Lizzie,
There are 10 recorded children from the two marriages of James Postlethwaite.
Jane (1752-1834) married William Bell, a husbandman of Newton-in-Furness.
James (1753-1779) married Jane Weatherburn.
Dorothy (1755-1819) married firstly to Robert Sill, a husbandman at Knapperthaw, then to Abraham Slater, a farmer at Swarthmoor Hall.
Betty (1757-1824) married Thomas Ormandy, a blacksmith in Lindal-in-Furness.
Margaret (1760-1770) died young.
Thomas (1761-1841), a farmer at Old Park, Ireleth, married Elizabeth Postlethwaite.
William (1765-1834) may not have married; there isn’t a wife or any surviving children mentioned in his Will.
Henry (1767-1842), a labourer in Ulverston married Mary Russel, all assuming I have the right Henry.
Margaret (1772-1838) married William Dixon of Corney, who later was a husbandman in Lindal.
John (1776-1864), landlord of the General Burgoyne in Gt Urswick, married Elizabeth Dixon also of Corney, and possibly sister of William above.
James senior married Ann Gibson on 8-May-1751 at Dalton. The date of his marriage to Elizabeth Postlethwaite is problematic though, with both conflicting and missing information, so I’m not sure which are Ann’s children and which are Elizabeth’s.
Most Furness Wills are held at the Lancashire Record office at Preston, including those of James senior, his sons Thomas and William, and Elizabeth Postlethwaite senior’s father William. I’ll pass you the notes I made from these four though. Most Kirkby Wills are held at the Borthwick Institute, York, as it was a Peculiar. The History of Kirkby group has however put many Kirkby Wills on-line though, including some Postlethwaite and James Wills.
Postlethwaite is a very common name in Furness, and I haven’t managed to connect up the three sets mentioned in the Dade baptism at Aldingham.
Best wishes,
Pete