Walmsley Family Photos

Here are a just a few Walmsley family photos

This is my paternal grandparents, not sure what year it was taken but think its around the early 40s.











This is my dad and his younger brother Alan, think this was taken in about 1953.















My mum and dad's wedding














Me and my siblings, I am the blonde one










My dad and grandson Paul

Gibsons again

Its ages since I have updated this blog so thought while I had a bit of time to spare, before going back to work in a couple of days, I would use the time to update.

I have done quite alot more research on the Gibson line, Uncle Alan has been in touch with the son of Edith Hodgson, who was the daughter of Eleanor Gibson (born 1882), and he has a family bible which provided us with the dates of birth of all the children of Thomas Allan Gibson and Alice Gibson. It also had some of the marriages on, although not the partners, which gave me two of my great grandad John Gibson brothers weddings.

The first wedding was Allan Gibson "Uncle Pip" who the diary said married on 29 Mar 1916 in Morecambe, which was quite a find as we had believed Uncle Pip had never married. So I searched the Lancs BMD for any suitable marriages and found one to a lady called Margaret Dempster, and sent off for it. This turned out to be the right one and interestingly Allan and Margaret were both residing at Daisy Bank Farm, Middleton at the time of their marriage. Once I found her fathers details it was easy to find her family on the 1901 census living at Daisy Bank Farm. I havent as yet found out what happened to his wife as Uncle Alan doesnt remember anybody ever mentioning Uncle Pip having a wife or family.

Using Lancs BMD I did a search for any children born after 1916 with the mothers maiden name of Dempster and found a girl in the Sep quarter of 1916 with the name of Margaret Dempster Gibson, good sign I felt that I was on to a possible of daughter of Allan and Margaret. After receiving this certificate I found that it was the right child and the family were still living at Daisy Bank Farm, Middleton.

So lots of unanswered questions about Uncle Pip now, what happened to his wife that Uncle Alan never heard anything about and what happened to little Margaret. If either of them died young I still haven't found them and neither can I locate a marriage of Margaret Dempster Gibson if she did survive to adulthood. Also did they live at Daisy Bank Farm with Margaret's parents.

The second marriage the diary told us about was that of Stephen Gibson, married 16 Oct 1912 also in Morecambe. So again I sent off for this one and it turned out he married a lady call Grace Downham, married at the same church as Allan and Margaret.

Using Lancs BMD so far hasn't turned up any children of Stephen and Grace, but it might be that the mothers maiden names aren't all on them yet.

Anyway lots more information and lots more things to check.

Allan Gibson and family again

I decided to do a google search for St Andrews at Dent, the church Allan and Betsey Gibson were married in and a site came up that has the memorial inscriptions for the church.

The website lists names but not details of what the inscriptions says or any dates but I have found 4 people in one grave named Allan, Betsey, Elizabeth and Alice Gibson, so looks like it might be the family I am looking for.

A visit to the church is scheduled for next week.

Allan Gibson and family

I am trying to find all the partners of the Gibson siblings, I had found Elizabeth Gibson (born c1795) on the 1871 census living with Betsey Gibson, which I thought might be Elizabeth, wife of Allen Gibson - my 4x great grandparents. So after looking for a marriage between a Betsey and a Gibson son, the choices being Allan, Anthony or Joseph I found a marriage between an Allan Gibson and a Betsey Robinson in 1853 in Yorkshire. There was also a Betsey Robinson residing at the same place as Allan Gibson on the 1851 census, noted as being a servant.

The certificate has now arrived and it looks like I have found the right one. Age tallies as well as fathers details. Interestingly it states Allan Gibson residence was "the Parsonage, Dent", the minister at the wedding was John Sedgwick which I believe is the same person Allan was working for according to the 1851 census. He worked as a coachman.

Finding them on future censuses was relatively easy but Allan and Betsey weren't living together on either the 1861 or 1871 census. Allan was still working for Jane Sedgwick, widow to minister John Sedgwick on the 1861 census. The 1861 census shows that Betsey has now has two daughters Elizabeth (born c1854) and Alice (born c1856 in Dent, Yorkshire). Alice is still living with her mother on the 1871 census but Elizabeth has disappeared.

