaw, and I knew about their affiliation. I checked Mount Zion for Drivers, and found 14 born between 1730 and 1812.

I then searched the Kipping Independent Chapel in Thornton and found many Dobsons that I wasn't aware of. I also found 23 Drivers there born between 1809 and the mid-1820s, including Charles.

There's also a few Driver baptisms at Bethesda Wesleyan, also in Thornton.

Have you seen all of those folks?

John

northernsearcher

Yes and No John
Yes this is the right Charles son of Thomas and Hannah and the brother of Samuel who was the father of Abraham who was my husband's great grandfather. Both Abraham's parents died before he was 17 and all four of Samuel and Betty's children are living in the vanished Main St with Uncle Charles by 1861.

No to everything else, I have only been doing family history research for 6 months and am only just beginning to "find my feet" as it were. Your information sounds fascinating. As yet I don't know what IGI batch numbers are and I have no idea how to search Kipping Chapel records on line. Perhaps you can tell me how? It's interesting that you found Charles in the Kipping records. This means that its likely that other members of the family were Congregationalists. The Drivers I found in the Bell chapel cemetery may or may not be connected. I found 10 Driver households in Thornton on the 1851 census without really covering the whole area. In case you're interested there is a small section on the history of Thornton in a Bradford Metropolitan District Council document "Thornton Conservation Area Assessment Oct 2003" Kipping Chapel is mentioned. It it can be found as a PDF file on Bradford Met's website.

I'm going to go off line now to try to shrink some more pictures. Will post when done.

Jen