Welcome to the website of Rosemary Brown!

 Oldham Parish Chest contained substantial records of the various taxes, including Church Ley and Land Tax. Many of these have been filmed by the LDS.

I have viewed films 1484968 and1484969 which deal with the Poor Rates.

 

JAMES, the son of the original James of Cleggs, lived his entire life at Cleggs. Usually the registers merely recorded the abode as Sholver, but in 1768 when this James' daughter Dinah died, her address was given as Cleggs. Joseph, the first James' youngest son was born in 1733 at Cleggs. In 1745 Mathew's children Daniel and Anne, were both married from Cleggs and on Nov 5th 1759, Mathew's wife Hannah was buried from Cleggs. "Old" Mathew Dunkerley himself was buried from

Littlemoor Lane

on August 22nd 1762. James may have died a month later, the burial record merely states, "September 16th 1762, James Dunkerley of Sholvermoor". Martha Dunkerley was buried on March 23 1770, also from

Littlemoor Lane

. James and Martha's youngest son Joseph, described first as a weaver, then as a clothier, was living in

Littlemoor Lane

in the 1760's, so perhaps she was living with him.

FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING MATHEW AND HANNAH’S GRANDCHILDREN CAN BE FOUND IN APPENDIX 1.

JAMES (1695 –1762) AND MARTHA DUNKERLEY…6 X GREAT GRANDPARENTS.

James and Martha had six children, all of whom survived and became adult. James was described as a weaver in the parish register of 1723; he married Martha Jackson on July 31st 1712. He was probably very young, as he was baptised in March 1696, although children were occasionally baptised some time after their birth. However, there was a baby due in three months time, and I expect he would have received a lot of "encouragement" to marry from the minister of the church and the two families concerned. He was already living at Broadbent.

The faithfulness of the Dunkerley Family to the names John and James has caused me endless problems. (A problem that has doubtless been shared by anyone reading this article!) An entry in the parish registers at about this time that caused me problems concerning James was the marriage of a James Dunkerley from Lower Horsedge Fould to Susanna Widdall of Ryton on August 8th 1721. There was no other James Dunkerley in the baptismal records who was not accounted for. Perhaps this was an older James, baptised between 1672 and 1681 when there were no entries in the register, he could have been an elder son of Luke Dunkerley of Lower Horsedge. Perhaps he was a James who had been omitted from the records, or even a James who had come in from a neighbouring parish.  No children from the marriage were recorded so they were not destined to be anybody's ancestors. In any event it would not explain the affinity that existed between James and Mathew, who stayed close together throughout their lives.

 

MARY was the name given to James and Martha’s eldest daughter. She was born shortly after they married in 1712. She may have married Abraham Buckley of Crompton, who was a labourer, in October 1733. Unfortunately the marriage entry could also relate to another Mary Dunkerley, the daughter of John Dunkerley of Horsedge who was of a similar age. However James' daughter was probably the more likely, as Crompton, which is in the north of the parish, is nearer to Broadbent than Horsedge. Mary was the most common Christian name for a Dunkerley girl, particularly for the eldest daughter. This was a tradition that persisted and could go as far back as Mary or Marie the wife of James Dunkerley in the early 17th Century, or the Mary Donkerley who was baptised in 1567.

JAMES AND MARTHA'S ELDEST SON WAS CALLED  JAMES. He was baptised in 1715. There is no record of a marriage for James at Saint Mary's, so we only know that his wife was called Betty from the baptismal registers. Her real name was Elizabeth Taylor, she and James were married in Prestwich on 31.8.1735. As they are also direct ancestors there will be more information about their family further on.

JOHN DUNKERLEY - YEOMAN  John was James and Martha’s second son who was baptised on March 12th 1718/19. He married Mary Crossley of Netherhey on August 28th 1743, and was described as a weaver, near Sholver. When his first child was born he was described as John Dunkerley of Fodwod. As far as can be told from the registers he and Mary only had two children, they called the first child Mary, (of course) she was baptised in July 1744. Their second child was called Joseph, he was baptised at Shaw chapel in January 1748. The family were then living at Little End, which was in the northern part of the parish. John Dunkerley was buried on January 17th 1796 from Rhodes House, aged 81 years. This brings us back to 1715, which I thought made Mathew’s son John the most likely candidate, as he was baptised in 1717. However Peter Rathbone has a copy of John’s will, dated 1796, which refers to his brother Joseph of Broadbent, who was certainly James and Martha Dunkerley’s youngest son. This evidence appears conclusive. The value of his estate was less than £10, which was a reasonable amount in those days. John's wife Mary was buried, also from Rhodes House, on March 10th 1789, her husband John was described as a yeoman, which meant that he owned his own land. Shortly after his father John's death, on November 2nd 1798 their son Joseph, also of Rhodes House was buried, he was one of the first Dunkerleys ever to be given the title of Mister in the Parish Registers. He was described as a cotton manufacturer and his estate was valued at between £40 - £100. In Edwin Butterworth's History of Oldham Joseph is described as "one of the earliest cotton manufactures of the district." He also wrongly stated that he died in 1790, the Burial Register records it as 1798. In 1784 Joseph paid 2s 11d for Church Ley, this was the highest amount paid by a Dunkerley in Oldham at that time. The name Joseph seems to have been a lucky one for Dunkerley men, many of them did very well indeed.

 

In K. McPhillips book, “Oldham; The Formative Years” he states that Rhodes Mill was owned by Robert Dunkerley from 1783 -1785.  This is a mistake as the only Robert Dunkerley born in Oldham was a son of James Dunkerley of Barrowshaw who was born in 1769 and died soon after. Joseph seems to have been well documented by contemporary writers, not only by Butterworth, but Joseph Dunkerley's mill at Rhodes was also mentioned in Rowbottom's Diaries when someone tried to burn it down.

It is possible that this is the Joseph Dunkerley whose account of legal costs regarding his appeal for embezzlement, is to be found amongst the papers of Hopwood and Hopwood QPP 231418 in the Lancashire Record Office. This needs further investigation. However there were several other Joseph Dunkerley’s living at this time, including the wealthy Joseph of Wallworkfold, and Joseph of Broadbent. Joseph of Mumps had died in 1788.

JAMES AND MARTHA'S SECOND DAUGHTER WAS CALLED MARTHA. She was born in 1720.I have found no further record of her, unless she was the Martha Dunkerley who died at Tharley Road in July 1756.

JAMES AND MARTHA DUNKERLEY'S second son DANIEL OF COUNTHILL married Hannah Mellowdew. He died young in 1754, having lost both his sons. He must have impressed his father in law, however, as he put up a memorial in memory of Daniel, his son Edward, and two other sons in law. I wonder if it was the same Mellowdew family who became the main mill owners in Moorside? They built St Thomas' church and appointed my great grandfather Thomas Holme, as its first vicar. Daniel's youngest daughter Hannah was only two when her father died. She married our other 4 x great grandfather William Knight's brother, John Knight in February 1771; having first born him an illegitimate daughter, Mary, in 1770.

JAMES AND MARTHA'S YOUNGEST SON WAS JOSEPH, who was baptised on March 4th 1733, the family were living at Cleggs. Joseph married Hannah Gartside at Oldham on May 26th 1756. They had four children.

When their first child, JOHN, was born the family were living at Sholver, but by 1760 they were at

Littlemoor Lane

. There is only one reference to Joseph's occupation; he was a clothier, which was probably a step up from being a weaver.

