Barsley or something similar?

[dutch46]

Hi Jill,
Are you still searching for the Barsley family of Leasingham? If so I might be able to help you with the baptisms of the children of Thomas Barsley and Elizabeth Blow of Leasingham. They are my ancestors too!

Regards
Dutch46

[jillruss]

Hi Dutch46

Thanks for your reply.

Even after 5 years, I am still looking for the marriage of Thomas Barsley and a Mary circa 1750-8 - the parents of my Mary Barsley (who married William Blackburn in 1778 in Boothby Graffoe).

Whether or not they're connected to the Leasingham Barsleys, I really don't know yet.  The two places are within 10 miles of each other so it seems likely (and Digby is even closer).
 
I have a Berkshire branch of my tree who are beggars for using middle names and confusing the ---- out of me, so I suppose this could be another example.

I'd be grateful if you would let me have details of the children of Thomas & Elizabeth. It's just possible that I may be able to work my Barsleys around them! Do you have details of your Thomas and Elizabeth's parents? Any connection to Digby or Boothby Graffoe?

Jill

[dutch46]

Hi Jill,

Thomas Barsley bapt. 21-11-1724 at Boothby Graffoe and Elizabeth Blow bapt. 05-11-1725 at Leasingham had the following children all bapt. at Leasingham:
Thomas  born and died 1751, William 1752, Ann 1753, Susannah born 1755 and died 1756, Mary 1757 and died 1764, Robert 1760 (my ancestor) and Thomas 1763.

Thomas 1724 is the son of John and Elizabeth. John Barsley was also bapt. at Boothby Graffoe, 1-1-1697, and is the son of George and Hannah. I do not know where they came from.
Elizabeth Blow 1725 is from Leasingham and is the daughter of John Blow.

Hope this will be of some help to you.
Going trough my old Barsley notes I found a baptism at Digby for Mary in May 1758, daughter of Thomas & Mary. They also had a daughter Anne bapt. 8-2-1756 at Digby.
Is this your Mary? I am afraid at the moment I do not know where they fit in. They seem to have been the only two baptisms at Digby for Barsley and this also shows they are two separate families at that time. But I will study my notes and let you know if I find anything interesting. I am sure there must be a connection somehow.

Regards,
Dutch46

[jillruss]

Thanks for that, Dutch46.

Yes, the Digby baptisms for Ann in 1756 (buried Digby 1760) and Mary in 1758, ds/o Thomas and Mary are the ones I was working on.

The awkward thing is that I am also claiming the Thos Barsley baptised in Boothby Graffoe in 1724 as 'mine'. From the dates of the Ann and Mary baptised in Leasingham to your Thos & Elizabeth, there doesn't appear to be any conclusion other than these are 2 different Thomas Barsleys, does there?

Boothby G, Digby & Leasingham are so close to each other that I'm beginning to wonder if he might have been a bigamist!!! Or, rather, because I've looked and looked for a marriage for my Thos & Mary and failed dismally, if my Mary may have been his 'mistress'! Stranger things have happened!

The Barsleys of Boothby Graffoe seem to be the obvious ancestors for my Thomas - his daughter Mary married and settled there (her husband William Blackburn was from Navenby).

Incidentally, I'd never got further than George and Hannah Barsley either. Do you have John's marriage to Elizabeth Thickpenny in Bassingham?

I think this is a real enigma! We may have to split Thomas Barsley in half!!!  It is worth adding that I've tried to look at the earlier Digby PRs on Lincs To The Past but they're all but unreadable, so there's a possibility that there may have been earlier Barsleys in Digby.

Jill

[Geoff-E]

I can't help in finding a specific marriage for Thomas, but I ought to mention two BARSLEY marriages in Digby around that time-

1758 Mary B to George SHARP
1761 Ann B to John LINTON

Perhaps these were the Mary and Hannah bap at Boothby Graffoe 1726 and 1733 respectively.

[Redroger]

I can definitely confirm the existence of the surname Barsley in Lincolnshire; Boston to be precise; my father was a railway engine driver at Boston, and for several years his regular fireman Was one R.H. Barsley also of the Boston area.

[dutch46]

Hi Jill,

I think both your Thomas and my Thomas Barsley have to be cousins. I have just had a quick look at familysearch and noticed that Thomas 1724 did have a brother George born 1730 at Boothby Graffoe.
Their parents were John & Elizabeth Thickpeny (her second name was new to me!) But John 1697 also had a brother George 1693, but he died 3yrs. old, and they had a brother Hugo 1699. Maybe they should be followed up to see if they had a (grand)son named Thomas who was married to a Mary maybe around Navenby.
What do you think.
Regards
Dutch46

[jillruss]

The only baptism for a Thomas Barsley that comes up in the timeframe is the one in Boothby Graffoe which may or may not be mine - who knows?? 

I suspect, especially taking into account the Digby marriages Geoff found, that the answer may lie in the illegible earlier Digby PRs. I might contact Lincs Archives and see if the Digby PRs are any better read 'in person' in which case they may do some research for me - or, perhaps there are some BTs.

Jill