LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY

Rossendale Branch Newsletter August 2013

LIBRARY DROP IN SESSIONS
Beginners Welcome. Haslingden Library every Monday 5.30 – 8.30 pm
Note: the doors to Haslingden Library close at 7.30 pm.

and at Rawtenstall Library every Tuesday 1.30 – 3.30 pm

We may be able to do simple look-ups for distant members. When contacting us with an enquiry, please include your membership number

The LFHHS Resource Centre.

The Society’s Resource and Research Centre at 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle, BB5 3LU is open every Thursday from 1.00pm – 5.00pm and 1st Saturday of each month 1.00pm..

COMING EVENTS

20 July - 6 October 2013
Lancaster City Museum Market Square, Lancaster, LA1 1HT
Exhibition: Lancaster charters and Lancaster and the pageant
SPECIAL NOTE: Conservation staff from Lancashire Archives will be demonstrating seal repair and other archive conservation techniques on THURSDAYS during this period. For more information see www.lancashire.gov.uk/museums and www.archives.lancashire.gov.uk

5th October 2013
The Catholic Family History Society Annual Conference & AGM
This event will be held at the Salford Diocesan Archives, St. Augustine’s Hall, Grosvenor Square, All Saints, Manchester M15 6BW

5th September 2013
Whose History is it anyway?
University of Central Lancashire, Fylde Road,
(UCLan's Foster Building) Corporation Street, Preston PR1 2HE) (map)
This is an academic conference looking at the role of various forms of history in society and the role of TV, museums, family history, local history etc. It will be open to members of the public. Advance booking essential. For more information contact Emma Woodward: publichistory@uclan.ac.uk or 01772 892654.

Our 40th Anniversary Celebrations

14th September 2013.

The LFHHS is holding a Family History Fair at King George's Hall, Northgate, Blackburn BB2 1AA. The day starts at 10.00 am until 4.00 pm. It is expected that each branch will have its own stall. There will also be bookstalls and representatives from other relevant bodies, the GRO, local Register Offices, etc. Admission £3. Children free.

15th September 2013

The Rossendale Branch will be hosting the Society's Annual Dinner which will be held at the Masonic Hall, Ashday Lea, Haslingden Road, Rawtenstall. 12.30 for 1.00pm. For full details see the May edition of “Lancashire”. or you can click through from our Rossendale Branch website where you will find an application form, menu and information on how to reach the venue.

Rossendale News, Notes and Queries

Last month we had a talk by Brenda Hustler on “Tracing Irish Ancestors”. The talk was excellent, informative and well presented. It would have been interesting even for anyone without Irish ancestors. Brenda has produced a comprehensive leaflet entitled “Resources for Researching Irish Ancestry using the Internet”. This includes useful websites, not only in England but also more importantly perhaps, in Ireland.
For more information, contact our Irish Ancestry Group. Email irish@lfhhs.org.uk

Haslingden Parish Registers
published by the Lancashire Parish Register Society in 1994. Vol. 139 covers Baptisms 1603 – 1685; Marriages 1603 – 1698, Burials 1603-179.

The Hon. General Editor stated in his preface that the society was “particularly pleased to be able to publish this volume for two different reasons. The confused state of the original had earlier defeated the ingenuity of earlier transcribers until John Simpson undertook the task of thoroughly sorting out the MSS and we are very grateful to him for having done so. It is also one of the earliest Lancashire registers remaining unpublished”

According to John Simpson the parish registers are deposited at the Lancashire Archives. There are two volumes covered by his transcript. The first register consists of a number of folios bound in no particular order. Some of the folios are blank, many are in a poor state of preservation and most have been heavily repaired. The earliest entries date from 1609, there are some undated folios. The first register contains baptisms to 1644, marriages to 1638 and burials to 1653, together with stray folios together with marriages 1698 and burials 1678-9. The second register is in better condition with folios in the correct order except for a few years of marriages and burials which are mixed..... Several folios in the first register have been dated from external sources. These include wills, marriage bonds, visitation records and the court rolls of the manor of Accrington. The earliest folios in the first register have baptisms, marriages and burials mixed together and sometimes not enough of an entry has remained to determine which event is recorded, for this reason a combined transcript of these folios has been produced up to 1624. After that date the registers are arranged in the usual three categories.

Extracts from “A short account of Haslingden Parish Church” by Henry Stephenson. Haslingden Historian and former schoolmaster. 1843 -1922

Civil Marriages
During the Commonwealth marriage ceased to be a religious ceremony, and became a civil act before a magistrate, the banns being published three successive market days at the market cross. Lawrence Rawsthorne Esq., JP of Newhall, Edenfield frequently performed this duty at Newhall, Haslingden and elsewhere.

Here are some examples of civil marriages:- “October 1863 Peter Stones of Bromley, Edgeworth and Margaret Reid of Tottyngton married at Roberti Claytons by Mr. Dewhurste.” 1654 April 24 Jephrey Taylor of Haslingden, and Elizabeth Poole of Preston married 24 of April att Newhall, Robte Dewhurst Clerke and William Dobson, witnesses according to acte. of Partliam, for marriage beffore me. L. Rawstorne.

1654 December 5th, George Duckworth of the P’ishe of Bury and Anne Holte this P’ishe, did the fifthe dai of December above consent of marriage either to other by P’nouncinge Plainlie and Distinctlie the words mentioned beffore me at Haslingden in the P’sence of Andrew Holden the Elder, Gent and William Dobson Clerke, and were p’nounced husband and wiffe accordinglie, as witness my hand the 28th day of April 1656. L. Rawtorne.

Other entries of interest:
Nov. 10 1653 (Buried) wife of George Hargreaves of Goodshaw buried at Goodshaw Chapell in the Chancell.
(The Registers at Goodshaw do not begin until 1740, all baptisms and burials solemnized there were registered at Haslingden.)
Oct. 22 1660 Alice daughter of John Cowpe of Owlerbottom the first that was baptized by the Booke of Com. Prayer after the King’s (Charles I. 1649) deathe.
1683 August 23. Alice wife of Robert Deaden of Hudhey, buried in linen.

Quakers
1699 June 23 Henry Hargreaves de Bridge end buried at Chapel Hill (in Rossendale the Quaker’s burial ground)
(Here are six more entries relating to Quakers.)
1720 Grace wife of Ralph Haworth of Baxenden was christened June ye 5th 1720 born March 14th day 1674.
1774 June 4th (buried) Margaret daughter of Charles Haworth of Flaxmoss. Quaker.
1733 Feb 10 Richard Rawstorne of Oaden near 33 years old
1733 Feb 10 Ann Rawstorne of Oaden near 30 years old
1733 Feb. 10 Susan wife of John Schofield of Torside, near 21 years old.
1733 Feb. 10 Richard child of John and Susan Schofield of Torside.
(All bapt. this 10th day having been Quakers)

Methodists
1751 Dec. 1st (bap) John son of John Taylor of Hollinyate a Methodist.
1761 Aug. 19th (bur) Robert Holden, Mason of Lower Cockham a Methodist.

To be continued.