Swans of Northumberland

[..claire..]

In the 1841 census for Horton

Joseph Swan 60 farmer   
Dorothy  "    20 orphan
Isabella Hindmarsh 40 inmate

Hill Cat farm next door was occupied by another Joseph Swan Jnr.
Cowpen Red House Farm next to that was occupied by a William and Ann Darling.


in the 1851 census for Horton

Dorothy Swan  hd 34 S  grocer  bn Cowpen
Isabella Hindmarsh  64 S COUSIN "  Tilton

1861 census

Dorothy Swan  hd S 43  grocer  bn Cowpen
Isabella Hindman S 73 AUNT bn Felton

Not quite sure who Isabella is yet !!

claire

[..claire..]

Right

From Robert and Isabella's marriage licence Isabella was from Bedlington and 27 yrs old. This must be her baptism

Isabella bp. 6 August 1775 Bedlington. Parents: Thomas and Isabel Hindmarsh.

The other Isabella (on the gravestone born abt. 1787) was from Felton, where there is this baptism

Isabella bp. 9 Jan 1785 Felton, father: Richard.

My guess is that the father of these two Isabella's were probably brothers ~ well maybe!

claire

[Malcolm33]

     If you should find a connection to the Rothbury Swann's then the 1816 Bible Cenus may be of interest:
"Page 68. Alexander SWANN is an industrious Weaver in his sixty-eighth year, is married and has a daughter thirty years old, complains that Rothbury Beer bought at two pence a gallon is bad!, is going to live under Mr. STONER, has a clean copy of the Whole Duty of Manna Bible, a Testament and two Prayer books, and wants a Bible in large print.
 Total: 3 Persons, 1 Bible, 1 Testament, 2 Prayer Books
 Page 43 John SWANN is a joiner, he and his journeyman are Presbyterians but his Father, Mother and sister, who live with him attend the Church. The sister spins a pound of yarn per day with a double handed wheel. there are three Bibles and two Prayer books in the house which has every appearance of comfort and industry.
 Total: 9 Persons, 6 Bibles, 2 Prayer Books "

     I have an ancestor Ann Wintroup who was born April 1703 and her mother was Eleanor Swann who would therefore have been born in the late 1600's.   They too lived around Rothbury.

[Anydogsbody]

Claire! Do you ever sleep??

I was aware of the Felton chapter of Swans from a marriage of Robert Swan(Felton,1678) to Jane Bell in Bothal 1703.

It will take me a while to assimilate all this. Naming conventions were quite different in those days but if I'm reading this right then Robert Swan lost his wife, Isabella Swan ms Hindmarsh, to then cohabit with a cousin of the same name.

The Isabella baptism 1775 looks right for a marriage 1802 age 27.

Yet again we see a Darling/Swan connection. This one may be coincidence but then again!!

Malcolm33: I had a quick look at my available Swan info and couldn't see an immediate Swann/Rothbury connection. Keep watching the thread because new stuff is turning up all the time.

[Anydogsbody]

Claire

I was looking at the picture of the gravestone at Horton and noticed that the stone behind also had an inscription which looked suspiciously like Swan. Here's the link to the inscription; I reckon that completes the family.

http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/gravedetails.php?available=yes&fullname=Isabella%20Swan&grave=289272&personid=619290&db=289272

I think the full inscription on the first stone reads:

To the memory of Mary Swan daughter of Joseph Swan of Cowpen who  died September……….aged 7 years.

Ann her mother died December 3…….aged 72 years

The above Joseph Swan died September 2……..1826 aged 82 years

Joseph his son died February 12 1851 aged 76 years.

Isabella Hindmarsh his niece ( I presume that means of Joseph Swan Snr) died May 19 1861 aged 74 years.

Dorothy daughter of Robert Swan( see the other gravestone inscription) of Cowpen High House and grand-daughter of the above Joseph Swan died April 9 1813 aged 57 years.

I think we could probably fill in the blanks from the Horton BTs

I have to thank http://www.gravestonephotos.com for the information which has been invaluable in clarifying this branch of the Swan family.

