If anyone has the time, I'd appreciate a second pair of eyes/another brain to think about this. I've not looked at this particular group for quite a while now, and the notes I left myself aren't exactly helping me get it clear ...
Am I right to be flummoxed and staring at a couple of brick walls?
It all happens in Over Darwen ...
My great x3 grandparents were James Duckworth and Jane Aspden.
James is born c. 1819 according to the 1851 census or 1821 according to the 1841 census
Jane is born 1818 if I've got the right baptism, or c. 1821 according to the 1841 census
1841 census: HO107/503; Book: 12; Civil Parish: Blackburn; Enumeration District: 13; fol. 20; p. 3
1851 census: HO107/2261; fol. 147; p. 32
They married 1 Jan 1839 at Blackburn Cathedral (witnesses were church officials)
Jane died 21st April 1845 and James remarried in Q1 1846 to Mary Ainsworth.
My difficulties come with going further back than James Duckworth and Mary Aspden.
The simpler of the two is James - the marriage cert gives his father as John Duckworth, a weaver. Which is a brick wall.
Jane there's a bit more on ...
Jane's marriage certificate gives her father's name as Joseph.
There's a very probably baptism on the IGI (Batch C02426) 6 Sep 1818, which gives her mother as Betty.
On the IGI, the only extracted record of a baptism for a Joseph Aspden in the right time frame is that 30 Oct 1797 (with a d.o.b. of 10 Oct 1797). This would put him at around 21 years old at the birth of Jane, which works, but if it's the right death certificate (see below), that has him age 65 (approx of course) in 1853, which gives a d.o.b. in 1788.
The IGI has the following submitted records of marriages:
Joseph Aspden & Betty Knowles 17 Feb 1805 in Blackburn
Joseph Aspden (b. c. 1770, Darwen) & Betty Shaw 13 May 1790 in Darwen
Joseph Aspden (b. c. 1775, Darwen) & Elizabeth Marsden 28 Sep 1795 in Darwen
They're submitted, but dates and individuals are confirmed by lan-opc - all at Blackburn St Mary's.
I've discounted the Betty Shaw marriage as on that Joseph Aspden is described as a school master.
The 1797 Joseph Aspden doesn't fit with the 1841 and 1851 census, where there's a 1795 Joseph Aspden married to an Ann.
On the 1851 census (and the 1841) there's a Joseph Aspden born 1787, residing with his son James Aspden, his wife Mary and their children Ann, Betty, Lawrence and Mary. This would fit with the death certificate I have for a Joseph Aspden, died 4 Jan 1853 age 65, informant Mary Aspden
