Possible and Probable Relatives of the Lancasters of Gisburn
More work needed to fit these in the tree!
This webpage is complemented by a set of others which cover, both the major Gisburn Lancaster family trees we have so far been able to reconstruct (the Paythorne branch, the Horton branch, and the branch who were merchants in the town of Gisburn itself), and also a page of speculations about their earliest history, where no secure family tree is possible – even well into the period where there are baptism, marriage and burial registers.
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Below, I have tried to list baptisms and burials which seem connected, either in Gisburn or nearby areas, and not mentioned in the other webpages (although I have not tried to avoid mentioning the same Lancasters on different webpages).
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However I have not tried to explain all Lancaster marriages in Gisburn, for the simple reason that it appears to have been common practice that men would travel to another parish to marry.
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It is also noticeable that a large percentage of the Lancasters I have failed to allocate are said to have been residents of the town. This implies the possibility that some of them may have been tradesmen, who would by their nature by prone to moving from town to town, making them hard to trace.
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Richard Lancaster of Dent married 1 April 1598 to Margaret Hodshon. Might he have been making this long trip because his family had done it before? Might the Lancasters of Gisburn have originated in Dent, which is in Sedbergh?
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Richard Lancaster, son of Christopher Lancaster of Gisburn, was buried 18 August 1643.
…possibly connected to…
Maria Lancaster, daughter of Christopher Lancaster of Paythorne, baptized 18 June 1643.
…possibly connected to…
Christopher Lancaster, son of Christopher Lancaster parson of Bolton by Bolland, noted in the Gisburn register as baptized 16 June 1644. This Christopher in Bolton by Bolland had other children baptized and buried in the registers there. He had married in 1642 in Linton, and I think this is where his roots were.
(During this period there were also two Christopher Lancasters “of Newsholme”, with whom these Christophers are presumably being contrasted.)
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William Lancaster of Stirk House married 8 May 1707 to Jeneta Andrews.
…possibly connected to…
William Lancaster “junior” of Gisburn, who had a daughter Margaret Lancaster baptized 15 September 1709, and a son John Lancaster baptized 8 February 1710/11 and buried the next day.
…possibly connected to…
William Lancaster “senior” of Walton House buried 19 April 1712 (leaving a will). From the will it appears his wife was Dorothie, and he had some connection to the Dodgsons, who were also closely related to the Paythorne Lancasters. Might Dorothy have remarried in 1735 to Thomas Foster?
…possibly connected to…
William Lancaster of Gisburn buried 22 September 1718
….possibly connected to…
William Lancaster of Gisburn buried 17 March 1727/28.
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John Lancaster, smith (faber ferrer) of Gisburn, buried 25 November 1725.
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Richard Lancaster of Bolton by Bowland, the neighbouring parish married Mary Hargreaves of Addingham in 1757. It seems extremely likely that Richard and Mary are the couple who were subsequently having children in nearby Colne in Lancashire, in which case DNA research has shown that his descendents are close relatives to the Paythorne Lancasters of Gisburn. Coincidences of time and place suggest that he might be a son of William Lancaster of that family who died young and recently married, a resident of Bolton by Bowland.
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Christopher Lancaster of Willcross Brow, and later of Gisburn, covers the following entries:
Baptism: Mary, daughter of Christopher Lancaster of Willcross Brow 21 June 1741.
Baptism: Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Lancaster of Willcross-Brow 29 May 1743.
Burial: Mary Daughter of Christopher Lancaster of Willcross-Brow 23 Mar 1747
Baptism: Henry Son of Christopher Lancaster of Willcross Brow 02 Nov 1746
Burial: Henry son of Christopher Lancaster of Gisburn 29 Aug 1751
Burial: William son of Christopher Lancaster of Gisburn 22 Jul 1756
Burial: Margaret Wife of Chrisr Lancaster of Gisburn 02 Feb 1776
Burial: Chrissr Lancaster of Gisburn 09 Jan 1785
A possible marriage might be the one in the neighboring parish of Marton in Craven, where a Christopher Lancaster married a Margaret Spencer, 10 October 1731. I notice that there is a webpage which associates this marriage with a Lancaster family in Sessay.
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John Lancaster, weaver or webster, of Gisburn covers the following:
Marriage: John Lancaster Webster and Margaret Pickhaver Spinster 06 Aug 1765. Wits.: Lawrence Dobson James Garthwaite
Baptism: Betty Daughter of John Lancaster of Gisburn Weaver 05 May 1766
Baptism: Mary Daughter of John Lancaster of Gisburn 09 Oct 1768
Burial: Margaret Wife of John Lancaster of Gisburn 22 Oct 1768 (note: soon after the birth of Mary)
Marriage: John Lancaster Webster & Jennet Cartmell Spinster 20 Mar 1769 (unsigned?)
Baptism: William Son of Jennett Cartmell & Jonathan Lancaster Illegit: Born 03 Dec 1769. Why illegitimate? Was the marriage not correct?
