Welcome to this weeks Scavenger Hunt. It looks like one you can get your teeth into.
Good Luck and Good Hunting
Barbara
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My family is searching for its roots in England. We know that our ancestor, Matthew Cockcroft, was born in Yorkshire and joined the York Fencibles (a.k.a. Invincibles) Regiment prior to 1798. Somewhere between 1794 and 1798 his unit was sent to Northern Ireland and he participated in the Battle of Saintfield in the summer of 1798. We have confirmed these facts through military paylists. The story passed down through our family is that his unit was disbanded sometime after the battle and most of the men returned home to England. Matthew, however, married a local woman and settled in Newtownards, County Down.
We can trace all of our ancestors in Ireland from Matthew's children on down to my mother, but we cannot seem to identify the area of England where Matthew was born. Matthew told his family that he was from the Flamborough/Bridlington area, however, there is no record of a Matthew born in this area. Actually, there are very few Matthew Cockcrofts in the IGI, even when I try alternate spellings like Cockroft and Cockcraft! I'm wondering if people had middle names back then and if they used them in their everyday life. In particular, I'm wondering if Matthew would have used his middle name when he registered with the milita. Does anyone know if that might be the case?
I've identified two families that could possibly be Matthew's relatives. The questions that I have regarding these families are as follows:
Family #1: A Robert Cockcroft was born in Flamborough in 1755, the son of Richard Cockcroft. This is of interest because Robert is also an unusual Cockcroft name and yet Matthew names his only son Robert. The Robert born in 1755 has only one son, who is named Richard, so it's not looking like Robert is Matthew's father. However, Robert had several sisters and I'm wondering if one of them might have been a single mother.
Question: The family attended St. Oswald's church in Flamborough. I'm wondering if someone might be able to check to see is one of the sisters had a child. The sister's names are as follows: Esther (b: 1743), Alice (b: 1749), Sushanna (b: 1758), and Elizabeth (b: 1761).
Family#2: A Matthew Cockcroft was born in Illingsworth in West Riding in 1762. What's interesting with this gentleman is that he had a brother named Isaac who was born in 1759. According to the military paylists, there was an Isaac Cockcroft in Matthew's unit. This could be a coincidence, but it's probably the best lead we have.
The Matthew born in Illingsworth was christened in the Church of England in Illingsworth. He married a woman named Hannah Farnell around 1785. On the marriage record both Hannah and Matthew list their abode as Ovenden and he states his occupation is a weaver. They had five children, all of whom were christened at the Zion New Methodist Connexion Church in Ovenden. On one of the children's christening records, I think it was John's, the family is designated as paupers. This would fit with our assumption that Matthew was a laborer.
Question:
#1 - Is there a record of Matthew's death in Yorkshire?
#2 - Is there a record of where and when Hannah Farnell Cockcroft died. (If Matthew remarried in Ireland prior to the birth of his son around 1810, then Hannah would have died sometime between the birth of their last child in 1793 and 1810.)
#3 - Matthew's oldest son Jacob was born in 1786. Interestingly there is a Jacob Cockcroft who marries in Limerick Ireland in 1806. He states on his marriage certificate that he is a soldier with the 23rd foot regiment. Since the Cockcrofts do not appear to be native to Ireland, I'm wondering if the Jacob who marries is indeed Matthew's son following in his father's footsteps. Or for that matter, is it Matthew using a different name? Can anyone tell me if a marriage or death certifcate exists for the Jacob Cockcroft born in the Ovenden area in 1786?
Any help answering these questions would be greatly appreciated!
