Ralph Birkenhead of Hartford

[ATGoldsmith]

I am looking for more information about my 9x great-grandfather Ralph Birkenhead.  He was born in about 1654 though I cannot find a baptism for him.

I am pretty sure that his father was Laurence Birkenhead (1608-1664) and his mother was Eleanor Maddock (1627-1671) because in Ralph's Will it states cousins and nephews/nieces that fit with this family. Also, he names one of his sons Lawrence.

His first wife was called Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) though I can't find the marriage record.  They had 6 children together before she died in 1691 and was buried in Aston-by-Sutton.  Their children were: John, Randolph, Ralph, Sarah, Lawrence and Elizabeth. 

His second wife was called Alice (maiden name unknown) and I cannot find this marriage record either.  Alice died in 1720 and is buried in Weaverham. 

His third wife was called Anne Norman (neé Peck) and there is a record for this marriage in 1721 in Weaverham.

Ralph died in 1732 and in his Will it states that he is to be buried with his second wife (Alice) in Weaverham with a new headstone erected for him.  I have visited the grave and I have a photo of it and it says that he was a Yeoman of Hartford.

So, I would like to see if there is any more information I can find about his wives and what he did.  He seems like a nice man because in his will he donates a reasonable amount of money to the poor people of Northwich!

Thanks!

ATG

[garstonite]

it's possible Ralph Birkenhead could have been born  Great Budworth  or Chester ...the only 2 Birkenhead families I can find early 1600 with a Ralph

pre Civil War - 1642 -1651
1609 - Raffe Birchenhead        https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3BK-FMQ
1617 burial   https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NHXR-M4G
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3BG-L2T
...
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NH8T-5YK

[ATGoldsmith]

Thanks garstonite,

I don't think any of these records are a match for my Ralph I'm afraid because they are all too early.  However, I will probably be able to fit them in my tree somewhere!

A bit more information on Ralph's ancestry:

As I said before - his father was Lawrence Birkenhead (1608-1664) and his mother was Eleanor Maddock (1627-1671).

Lawrence's father was John Birkenhead (1577- ) and his mother was Margaret Wyttingham.

John's father was William Birkenhead and his mother was Joan Bradford ( -1626).  This is the furthest back I've got so far - hopefully next time I go to Cheshire I'll be able to find some old Land/Tax/Will records with more information.

Also, there are many variations of the name 'Birkenhead': Birchenhead, Birchenhed, Byrchenhead, Byrchenhed, Berchenhead, Berkinhead, Birchinhead, Bernchenhead,.

Thanks! I would like to get in touch with other descendants of the Birkenhead family, I know there are a few online trees with them on.

ATG

[Jo Harding]

Hello ATGoldsmith,

I have had a look online for Ralph Birkenhead but haven't been able to make much progress. No doubt the same as you.

I noticed in the Parish register for his marriage to Anne Norman, that he is shown as of Kingsley and she was of Northwych. Kingsley places him close to Delamere, so he must have had lands, or farm round there. There is an excellent series of local history books on many parts of Cheshire, in the main they were written by Frank Latham. I know there is one on Kingsley, plus another on Delamere. They are out of print but are available in the Record Office.

Did you notice that on the same page as Ralph's marriage there was a marriage of Samuel Pennington to Anne Birchenhead of Weaverham?

I will have a further search to see if I can come up with anything.

Jo

[ATGoldsmith]

Hi Jo,

Thanks for this information! I hadn't noticed the residences of Ralph and Anne... I'll look into the books and next time I go to Chester I'll be sure to check them out! 

I did notice the other Birkenhead marriage but completely forgot about it! However, there are no Ann Birkenheads in the right time frame in my tree so I'll have to look deeper into that.

Thank you for your help!

ATG

[Jo Harding]

Hello ATG,

I omitted to say that the local history books on Cheshire places, give an account of prominent people and families in each of the areas they cover. These are also available in Chester Library and can be borrowed from there.

I noticed that a High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1506-8 was named Ralph Birkenhead.

http://www.geni.com/projects/Historic-Cheshire/13598

I wondered if you had used the Cheshire Parish Register Database, CPRDB, as this has a number of entries for Birkenhead names in the parish of Davenham, which is close to Northwich and Weaverham.

http://cgi.csc.liv.ac.uk/~cprdb/Live/v3.6/database.html

Jo

[ATGoldsmith]

Jo,

Thanks for your effort!  I didn't know about the High Sherriff being called Ralph Birkenhead so that gives me something to aim for:  I was sure that the Birkenhead name would throw up some interesting people!

Staying with that thought: Ralph's 1st cousin once removed was Sir John Birkenhead who was apparently the "father of journalism".  I'd like to find out more about him as well if anybody knows anything?! 

Thanks again for all your hard work,

ATG

[Jo Harding]

Hello ATG,

This must have been a distinguished family by the look of it.

Have you searched the types of works that might contain information on them? I am thinking of Ormerod's Cheshire which is available in the Record Office. Also, Earwaker:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/3b889894-ca9e-4d06-a418-2c08873c8c7a

Then there are the likes of Debrett's and Burke's Peerage. Both worth a try.

There is an entry for Sir John Birkenhead in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography which contains a large amount of factual information.

http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2455

A search on Google indicated that there are biographies written on him.

I am sure you will find information in the Cheshire Record Office as well as The National Archives.

Jo.

[ATGoldsmith]

Hi Jo,

I haven't seen any of the local works but hopefully, next time I go to Cheshire, I'll be able to have a look through them.  I'm also hoping to visit the National Archives at some point which, I'm sure, will have a lot of information on them.

Because of the free weekend with ancestry I've been able to find loads of books with references to Sir John Birkenhead including his Will which he made on the day he died.  It references a 'Rupert Birkenhead' but doesn't give a relationship to him.  I've not come across any Ruperts in my entire tree so I'm not sure where he fits in but maybe he is a descendant of an earlier generation of Birkenheads?  One source also reckons there is a connection between Sir John Birkenhead and "the antient family of that name in this county (who first held property here in 1508), but of low immediate origin, being the son of a saddler" Charming...!    But this maybe a reference to Ralph Birkenhead, High Sheriff of Cheshire?  I also found out that Ralph was High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire before Cheshire.

ATG