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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Lancashire => England => Lancashire Lookup Offers => Topic started by: keenbutconfused on Thursday 02 March 06 00:34 GMT (UK)
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Hi ...bit of an odd posting but it occurred to me that, although all of my own research is in Durham and Northumberland, there might be some little thing I could do to assist people whose own ancestors come fom where i am now.
I live in Dolphinholme - a small village outside Lancaster - but at one time it had over 2000 residents, working in 2 mills. I have some info on the history of the village and would be more than happy to take digital photos of it for anyone who has a link with it.
Hope it might be of some assistance and in some way repay the help I've had from others on this site.
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Hello,
I am helping a work colleague research their family history and have found an ancestor who says he was born in Dolphinhulme.
William STEWART circa 1833. I think he is one of the sons of John STEWART and Ellen PARKINSON who were living at Cockerham on the 1841 census. John is stated to be a shopkeeper.
If this is the right couple then they should have baptised a son James, as well as children Jane, John and William. There may be others in between.
John and Ellen married at Cockerham on the 17th November 1814.
Any help or suggestions how to find the baptisms would be very useful - I know that Dolphinhulme church wasn't built at the time of William's birth.
Thanks,
Dot
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Hi, and apologies for the delay in responding to your post. I suspect that the baptisms would have been conducted at Cockerham Parish Church but possibly at Ellel Church. I have copied a bit from a book I have below, which may prove helpful. If you would like me to photocopy it or take any photographs for you, please let me know and I will be pleased to do so.
Extract from 'A Short History of Dolphinholme' by the Rev A. R. Denne, BA - Vicar of Dolphinholme 1965.
'Before the coming of the mill, the site of the present village of Dolphinholme was partly in the ancient parish of St Helen's, Churchtown, or Garstang, and partly in that of St Michael's, Cockerham. As for hte latter church, it had long possessed one or two chapels of ease, built for the convenience of th einhabitants of th eoutlying parts of the large parish, and one of these was at Elll. This would have served the scattered farmimg community of what we now call dolphinholme, before the coming of the larger population, at the end of the C18th. ....
.... At first, services were held in th eschoolromm in th elower art of the village. They consisted chielfy of an afternoon service on Sundays. Once a quarter, the congregation would assemble at the schoolroom and march in procession to Shires head Old Church, also a chapel of ease for Cockerham. There was no facility for th einternment of the dead at Dolphinholme, this would have to be done at either Shires Head, Galgate (Ellel) or Cokerham. It seems that the sacrament of baptism was administered for a short while in the building which served for worship, fo rthe entries in the old register begin on Friday 10th 1838.'
Here is a pic of part of the village - it hasn't changed much ....
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Sorry - posted before I meant to! I also meant to say - hope that is helpful - if I might be able to help with anything else, please shout. :)
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Why is it called Dolphinholme? Its a long way from the sea!
Although I am trying to find my Fishwick family and they are a long way from the sea too. Found a possible link with Fishwicks in Bradford, Yorkshire, and one of them was born in Dolphinholme.
:) Barbara
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It's scandanavian -quote -The unusual name of the village of Dolphinholme derives from an ancient Scandinavian settlement and has nothing to do with the marine mammal! In 1784 the first mechanised worsted spinning mill was established here, and a factory village grew up around this early industrial site. That mill closed in 1865, but another, Corless Mill, continued working until 1926.
Hope this helps!
Dot
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Hi - I would love to see your history of Dolphinholme. My Parkinson family came from there originally, and I believe my 4 x great grandmother Ellen Barrow (mar. Thomas Parkinson) was also born there.
I grew up and lived most of my life near Overton and have loads of history and photos etc of Lancaster and area, but not of Dolphinholme.
Have you put the history you have on a website. If not - it would be a great idea. There is a wonderful one of Caldervale that is extremely well used.
I live in Chehire now but am visiting the Lancaster area tomorrow till Sunday. - Jackie
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Hello Barbara - not my work but from a site already on the Internet -http://www.lancashirechurches.co.uk/dolphinh.htm
and two more pieces from the Frances Frith website which has pictures for sale:
Selected extracts from books on Dolphinholme & Lancashire
The name Corless is associated with the family who lived at Springfield House, Pilling. James Derham owned Corless Mill in Nether Wyresdale, 6 miles from Lancaster, and in 1801 he manufactured gas to light the mill and his workers' cottages. Dolphinholme was the first village to be lit by gas, and its first gas lamp is preserved at Derham House. At its peak the mill employed 1400 people, who worked shifts, day and night. Four hundred of these workers combed wool in their homes at Forton, Scorton and Nether Wyresdale. The lavish use of stone in these cottages (it came from quarries at Tootle Heights near Longridge) was made possible by the plentiful supply in those days. This 19th-century terrace is typical of Lancashire villages in this region backed by long ridges of Pennine hills. It is identical to Club Row in Longridge, which only came about through the tenacity of twenty Lancashire quarry workers who saved up and built the terrace.
Taken from: Lancashire Villages Photographic Memories
These 18th-century stone cottages were built for workers at the nearby mill, which was originally water-driven - its wheel was second only in size to that of Laxey on the Isle of Man. In 1811, the village and factory were amongst the first to be lit by gas, and in 1822 the mill was converted to steam.
Taken from: Lancashire Living Memories
Finally Genuki has a page with information on Dolphinholme -
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/NetherWyresdale/
regards,
Dot
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Thanks Dot,
The Bradford-based Fishwick from Dolphinholme was a wool comber, so the occupations connect nicely. I hope he does turn out to be one of mine, as I now live in Lancaster myself. Would be nice to find rellies that are only a bus ride away for a change!