Both his mother Martha and his uncle Mathew were buried from

Littlemoor Lane

in the 1760's, where they may have moved to be near Joseph. Joseph and Hannah were probably still living there in 1777, as their grandson James was born in

Littlemoor Lane

. Joseph died in 1801, by this time he was the owner of Broadbent, where his father had lived as a pauper nearly 100 years before. Unusually for that time his age was given, he was 67.

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THE FAMILIES OF JAMES AND MARTHA'S CHILDREN SEE APPENDIX 2

JAMES (1715 – 1794) AND BETTY DUNKERLEY OF SHOLVER  5 X GREAT GRANDPARENTS

James and Betty’s eldest daughter MARTHA was baptised at Shaw Chapel in November 1737. She may have married Abraham Wolfenden in 1763. Most of James and Betty's children were baptised from Shaw.

Their oldest son JOHN was baptised in 1739, he later married Anne Buckley and they lived at Northyate. They were our 4 x great grandparents.

Strangely John's sister BETTY, who was baptised in 1740, also became our 4 x great grandmother. As has been previously related she married her second cousin John Dunkerley, who was James of Barrowshaw's eldest son, in 1769.

JAMES AND BETTY DUNKERLEY had eight further children.

JAMES DUNKERLEY who was baptised in 1742. He  married Mary Dunkerley on February 24th 1765. He had two second cousins both called Mary, one was James’ eldest son John's daughter. However I suspect that she did not marry, but was the Miss Dunkerley buried from Rhodes House in 1801. The other Mary was his second cousin, James of Barrowshaw's eldest daughter, baptised in 1746.

DINAH DUNKERLEY who was baptised in. 1745, she died in1747.

ANNE DUNKERLEY who was baptised in 1746. She may have married John Wrigley in 1768, or James Bardsley in 1774. There were several Anne Dunkerley's born about this time.

ISAAC DUNKERLEY who was baptised in 1749. He married his second cousin Betty Dunkerley who was yet another daughter of James Dunkerley of Barrowshaw, on the first of February 1773. They had nine children, the first six were girls, but the last three boys all died.

DANIEL DUNKERLEY who was baptised in 1752. There is no record so far of either a death or a marriage, although he could have married Alice Taylor at Prestwich on some date in the 1770's. If so, there is no record of any children in St Mary's baptismal register although it is known that they did have children. This Daniel is one of two candidates who may be my fellow researcher Philip Dunkerley’s ancestor. ( http://dunkerley-tuson.co.uk) The other possibility is Daniel the son of Mathew Dunkerley and Sarah Holden who was also baptised in 1752.

BENJAMIN DUNKERLEY who was baptised in 1758. There is no record of an Oldham marriage, but a Shaw Chapel baptism for a James Dunkerley in September 1789 gives the parents as Benjamin and Sarah Dunkerley of Heyside.

DINAH DUNKERLEY was baptised in 1760. She died in 1768 as did her sister, also called Dinah, which does not seem to be a lucky name for a Dunkerley girl.

There was almost certainly one other child, the Shaw Chapel baptismal record is incomplete however.

  "Old James Dunkerley  of Sholvermoor"  was buried on August 18th 1794. He must have been about seventy nine years old. Betty Dunkerley was buried on May 7th 1800

It does seem incredible that three sets of second cousins married one another, but at this time they were all living at Cleggs, which was probably quite remote, so they would have been thrown into one another's company.

JOHN (1748 – 1818) AND BETTY DUNKERLEY 4 X GREAT GRANDPARENTS.

Betty was 29 when she married her cousin, John Dunkerley, this was relatively old for that period. John, who was nine years younger than Betty, was the son of James Dunkerley of Barrowshaw and grandson of Mathew Dunkerley, this helps to reinforce the idea of close contact between these two families. It also means that if Betty and John are our 4x great grandparents, Mathew Dunkerley is our 6 x great grandparent, so both brothers, Mathew and James, are direct ancestors.

It looks as though they left the wedding a little late, their first child, Daniel was born at Barrowshaw, he was baptised at St Mary's Oldham on January 14th 1770. They were married on December 3rd 1769. John was able to sign his name, which was not unusual amongst weavers. Daniel Dunkerley was there as a witness, he could have been either Betty's uncle, or her brother. It was not so common to have a member of the family as a witness in those days. Perhaps he was there to make sure that everything went according to plan. 

This John and Betty gave me a lot of problems. What I think happened was that in the 1760's Betty's older brother John, and his wife Anne were already living at Northyate in Sholvermoor, where they had their family. 

I think that they were then joined at Northyate by John's sister Betty, and her husband John in the 1770's. The problem was that there were now two "John of Northyate's", the burial registers only gave the father's name. At first I thought that Anne had died and John had married again, to Betty. (In fact it is possible that Ann lived to a great age and died at Grimbies in 1827 in her 90th year. But that will need to be investigated.) I began to realise that there must be two separate Johns because John and Anne already had sons John and Daniel, who were still alive. Even with a new wife John would not have called younger sons by the same name.

After their first son DANIEL John and Betty had another son, JOHN, baptised at St. Peter's, Oldham. There was then a gap until 1775 or 1776.

Their daughter NANNY was baptised in January 1776, they were described as living at Sholvermoor.

MARY was baptised in October 1777, at Northyate.

The fact that sometimes the place of birth has been given as Northyate and sometimes as Sholvermoor has added to the confusion. In fact I think that Northyate was in Sholvermoor and they are one and the same place.

John Dunkerley the elder died in 1818 aged 70 at Francises. He left a will – value less than £300. The beneficiaries were his three sons Daniel John and James, daughter Betty wife of John Armstrong (my three times great grandmother,) and the children of his daughter Mary deceased. The Executors were his Brother Daniel of

Potters Lane

and his three sons.

DANIEL DUNKERLEY OF POTTER’S lane died in 1825, aged 63, he also left a will valued at under £100. He was Peter Rathbone’s 4 x great grandfather. He was described as a cotton weaver of Sholver. His chief beneficiary was his son John, who predeceased him, then to be divided between his 6 children, James, Ann, Benjamin, Daniel, Joseph and Isaac.

The last of John and Betty's children was JAMES, baptised in 1884, from Northyate. For a long time I thought he was our great great great grandfather. After she was widowed Betty Armstrong lived with her brother James at Top o' th meadows, both lived to the age of 82.

BETTY AND JOHN ARMSTRONG. 3 X GREAT GRANDPARENTS

BETTY was baptised in 1780, still at Northyate. It was through her that my second (and third) Dunkerley line was established. In 1799 she married John Armstrong at Prestwich, they were Non Conformists. The only children of the marriage whom I have found so far were twins JOHN AND JAMES ARMSTRONG who were baptised at Greenacres Congregational Church on February 13th 1808. They were born on January 13th 1808. It is likely that there were other children, whom I have not yet found. There were a number of non - conformist chapels in Oldham by this time. As has been recorded elsewhere John Armstrong married SABRA HALLAS. They had two children, ELIZABETH, born at Parkgate on May 21st 1828, and JOHN born at Parkgate on the 11th February 1830. Sabra died in November 1833, she was only 29. Her daughter Elizabeth married her second cousin Daniel Dunkerley in 1853.

