lesB, Swanandprasad and Ruskie,
Thanks for your personal message. You asked for my information on Adam LEIGHTON.
Ralph SPOONER married Adam’s daughter Susannah LEIGHTON at Earsdon St. Alba on 14-Feb-1778. They had ten children, all baptised at Earsdon between 1780 and 1804, with the exception of the first George SPOONER (son of Ralph & Susanna SPOONER, Pitman, near Hartley) who buried there without a Church baptism on 06-Dec-1793 (aged unrecorded). It was their tenth child, the second George, born and baptised in 1804 who was my direct ancestor. Ralph SPOONER is described in Earsdon’s baptism registers as being a native of Lemmington, NBL, twice and in 1804 as a native of Newburn parish. I have been unable to discover any other information on Ralph SPOONER other that he was buried at St. Alba on 06-Aug-1813, aged 62 years, implying that he was born about 1851.
As for his wife, Susannah LEIGHTON, the baptism registers show that she was a native Birtley, Durham (once) and Birtley, Northumberland (once).
Birtley, Durham formed part of the parish of Chester-le-Street and did not become a parish in its own right until 1850. Birtley St. Giles, Northumberland, however, was an established parish and its baptism registers show:
Birtley St. Giles, Northumberland
01-Mar-1761 Susannah LEIGHTON Daughter of Adam LEIGHTON and Catherine RILEY was baptised
St. Giles was a small parish and only 12 baptisms were carried out in 1761. I have checked these on the IGI and they only record the name of the child’s father except for Susannah’s baptism. This implies that Adam and Catherine were not married at that time.
Adam LEIGHTON had five children baptised at Earsdon St. Alba at almost exactly two yearly intervals between 1767 and 1775. I was concerned at the six-year gap between Susannah’s baptism at Birtley in 1761 and his son John’s baptism at Earsdon in 1767. I have checked all the LEIGHTON baptisms recorded on the IGI for the period 1761 to 1767 and only found the following possibility:
Belford, Northumberland
23-Apr-1763 George son of Adam LEIGHTON & Anne CHURNSIDE, Belford, a Bastard Child baptised.
03-Jul-1763 Anne daughter of John CHURNSIDE senior, Belford, buried.
11-Jul-1763 George son of Adam LEIGHTON & Anne CHURNSIDE, Belford, buried.
I have also checked for the marriage of Adam Leighton and Catherine and come up with the following.
Washington Holy Trinity, Durham
25-Jul-1764 Adam LEIGHTON & Catherine RIDLEY, both of this parish, were married in this church by banns by J. ROBSON, Minister. In the presence of Ann JENNINGS and Mary GRAYSON.
I was tempted to assume that Catherine RIDLEY’s parents had refused their consent for her marriage in 1761 and that she had to wait until she reached full age in 1764. I have checked an index to Earsdon St. Alba’s burial registers between 1813 and 1837, however, and found the following to be the only LEIGHTON burial in that period:
02-May-1821 Catherine LEIGHTON Percy Main 95 years.
I have not checked this entry back to the actual parish registers but it would imply that this Catherine was born in 1826. If she was Adam’s wife then she would have been aged 35 when Susannah was born in 1861 and 49 when Joseph, her last child was born in 1775. She could, of course, have been his wife’s mother and a 35 year old grandmother. I have not checked the burial registers prior to 1812 for Adam’s burial.
Please let me have your thoughts
Albert