I then had trouble finding any of them after the 1871 census but I have found 4 deaths that might be theirs, Elizabeth aged 15 Dec 1869, Alice aged 16 Jun 1872, Betsey aged 49 Mar 1872 and then Allan aged 49 Mar 1873. I am intrigued now and want to know what, if it is them, they all died of so close together.

So I have sent off for the certificates and will report back when I get them.

Cross Keys Inn, Whitechapel, Lancashire

Well I thought I would just update my blog with what I did on my day off this week. After receiving Annie Gibson's wedding certificate I was surprised that it had said Thomas Allan Gibson, her father, was an Innkeeper. I decided to send off for Thomas Allan's death certificate, as I knew this was a couple of years before Annie had married.

Anyway the certificate arrived and he died on 24 Dec 1909 and it states he was an Innkeeper and Farmer and lived at Cross Keys Inn, Goosnargh. Annie's marriage certificate had said it was in Whitechapel, which is very close to Goosnargh. So I think I can safely say I had found my great, great grandfather's death.

So yesterday we, myself and my uncle Alan, decided to go and look for the Cross Keys Inn. I got out my trusty sat nav, I don't know how I ever got anywhere without it, we set off to Whitechapel and decided while we were there we would look for the local church to see if there were any graves of interest to us.

Above you can see the picture I took of what is left of the Cross Keys Inn, it is not open anymore which is a shame, and there is no farm there now either.

The church turned out to be directly across the road, which was handy. We easily found Thomas Allan's grave and he was buried with his wife Alice and two of their children, who I hadn't been aware of as they had only lived a short while. Both called Amy, one died at 1 year and the other only 7 months, poor little girls.

We also found Annie's grave with her husband William Procter, so that was an added bonus.

So a good afternoon's work all in, more dates and pictures for my family tree and two little girls death certificates to find now.

Annie Gibson

After finding this newspaper clipping in the photographs that my uncle had I decided I would do some research on Annie Gibson, my great grandfathers sister, who married William Procter.

This clipping is from their golden wedding and I believe the picture below, if you look closely you can see they are wearing the same outfits, is taken on the same day and is a picture of their whole family. We haven't worked out who any of the other people are yet though.

So I decided to send off for their marriage certificate, they were married on 28 June 1911 at Whitechapel Parish Church in Whitechapel, Preston. He is noted as living at Barnes Lane, Whitechapel, Preston and is a Farm Labourer and his father was James Procter and he was a Farmer.

Annie is noted as living at Cross Keys Inn, Whitechapel, Preston and her father, as I already knew was Thomas Allan Gibson. But something I didn't know is that he was noted as being an Innkeeper, this is a complete surprise as we always thought he was a Farmer throughout his life. He is deceased by this time as I believe he died in 1909, so now I have sent off for his death certificate to see where he was residing at the time of death and what his occupation was.

Gibson family photos

I went to visit my Uncle Alan and his partner Mavis yesterday, which was a lovely day. Alan had managed to borrow some old family photographs from his adopted sister Kathy. So we spent the afternoon scanning about 150 of the photos, with my new scanner might I add, and I will now post some of the pictures.

Here is a small selection of my favourite ones so far

The one above is Allan Gibson (better know as Uncle Pip) born circa 1887, he is the brother to my great grandfather John Gibson.






This is Allan Hodgson, my grandmother's cousin

Doesn't he look glamorous.

Celebration of Family History - Chorley

I went to the Celebration of Family History at Astley Hall at Chorley today, which was very interesting.

They have some really useful stalls there, including Preston Records Office so I asked the gentleman behind the stall about the Workhouse records, if you have read my previous posts you will already know about my hunt for further information on William Moon.

Anyway the man said that if it was Burnley Workhouse I had been interested in they would have been able to provide me with lots as they have all the records but they hardly have any for Preston, which is just sod's law isn't it. They only really have information on the workhouse itself no family records.

I also had a nice chat to a lady called Margaret Purcell who was from the Irish group of the LFHHS who gave me some really useful tips, and a list of good books, to help me get further on my Irish side of the family.

So watch this space I intend to do some more research on my Irish roots by the end of this year.