JOHN (1738 – 1802) AND ANNE DUNKERLEY OF NORTHYATE 4 X GREAT GRANDPARENTS

John married Anne Buckley on February 27th 1759. He was described in the marriage register as a weaver and he was able to sign his name. As has been previously mentioned Dunkerleys and Buckleys have intermarried several times. At present I know nothing about Anne Buckley but I see in the Manchester and Lancs Family History Society's Member's Interest Directory that there are as many as ten members researching Buckley's in Oldham alone, so I may find a fellow member with whom to exchange information. Butterworth's History of Oldham states on page 61 that "The Mellors, Buckley's and Dunkerley's were amongst the principal families of the hamlet of Sholver, in the last and preceding centuries." It is not surprising therefore that they intermarried, though so far I have not found a Dunkerley / Mellor marriage.

John and Anne had five children altogether.

JOHN baptised 1761, died 1762.

JOHN baptised 1763, died 1838.

Maygate Lane

.

DANIEL baptised 1765, died 1846.

BETTY baptised 1767, died 1776.

SARAH baptised 1769.

Of John and Anne's family only three of their children lived to be adult, John, Daniel and Sarah.

JOHN MARRIED BETTY HEYWOOD They are our 3 x great grandparents, so their family will be described in greater detail further on.

DANIEL MARRIED MARTHA BUCKLEY on January 5th 1786, she could have been a cousin on his mother's side. He remained at Sholver for the whole of his long life. His first two sons, John and James were baptised at Shaw, his third child, Ann was baptised at St Mary's in 1790. His three youngest sons Daniel, Joseph and Isaac were, however, baptised at Manchester Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. Daniel and his brother John must have become Nonconformists at about the same time, John's daughter Ann was also baptised at the Manchester Street Chapel in 1796.

JOHN AND ANNE DUNKERLEY brought up their family at NORTHYATE which was a new address for this branch of the Dunkerley family. They then moved to

MAYGATE LANE

some time before John's death in 1802.

Maygate Lane

was also a new location for Dunkerleys, it was in the north western part of Oldham, later to be called

Chadderton Road

. The only Dunkerley recorded in the baptismal registers as living in

Maygate Lane

was JOSEPH DUNKERLEY and his wife Anna, or Hanna, who were first mentioned in the Oldham registers in May 1794. There is no marriage record for them however. Ideally he would have been one of John and Anne’s sons, who, finding the area of

Maygate Lane

congenial, urged his family to join him, but this was not the case. There is no doubt that the family lived there however. "Old John Dunkerley" was buried from

Maygate Lane

on January 21 1802, he was sixty three. His grandson James Dunkerley was married from

Maygate Lane

on November 9th 1809. John's son, also named John must have remained there for the rest of his life, he was buried from there on September 3rd 1838, and the register adds that he was in his 76th year, which is correct.

MAYGATE LANE

was the crucial clue that decided which family our 3 x great grandfather James Dunkerley belonged.

JOSEPH DUNKERLEY was also buried from

Maygate Lane

on August 28th 1837. He was in his 65th year which puts his date of birth at around 1772/3. The only one who fits is Joseph son of Sarah Bardsley of Greenacresmoor singlewoman. By James Dunkerley of Sholvermoor singleman. Baptised December 27th 1772

There is no record of a marriage between James and Sarah but on June 21 1778 Sarah Bardsley, this time of Caverlow, had another illegitimate child who she called James. Once more the supposed father was James Dunkerley of Sholvermoor, singleman. Normally a baseborn child took the surname of the mother, but this was not always the case.

Who then was James? The most likely candidate was James, the son of Daniel and Anne Dunkerley of Sholvermoor, who was baptised on March 19th 1749 at Shaw Chapel. James and our John would therefore have been first cousins. James probably died in July 1778 or 79, "James the younger of Sholvermoor" is recorded in the burial register. It is possible that young Joseph came under the protection of John and Anne. This might explain the link with

Maygate Lane

. But it is all speculation at this stage. Parish records may provide the answer; bastards were the concern of the Parish Constables. 

JOHN (1763 – 1838) AND BETTY DUNKERLEY 3 X GREAT GRANDPARENTS

John and Betty Heywood were married on May 16th 1785 at St. Mary's Oldham. Both made their mark. One of the witnesses was Isaac Heywood. I thought this might be a clue, either a father or a brother. The IGI gives several potential parents for Betty, the most likely being Isaac and Mary Heywood, their daughter Betty was baptised on 2nd October 1768. Betty would have been about 17 years old, a bit young, but possible, especially if young James was on the way. Heywoods and Dunkerley's have intermarried a great many times. Most of John and Betty's children were baptised at Shaw Chapel, which contributed to the difficulty of finding 2 x great grandfather James.

JAMES DUNKERLEY baptised 11th November 1785.   

MARY DUNKERLEY baptised 21st August 1787.

JOHN DUNKERLEY baptised 5th October 1789.

SALLEY DUNKERLEY baptised 30th August 1794.      

ANN DUNKERLEY baptised November 23 1796.

 

Ann was baptised at Manchester Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel.

Manchester Street

had not long been built; it was opened by John Wesley on Good Friday 1790. However the family was still described as living at Sholver so the move to

Maygate Lane

had not yet been made.

As has been mentioned previously finding 2 x great grandfather James has been my greatest problem. I compiled a list of all the James Dunkerley's who were mentioned in St. Mary's parish registers, there were nine who had been baptised between 1773 and 1789, which I thought were the outside limits regarding age. There were also two more who came into the parish from elsewhere. I knew that James married in 1809, so the earlier ages would have made him rather old. Curiously no more baptisms for a “James Dunkerley” were recorded at St Mary's until 1795, which would have been impossible. Having worked out who these James Dunkerley’s married, I was able to eliminate most of them because they were still raising families of their own after 1809. Oddly enough the front runner was James Dunkerley of Northyate, son of the other John and Betty of Northyate, who would have been a cousin. He also married a Mary, but I think he must have married late as I have not yet found his marriage. To complicate matters further there was a bastard James, born in 1778 to Sarah Bardsley, the father being James Dunkerley. It was later that I discovered that the Bardsley's had connections with

Maygate Lane

.

Another problem which caused me considerable concern was an entry in the burial register on September 25th 1802, -  "James son of John Dunkerley of Northyate." For some time I could not reconcile that. The solution I think is that yet another John Dunkerley was living at Northyate and raising a family. To reinforce this idea there is a christening recorded in the Greenacres Register for Betty, son of John and Nanny Dunkerley of Northyate on the 13th June 1802. Subsequent children were James, baptised 1807, John, baptised 1808, Maria 1811,  Enoch 1813, all of Northgate. Nanny is variously written as Ann, or Nancy and may have been Ann Shaw, John Dunkerley and Ann Shaw were married in January 1798. It would be tempting to think that John was the son of either our John Dunkerley or his aunt Betty Dunkerley, both of Northyate. Both families had sons called John, Betty's born in 1779 and John's in 1889. But St Mary's burial registers show that both died, one in 1794 and the other in 1797.An entry for the Poor Ley Above Town for 1817 shows that there was a John Dunkerley living at Northgate, he paid 14s 8d.

Then I had two strokes of luck, I found the Shaw Chapel baptisms. In addition to John and Betty's son James, baptised in 1785, there was a James, son of Martha and Daniel Dunkerley, (John's brother,) baptised in October 1788. Another James, the son of Sarah and Benjamin Dunkerley of Heyside was baptised in December 1789. These were also possible candidates.

