Danson and Rawcliffe Stories - Recapped

I thought it was time to recap my Danson and Rawcliffe stories.  so if you missed them first time around, have a look now.

August 2010 - MARIA - A SPANISH LOOK IN LANCASHIRE

The character of my great-grandmother, Maria Danson, nee Rawcliffe (left)  had always appealed to me.   Her name was an evocative mixture of down-to-earth Lancashire grit with echoes of a more flamboyant Latin nature. She looked a formidable lady from the one photograph I had initially of her. To give additional colour there was a, no doubt,  apocryphal story that “granny’s dark looks” came from Spanish descent, after an Armada ship had been wrecked off the Fylde coast of Lancashire............................................

September 2010 - A RAWCLIFFE FAMILY CONUNDRUM - MARIA OR MARTHA?

I  had always been told my great grandmother's name was Maria Rawcliffe of Hambleton, the Fylde, Lancashire.   But there was a puzzle in that many official  records, such as her 1877 marriage certificate, the 1881 census entry and my grandfather's  birth certificate  gave her name as Martha.   I sent away to Garstang Registrar for Maria's  birth certificate c.1859 and outlined my confusion over her Christian name.   To my surprise there were two certificates.............................

 

 September 2010 - ST. CHAD'S CHURCH, POULTON-LE-FYLDE - FAMILY MEMORIES

St. Chad’s Church, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire is at the heart of my family history, as Dansons were baptised, married and buried there down the generations from John Danson, born 1736, son of Peter......................................

September 2010 - THE DANSON ANCESTRAL HOME - TRAP FARM, CARLETON

My ancestral home (right) in 1998 - but not quite as I imagined it! 
In 1841 and 1851 my great, great grandfather Henry Danson and family were living at Trap Farm, Carleton, near Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire in a household of 13...................

September 2010 - JAMES DANSON IN THE STOCKS
The only photograph of my great grandfather James Danson, came from his daughter's shoebox collection.  James, sitting in the stocks in the square at Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire  is the merry figure on the left, clearly enjoying life........................

September 2010 - JENNIE DANSON - THE CHANGING FACE OF FASHION

My great aunt Jennie was,  by all accounts,  quite a feisty character.  The only daughter after 10 sons..............

September 2010  - THE DANSON SISTERS - ALL DRESSED UP

My mother and aunt, Kathleen and Edith Danson were very close, born 1908 and 1907, separated only by one year and one week, the eldest daughters of William Danson and Alice English of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.....................