Shelf and Northowram 1500s

[clayton bradley]

I am researching the Broadley family before 1654 in Halifax. On writing out the families baptized in St John the Baptist I realized that I had five males with children noted as of Shelf and the same five males with children listed as of Northowram. I didn't think these two places were identical, though near. Was there a relationship between Shelf and Northowram? Thanks for any help in understanding this, cb

[benfromshelf]

Shelf and Northowram are two adjoining villages, once adjoining townships in the large Parish of Halifax.

[clayton bradley]

Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry, I don't know why I haven't seen it before. It's just odd as all the Broadleys who wrote wills seem convinced they lived in either Shelf or Northowram, but the vicar clearly couldn't see any difference between the two and used them interchangeably.

[benfromshelf]

I'd say that it's unlikely that the people who compiled the Parish Registers got Shelf and Northowram mixed up. It's much more likely that there were people of the same name living at Shelf and Northowram around the same time. It might be possible to separate them out by compiling all known records for a person to see whether they seem to have moved or whether they were in two places at once.
Regards,
Ben Stables
Author: 'The Early History of Shelf'

[clayton bradley]

When I first transcribed the families I did indeed differentiate them by whether the vicar used Shelf or Northowram but it is clear in each case it is the same family. All occurrences are at St John the Baptist, Halifax and all have the father named.
William Broadley married Genet Holmes 26 may 1560. He was buried 15 jul 1591 of North. Genet was buried 13 sep 1597 of Shelf. Their children; Robert bap 17 mar 1560/1 of Shelf, James 25 dec 1562 of Shelf. Maria 29 sep 1564 of Shelf, Michael 27 oct 1566 of North, Abraham 24 mar 1566/7 of Shelf, Maria 27 dec 1570 of North, Matthew 8 may 1575 of North.
William's older brother Richard had a daughter Annes in 1553 of Shelf, probably illegitimate, married Genet Snype 15 sep 1555 and had these children; Annes 13 feb 1556/7 of Shelf, bur 8 jun of Shelf, Richard 6 feb 1558 of North, Robert 1 may 1561 of North, Alice 28 jan 1564/5 of Shelf, bur 15 jan 1565/6, Grace 12 jan 1566/7 of Shelf, Nicholas bur 4 nov 1568 of North, Isabel 22 may 1569 of North, Abraham 9 apr 1570 of Shelf, Samuel 12 jun 1575 of Shelf.
I can only think where they lived was on the edge of Shelf and Northowram. I do have a similar problem with an Edward Broadley who had a property partly in Lightcliffe and partly in Shelf and his children were baptized of Hipperholme or Shelf but his will is clear about where his property was. William and Richard didn't leave wills.

[benfromshelf]

Thank you, that's very interesting indeed. I do wonder about the instance of two of those children born to a William Broadley. If Michael was baptised soon after birth on the 27th October 1566 and then Abraham was baptised on the 24th March 1567 (New Style) then there would only be about five months between them and his other children would appear to have been born every two years or so. This is why I would suggest that there may have been two William Broadley's - one of Shelf and one of Northowram which could explain this. If one William was less wealthy than the other they would have been unlikely to have left a Will or other documents like land deeds.
All the best, Ben Stables

[clayton bradley]

 This sort of baptism pattern may indicate twins. It recurs in the family. It seems they baptized the weaker twin first and the healthier one some time later. I have evidence for this also in Lancashire in the early 1700s. Jonas Broadley b Northowram 1588 has a similar pattern with two of his children and there was no other Jonas Broadley until he had his own son Jonas.
There is a Richard Broadley whose children were baptized of Skircoat/Siddall/Halifax but I have wills from that family which prove they are the same family and I doubt he moved about. Maybe John Favour just wasn't good at local geography?

[Vance Mead]

You may have seen this already, but there are several people in Common Pleas cases named Brodley / Brodlee / Brodle in Halifax, as well as in Bradford, Huddersfield and 'Hiperhowme' going back to the 1400s.

Just a few:
Brodley, Nicholas, of Halyfax, clothier, in 1502

Brodle, William, junior, of Halifax, yeoman, in 1484

Brodlee, John, of Bradford, yeoman, son of Brodlee, Robert, of Halifax, for a debt to Brodlee, Thomas, of Hodderisfeld, in 1505

These are indexed here:
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40_Indices.html

There are quite many indexes, but you can search more quickly here:
https://waalt.uh.edu/index.php/Main_Page

And using Google:
site:http://aalt.law.uh.edu/indices/cp40indices/ brodley

The indexes are on two different servers, so you need to search both ways. I think the spellings Brodley / Brodlee / Brodle will get all or most of them.

[clayton bradley]

Thank you very much, Vance Mead. The only one I have of those is the third one, so very grateful.