However by then I also had the burial records for St Mary's until 1848, the later ones giving the age and place of death. Our James was shown to have died at Watersheadings in July 1840 in his 55th year. Watersheadings was where the family were living when their two younger sons were born, James in 1826 and Daniel in 1828. This proves to me that James was definitely the son of John and Betty Dunkerley, originally of Northyate Sholver, and then, some time before 1809,

Maygate Lane

.

Additional proof is the fact that James' father John died at

Maygate Lane in September 1738 in his 76th year. He was still working as a weaver. As civil registration had then begun I was able to send for his death certificate, the cause of death was given as "Course of Nature" John Dunkerley was the informant and present at the death, presumably his grandson.

It is not clear when Betty died, there is no record of a burial from Northyate, Sholver or Maygate Lane.

Of John and Betty's three surviving daughters, Mary, Sally and Ann I have no further information at present.  

JAMES (1785 – 1840) AND MARY DUNKERLEY 2 X GREAT GRANDPARENTS

As has been outlined above the search for the ancestry of 2 x great grandfather James was difficult. I started with this entry in St Mary's marriage register:-

No 1212.     November 9th 1809 James Dunkerley of

Maygate Lane

weaver and Mary Knight of

Littlemoor Lane

o.t.p. spinster. James Dunkerley signed. Presence of Jonathan Jackson and James Dunkerley.

I thought that the presence of James Dunkerley as a witness was a clue and I was particularly interested in any James Dunkerley whose father was also James. This proved to be a red herring, I subsequently discovered that James was also a witness to eight other weddings between 1804 and 1808.

The real clue was

MAYGATE LANE

, which subsequently became

Chadderton Road

. A fellow weaver, living in Burnley Lane Chadderton, was William Rowbottom, who kept a diary from 1787 to 1830. The first part of his diary, up to 1799, has been published under the title, "The Most Dismal Times." This gives a very good portrayal of ordinary people living in a time of great change and trouble. People are mentioned by name, the only one of our direct ancestors that I have found is a brief reference to the death of Old John Dunkerley in 1802.

Burnley Lane

became

Featherstall Road

, which crosses

Chadderton Road

.

THE KNIGHT FAMILY.

I have not yet done much research on the Knight family, who came from Saddleworth originally. My 2 x great grandmother Mary Knight’s grandfather was George Knight of Stone Breaks in Saddleworth. He married Sarah Clegg of Counthill in 1740. William and John Knight were two of their sons. William was a weaver, he married Hannah Henthorn at St Mary's in 1766. Mary must have been one of the youngest members of his family. So far I have been unable to find a baptismal record for her. But from the date of her death, (Nov 20th 1840) which mentioned that she was in her 52nd year, it can be deduced that she was born in 1788/9. William and Hannah's older children were all baptised at St Mary's but they must later have joined the congregational chapel, as a younger daughter, Hannah, was baptised at Greenacres Congregational Church on May 2nd 1786.

There are two references in Rowbottom's diaries concerning Jacobins, who were pressing for Parliamentary reform. Their leader was JOHN KNIGHT OF SADDLEWORTH. They were not popular and Rowbottom reports in April 1794 that, at a meeting in Royton, they were "inhumanly treated by a merciless mob." Later that year Knight was sentenced to two years imprisonment at Lancaster for wounding Joseph Taylor "in his own defence." It would be interesting to see if this John Knight belonged to the same family as our Knights.

William's brother, also named JOHN KNIGHT, married HANNAH DUNKERLEY in 1771, she was the daughter of Daniel Dunkerley and Hannah Mellowdew, grandaughter of Mathew. John and Hannah also joined the congregational chapel, their youngest son Joseph was baptised at Greenacres in 1787. They lived at Sholver.

 

As far as I know all James and Mary Dunkerley’s children were baptised at Manchester Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. They were a bit slow off the mark however, their first child John was not baptised until 1813. They were then living at

Barrons Lane

. Information was more detailed in the

Manchester Street

register, initially it gave the child's date of birth, later, when the three youngest children were born,  it gave the name of Mary's parents, William and Hannah Knight, which was a very useful clue.

James and Mary had eight children, all but the youngest survived into adult life. They were:-

JOHN born Sept 15th 1813, baptised Sept 26 1813 from

Barrons Lane

.

BETTY born Dec 23rd 1815, baptised Mar 24th 1814 from Oldham.

WILLIAM born Nov 26 1818, baptised Jan 3rd 1819 from Oldham.

HANNAH born May 3rd 1821, baptised June 24th 1821 from Hodgeclough. James described as a weaver.

MARY born April 3rd 1823, baptised May 18th 1823.

JAMES born April 24th 1826, baptised June 26th 1826 at Watersheddings. James senior still described as a weaver.

DANIEL born May 2nd 1828, baptised July 20th 1828 from Watersheddings Bar.

JOSEPH no baptismal record yet found, he was buried at St Mary's on August 23rd 1831.

James Dunkerley died at Watersheddings in July 1840, in his 55th year, Mary followed him in November of the same year, she was still living at Watersheddings. Her age was 51. On her death certificate the cause of death was given as "Debility", the informant was William Dunkerley, inmate of Oldham. James died comparatively young for a Dunkerley, his father, John, was 75 when he died, his son Daniel was also 75.

When I discovered James and Mary's burial entry it solved a mystery posed by the 1841 CENSUS. Here the family were all living together at Knuckett. John, aged 25 (rounded down from 27) was head of household, weaver, he was married to Betty. The others were all described as cotton weavers, except the youngest, Daniel. I wondered what had happened to their parents.

 

JAMES DUNKERLEY died soon after his parents, on the 22nd of April 1844 at

Cow Lane

, Oldham, he was 17 years old. The cause of death was given as "fever on the brain." The informant was Mary Dunkerley of

Cow Lane

which is off

Greenacres Road

. So they were all probably still living together.

DANIEL AND ELIZABETH DUNKERLEY GREAT GRANDPARENTS.

Daniel Dunkerley married Elizabeth Armstrong at Prestwich on August 22nd 1853, by banns. Daniel gave his address as

Grove Street

, his occupation as weaver and his age as 25. The certificate also described his father James as a weaver, but omitted to mention that he was dead. Elizabeth gave her address as Sholver, her occupation as servant and her age as 22, she was, in fact, 25. Her father was named as John Armstrong, labourer. Daniel signed his name and Elizabeth made her mark.

THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY AND ITS CONNECTION WITH THE DUNKERLEYS.

As has been mentioned earlier Elizabeth Armstrong was baptised at Greenacres Independent Chapel on the 22nd May 1828. Her parents were John and Sabra Armstrong of Parkgate. She was born on the 21st May 1828. John and Sabra had two other children, James the eldest was born in 1827, he was buried on the 12th December 1833, less than a month after his mother’s death. John was the youngest child, he was born on the 11th February 1830, and christened at Greenacres in June of the same year. Sabra died in 1833, she was buried on November 15th, in her 29th year, so she was probably born in 1805. The family were then living at Counthill. Sabra is a most unusual name and it took some time to discover her origins.The 1841 census provided the first clue, John Armstrong senior is not shown but Elizabeth Armstrong aged 14 and John Armstrong aged 12 are living at Haven with George and Elizabeth Hallas, he a coal merchant aged (about) 60. As the 1841 census does not give relationships I could only guess that George and Elizabeth Hallas were the Armstrong childrens’ grandparents. Confirmation came with the 1851 census. George had died, his widow, aged 66, and now calling herself Betty, was living at 12, Knuckett (Folio 552) she described herself as a farmer of 11 acres. There were 3 grandchildren living with her, Elizabeth Armstrong, aged 23 and her brother John, aged 22. With them was Ben Hallas, aged 25, both he and John were working as carriers, Elizabeth was described as a servant. All were born in Oldham except Betty who said that she was born in Butterworth, Lancs. This may be an area in the Parish of Rochdale, where the name is common.

