Ambrose Crowley-Winlaton ironworks

[Mr. Tibbs]

I am so very grateful for your information, Pat.  I didn't know the Swalwell site and found it fascinating (not just Ambrose CROWLEY).  I've also made myself familiar with your site, which is a tremendous achievement; I wish I had ancestors that far along the Derwent Valley.  Unfortunately, almost all of mine are Blaydon and Winlaton with some in Winlaton Mill and Rowlands Gill.

Thank you so much.
Pat

[dutch46]

I have strong reasons to believe that at least one of my ancestors, Richard Laycock 1781-1826 from Ryton, was working for Ambrose Crowley as a pattenringmaker. He was married in 1805 to Eliz.Chambers at Ryton. His father Joseph Laycock 1752-1786 was from Whickham-Swalwell. Richard and Eliz. moved to Newark Notts. soon after their marriage.
Wonder if anyone has come accross this Laycock family. I would like to know more about them.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Welcome to Rootschat Dutch 46.  Good to hear from you.  There certainly were and, I believe, are Laycocks in the area.  How far have you researched?  H :)ave you looked at the Bishops Transcripts for Durham?

[dutch46]

Hi,
Transcriptions in a family bible proved that Richard Laycock and Elizabeth Chambers, who raised a family in Newark were born in the Parish of Gateshead. The information was handed down to Phil Wilson, a descendant.
I have not used the Bishops Transcripts for Durham, (where do I find these?), but Durham Records on line.
Parents for Richard were Joseph Laycock 1752-1786 and Hannah Renwick (She was from Winlaton). Parents of Joseph were Richard Laycock and Eliz. Blacklock, marriage in 1750 at Whickham. I have not been able to find more about them but did find a Brother Joseph Laycock  from Winlaton as Prov. Grand Master at the Lodge of Free Masons at Gateshead in 1736. I would like to find out where he fits in. Is he perhaps the father of Richard who married Eliz.Blacklock.

[O1dgobbo]

Hi
The Durham Bishop's transcripts are on the familysearch.org website. When you get to the site click "search records" at the top and then click "record search pilot" on the drop down list. This takes you to a new window with a map of the world and just click on the area of Europe. You should be offered a person search menu, which you need to ignore, and click browse the records at the bottom of the page. This brings up a list of countries and record databases. Scroll down to the United Kingdom list and click on the entry "England Diocese of Durham Bishops' Transcripts" This brings up a page with counties on the left (North Yorkshire to Northumberland), click on the county you want and you will get a list of parishes, click on the parish you want for a list of available records, click on the records you are interested in and browse through about 1000 images looking for your ancestor.

Sounds complicated written down but actually it is quite easy.

All the best

Gobbo

[dutch46]

Many thanks for this useful information Gobo.

[Mr. Tibbs]

On the family search.org site, you can also click on records as gobbo described, select advanced search, then on the left hand side, select International Genealogical Index (IGI) and type in a name date etc. and usually you will get a selection of people to choose from eg Joseph Laycock was baptised on 16 Aug 1752 at Whickham, click on his name and you can confirm his parents.  At the bottom of that page is a batch number-P002081 (for Whickham, St. Mary's), click on the batch number, put Richard Laycock's name in the "father" box and search.  Another list of names will appear; these are the names of all of Richard and Elizabeth's children baptised at Whickham beginning with Isabel Laycock bap. 2 May 1756.  Couldn't find Richard or Elizabeth's baptisms but this was just an initial search.  For Hannah Renwick (Her father is William), there are a huge number of Renwick baptisms so remember to check the parents.  The Renwicks are a huge family: my great great grandmother was a Renwick.  The family, for the most part lived in Winlaton and at that time were probably all employed by Ambrose Crowley.  All church matters took place at Ryton, Holy Cross Church until Winlaton, St' Paul's was built originally as a chapel of ease.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Forgot to mention that sometimes members put information on this website, which is not necessarily accurate so do check that any information that is relevant to you has been taken from church records and is not member submitted: it will be state on the record in small lettering, where the information comes from.  Good luck.  If you need more info. just ask.

[dutch46]

Many thanks  Mr. Tibbs for this great information again. I didn't know all these different possibilities to search the IGI. It's an eye opener!
And yes, I know the dangers of using the IGI, but it helps to find a copy of the original document and even than if the whole film for a certain parish has not been searched it is possible to follow a wrong lead. That's why I hoped to find the records for the workman of Crowley ironworks. Unfortunately they seem to have been lost. By the way, in Holland where I live, it is almost impossible to search the films of the LDS.
It is good to know the Renwicks were involved with the ironworks as well. I wondered if they would have .
Do we have a family connection with the Renwicks? William Renwick -1727- is the son of James Renwick -1697-  and Jane Lambert. He is the son of Thomas Renwick -1660-, and he is the son of John Rennicke.