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Hello again, sallyyorks,

Here is what i have so far -

I have a record of a marriage in Kildwick between James Butterfield and Mary Tempest, 18 Feb 1806.

James and Mary had the following children - William b1806 (my direct line), Ann b1807, John b1809, Joseph b1810, Elizabeth b1812, Martin b1814, and Thomas b1816. I have further information about most of these children, and their descendants.

My William appears to have been married twice, first to Anne Smith, with whom he had 5 children, and then Mary Laycock, with whom he had a further 4. The last one of these was my paternal greatgrandfather Gill. At some point William moved to Bradford, I think with his second wife. Until starting this research, I had always assumed my family were all Bradford born - not so, it seems. I can give you more details on this if you need them.

So...the question is, where does my James come from in the first place?  These are the choices, all of whom appear in my extended tree (which is now turning out to be very large!):-
 
I have a James, b 1778 to Isaac and Betty Brigg – they had other children as well – John, Sally, then James, and lastly Isaac.
Isaac’s father was also Isaac, married to Anne Harrison, and his father seems to have been a John Butterfield, b 1676, and married to Mary Smith. These two seem to be as near as I can get to a “beginning” – I have many lines coming from John and Mary, and their children.

Then there is the James I mentioned in my first post, son of Jacob and Alice Moorehouse, who died when he was 5. Jacob also goes back to John b 1676.

I also have a James, b 1791 to Isaac and Martha  Hey (a relative of Mary Hey perhaps). Their other children were Mary,b 1782, Isaac b 1784, John b 1785 and Nicholas b 1794.

There is yet another James, living in Sutton, born in Haworth, on the 1841 census, with children Thomas, Anne Isaac, Adam and an Edmund Berry, who I think was Anne’s son.  Not sure where this James fits in!

It’s pretty clear that this family was in the area around Keighley – Stanbury, Haworth ,Kildwick, Glusburn, Sutton and towards Bingley...and I also think to the Barrowford/Colne area.  As you have said in an earlier post, likely to be all related, but moving around locally for work.

As far as James, son of Mary is concerned, I also have Eunice/Unice, Martha and John in my files. I don't know anything about Eunice at all, but John may have married a Mary Tatham, and had a child called Jacob. I knew about Martha's children, Martha and Michael, but not about the workhouse/bastardy issues you mention.

I've just read all this back - all quite confusing really, so I apologise if you thnk the same! I'd be very grateful for any clarification you can give, both about these James's and the family generally.
 

The irony of all this is that I lived in Bingley myself for ten years until moving north...my parents lived there longer, and had been born in Bradford before moving away for about 12 years before returning - and as a family we had no knowledge of family connections in the area at all!

Thanks in advance for anything you can add or take away!

Regards
Cliffelinks65

I agree, Jim - I have this record already and think the same.

Actually it was my second best guess for the right James, after realising that Jacob's James had died at 5. Now I'm not so sure - there are several with the same name who would fit as the husband of Mary Tempest, all born within the right time span - and it seems most of them are in the extended tree!

Mary, the mother of the James who was illegitimate, had a sister Martha, who also had an illegitimate son, named Elijah. I think there may be other children too, and another sister, so that's where I am searching at the moment. 

The 1700s aren't that easy, are they?!

Cliffelinks65

This is my first post here, so hope I am doing it correctly! I have been researching the Butterfield family in the Keighley area for some time now, and have quite a large draft tree, which I am now checking over in detail...and so am finding out quite a few things to question.

My most pressing question at the moment is this - I can trace the family back in a direct line back to a James Butterfield, who married a Mary Tempest in Kildwick in 1806...but who were his parents?

For a while I had a Jacob Butterfield, who was married to Alice Moorehouse...but I have since discovered that their son James died in 1791 aged 5, so clearly not the same one!

Now I have several others to consider - is he James, b 1778,  son of Isaac and Betty Brigg?  Or is he James, illegitimate son of Mary b about 1785? Or is he someone else??

I've seen a couple of posts on here this morning, which suggest there might be someone who knows more....if so, I would love to hear from you!  It's worth saying that most of these other James's are in my extended tree anyway....but whether they are in the right place is another matter!

Living in hope...

Cliffelinks65