THE HALLAS FAMILY

There are 8 references to the name Hallas in the 1851 census, of these 5 principal families are shown. Two of these families, those of James (45) and George (42) were born in Oldham. Two other heads of families however, Andrew and Abraham Hallas were born in Honley Yorkshire. It is possible that our 3 x great grandfather George may also have been born in Honley, he was not born in Lancashire, (as shown in the 1841 census,) but unfortunately he was dead by the 1851 census. Most of the Hallas heads of household were connected with coal, Our ancestor George was a coal merchant, the other George was a coal miner, as was Abraham Hallas and Andrew. Five of the latter’s sons were also coalminers. It does not take a genius to deduce that Honley was a coal mining area and that the Hallas men were bringing their skills from Yorkshire to Lancashire, where coal was needed in quantity to feed the cotton mills. It is possible that the Hallases were more prosperous than most of our Dunkerley ancestors, George Hallas was a coal merchant, his widow was able to take on a small farm of 11 acres, Andrew Hallas farmed 8 acres and James Hallas combined beer selling with a farm of 18 acres. It is obviously very tempting to assume relationships between these Hallas families but more work will be necessary.

 The Family History Magazine of the Public Record Office ANCESTORS  August/September 2002 contains a most interesting article by Dr. George Redmonds entitled THE HALLASES A COALMINING FAMILY. Dr. Redmonds primary interest is in the origin of surnames. He states that Hallas is a distinctive and unusual surname which derives from Hallowes, a locality found in the Spotland district of Rochdale, the name is found as early as the 14th century. He gives examples of people known as Hallas being baptised Hallows. There are as many as 6 variations of spelling in the 1642 Protestation Returns for Rochdale – Hallowes Hallaws Hollows, Hollaws, Hollas and Hallas. The name derives from the Old English “halas” a nominative plural form of “halh” which means a nook of land. The name is still to be found in the area, so Hallases appear to have originated from Lancashire, not Yorkshire as I thought. There are two references to Hallows in the 1851 census for Oldham, but as I did not realise their significance at the time I did not investigate them. However as 3 members of the Hallas family mentioned small farms in the 1881 census I tried to find them in an 1848 tythe map for North East Oldham. Parts of my copy of the map are very indistinct but I could find no Hallases. I did, however find 3 references to Hallows. One was at Sholver, no 410 House and Gardens, Geo Hallows (in brackets,) Dr Buckley (in capitals.)The other two were less distinct, no 614 Big Knuckett Meadow Andrew Scholfield (capitals) and George Hallow(e?)s, across the road at no 610 and 611 Pingot it looks as though there are the same names, there may be more, it would be interesting if the names Hallas and Hallows were still interchangeable in 1848.

 However from 1540 there is plenty of evidence that Hallows/ Hallas were spreading Eastwards as part of a more general move by Rochdale inhabitants to the prosperous Halifax area. Yorkshire parishes connected with the name are Sowerby, Heptonstall, Kirkheaton, Lepton, Almondbury (which appears to include Honley and  Farnley Tyas,) and  in and around Huddersfield. The skills of the miners were valued by landowners, particularly if they were capable of sinking new shafts. They thus had greater freedom of movement in the 17th and 18th centuries when most others were restricted to their place of settlement. The Quarter Sessions Records are a valuable source as they contain evidence of disputes and indictments. Dr. Redmonds sites B.J. Barber’s Guide to the Quarter Session Records of the West Riding of Yorkshire 1637 – 1971 (publ 1984)and Beaumont of Whitley, Family and Estate Records 12th to the 20th century. DD/WB Kirklees District Archives, West Yks. Archives Service.

I particularly noticed some of the more unusual Christian names associated with the Hallas family, many, like Abraham, Benjamin and Esther smacked of the Old Testament, others, like our great great grandmother, Sabra, appeared Jewish and I wondered if there was a Jewish connection. I have since come across another Sabra Hallas in the 1851 census, (F. 771) so it is probably a family name.

 

To return to the entry for George and Elizabeth Hallas in the 1841 census, he was aged approximately 60 and she 56. There were probably other members of the family who had, by then, left home. Sabra was dead and so too, perhaps, was the father of Ben. Only Selina Hallas, aged 25, remained. By chance I picked up a Selina Armstrong in the 1891 census, the name was unusual and the age fitted, I was tempted to speculate that she too had followed her sister Sabra and married an Armstrong. It should be easy enough to establish one way or the other.

Further research through the 1881 and 1891 censuses, plus memorial inscriptions found in the churchyard of St. Thomas’s church, Moorside have helped me to build up a picture of these Oldham families.  

THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY

John was obviously the favoured Christian name for the eldest son of an Armstrong. John Armstrong senior married Betty Dunkerley at Prestwich in 1799. The Armstrong name had just begun to appear in the Oldham parish registers. So far I do not know from where he originated. I have joined the Armstrong Clan Association from which I have learned that the Armstrongs were originally Scottish border raiders from the Dumfries area. It is interesting to imagine our Scottish ancestors, the Armstrongs, and our Westmorland ancestors the Holmes knocking hell out of each other in the Middle Ages. However in the 13th Century the Armstrong clan leader was killed and the clan dispersed, many of them going to Ireland, a great many eventually emigrated to the U.S.A. The Armstrong Clan Association has a database so I may find out more. Unfortunately John Armstrong is a fairly common name, there are four John Armstrongs in the I.G.I. for Lancashire baptised between 1770 and 1780:-

John, son of John Armstrong, bap. 12/08/1772 Liverpool St Nicholas.

John, son of Joseph Armstrong and Ann, bap. 17/02/1774 Manchester St Ann.

John, son of Grace Thelmerdine, bap 22/04/1777 Manchester Cathedral.

John, son of John Armstrong and Mary, bap 07/06/1778 Warton, nr Lancaster.

BETTY DUNKERLEY however can be traced back quite easily, she forms the second line which goes back to John and Susan Dunkerley of Horsedge, and through them to Daniel Dunkerley. Her parents were John and Betty Dunkerley of Northyate, who were second cousins, John's line goes back to Mathew Dunkerley, Betty's to Mathew's brother James, both sons of John and Susan of Horsedge. This complicated relationship has been explained in more detail on a previous page.

JOHN AND BETTY ARMSTRONG only appear to have had two children, twin boys, John and James who were born on the 13th January 1808 at Moorside Mill. They were baptised a month later at Greenacres Congregational Chapel. It is possible that there were more children baptised elsewhere. John Armstrong was the father of Elizabeth.

 

THE 1841 CENSUS showed Betty living with her brother James, he an agricultural labourer of (about) 55. It is probable that John Armstrong senior was now dead. So far I have not found them in the 1851 census. There is, however, a Memorial Inscription, (no. 30,) which includes Betty, "Widow of the late John Armstrong, who died November 24th 1862 in the 83rd year of her age. In memory of James Dunkerley of Top o' th Meadows who departed this life July 28th 1867 in the 83rd year of his age." The first named person in this memorial is Maria the daughter of James and Mary Bracewell of Moorside, who died on October 12th 1828 in the 18th year of her age. Who she was or how she was connected to the Dunkerley's and Armstrongs I do not know. However I was interested to see that a Mrs P. Bracewell was one of the mourners at Kate Isabel Dunkerley's funeral at Saddleworth in 1936, this must have been Ida Dunkerley, Edom's daughter.

