The man with 175 Grandchildren ....

[Gaille]

Did anyone see this on Northwest Tonight this evening?

Apparently children playing in a Churchyard in Over Darwen saw this Headstone & asked the Vicar about it because of the amount for grandchildren it said the man had.

Northwest tonight & the Vicar are trying to locate any relatives of the couple - anyone out there claim them??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/puffbox/hyperpuff/audiovideo/england/7906862.stm

Edit: just paused it to get the names............

"Alice wife of Richard Townley - Mother of 15 Children"
"Richard Townley - Died January 16th 1837 - Aged 85 Years - Grandfather of 175 Children"

Gaille

[forthefamily]

Well according to Genuki ....DARWEN (Over) is a town in Blackburn parish, Lancashire.

On IGI there is a possible marriage record of a Richard Townley marrying an Alice Walsh on 15 Mar 1778 Blackburn, Lancashire.........too bad he died before the 1841 census and I suppose Alice predeceased him 

Really interesting that someone made note of his grandchildren...must have been a local celeb in his day 

mab

[Gaille]

Well according to Genuki ....DARWEN (Over) is a town in Blackburn parish, Lancashire.

On IGI there is a possible marriage record of a Richard Townley marrying an Alice Walsh on 15 Mar 1778 Blackburn, Lancashire.........too bad he died before the 1841 census and I suppose Alice predeceased him 

Really interesting that someone made note of his grandchildren...must have been a local celeb in his day 

mab

Found Alices death on the Lancashire online Parish Clerk site....

Burial: 29 Nov 1812 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Alice Townley - Wife of Richard Townley
    Abode: Over Darwen

These could be some of their Children .............

Baptism: 16 May 1784 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Alice Townley - Dau of Richard Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen
Burial: 14 Jun 1785 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Alice Townley - Dau of Rich'd Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen

Baptism: 1 Mar 1789 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Alice Townley - Dau of Rich'd Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen


Baptism: 29 Sep 1782 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Betty Townley - Dau of Richard Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen


Baptism: 29 Nov 1812 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
George Townley - Son of Thomas Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen


Baptism: 29 Nov 1812 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Rhoda Townley - Dau of Tho's Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen

Baptism: 5 Jul 1794 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Rich'd Townley - Son of Rich'd Townley & Alice
    Abode: Over Darwen

Baptism: 3 Jun 1787 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Townley Townley - Son of Rich'd Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen

Baptism: 2 Jan 1786 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Tho's Townley - Son of Richard Townley & Alice
    Abode: Lower Darwen


Burial: 27 Dec 1800 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Izabel Townley - Dau of Richard & Alice
    Abode: Over Darwen

These are the only ones on the list with parents names listed in the info.

One if the 175 Grandchildren!

Baptism: 6 Apr 1806 Darwen Chapel (Now St James), Darwen, Lancashire, England
Richard Townley - Son of Townley Townley & Ellen
    Abode: Over Darwen


Gaille

[forthefamily]

Alice died 1812 and he died 1837....goodness  He obviously was a very robust gentleman....I wonder if he remarried 

mab

added: doing the maths....15 children that possibly all lived....highly unlikely but maybe they took after their dad....175 grandchildren that would be possibly 11.66 children for each child 

[uk2003]

Hi Gaille

I watched it last night as well, was totally amazed at the record. Bet not many families nowadays could match that 

Must have something to do with the long, dark cold nights in "them there hills" 

Nice finds as well on the parish clerk site

Ken

[uk2003]

Just out of curiosity I checked the BT phone book.

Townley name comes up 7 times in Darwen and Blackburn areas.

Wonder if any of them saw the news clip.

[oldecrone]

I am struggling with this! Although I'm not doubting that Alice had 15 children, I have only found ten definites and one possible. Two of the definites died as infants and another possibly died in his teens.

I have traced three children, who each had seven children - maybe more, of course.

I wonder when the headstone was erected? If it was erected in 1837 when Richard died, I would think it virtually impossible that he had 175 grandchildren at that stage. I wonder if the stone should have said "175 grandchildren and GREAT grandchildren" as that would make a lot more sense.

Also puzzling me - there is no mention of this family in Jeremy Hunt's book. I am positive that such a large family would have been known to him and he dictated his memoirs in 1887, so most of the "grandchildren" would still have been alive.

Interesting puzzle and I may try to solve it when I have more time!

oldecrone

[toni*]

i wonder if Richard remarried after Alices death and then had more children?

just a thought

[Our Kid]

Richard Townley came from Lower Darwen, he wasn't a Darrener.  Upper Chapel or St James's as it now is was nearer to him than St Mary's Church in Blackburn which was the Parish Church at that time. This is where he married.

I have found 10 definite children, two of whom died young.
The eldest was baptised in Sharples, Bolton.  The others that I found were baptised in St James so there could be other children baptised elsewhere.

Pauline