Hi fofofo
I have been trying to see if your Harpurs and mine are connected - but I can’t find anything to tie them together.
I have looked into Harpurs families from various places around that part of Derbyshire - Etwall, Littleover, Boylestone, Morley. All very close places. There are quite a lot of wills for various families in those places.
So starting with the furthest away in time that mentions Littleover:
The will of John Harpur in 1691, rector of Morley (About 5 miles north of Littleover), is one of the most interesting.
If you haven’t seen it, he talks of “the paternal Estate of my Ancestors in Littleover and Mickleover”.
He had quite a lot of land to pass on - mainly to his son John, He also has several daughters, including Elizabeth, who was the widow of Sir Samuel Sleigh. So they moved in the upper circles of society. I don’t know who the father of this John Harpur, rector, was. I think he was probably related to the Harpur Crewes, but no proof.
John’s sister Mary died in 1694 in London. Another interesting will. It sounds as if the family had a house in London, as well as in Derbyshire. She left a will proved at the PCC London (on Ancestry).
She leaves bequests to the poor of Littleover, Etwall, Morley and St Andrews Holbourne in London, along with various other people. So the ‘Harpurs’ obviously had connections/ were connected in all those places.
There seem to have been innumerable John and Thomas Harpurs in many of these families! Makes it very difficult to pin down exactly who was who.
You can’t always rely on the name ‘Harpur’ being related to the Harpur Crewes as well. I have seen the names written ‘Harpur’ and ‘Harper’ within the same document! I think many of the Derbyshire clerks wrote it ‘Harpur’ just because that was how the Harpur Crewes wrote it, and the people weren’t necessarily part of that family.
Have you seen the will of Thomas Harpur 1835 of Littleover?
He mentions his two brothers Joseph and John, brickmakers of Derby. So looks like your family. Gives you a link, even if you can’t find their baptisms, which may be missing for a variety of reasons.
I see there is a will for a John Haprur 1747 at Littleover, and also one in 1721 at Littleover, on findmypast, which I have not looked at yet, which would be interesting to look at and see if the trail can be made through them.
Not sure what you mean about the ‘1809 Census’ in your last post? As far as I am aware, there is no 1809 Census.