DANIEL AND ELIZABETH DUNKERLEY’S FAMILY

DANIEL AND ELIZABETH were either slow to start their family or they had children who died as infants, or are as yet unknown. They broke the mould in several ways. They called their eldest son DANIEL. I believe that he was born on the 16th October 1864, although I cannot now recall where I obtained that information, nor do I know when or where he was baptised, or even whether he was baptised.

EDOM was the next son, he was born on the 2nd November 1866 at Moorside, his father was described as a cotton weaver. I have not come across the name Edom within the Dunkerley family, or indeed in the registers as a whole. Edom was not baptised until 1884, when he and his brother William had a joint christening on April 10th 1884 at St Thomas's Moorside, the service was conducted by our grandfather the Revd. Thomas Holme who was the vicar. Daniel senior was now working as a mechanic. Edom was married at Saint Thomas's in Moorside on January 14th 1891, he was a twister in a cotton mill. His bride was Sarah Jane Barnes. Cousin Tom (Dunkerley) remembers being told that Edom was very ill just before or just after he was married. I remember meeting Uncle Edom and Aunt Betty when I came back from Canada, my impression was that they were very small and old, but they were genuinely delighted to see Daddy and I and made a great fuss of us. I think I can remember where they lived too, at the back the moors fell away and there was a breathtaking view. As far as I know Edom and Sarah Jane had just one daughter, IDA, she married Percy Bracewell and must have been the Mrs P. Bracewell who was at Kate Isabel Dunkerley's funeral. Percy and Ida’s son was called Sydney, he must be my contemporary. There is a photograph of Uncle Edom and his wife when they were young in the album, Tom was able to recognise them. Uncle Edom's wife Sarah Jane died in 1925, she was 58, they were then living at

661 Ripponden Road

, where Edom died in October 1947, he was 80.

                      Great Uncle Edom and Sarah when they were young

WILLIAM was born on August 6th 1868 and baptised with Edom in 1884. Perhaps the family were returning to the Church of England after belonging to another congregation. Perhaps Daniel and Elizabeth felt that it was a decision that their children should make for themselves when they were adult. Uncle Billy was described as a piecer in a cotton mill in both the 1881 and 1891 censuses, but at his wedding, in January 26th 1902, he was described as a self actor winder, I would like to find out what some of these occupations in the cotton industry mean. He was 33 when he married Sarah Prince, who was a cardroom hand. Her father James John Lucas Prince was a police officer, they lived at Further Hay Farm.

                                                William and Sarah Prince

William and Sarah lived at as many different addresses as they had children, until they eventually returned to live at 22, Turf Pit Lane. They had five children, JOSEPH and LOUISA who were born in 1902, ELIZABETH ELLEN or Ella, as she was known, who was born in 1903, THOMAS or Tom who was born in 1906 and finally REBECCA who was born in 1909. They were all baptised at St Thomas's Moorside

FOR MORE DETAILS OF TOM'S FAMILY SEE APPENDIX II}

 

BETTY Dunkerley was born on the 3rd of December 1870, but like her brothers she was not baptised until March 11th 1888, which was after Thomas Holme had ceased to officiate. The family were then living at 340,

Ripponden Road

. There is a photograph of Aunt Betty in the family album, she was an attractive girl, but she never married. I think she lived with Uncle Edom after his wife died. She died in September 1962 aged 91, she was then living with Ella and Rebecca at 151,

Crossbank Street

. She left a will which Daddy helped to administer

Daniel and Elizabeth had at least two addresses in the

Ripponden Road

. The 1881 census showed them to be living at no. 597. The 1891 census gave no. 340.

Ripponden Road

is a long road leading up from the centre of Oldham to Moorside., it is now part of the main A62 to Halifax. Most of the original houses, pubs and shops survive in one form or another, (1994). They are narrow, red brick terraced houses, which may go back quite a long way, we have only seen them from the front. No. 340 is still there, it has been modernised with a white washed front and diamond paned windows. Number 597 was a bit further up on the opposite side, it was a stone built, end-of-terrace house with a nice bit of garden. The family eventually moved to no. 22,

Turf Pit Lane, where Cousin Tom lived until fairly recently, having been born there in 1906. Turf Pit Lane runs parallel to Ripponden Road, near the R.C. School. The houses are built of stone.

We have a photograph of great grandmother Elizabeth.

As stated elsewhere I have not checked either the 1861 or the 1871 censuses, which will probably provide interesting information, not only concerning Daniel but also his older brothers and sisters. Presently I do not know when Daniel senior ceased to be a weaver. In the 1881 census he described himself as a labourer in an iron foundry. At the wedding of Edom in January 1891 he was a mechanic, but for the 1891 census, which was taken in April, he was "living on his own means." In August of that year he was a retired mechanic, but by the time William married in January 1902, he was back to weaving. I imagine that times were hard and he took what jobs he could.

 

Daniel Dunkerley died at 22, Turf Pit Lane in August 1902. He was 75. He was buried at St Thomas, Moorside, his brother Edom and family’s grave is close by. Elizabeth lived on at Turf Pit Lane for another eight years, She was buried on January 23rd 1911, aged 83. 

DANIEL AND KATE ISABEL DUNKERLEY - GRANDPARENTS.

                      Kate Isabel Holme

Daniel Dunkerley married Kate Isabel Holme on August 27th 1891, her father, the Revd Thomas Holme had been the vicar of Saint Thomas, Moorside, but had recently died. (There is a separate account of the Holme family.) Their wedding took place at Christchurch, which is the parish church of Friesland. She gave her occupation as governess, and her address as Grasscroft Clough. So far I have been unable to find her, or the rest of her family in the 1891 census. Only her sister Edith was at Grasscroft, living alone with a servant. I have often wondered how acceptable this marriage was to the Holme family, but Kate Isabel's brother the Revd. George F. Holme was a witness. The two elder children were given names with her family associations. I wish that I had talked to my father about his family, he never spoke of them. Daniel was a tin smith, we still have a tin trunk made by him in which I keep my family history. Tom has an ornamental pair of ladies shoes, made in tin by Daniel as a wedding present, he very kindly  gave them to me.

 

                                                 Daniel Dunkerley

Daniel and Kate’s first child was a daughter, AGNES MAUD, she was born in 1892 and baptised at St Thomas's on July 17th 1892, they were then living at Grasscroft Clough, Greenfield. Unfortunately she died the same year and was buried at St Chad's, Saddleworth.

                              Thomas Ward Dunkerley

Their eldest son, THOMAS WARD was baptised at Moorside on March 28 1894. They were then living at 27, Herbert Street which is off the Ripponden Road between Greenacres and Watersheddings.

                  Norman Dunkerley

Their second son was my father NORMAN who was baptised at Moorside on September 29th 1895, he was born on August 11th 1895. Daniel and Kate were living at 34, Counthill Road.

                         Selwyn Dunkerley

EDWARD SELWYN was baptised on August 14th 1898, they were still living at Counthill Road.

