Family History Fun: Great. Great, Great Grandfather Henry Danson

Friday, 13 May 2011

Great. Great, Great Grandfather Henry Danson

My great great great grandfather Henry Danson (1767-1839) can easily be confused with his son - also Henry, especially as both married an Elizabeth.

Henry Danson (senior) was baptised 27th January 1767, the son of John Danson and Margaret Fayle of Carleton, near Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire Nineteen years later in 1786 he married 20 year old Elizabeth Brown. A marriage bond with his signature was traced at Lancashire Record Office.

A marriage bond was a promise between two people, normally the groom and a friend or relative (in this case Henry's brother in law John Bryning) that if the marriage proved invalid in the eye of the law they would pay a penalty to the church of a substantial sum of money - in this case £200.

Marriage licences could be obtained as an alternative to having the banns read. They enabled marriages to take place at any time and were useful if the marriage had to take place quickly or be kept quiet for some reason. Henry and Elizabet's first born child, daughter Margaret was born 7 months after the wedding.

A family bible had pages of what can only be described as srcibbles as family wrote in their name across pages - See my posting: Danson Bible Scribbles - 6th March 2011

Testimony to Henry's standing in the small community of Carleton (319 inhabitants in 1831) was given by a listing of his property in the Title Schedule of 1838; also to the fact that he was on the list of sidesmen in St. Chad's Church, Poulton.

Henry died 21st October 1839, at the age of 71 - his wife 6 months later, both buried in St. Chad's Churchyard, with the monumental inscription providing information on family members.

A copy of his will dated 26 August 1833 was traced at Lancashire Record Office, beautifully written in copperplate. A death duty record was also traced at the National Archives in London. This was invaluable in confirming family members who were legatees.

Henry and Elizabeth's children had a chequered history

In 1804 eldest daughter Margaret married just before her 17th birthday in 1804 - before the births of her two younger brothers. Her husband was brick setter Roger Ryding, but Margaret was dead by the time of her father's will (1833) and death in 1839, with her five children receiving legacies.

First born son John died aged 46 in 1836, with no marriage traced. However at the age of 21 he was served with an affiliation order ordering him to contribute to the upkeep of his "said bastard child" - a forerunner of the current Child Support Agency! See my posting "John Danson''s 'Said Bastard Child'" - 21st January 2011

Second son William died in 1833 aged 41, whilst youngest son James died in 1827 aged just 15. No further information has been found on George, born in 1797 nor on daughter Ellen/Nelly born 1799.

Which left son Peter who seems to have been considered unsuitable as a will executor, with later census returns listing him unmarried livng with his younger brother Henry's household until his death.

Henry Danson (my great great grandfather) was born 1806 twenty years after his parents' marriage when his mother much have been 40 years old with the youngest child James born 5 years later.