Thanks Millipede and ColC
Taking on board your guidance I have followed things through and have come up with the following. Does this make sense?
Given that there was the real possibility that Robert Varley was not alive when his son Henry married in 1847 and the fact that there is no Robert Varley (weaver) that can be found in any census records it is probable that Robert died between 1823 and 1841. The April 8 1835 burial at Barrowford at age 57 is the only fit. (Thanks Colin).
That would imply that Robert Varley was born about 1778. I have not found a baptism for a Robert Varley close to the Colne area around that time. However, there is a 25 December 1786 baptism for Robert Varley with father James and mother Betty who were living in Barrowford. For this to be the correct, Robert Varley would have to have been baptised at age 8. Looking at the Varley baptisms in Colne, where there is both a birth and baptism date recorded, a baptism in late childhood is fairly normal – so this looks like the best fit baptism and Robert’s parents look like they are James and Betty.
Annoyingly, there seems to be three James and Betty Varley’s around Colne with marriages in 1761, 1773 and 1776. Looking at the James and Betty that were living in Barrowford – who had the following children (with baptism years): Ellin 1776, Thomas 1778, Kester 1780, Margaret 1783, Robert 1786, Henry 1789, Abraham 1790, James 1792, Elizabeth 1793.
There is a Margaret, daughter of James and Betty, who was baptised in 1763 and whose parents lived at Monkroad. This is certainly the child of the James and Betty that were married in 1761. So the parents of our Robert were either married on June 1 1773 (James Varley + Betty Heap) or married on June 1 1776 (James Varley + Betty Brotherton). Given that Robert was born in 1776 it seems likely that his parents were James Varley and Betty Heap.
Given that there were three James Varley’s around the same age in Colne, I am not brave enough to try and find the right James Varley birth record. However, there is a baptism for Betty Heap on 26 March 1752 from Little Marsden, Colne, with Father = John Heap.
Now turning to Robert’s wife Sarah Taylor. I could only find one child of Robert and Sarah (Henry, born 1823). Also there is no obvious Sarah Varley that matches in census records. So either Sarah died between 1823 and 1841 or Sarah remarried. I couldn’t find any obvious Marriage for a Sarah Varley of the right age range. Looking at deaths there seems to be only one that looks likely, the 1832 death that Colin identified. I found the image for this death record and the age at death was recorded as 23 – so not a transcription error but still a possible recording error (also there is no birth record for a Sarah Varley around 1809). Assuming that age at death was an error there seems to be three possibilities for baptisms of a Sarah Taylor around Colne.
1 Aug 1789 @ Little Marsden, F = Robert, M = Jane
4 Sept 1803 @ Shawnook, F = John, M = Sophia
29 April 1804 @ Trawden, F = John, M = Mary.
My money is on the 1789 birth as; the other two would make Sarah quite young at the marriage in August 1820, The names Robert and Jane occur in descendants, and The age at death could have been 43 rather than the 23 recorded.
There is a marriage between Robert Taylor and Jane Bannister on 25 December 1775 at Colne. (Sarah’s eldest sibling was born in 1779).
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Topic: Parents of Henry Varley (1823 - 1868) (Read 698 times)