Wildsmith families in Staveley

[Designer Jeans]

Norborne is an awful name to research, but there are variations round and about Staveley.  I can find Norborn and Norborne here https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/CalmView/Overview.aspx and here https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LtwyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=john+norborne+of+barlborough&source=bl&ots=i-F78C9Y0B&sig=ACfU3U18NTAgxfW2UbwgMWaFFR6Ff-zZ4A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjo3fent73pAhXKTBUIHdezBhgQ6AEwAHoECAYQAQ#v=snippet&q=norborne%20&f=false  Also Norbarne (Barlborough), Noarburne (Dronfield), Norbonne (Staveley 1732), Nearburne (Dronfield) on family search.  Norborn (Barlborough) trees on Ancestry and wills on Lichfield Wills Index inc Dorothy Norborn (Staveley) 1766.

Good luck!

[david1701]

There are, indeed, a lot of Norborne name variations in the north Derbyshire area - and I've looked at several of the wills - but unfortunately none of them have thrown any real light on my Jane's parants.

I was quite excited in 2017 when I visited the Sheffield Archives and came across a transcript of notes from an old Bible in the possession of the late Joseph Allcroft of Netherthorpe (right next to Staveley) which bears the date 1630. It appears to have started off life as a Norborne family Bible - with the first entry apparently being a Godfrey Norburne, who married a Jane (surname unknown) on May 17th 1643. It looks as though Godfrey and Jane had several children: William, Elizabeth, Mary, Godfrey and Richard - all born/baptised in the period 1646 to 1659 (dates recorded in the Bible but I can't find them on any of the main Genealogy sites).

Particularly interesting was the reference to a Jane Norborne, daughter of William Norborne, who was born January 17th and baptized January 25th 1672. However, the transcript goes on to say (although not quite definitively!), that this Jane Norborne married a gentleman surnamed Allcroft (possibly John Allcroft) - and subsequently died in 1746 aged 74 years. The transcript also speculates that the Bible came into possession of the Allcroft family through this marriage.

So, although I had tracked down a Jane Norborne - who could have been the wife of my Joseph Wildsmith (albeit possibly a little old) - it appears she married someone else and lived until 1746. So, another brick wall!

Apologies for this bit of rambling on my part!

I'm still all ears, if anyone can suggest any different lines of research on this Joseph Wildsmith/Jane Norborne quest.

[PaulWildsmith]

Hello all! Sorry to barge in here, but my name is Paul Wildsmith - may be similar generations to some of you, but I don't recognise any names. Also researching Wildsmith history, my oldest fully verified relative is John Peter Wildsmith (b 1790), but believe the Joseph Wildsmith mentioned here will be his great grandfather. Very interested in making contact to explore/help together. I will start to use this forum as well, also on Ancestry. Hope to hear from anybody!!

[RonF]

Just seeing these posts now - has there been any progress? My wife descends from Joseph Wildsmith and Jane Norborne via their daughter Ann. I have Jane being the daughter of Godfrey Norborne, christened July 3, 1687 in Barlborough (CP of Harthill), less than 4 miles from Staveley. To me, the proximity, birth date and name match supersede naming conventions that were common but by no means always practiced. That said, 1687 Jane had sisters named Mary and Elizabeth, names - admittedly common - also given to daughters of Joseph and Jane Wildsmith.

The closest fitting Joseph Wildsmith record I found was one baptized to a father of the same name in 1695 in Sheffield, some 14 miles from Staveley.

[PaulWildsmith]

Ron - your relation is david1701 - I have been in touch with him but don't think he looks here much. I'll email him to alert him to your post.
My family is from Sheffield, A Joseph Wildsmith who was a well known carpet manufacturer is my most distant known ancestor. The family was/is RC so records are difficult to find.
Paul

[david1701]

Hi Ron - good to hear from you. From what you say, your wife and I must clearly be related, as I'm descended from the oldest of Joseph Wildsmith's children with his wife Jane Norborne - Robert, baptised 16th April 1714 in Staveley, Derbyshire. He is my 5x Gt Grandfather.

I agree with you that the Jane Norborne baptised in Harthill seems a very good contender for Joseph's wife - and you'll have seen from my earlier posts what else I've found out about this line. But I'm afraid this is where my research has hit a brick wall - not helped by the very poor condition/incomplete nature of the Staveley Parish Records. I would love to be able to show that Joseph was a child of Robert Wildsmith and Ann - who had a lot of children in Staveley in the late 1600s - but Joseph's baptism is very elusive to track down!

So, no further progress to date on this line - but I'm ever hopeful that I'll make a breakthrough one of these days!  Anything further you can add to this line would be great

[RonF]

hi David, I have not found anything about Joseph Wildsmith's parents beyond what I posted, that of a possible but somewhat improbable candidate. 

As an aside, in one post you say "I think his own daughter Anne married a Joseph Cam in April 1747 at St George, Mayfair" but that is not correct. Anne Wildsmith married Joseph Mullins in 1743 and they had children together in the early 1750s before Joseph died in 1757. By the time of her father's 1762 will, her name was Anne Camms. A strong candidate is an Ann Camm buried in Chesterfield (less than 5 mi. from Staveley) on July 27, 1775 – and although there is no marriage record, a John Camm baptized four children (including an Elizabeth and an Ann) in Chesterfield between July 1759 and Nov. 1767. The names, location, and dates all line up nicely with Anne Wildsmith/Mullins re-marrying John Camm after her first husband's death.

[david1701]

Hi Ron. Thanks for getting back so speedily – and for putting me right regarding Anne Wildsmith/Mullins! I think I had spotted that marriage some time ago, but as it wasn’t my direct line, I didn’t pursue it. It certainly sounds a lot more plausible than my “St George, Mayfair” thoughts. It’s a pity that there doesn’t seem to be any trace of Anne’s second marriage (at least not online), but I’ve made a note and will try and check it out as and when I next visit a likely Records Office.

Incidentally, one of the reasons I thought the St James marriage could be a possibility is that I’d previously found a Wildsmith connection between Staveley and London. In 1697 Robert Wildsmith, son of Robert of Staveley, Derbyshire was apprenticed in London to Sarah Rose of the Carmen’s Company. I also found a subsequent marriage between Robert Wildsmith - a Carman - and Christian Davis – both of St Mary Whitechapel. I think there’s an outside chance that this Robert was a brother to the Joseph who married Jane Norborne – but of course I have no proof of that – it’s just wishful thinking!

If you think we may have other areas of mutual interest, please send me a personal message, and perhaps we can exchange email addresses.