Smalley Family

[vanstrada]

That will be great

[loessperson]

Riley Smalley was my great-grandfather; but he stayed in Blackburn (1850-1930). What was his relationship to the Blackburn Smalleys who went to Canada?  I thought that the name Riley started with him- but it obviously did not; where is the first Riley? He was certainly a Baptist; the Smalleys do seem to be Baptists. He had seven children; four survived. Son Herbert was killed in WW1 and has memorial in Tockholes churchyard.  Three sons took over the family textile business but it failed in the Great Depression. My grandfather Thomas moved to Blackpool; had a boarding house in Sherborne Road(?).

[jeffrey4kids]

I'm the great great- granddaughter of Riley.  My Grandmother was Cissie Smalley daughter of Joseph son of Riley.  She married James Birtwistle who was a chemist in Blackburn before retiring to Cleveleys in the late 60's early 70's.  They had one son Gordon who was also a chemist, both James and Gordon died in 1980 and Cissie died in 1989.  I live in Oswaldtwistle now which is strange as that was where Riley's father was born.  Still trying to find out who James's parents were, from the actual records I have looked through I can only guess and not without any doubt.  Are you trying to research the family too, as I can let you have as much information as I have managed to detect.
Riley's brother, James was a baptist minister and several of his sons went to Canada.  William Cameron became the Secretary of the Baptist Union in Manitoba he was also an author, I have managed to track down one of his books.  Will send another message time flies by and i need to sort my son out before he goes football training.

[loessperson]

James Smalley b.1810- was he the 'well-known mesmerist'?  I read in Riley Smalley's obituary in the Blackburn times that James Smalley had 14 children. Perhaps he accounts for all those Smalleys in Blackburn. Stitching together a family tree starting with James could be a large undertaking. I guess that if it hadnt been for the Great Depression, which dispersed many of them, all the Smalleys would still be in Blackburn (this one is in Leicester).

[jeffrey4kids]

Sorry for the long delay.
Yes James Smalley was the well-known mesmerist, he must have done pretty well for himself as he bought burial plots for each of his children, all in a row, in Blackburn Cemetry off Whalley New Road.  I think we are near the end of doing just that, the marriages and births of Smalley descendants after 1930 are more an educated guess than knowledge, but some certificates have been bought and searching the local press for obituaries and marriage reports have confirmed some.  Our main problem is going backwards from James's parents.
You had asked where the Riley had started, James's sister Alice had married a Riley Cunliffe in 1834.
You mentioned your grandfather was Thomas, do you mind saying who your father was?
If you would like a copy of our research once we have finished, then we will gladly post it to you.  Take care. Gill

[loessperson]

My father was James Critchley Smalley (b.04.04.04) his brothers were Riley (that Riley again) and David. Riley had a bookshop in Lytham; I have one in Leicester. We have a great picture of ggf Riley in his garden in Infirmary Rd- I will try to find out how to post it...

[jeffrey4kids]

That would be wonderful.  Can we put our email addresses on this wall do you know?  It may be easier to send it through that way.
Do you know much about your Critchley descendants?  We have some information as Clara's father David was such a prominent figure within the Temperance movement in Blackburn, a very respected gentleman.
Take care. 

[polarbear]

Mods will remove e-mail addresses posted on the public part of RootsChat but you can use the PM (Private Message) system on here to exchange e-mail addies. Click on the green scoll under the name of the poster you want to contact. This is to prevent spamming and other misuses.

Regards
Polarbear

[jeffrey4kids]

thanks Polarbear