                                 Walter Dunkerley

Their youngest son WALTER was baptised on June 10th 1900 and they were then living at 10, Whitecroft Street, which is just opposite Herbert Street on the opposite side of the Ripponden Road, so they stayed within a very small area. During the 1914 -1918 war they lived at 42, Stoneleigh Street. Surprisingly, in the 1930's, they moved to Manser Road, Rainham, in Essex, to keep house for Walter their youngest son. Although Daniel remained at Manser Road after Kate Isabel's death in 1936 he would regularly visit his remaining sons Selwyn and Norman. He was very good with his hands, my parents used to save up jobs for him to do when he came to stay. I remember he made a splendid, roomy, fitted cupboard in the smallest bedroom. Aunt Doris told me that he enjoyed looking after his garden, which he filled with roses.

I was very fond of my grandfather, everyone thought well of him. He liked winding people up, we used to argue endlessly, but amicably. He used to infuriate my mother, who was a very good cook, with the invariable comment after a really good meal, "worth a tanner." I remember he bought me a slazenger tennis racket for my twelfth birthday, which was an extremely generous present in those days.

A tribute from one of the Oldham papers on his 80th birthday tells us something about him.

80 NOT OUT

Mr. Daniel Dunkerley of Rainham, Essex, and formerly of 9, Ryeburne Street, Waterhead, will be celebrating his 80th birthday on Monday. Mr Dunkerley, for 50 years foreman of Mr Asa Lees' tin shop, left his work in Oldham before the outbreak of war. Since then his only work has been as an air raid warden in the South of England, where he has served from the early blitzes right up to the last few flying bomb raids. He started work at the age of eight for a weekly wage of four shillings at Messrs Mellowdew's Moorside Mills. He has a son who is a confectioner in Waterhead, (Selwyn) another son is chief accountant (treasurer) to the Whitely (Whitby) District Council, (Norman) and a third serves in Burma as a quartermaster sergeant. (Walter.)

(The corrections in brackets are mine.)

 We have a number of photographs of Daniel, mostly when he was older, I remember him as a dapper little man, with a moustache, he wore grey spats and a grey homburg hat. He had a very strong lancashire accent. (In looks, though not in ways, he was a bit like the television character Alf Garnett in 'Till Death us do Part.”)

He died unexpectedly of pleurisy in 1946.

 

We also have a number of photographs of Kate Isobel Dunkerley who was certainly a good looking woman, although my cousin Gladys Thetford remembers her in Rainham looking shabby and wearing a shawl round her head, as Oldham women did. She appears to have retained the purse strings. I have a copy of her will dated 24th October 1927, in which she left her house, at that time no. 9, Ryeburn Street Oldham, in trust, first for her husband, "so long as he remains unmarried" then after his death, or remarriage, absolutely to her youngest son, Walter. Her personal effects and estate were also to be converted into money by her trustees, (her two other surviving sons Norman and Selwyn) and given absolutely to Walter. Her will was not actually proved until 7th December 1936. By this time they had moved down to 63,

Manser Road

, Rainham, Essex, in order to keep house for Walter, who was working at Ford's in Dagenham. In 1890 she had received a fifth share of her father's estate of £1155. 11s 4d.net.

It was said that she was rather deaf which may account for the fact that in September 1936 she was run over by a lorry and killed. There may have been a coroner's inquest which would give more details The accident could also have been reported in the local press. I have a newspaper cutting concerning her funeral, which took place at St. Chad's Saddleworth. It gave details of the mourners and those who sent flowers. Her younger sister Helen Hewkin, with her husband, Blanksby was there, Helen and Blanksby had a son called Johnnie, there is mention of Johnnie in one or two of my father's letters from the First World War. Kate Isabel's sister, Lady Edith Fletcher, sent flowers. There was no mention of her brothers the Revs. George Frederick Holme and Robert Weston Metcalfe Holme, although they were still alive. Mr and Mrs Ward Holme were there however, I am not quite sure who they were, however Thomas Holme's brother William had a son called James Ward Holme. In 1941, according to his will, he was a retired cotton operative living at St Oswald's Vicarage, Preesall, Knottend on Sea, Lancashire. Uncle Edom, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Billy and his wife were there, along with Mrs P. Bracewell, who was Uncle Edom's daughter Ida.

In the course of working out my own ancestral line I have also discovered information concerning other connections of the family. Whilst this is interesting it tends to confuse the main issue, so I have decided to put this information into appendices.

 

 

APPENDIX 1

 

THE FAMILY OF JAMES DUNKERLEY A TAILOR OF GLODWICK AND JANE OGDEN.

James was probably the eldest son of John Dunkerley of Broadbent and Elizabeth his first wife. He was baptised in 1700 and married Jane Ogden on the 15th July 1722, he was described as a tailor of Glodwick. They had 11 children, few of whom survived.

Their eldest surviving son Isaac lived from 1726 – 1763. He married Dorcas Buckley in 1744 when he too was described as a tailor of Glodwick, she was from Denin in Saddleworth. Their first son John was baptised in 1745, but their next son, Joseph, baptised in 1749 was described as the son of Dorcas Dunkerley of Den in Saddleworth, no mention was made of Isaac. Daughter Anne, baptised in 1751, was also described as the daughter of Dorcas, wife of Isaac Dunkerley from Oldham Workhouse. Isaac was buried on January 9th 1763. In the burial register he was described as the son of James Dunkerley of Glodwick. Whilst this was true, it is an unusual description for a married man with children. He must have been aged about 37. It would certainly appear that some kind of misfortune had befallen him. Peter Rathbone believes that Dorcas remarried in Yorkshire.

Jane Dunkerley, who was baptised in 1730, was James and Jane’s only surviving daughter. She married John Wilde of

Burnley Lane

in 1751.

James and Jane’s youngest son Joseph, who was baptised in 1748, survived and prospered. He married Peninnah Hopkins on January 6th 1771. He was described as “of the parish of Manchester, sojourner and a soldier.” He became Mr. Joseph Dunkerley of Wallworkfold, which was a farm. He died in 1794, and was described, as above, in St. Mary’s burial register. He left a will, valued at under £500, which I have not seen, mentioning sister Jane. His wife Peninnah also left a detailed will date 1812, in which she left everything to her own relations. She died in 1821. 

 

JOSEPH DUNKERLEY OF RHODES HOUSE - GRANDSON OF OUR ANCESTORS JAMES AND MARTHA DUNKERLEY.

Joseph was the eldest son of John Dunkerley and Mary Crossley, he was baptised on January 3rd 1747/8 at Holy Trinity, Shaw. Joseph married Sara Lees at Prestwich on May 22nd 1768. A year earlier she had had a baby, Hannah, who was born on June 7th 1767. The entry in the baptismal register reads, sternly, "Hannah, dau of Sarah Lees of Barrowshaw single woman. The reputed father is Joseph Dunkerley of Barrowshaw, single man." Their eldest son was called John, Joseph was described as a weaver of Barrowshaw, he was probably living at Barrowshaw when he met Sarah. In Butterworth's History of Oldham he mentions that the Lees’ of Barrowshaw were relatives of the Lees of Pittbank, they were yeomen so James had made an advantageous marriage.