I do wonder though if the Swans suffered from an appalling lack of imagination when naming their children. All males were called Robert and all females were called Isabella with the odd Dorothy or Joseph thrown in occasionally.

[Anydogsbody]

Claire

Going back over this thread and picking out the kernels of truth from the various observations I think the lineage looks like this:

Generation 1

Joseph Swan=Ann ……………plus Isabella Hindmarsh((from gravestone 1, sister or sister-in-law of Joseph

Generation2

Robert Swan bp 7/5/1773 buried Horton 25/9/1819 m Isabel Hindmarsh(Bedlington,bp 6/8/1775 and daughter of Thomas and Isabel Hindmarsh)

Mary Swan bp 4/9/1768 buried 20/9/1773(per gravestone 1 but which makes her age 5 not 7)

Ann Swan bp 22/7/1770 bur 3/3/1771

Joseph Swan bp 20/9/1773

Generation 3

Children of Robert Swan and Isabel Hindmarsh:

Ann Swan 1803 (married William Young 1823)

Mary Swan b 22/12/1804 bp 5/5/1805

Isabella Swan b 18/4/1806 bp 20/7/1806

Robert Swan b 2/4/1808 bp 2/5/1808

Thomas Swan b 3/2/1811 bp 10/3/1811 Horton

Margaret Swan bp 25/4/1813 Cowpen. Father: Farmer

Dorothy Swan bp 6/8/1815 Cowpen High House. Father :Husbandman

Generation 4

Children of Ann Swan and William Young

Euphemia Young, Detchant, my ggGrandmother bp Belford 1824

There were other siblings but I've left them out for clarity.

I think Isabella Swan must have been the sister/sister in law of Joseph Swan Snr which justifies her age and status as Aunt in the 1861 census. (Modification; probably the next generation. Could she be a further sibling of Robert 1767? Age on 1861 census would make her born about 1787ish)

It's a bit odd to see Dorothy described as an orphan at age 20. Technically that's correct though because both her parents had died by the time she was 4.

Questions still to be answered are:

Who was the Joseph Swan, Farmer aged 60, in the 1861 census? His age doesn't fit with either of the two known Josephs. Could he have been the Joseph Swan from the farm next door?

Who exactly was Isabella Hindmarsh. It would be good to pin down the family connection.

Would welcome your thoughts

Richard

[..claire..]

Hi Richard,

Do you mean Joseph Swan aged 60 farmer in 1841 census?

Remember ages were rounded down etc. in this census, I think this Joseph is the one buried 1851 aged 76 (on the gravestone), brother to Robert and son of Joseph and Ann.

All I know about Isabella Hindmarsh is that she was unmarried ( info from census's ), so was a Hindmarsh from birth, born in Felton, see reply #55.

claire

[Anydogsbody]

Yup! That's the one. Thanks for the correction, I've got so many scribbles on bits of paper that I misread that one. Didn't know about rounding down though. I thought, if anything, ages were rounded up.

Need to look at Isabella again, I'd like to get it straight in my mind where she fits in.

[sherekhan]

18 Nov 1773   Priscilla Swan   bap   Robert & Dorothy Swan   Cowpen   
nothing then on BT tll 1777               
28 Aug 1777   Jane Swan   bap    Robert & Dorothy Swan   Cowpen   
1 Jul 1781   Joseph Swan   bap   Robert & Dorothy Swan   Cowpen High House   
18 Jun 1784   John Swan   bap   Robert & Dorothy Swan      
27 May 1787   James Swan   bap   Robert & Dorothy Swan   Cowpen High House   
18 Jan 1792   George Swan   bap   Robert & Dorothy Swan   Cowpen High House   
8 Jan 1797   Mary Swann   bap   Robert  & Dorothy Swann (Gilhespy)   Wheatridge Eardon Parish
29 Jun 1798   John Swan   Bur   Robert & Dorothy Swan (Gilhespy) Wheatridge Earsdon Parish
Paul