Jonathan Parmley of Linton (Hebden and Grassington)
We came across my ancestor, Jonathan Parmley in the 1803 Craven Muster Roll. (We believe this is him. Actually the name here is Jonathan Parmeby.) He is registered as living in Hebden. He is a lead miner and a class one possible combatant (in the case of an invasion by Napoleon), as is mine agent Thomas Dickinson, who was a witness at his wedding. At the time Jonathan was the only person called Parmley in the area, we think.
In 1803 Jonathan married Susannah Frankland, the daughter of a local farmer.
In the register of St Michael’s Linton he is described as a “lead miner and bracker”. They had eight children in all, two of whom died. Their names were; Elizabeth, William, Thomas, Mary, Ann, Mary, Jonathan, Elizabeth. All were born in Grassington.
We knew that Susannah’s parents were Thomas and Mary Frankland. It seemed therefore that they might have been employing a custom of naming for their children; his father then hers for the boys; his mother then hers for the girls – even using Mary again when the first Mary died.
We could not trace Jonathan’s birth in 1777. He probably came from a lead mining area to Grassington. The two areas where Parmleys were common in the 1841 census – were Alston and Middleton-in-Teesdale. We found the marriage of a William Parmely (sic) to Elizabeth Allison in 1764 in Alston, Cumberland. Using the naming custom, we worked on the hypothesis that these were Jonathan’s parents.
We looked through all the Parish Records of St Augustine’s Church in Alston and found no mention of Parmley baptisms in the years from 1767-1782. Next we tried the registers of St John’s church Carrigill, to the SSE of Alston. Here’s what we found;
July 1977
Jonathan, son of William Parmenly of Dryburn was baptized---6
September 1772
Anne daughter of William & Elizabeth Parmenly of Rodderup was baptized----11
We are fortunate, that for Ann’s birth, the mother’s name was also given. This was not common in this register.
We found a total of eleven “Parmenly” baptisms between 1750 and 1778.
The IGI records William’s baptism in January 1748 St John’s church. His father was Edmund Parmeley or Parmenly born about 1719 in Garrigill.
When we look at the map of this area, the Parmely habitations form almost an arc starting south of Alston and continuing to Leadgate and on to Carrigill following the course of the South Tyne; Annat Walls, Gill House, Ameshaugh, Howburn, Rotherhope (Rodderup), Slaggie Burn, Dryburn, Low Skydes, Red Wing, Cross Gill
This area covers the two churches of Alston, St Augustine’s and Carrigill, St John’s . In the records of St John’s Carrigill in the 18th C, the name is usually spelled Parmenly, while in Alston it is usually Parmley. There are however two early 19th C marriages registered in Alston, where the name is recorded as Parmently
14 Oct 1809 Richard Parmently = Sarah Walton
29 Jun 1811 Thomas Parmently = Elizabeth Milbourn
There is an area 8-10 miles to the NNE of Alston which boasts a Parmently Hall and Parmently Cottage. Perhaps this is the origin of the name – Parmently- Parmenly- Parmley – (as well as Parmilly, Parmonly, Parmanly etc)
The vagaries of spelling are probably due to the various clerks rather than anything else. It seems as though one may be recalling a connection with the area.
A visit to this area and the Parmley homeland (?) of Parmently is definitely due!
Does anyone know this area?
PS there is a really handy map of the area’s roads in the mid 18thC;
It covers Northumberland, Durham and nearby areas. Very useful. Thanks, Waggonways
Thanks to folk who have sent in transcriptions of Parmleys from this area from registers and gravestones. Sadly sometimes the names of the places are omitted from the original or the transcription. This information can be so helpful. It was so encouraging to see how close Dryburn and Rotherhope are!
paw42
