The
further we go back in family history, the more shadowy our ancestors
can appear - especially on the female side, where we don't usually have
the benefit of a photograph or portrait, or knowledge of an occupation
to define the person.
I was prompted to look afresh at my research on my
great, great, great grandmother Elizabeth Danson, nee Brown, (1766-1840) who was
little more than a name to me as the wife of Henry Danson, yeoman
farmer.
 |
St.
Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire where Elizabeth, along with my other Danson ancestors, was
baptized, married and buried.
|
I
had never written a profile on Elizabeth, so I set out to see how I
could bring her more to the fore of my family history by revisiting
the records.
ELIZABETH AS A DAUGHTER
My
first information on Elizabeth came in her Marriage Bond [below] which
gave her age - 20, so born c.1766 and her father's name as William.
The English Christening Records on Ancestry include
an Elizabeth Brown at Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire born 27th June 1766 -
father Wiliam, but no mother's name cited. A search for a William
Brown marriage in Poulton c.1760 traced only one possible entry - a
union with Ellen Clegg 17th November 1751 - this could be Elizabeth's
mother, given that the witness to her marriage was a Nelly Clegg - Nelly
being the diminutive of Ellen.
ELIZABETH AS A WIFE
Elizabeth and Henry married 29th October 1786 at St.Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fykde
Lancashire, as recorded in the Poulton Parish Register, with one of the
witnesses Nelly Brown - Elizabeth's sister perhaps?
I was lucky enough to trace a marriage bond at Lancashire Record Office. This 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.
The marriage bond reads:
“Know all men by these present that we, Henry
Danson and John Brining of the parish of Poulton, County of Lancashire, are
held and firmly bound by….two hundred pounds of good and lawful money of Great
Britain, sealed with our seals, dated twenty eighth day of October in the year
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty six….there shall not
hereafter appear any lawful let of impediment by reason of precontract,
consanguinity, affinity or any just cause but that Henry Danson, husbandman
aged 19 years and Elizabeth Brown….aged 20 years, with the consent of John
Danson and William Brown, their fathers…….”
So the marriage bond was dated a day before the actual wedding. 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 - was that the reason for a hasty ceremony?
Obtaining
the marriage licence was always a more expensive way of ensuring the
legality of a marriage and never as popular as Banns. That Henry could
afford this form seems to suggest that the family was relatively
well off.
ELIZABETH AS A MOTHER
The young Elizabeth went on to have seven children between 1787 and 1811 - Margaret, John, William, George, Peter, Nelly, Henry, and James - with her two youngest sons born when she was in her 40's. Their
Christian names had family significance, with Margaret, John and
William named after grandparents, Peter after Henry' (senior)'s
grandfather and Nelly (Ellen) a name in both the Danson and Brown families.
A
sideline on family life was revealed in the Family Bible where a page
headed "Be Good to the Poor" had been scribbled on by various member of
the fmaily, criss-crossed on the page in what can only be described as
scribbles. Elizabeth's contribution can just be made out in the
middle of the section here, with Henry's above it left.
The entries cite the family living at Trap Farm, Carleton and signatures include that of "Ellie Simpson, Carleton, Trap, Servant, 1830". The fact
that servant Ellie was included in the activity somehow casts a lovely light on the household informality -
though the fact they used the Bible for these scribbles does raise other
issues!
But family life was not without tragedy. In the space of 12 years (1827-1839), Elizabeth saw the loss of her husband and three children.
- Eldest child Margaret
married before her 17th birthday on 28 April 1804 (and before the
birth of her two youngest brothers); her husband Roger Ryding, a
bricksetter, 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 Ageny!) The order, traced at
Lancashire Record Office, notes:
“Ann Butler, single woman, was upon the 27th day of
August last, delivered of a female bastard child in the said township of Marton…and
that John Danson, husbandman of Carleton did begot the said bastard on her body
and is the father of the same....... Thereupon, we order… for the better relief of the said
township…and the sustenance and relief of the said bastard child…John Danson
pay unto the churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor…the sum of One Pound
Eighteen Shillings for and towards the charges and expenses incident to the
birth…further sum of four shillings towards the cost of apprehending and securing
the said John Danson….the sum of Two Shillings weekly…towards the keeping,
sustenance and maintenance of the said bastard child”.
- James,
the youngest son, died at the age of 15, with an inquest held into his
death on 11th January 1827. Unfortunately the only record traced on this
tragedy was in the Quarter Session Records at Lancashire Record Office,
which noted that the coroner claimed £1 expenses and 16s.6d travelling
costs for the post mortem.
- Henry
- second youngest son (and my great great grandfather), was born 20
years after his parent's marriage and was to continue the Danson name
down the generations.
- Peter never married, making his home with his brother Henry's household until his death in 1866.
- Second son William died at the age of 41 in 1833. as recorded in Poulton Parish Register.
- No further information has been traced on George and Nelly.
Trap
Farm, Carleton - Elizabeth's married home c.1827 at the time of the
scribbles in the family bible [see above]. Her sons Henry and Peter were
living there with Henry's large family in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. I
took this photograph c.1998 when it was in a dilapidated state. The property has undergone major
refurbishment since them.
ELIZABETH AS A WIDOW
Elizabeth was left a widow on 21 October
1839 and a copy of Henry's will dated 26 August 1833 was obtained from Lancashire
Record Office.It noted:
" 
I give and bequeath
unto my dear wife Betty all my household goods, plate, china, linen and
household furniture for and during her natural life….I also bequeath during her
natural life one clear annuity of thirty pounds".
ELIZABETH AS A FRIEND
I came across this short but beautiful testimony to Elizabeth almost by chance during a quite casual browslng of British Newspapers Online 1710-1953 on the website Find My Past. -
"Blackburn Standard Wednesday 20 May 1840:
Betty, widow of the late Mr. Henry Danson,
yeoman, Trap Estate, Carleton, near Poulton-le-Fylde. She was much
esteemed, and will be greatly regretted by a large circle of
acquaintances".
The
Blackburn Standard is not a newspaper I would have every thought of
looking at for events in Poulton, so it was also a lesson to widen a search beyond the obvious.
But that little piece somehow brought Elizabeth (or the more familiar Betty) alive for me, as no other record had done.
Postscript: Elizabeth
(Betty) Danson, nee Brown died seven months after her husband Henry, buried on 13th May 1840 at the age of 73, predeceased by at least four
of her seven children - Margaret, John, William and James. She was buried in St. Chad's churchyard. Unfortunately most of the old gravestones were removed some time ago, so no memorial remains to her life.
*************
I first published this post in 2014 on the website Worldwide Genealogy Collaboration, but have reprinted it here so it is together with my other research into my Danson family.
Matrilineal Monday is prompt focussing on our female ancestors - one of many prompts from www.geneabloggerstribe.com to encourage bloggers to write about their family history.
Copyright © 2017 · Susan Donaldson. All Rights Reserved
Sleeping Beauties - this time with our second cocker - Colleen 