All in all it was a nice afternoon. Astley Hall is a lovely building and the staff were wandering around in Elizabethan costumes, which does add a nice touch.

http://www.ukattraction.com/north-west-england/astley-hall.htm

Am going to visit my uncle tomorrow to look at some family photos, taking my new scanner with me so hopefully will be able to scan them whilst I am there, see I knew the portable scanner would come in useful.

New scanner, very excited

My old scanner hasn't worked for months now and I have been copying certificates by photographing them, which just isn't as good as using a scanner, scanners are so nice and smooth and give nice clear copies. So I ordered a new one and its a little portable one, so in theory I can carry around with my laptop, which I probably won't do but I could if I wanted to.

Anyway as well as the scanner arriving today the will of Thomas Brown also arrived, he died on the 7 Feb 1889 and his will was drawn up on 14 April 1884, I have attached a copy.

It is really interesting as it confirms that daughter Isabella did marry Robert Park, Martha did marry James Batty and I presume the "son in law William Hayston of Borwick" is the William Haston husband of Margaret Agnes, who I believed died the year before Thomas drew up his will. Isn't it a good feeling when you receive a document that gives you so much information. There is a line on it that isn't very clear, it does mention daughter Ann and gives her married surname but because its been added in its difficult to read. If anybody has any ideas on what it says please let me know.

Right well I will go back to my scanning.

Martha Brown

I have received the marriage certificate of Martha Brown and James Batty, Martha is the half-sister of Ellen Wilson.

Marriage details
25 Dec 1869 Register Office, Sedbergh
James Batty (31yrs) bachelor - Husbandman - Marthwaite, Sedbergh - father Thomas Batty (Farmer)
Martha Brown (24 yrs) spinster - Marthwaite, Sedbergh - father Thomas Brown (farmer)
witnesses John Askew and Elizabeth Askew

Looking at the census returns 1871 onwards I find them in 1871 living at Beckside, Sedbergh, Yorkshire and Thomas Allan Gibson (who is Ellen Wilson's son) is living with them and working on their farm, noted as being a servant. Wish they had put him down as a nephew I would have found Martha much sooner, but our ancestors don't make things easy do they?

So I am doing well with the Brown children's marriages now, only a couple more to find, and one of them I think may not have got married and died in between 1841 and 1851.

I now have found lots of Batty children, 7 in fact, John (1875) Lucy (1877) Jesse (1879) Bessie (1880) Maggie (1883) Willie (1885) Tom (1887). James and Martha seemed to move around alot as well 1871 in Sedbergh, Yorkshire, 1881 still in Sedbergy, 1891 Diddlesbury, Shropshire and 1901 Ludlow, Herefordshire

Kirby Lonsdale

After visiting the records office I decided to go to Kirby Lonsdale on my way home to see if I could find any of my ancestors in the graveyard at St Mary's. I had realised whilst I was in the records office that I had forgotten my camera, I am not blonde for nothing you know. But it was a beautiful day so thought I would go anyway to find it for future reference.

I am really glad I did as it was a beautiful day and at St Marys Church you can see "Ruskin's View" which I believe John Ruskin said was "one of the loveliest views in England" after seeing Turners painting of the scene.

http://www.thecumbriadirectory.com/People/John_Ruskin/John_Ruskin.php

I did have my mobile with me so I did take a picture of the church itself and a few of the view, will post them shortly.

Here are the pictures I took with my mobile



Anyway with not having the camera I decided not to wade through the long grass to find the graves I was looking for and will save that till next time I go.

The only other thing I want to say about Kirby Lonsdale is that it is a beautiful, peaceful little place and I am so proud my relatives lived in such a beautiful place and I will definitely be spending more time there.

Kendal Records Office

Well I finally got to Kendal, car park at the Records office was full to spilling over, so anybody wanting to visit there don't bother trying to get on the car park in the morning. So I had to find another car park, luckily there is a shopping centre close by so I parked on there.

So in I go, I have to say the staff there are absolutely lovely, really helpful, I always hate asking for help as staff in records offices are usually so busy, but at Kendal they are great they take the time to help everybody who comes through the door.

