2
« on: Saturday 20 December 08 04:15 GMT (UK) »
"You should only research your direct line", says my dad. 'Piffle', says I, 'I'm having as much fun researching sideways as I am researching upwards. And anyway, I'm more likely to find someone who's still breathing!'
One gloomy Monday morning a couple of years ago, one of my work colleagues from another department came to ask me for a quick photocopying job and whilst the machine was processing the job, we got talking (as you do) about what we had been getting up to over the weekend.
"Nothing much", I replied, "Mostly researching my family tree."
"Is it a big tree?" he asked.
"Biggish," I replied. "Come to think of it, I have ancestors in your neck of the woods. You live at Mytholmroyd and I had family living at Heptonstall."
"Whereabouts at Heptonstall?"
"They had a farm on Wadsworth Moor. It was called 'Good Greave."
"Get away!" he replied, "I have ancestors who also lived at Good Greave. They were called Utley or Uttley and they were yeoman farmers. Some of them broke away from the main family and established the suburb of Uttley near Keighley'.
This last bit of information sparked off an entirely different conversation because I was once the local beat bobby for Uttley and Beechcliffe and I know the area well.
More interestingly, however, was the possibility that we might be related and we have spent the past two years researching that possibility. Until we discover what our exact relationship is, we are content to address one another as 'Uncle', he being at leat two years older than me.
My great grandmother was Mary Ellen WOLFENDEN, born in 1868 in Barnoldswick, the daughter of John WOLFENDEN (1830 - 27/1/1886) and Hannah BAILEY (1836 - 27/3/1911). Mary Ellen was the fifth child, her siblings being:
Thomas (b.28/8/1854 in Paythorne near Gisburn)
Mary Isabella (b.1/8/1857 in Paythorne)
Sarah Cowgill (b. app. 1863 in Todmorden)
James (b.1864 in Barnoldswick) and
Annie Jane (b.1872 in Wadsworth)
The farm at Good Greave comprised at least three dwellings, high on the moor above Heptonstall and in a neighbouring property lived the SHACKLETONS. On the 15th of December, 1873, Thomas SHACKLETON (1842 - 1892) married his neighbour's daughter, Mary Isabella WOLFENDEN, my Great, Great Aunt.
The 1871 census indicates that on the night of the 2nd April 1871, those present at the SHACKLETON residence were:
John Hargreaves 48 Yorkshire, England Servant Wadsworth Yorkshire
Sarah Ann Shackleton 32 Yorkshire, England Sister Wadsworth Yorkshire
Thos Shackleton 28 Yorkshire, England Head Wadsworth Yorkshire
Jane Uttley 67 Yorkshire, England Aunt Wadsworth Yorkshire
John Wigley 16 Yorkshire, England Servant Wadsworth Yorkshire
Address: Good Greave, Wadsworth, Ecclesiastical District of St Thomas,Heptonstall
We therefore have a link with the UTTLEYs through Jane, who, in 1861 was shown as the Head of the household at another neighbouring farm, along with Sarah Ann SHACKLETON, her 22 year old unmarried niece (and Thomas SHACKLETON's sister) and Rich HARTLEY, Jane's 50 year old brother - Jane being 61 at this time.
Jane HARTLEY (b.2/4/1802) turned out to be the sister of Thomas SHACKLETON's mother, Hannah Elizabeth HARTLEY (24/4/1813 - 18/5/1881). Jane married Michael UTTLEY (b.c. 1776) on December 1st, 1829 in Halifax.
My work colleague, whose name I cannot disclose without his permission, has the following UTTLEYs in his tree:
Abraham (Chr. 1772)
Betty (Chr. 1771)
Betty (Chr. 1778)
Betty (1781 - 1857)
Grace (Chr. 1778)
Grace (b.1784)
John (Chr. 1766)
Jonathan (Chr. 1776)
Jonathan (Chr. 1744)
Martha (Chr. 1779)
Michael (Chr. 1772)
Sally (Chr. 1776)
Sarah (Chr. 1775) and
Susan (Chr.1775)
The challenge confronting my friend and me is to discover which of the above UTTLEYs in his tree was related to Michael UTTLEY (born around 1776) in my tree. It's a shame that the two Michaels were not born and christened the other way around, in 1772 and 1776 respectively.
Part of the problem is that the small town of Heptonstall, which prior to the Industrial Revolution was a thriving agricultural centre, was absolutely awash with SHACKLETONs and UTTLEYs. There were scores of them and they shared similar names. It must have been a nightmare for anyone delivering mail.
One day, I am optimistic that we shall discover our exact relationship. For the time being though, we are content to perpetuate our long standing - and to our colleagues, very confusing - joke of addressing one another as 'Uncle'.
Show Posts
