Rolnora, Pennines, clatyon bradley, and Mo, thank you all so much for helping me out with this!
Yes, there does seem to be quite a good case for Ginny Pollard (d 1837), Jenny Pollard (m 1809), and Jinney Gudgeon (b 1781) all being the same person. I haven't come across the name before as Jenny wouldn't be a common name at all among working-class Irish Catholics in the 19th Cent., but would Jenny/Ginny/Jinney all be acceptable variations of the one name?
My hunch would make me think my Hannah Pollard was probably the Hannah born to Thomas and Jenny in 1813. And certainly Jenny Gudgeon is good candidate too. I notice that in Hannah's childrens' baptisms in 1838 and '39, the Godparents' names are: H. Ingram, Mary Shorrock, John Moxton, and Catherine Casey, so with the exception of the last name, all English names. I presume Godparents would have to be Catholics themselves, which may have reduced the possible candidates among Hannah Pollard's own family if she did indeed come from a CoE background. Ingram, Shorrock, and Moxton aren't names I've come across going through possible Pollard BDMs on lan-opc.
There doesn't seem to be anything cropping up so far to provide a really solid case for linking Hannah Pollard back to some of those families we have mentioned.
Hannah and Patrick's first born children in Blackburn were Jane and James; their other children were Catherine, Rosanna, Patrick, Margaret, and Mary Dunn. No Jenny interestingly (but no Thomas or John either, which we know were the married couple's fathers' names). This doesn't seem to point to much of a pattern in tracing Hannah Pollard's family in Blackburn. Thomas Pollard of Church Kirk did have a son James and a mother-in-law Rosemon, but to be quite honest, I am pretty sure this Thomas Pollard was not a warper and his daughter "Ann" seems to have died in 1817.
(Edit: I only just copped on that the Dunn's first-born, Jane, might well indeed have been named after a Ginny or Jenny Pollard).
Thanks for the clarification on Knuzden Brook, great to have some local knowledge to clarify these things! I've been trying to locate "Sawyers Court" where Patrick Dunn and Hannah lived in 1841, but without any luck, I presume it must be long gone. Does anybody have an idea where it might have been?
Thanks also for clarification of different occupations at the time, I certainly thought Crofter was an agricultural job. Its only now I look it up I realise that it generally was only used in Scotland at that time.
I found this little nugget in a local Blackburn newspaper for May 1841, I would think there is a strong chance it refers to my Patrick Dunn, joiner (not sure that it can shed any light on the family tree though!):
"Patrick Dunn, a joiner in the employ of Mr. W. Dickenson, was charged with assaulting his master. Defendant had been dismissed from complainant's service, and on leaving there was some dispute between him and his master, both of whom apparently lost their temper, complainant striking at Dunn with his fist, and Dunn returning the blow with his axe, which he took out of his kit for that purpose. Ordered to pay the expenses and find sureties."
Seems a light sentence for taking an axe to man, I thought in those days that you got sent to Australia for stealing a loaf of bread! I won't complain though.
Thanks again for all your great help!