Unfortunately I still haven't found Ellen Wilson's father, but I am now quite sure its not Thomas Brown as I did find her marriage in the Kirby Lonsdale parish records and although it was difficult to read it does not say Thomas Brown, although it is a Thomas it looks more like Boote or Booth. I have got a copy of the marriage cert. from the GRO but it is a typed copy and the fathers name is obviously mis-transcribed.

So anyway I had taken a list of people I wanted to find including all Ellen Wilson's half siblings baptisms. Which I was successful with most of them, and also a couple of their deaths.

One of Ellen's half sisters was Elizabeth Mary Brown and I was so excited to find a letter that had been put in the parish records, so therefore somebody had kindly copied it when they copied the registers onto the microfilm. It is dated 7 Apr 1932, she would have been 77 at the time.

It's a sweet little letter asking for a copy of her baptism record, she has detailed her parents names, her full name and the approximate date of her christening and it's spot on with the information I have found for her. But the best thing about this was I didn't know who she married but on her little letter she had signed her name, obviously her married name, which was by this time Elizabeth Mary Bentham. So then I went back to the parish records and found her marriage, the reason why I hadn't found her before was on the marriage register she had put her name as Mary Brown. So I took this information home and checked the census records and fond her on the 1881, 1891 and 1901 census and interestingly she had her name as Mary in 1881 but then has reverted to Elizabeth Mary in 1891 and 1901. Aren't our ancestors a pest keeping changing their names?

I would have taken a copy of the letter but I wasn't using the microfilm that has the printer attached to it and somebody else was using it so will get a copy of it when I next go there, as there is still lots for me to look for there.

Anyway apart from putting a huge scratch down the side of my car when I was reversing out of the car parking space it was a fun day at the Records office.

Kendal Records Office

I am off to Kendal Records office today, which I am really looking forward to, have got a list of "people" I want to find today, but the most important one is to find who the father was of Ellen Wilson.

I am also, hopefully, going to visit Kirby Lonsdale after the records office to see if I can find any relevant graves at St Marys church, I have no idea if there are any there but it will be nice to visit there even if I am on a wild goose chase.

Richard Marsden Pankhurst

Just a bit of trivia

Marriage at Parish Church of Lytham in Lancashire
30 June 1894
groom Walter Bradshaw and bride Alice Maud Marsden

one of the witnesses was Richard Marsden Pankhurst who was the husband to Emmeline Pankhurst

Ellen Wilson

Ellen Wilson born c1833 Kirby Lonsdale, Westmorland

Well I found a link to my Wilson/Brown line only for the seeds of doubt to who Ellen Wilson's father was to be implanted in my brain.

I had realised that her mother Eleanor Wilson, c1812 Whinfell, Westmorland had married Thomas Brown, c1802 Burton in Lonsdale, Yorkshire in 1838 and they had gone on to have 8 children together, but I had led myself to believe that Ellen was just born before they got married.

But as we all know WE CANNOT PRESUME ANYTHING, so I want/need proof of who her father was. The IGI has not been helpful at all in this case as there is no trace of Ellen's christening so its off to the records office I need to go, hopefully by the end of this week.

William Moon

Reply from the Records Office

Well I got a reply from the Records office but it was quite disappointing as they havent any records for the period when William Moon died. Never mind I suppose it was a shot in the dark.

William Moon

Records Office

I got a response from the records office yesterday, 23rd June 08, to say that they do hold some records for Fulwood Workhouse and they have asked me to provide them with further information on who I am researching. So for now I have sent them the following information on William Moon

William Moon - occupation Boiler Maker (journeyman)
born c 1823
died 11 Dec 1895

Hopefully they will get back to me as quickly as they did this time.

William Moon

At the moment I am researching my Moon side of the family. After receiving William Moon's (my 3xgreat grandfather) death certificate 11 Dec 1895 I found that he had died whilst in the workhouse at Fulwood in Preston.

It's a bit of a shock to find a relative dying in the workhouse and I am interested in finding out more about William and why he was there. I have emailed the Lancashire Records office and asked them if they hold the records for Fulwood Workhouse, which I am sure they do, and what information they have on the workhouse.

Looking through the census returns for 1891 for the workhouse I think I may have found some members of my Southworth family there on census night as well. So the information the LRO hold is going to be of great interest to me.