Differentiating between Fawcett ancestors - tips needed

[SamuelF992]

Good evening everyone,

I'm a Fawcett and my paternal ancestry goes back to the area around Warcop, Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedale. I've been able to trace my ancestry back confidently to John Fawcett and Margaret Moss (b. Warcop, 1779) but here it's got tricky to identify the correct ancestors without having census information.

For example, there are three John Fawcetts born in Warcop or Kirkby Stephen between 1771-1778, and I don't really know how to differentiate which is the correct ancestor. I went with the John born in Warcop in 1775 as it best matches the future marriage to Margaret, but it's really a best guys. Do you have some general strategies or tips you use when you run in to this issue? DNA hasn't been as useful on this side of the family as I'd hoped.

Best wishes
Samuel Fawcett

[goldie61]

One of the first things I do is look for wills.
These can be a mine of information.

Have you looked to see if the 3 fathers of the John you're trying to trace left any wills?
I'm not sure where these might be for Westmorland - do they now come under Cumbria?
There's a site here for Cumbria archives which I think is at Carlisle.
https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives/online_catalogues/ecclesiastical/wills.asp

There is a post here about Westmorland wills which might be of help
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=206137.0
It would seem to be not very straightforward!
I don't know the area.

I know findmypast have a lot of wills, but not sure if they cover Westmorland.
You may be lucky and find them on familysearch.org.

I had a quick look on The National Archives Discovery Wills page in case they had been proved at the PCC, but didn't see anything that fitted.

Another thing to look at is occupations.
What was the occupation of your John? Can you find the occupations of the fathers in question?

Also family naming patterns may give you a clue.
Look at the names of John's children
What was he first, and second son called?
Can you tie these in with any of the 3 fathers?
What about your John's brothers and sisters, and the names of their children?
Can you see any similarities? Or any unusual names that follow on?

good luck!

[ColC]

On Freereg & Family search there would appear to be seven John Fawcet/ Fawcett’s between 1771 & 1779, naming patterns can help but I can only find the following children:

John 1799, Margaret 1803 = Warcop

Robert 1807, Thomas 1812 = Kirkby Stephen.

Do you know of any others?

Of the above there are two, which might be the one you are looking for.

13 Jun 1771   Warcop   Robert & Barbara
30 Jul 1775   Warcop   John & Agnes

It may be that they named their first two children after themselves and Robert as John’s father. I note that Margaret’s father was Thomas.

The death records would be of help, have you had any luck finding them?

I cannot find a suitable 1841 census which might help.

Colin

[Susan Blackstone]

Hi, I thought you might like to know I have found the online LANCAT archives at lancashire.gov.uk very useful.   I was able to obtain copies of marriage bonds and wills of my Westmorland ancestors.

Susan

[SamuelF992]

Thank you everybody.

The Robert and Barbara link turned out to be excellent. Changed it and got a DNA match instantly.

Now somewhat stuck on the next generation up of course, but I will keep digging!

Best wishes
Samuel