:) Barbara
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Hi
I too have relatives associated with Dolphinholme by the rather unusual surname of MOISTER. Joseph was a woolcomber there on the 1841 census but moved to Bradford YKS by the 1951 census. where his brother John already resided.
Joseph married Margaret Huntingdon in Cockerham in 1829.Joseph's children were George-who is listed in a separate Dolphinholme residence with an occupation at the age of 8,Richard who was baptised at Cockerham in 1835 and Anne who may be Sarah A on the 1851.There are no baptisms for George or Anne/Sarah Anne on the IGI for Cockerham or Ellel or anywhere else for that matter.
Joseph's family can be found in Sedbergh YKS records in the early 1800s and in Ravenstonedale, Westmorland from 1812 to 1816 when his father Richard and sister Mary died . There was no trace of them in the Ravenstonedale records after this date. Mother Agnes was therefore left a widow with perhaps 6 children to support.
Sorry for being so longwinded-now I'll get to the point. I've lost my Moisters between 1816 and 1841 so request is for KBC- if you come across any mention of this surname connected with the woollen mills in Cockerham could you please let me know?
Also, do you know if the cottages on the photos were there in the 1830s/forties? I'd sure like to find an ancestral home that still exists ;D
Thanks
lilyj
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Hi lillyj
The cottages in all the photos were def there in that period. Most of the mill workers cottages were built mid to late C18th. In the pic I posted, I live in the second house from the right! In the lower part of the village, there was no development here between something like 1789 and 1986 - when six new houses were built and some flats. The difficulty is that a lot of properties that were there aren't any more - many were just very rough built and in very poor condition. So, although there are now only 35 residences, there would have been a lot more, when the mill was at its height. Corless Cottages, a biggish row in the upper part of the village is still there - but other than that, most of the properties up there are mid 20thC - not sure if they were greenfields builds or replaced older properties.
I understand that, by the sixties, virtually all of Lower Dolphinholme was virtually derelict. I know that, as our house backed on to fields, pigs were kept in what is now my kitchen - it was originally a separate one room cellar dwelling. In the 70s the house was 'done up' very roughly and a staircase put through to allow access to that part of the property from the rest of the house, and it then all became one, so to speak.
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There are some MOIZER names listed in http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/indexp.html pages for Lancaster. Maybe a branch of the same family with a spelling variant. Names/dates don't quite fit what you are looking for but they might be worth bearing in mind.
:) Barbara
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Thank you very much, Barbara.
That may or may not be yet another variation of the name. I had a look at Lancs OPC and a swift run through the IGI and censuses. I'll keep them in the " you never know, might be" file-I have a few of those :)
lilyj
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Hi Keen but confused
Thank you for the response. It's really good to hear form someone who lives in a place that you're interested in- brings life to it if you know what I mean.
Do you know if there were specific names for the mills operating in the 1830's- I searched the Lancs RO catalogue and A2A with the term Dolphinholme but didn't find much. I suppose it would be too much to hope for that the names of the workers would be recorded somewhere.
I'm going to spin yarns for my kids now about ancestors living with pigs. Should give any future descendants something to ponder ;D
lilyj
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Hi Kennbutconfused
I probably will have ancestors from Dolphinholme,
because I am descended from quite a few families in
the area, to name a few Pye, Kelsall, Cragg.
I just wanted to mark the post for future posting because
you never know.
Love place to live though
Jinks
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Hi
Do you have any information on a William Barker who was a blacksmith living in Dolphinholme in 1901 according to the census. He had returned to the area a few years before and took over from his father Edward Barker who had been blacksmith there for many years. I think they lived at Spout cottage? My main interest is in His wife's family she was Jenny or Janet Whiteside. born 1847 Overwyresdale and lived at Oreton smithy 1851 -61 her father George whiteside was smithy there around 1861. They then moved to Dolphinholme, Ellel and then to Freckleton in 1886sh. My real query is could the Whitesides or Barkers have been Quakers.
A tall order I know but any information would be a help.
Thankyou
Joyce
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Hi Joyce
I'm sorry - I don't have much info on people of Dolphinholme, as I'm a recent resident here and my own research is on the other side of the country. There were a good number of Quaker families around here though - many villages were entirely Quaker - so it is certainly a possibility.
If you could give me the references for the census records, I can try and work out where their cottage was though and it might well still be there - I would be happy to take a photograph for you.
The name Spout Cottage rings a bell, but I've had a quick look on the OS map and can't find one in Dolphinholme. There's a Spout House towards Scorton though - which was definitley a Quaker Village ...
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Hi
Thanks for replying so quickly.
The Barkers lived at Water Spout. St Mark's Parish Dolphinholme. The entry above theirs is 26, 27, 28, Front Row (Cor) Could this be a reference to Corless Mill.? Entry below is Common Bank. The Ref. is RG13/3984 Folio 81 page 10. If the house or even the houses close to them are still there a photo would be wonderful.
Iam actually writing a book on people who are not natives of Freckleton but had lived there for many years after coming from other parts of the country, and have an interesting story. The Whitesides and Barkers are not disapointing me up to now, but if they could just be Quakers it would make their story so much more interesting.
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The 'Cor' will be Corless Cottages and they are still there, as is Common Bank. I think I might know where the house is now .... if I get a chance I'll try and get some pics this afternoon - if not will definitely get you something in the next few days :)
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Thankyou that is brilliant.
Joyce
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Hello. My Bamber ancestors came from the village of Hawthornthwaite, which, according to my map, is near Dolphinholme. If you are ever out that way would you take some pics for me? It looks like there are just a few buildings there. If there are any that look like they would have been there in the 1700s I would love to see them, as well as the surrounding landscape. If this request is beyond what you intended, then please just disregard it. Thank you though for the offer.