Marriage: John Lancaster Weaver and Mary Sclater Spinster by virtue of a Licence 16 Jan 1770. Wits.: Kirkham Clarke James Garthwaite
Baptism: John Son of John Lancaster of Gisburn 12 Aug 1770
Baptism: William Son of John Lancaster of Gisburn 19 Apr 1772
Baptism: Christopher Son of John Lancaster of Gisburn 20 Sep 1773
Baptism: Margaret Daur of John Lancaster Gisburn 07 Jan 1776
Baptism: William Son of Jno Lancaster of Gisburn 20 Sep 1778
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John Lancaster, weaver, of Nappa covers the following.
Marriage: 10 Oct 1799 John Lancaster Weaver 18 Ann Wawn Spinster 17 M. Riley T. Wilson
Baptism: Mary Lancaster, John of Nappa & Ann, born 13 Jan 1800, baptised 02 Mar 1800
Baptism: John Lancaster, John of Nappa & Ann, born 29 Feb 1804, baptised 05 Mar 1804
This is the start of the Lancaster family tree of Craig Thornber. Discussion continues on his webpage. But Pat Gaskin points out that these baptisms, in an independent chapel in Horton-by-Gisburn (part of Gisburn near to ,or perhaps sometimes over-lapping, the part called Nappa), also seem to fit...
Baptism: 29 March 1802 Nance Langcaster. Parents John and Ann.
Baptism: 27 March 1807 James Lancaster. Parents John and Ann.
Baptism: 9 April 1816 William Lancaster. Parents John and Ann.
(So far I have just transcribed these from the IGI. The register might say more.) In the 1841 census John has a lodger who is a fellow cotton weaver named James Lancaster shown as 30 years old (approximately). One would suspect he would be a son, and he fits the one in the independent register.
Going back further, it is thought that this John might have a relationship with the previous one, also a weaver, although his age did not match that of the John baptized in that family.
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Although these Lancasters are not from within Gisburn, at least according to records traced so far, they are from nearby, and it has been shown in the Lancaster DNA project to be related, perhaps quite far back in time, to the Paythorne Lancasters of Gisburn…
Robert Lancaster of Clapham, and Thornton in Lonsdale (does not ever appear in Gisburn records):
Marriage: 18 June 1797 Clapham, Yorkshire, to Alice Simpson. Alice was in Kirkby Lonsdale with son Stephen in 1841, 60 years old, perhaps in Kirkby Lonsdale in 1861 also.
Baptism: John Lancaster, 23 December 1798, Clapham, Yorkshire. (Son of Robert.)
Baptism: Thomas Lancaster, 06 October 1801, Thornton in Lonsdale, Yorkshire. (Son of Robert of Ireby.) His son Thomas married Ann Wildman in Bingley in 1824. They had several children and have descendents living in the USA.
Baptism: Stephen Lancaster, 13 January 1805, Thornton. (Son of Robert, labourer, and Alice of Ireby.) Later a shoemaker.
Baptism: James Lancaster, 11 October 1807, Thornton. (Son of Robert, labourer, and Alice of Ireby.) 1841 in Nappa, Gisburn as a cotton weaver, 30 years old, born Yorkshire. 1851 in Wray with Botton, a silk spinner, 43 years old born Westhouse. 1861 in Huddersfield, a silk spinner, 52 years old, born Thornton in Yorkshire. In 1871 in Lancaster, engine tenter in a cotton mill, 63 years old, born Masingill, Yorkshire.
Baptism: Isabella Lancaster, 30 September 1810, Thornton. (Daughter of Robert, labourer, and Alice of Westhouses.)
My current thoughts on the origin of this Robert is that he was perhaps the same Robert who was having children from an earlier marriage in Bingley, not long before his marriage in Clapham. The argument for this is not strong, but it involves (a) the name Robert Lancaster being relatively unusual in the area, except in Bingley and Keighley (b) the fact that this family moved to Bingley eventually, which is more likely if you already have family links there…
Marriage: 9 January 1779 to Elizabeth Bradley in Bingley.
Baptism: Mary 1781
Baptism: William 1783
Baptism: Ann 1788
Baptism: Robert 1790
Could John Lancaster of Nappa be a brother or close relative to Robert senior?
I have not found a baptism for Robert in Bingley or Keighley.
The name Robert Lancaster seems to have a longer tradition in the general Bingley area. The will of Thomas Lancaster of Micklethwaite Banktop in Bingley, 1730, mentions William Lancaster son of his brother Robert Lancaster, who was apparently under 21 and lived in Baildon. These earlier Lancasters mainly appear in the Keighley register and not the Bingley one. Nevertheless it appears from the work of the Lancaster DNA project that there may have been a connection between this family and the Gisburn Lancasters.
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James Lancaster, son of William Dobson Lancaster was buried 24 July 1804. Could the Dobson have been a Dodgson? The Dodgsons and Lancasters of Gisburn often intermarried, but the surname Dobson was also found in the area. Notice for example that there was a Dobson witness to one of the marriages above, and so one of the Williams in that family may have had Dobson as a middle name?
It is interesting that the above mentioned 1730 will of Thomas Lancaster of Micklethwaite has a married sister named Elizabeth Dobson. So this may represent yet another family from the eastern direction with the West Riding, near Bingley.