Joseph and Sara’s first son JOHN died in infancy, so they called their next son JOHN, he was baptised on September 2nd 1770. He was destined to become a wealthy and important man in Oldham. Their next two daughters, MARY and BETTY both died in infancy, to be replaced by another MARY and another BETTY. Mary was baptised in 1775. Joseph and Sarah were still living at Barrowshaw, but Joseph was now described as a twister. When his second son JOSEPH was baptised in August 1779, Joseph senior was described as a chapman. They were living at Barrowshaw Hill, which may have been a step up. In 1884 when their youngest child SALLY was born Joseph was called a throwster. At present I have no idea what these occupations meant, but it looks as though they were making him a rich man. The family finished up living at Rhodes House, which is no longer standing. I believe it stood at the corner of

Regent Street

and Mumps. The burial entry for Joseph reads, “November 2nd 1798 Mr. Joseph Dunkerley of Rhodes House aged 50.” His younger son Joseph, described as a Tradesman, died two years after his father, he could only have been 21. Sara Dunkerley, Joseph’s wife, died in 1812, she left a will, her estate was valued at less than £800.

 

MR. JOHN DUNKERLEY OF PITBANK HALL.

Joseph's eldest son John Dunkerley was a cotton manufacturer, otherwise called a tradesman. He married Margaret Hollinsworth, or Peggy as she was first known, by license on June 4th 1793. They lived at Pitbank which John may have acquired through his mother, Sarah's, connection with the Lees family. John erected Pit Bank Hall. There is a photograph of it in "Going Going Gone", it is a mansion set in lovely grounds. John Dunkerley was a wealthy and important man in Oldham. He and his wife were less lucky with their children however, he lost two sons, both called John Lees, and two daughters, Sarah and Carolina. He eventually moved to Ashford-in-the-Water in Derbyshire where he died in September 1836. He was buried from St. Mary's Oldham.

JAMES DUNKERLEY OF MOORHEY

JAMES OF BARROWSHAW'S second son, also called JAMES, was baptised in 1753. He married Mary Buckley in October 1776. A month later his second cousin John Dunkerley, the son of Joseph and Hannah Dunkerley (who was also a grandson of James and Martha Dunkerley,) married Isabel Buckley, James signed as his witness. I should not be surprised if Mary and Isabel Buckley were related.  The Buckley's were a very large tribe located in both Oldham and Saddleworth. Dunkerley's and Buckley's have frequently intermarried, (14 marriages up to 1828). James died in 1837 at Moorhey in his 85th year.

 

 

MATHEW AND SARAH DUNKERLEY OF BARROWSHAW HILL.

Of the ten children born to Mathew and Sarah, three died, including their eldest son John. However they called their youngest son John in his place. (He was baptised in 1768 and survived to marry Ann Procter in 1791 and raise a family of his own.) Unusually for Dunkerley's, having called their first four sons by the usual Dunkerley names of John, Daniel, James and Joseph, Mathew and Sarah called their fifth son Benjamin, and when he died as a baby in 1761, they called their next son Benjamin. Perhaps it was the name of Sarah's father. After Sarah died in 1769, Mathew married Martha Lees a year later. He was buried in February 1782 “of Oldham Edge,” but buried from Ashton Underline.”

 

DANIEL DUNKERLEY OF PAULDEN

Daniel was the eldest son of John Dunkerley and Sarah Ratcliffe. John’s father, also named Daniel, had died young in 1754, which was a year of many deaths. Daniel, who was baptised On March 29 1769 at Pittbank, married Judy Ashton in 1791 and went to live in Paulden where his parents lived. Daniel and Judy were still living in Paulden when the 1841 census was taken; he was described as a beer seller. Judy died on April 2nd 1849 but at the time of the 1851 census Daniel, aged 82 was still there, living with his unmarried daughter Sally, who worked as a trimmer. There were also two grandsons and a granddaughter, all working. As well as these members of his family there was a 79 year old lodger, who was described as a Chelsea Pensioner.  Daniel was also still working, as a cotton hand loom weaver. No retirement pension in those days. Daniel died on November 17th 1857 in the 89th year of his age according to M.I. 280 from Waterhead Church where he is buried.

THE FAMILY OF JOSEPH DUNKERLEY AND HANNAH GARTSIDE.

JOHN DUNKERLEY OF BROADBENT

John was Joseph and Hannah’s eldest son, he is the ancestor of Mr Colin Dunkerley of The Old Hall, Ford, Leek, Staffs. I had already been in touch with Colin who had kindly supplied me with a lot of interesting information. We suspected that we might be connected but it took a little time for me to discover that James and Martha Dunkerley are our mutual ancestors, they are my 7 x great grandparents, this makes us extremely distant cousins. Sadly Colin Dunkerley died in December 1999.

John Dunkerley was baptised in 1758. He married Isabel Buckley on November 27th 1776, James Dunkerley was one of the two witnesses, he had married Mary Buckley a month previously, It is possible that the two women were sisters. As a further link James was Mathew Dunkerley’s grandson, John was James Dunkerley's grandson, as these two men were brothers this makes John and James second cousins. John and his wife became Congregationalists. Apart from James, their eldest son, and two other sons, all their children were baptised at Greenacres Congregational chapel. I have recently found John Dunkerley's will, which has provided some surprises. He described himself as a yeoman of Broadbent, this is where his father died in 1801, and so as he was the eldest son, he presumably inherited his property. Firstly he made provision for his son William, who may have been handicapped in some way, to be provided with clothing, bed and board and everything necessary for his comfortable support. After that everything that he had was to be sold and shared between his nine other children. The will reveals two further sons, Samuel and Mark, both of whom, together with John, were nominated as his executors. The will also reveals his magnanimity in allowing Joseph's eldest child a share "tho the oldest was born before marriage, yet I consider it one of the family." His executors swore that the value of the estate was under £600.

Joseph and Hannah had no further sons, but they had three daughters.

SARAH was baptised in 1760, she died two years later.

MARY The youngest, was baptised in 1767, she may have married Thomas Kershaw in 1786 at Oldham.

JANE, who was their middle daughter, baptised in 1765, married her second cousin ENOCH DUNKERLEY. He was the great grandson of John Dunkerley, the presumed eldest of the three brothers who moved to Broadbent from Horsedge. Enoch Dunkerley appears from his will to have been very successful. He died in 1835, ending up as a shopkeeper at Watersheadings, where he must have been well known to my branch of the family who also lived there at that time. He was a man of property and in the first part of his will he made arrangements that his wife should be paid £40 a year from his estate. He then left his property at Knuckett to his eldest son Joseph. (Our great great grandfather James' orphaned children were living at Knuckett in 1841 according to the census, perhaps they rented part of it from Joseph.) Enoch left his property at Watersheadings to his second son John. His son Enoch and daughter Carolina were to share all his premises, houses and land situate at the bottom of Greenacres Moor. All his houses and premises at the top of Greenacres Moor, together with some land called The Acre, a croft at Barrowshaw and some rents from some other property in Oldham were to go in trust for his daughter Sarah, (well tied up so that her husband could not get his hands upon them.) His daughter Mary received the revenues from mortgage of the Mumps Brook and

Ripponden Turnpike Road

and Branches, also all his shares in the Oldham Gas Light and Waterworks Company. His daughter Hannah was to receive the interest from investments raised from £400 from his estate. His grandson Enoch Ogden was left another plot of land at Knuckett. It is a very long and convoluted will. His executors swore that it was under the value of £800.

APPENDIX 11

TOM DUNKERLEY AND HIS FAMILY.

Tom Dunkerley was born in 1906 at 22,

Turf Pit Lane

where he  lived all his life. His father William, or Billy Dunkerley, was my grandfather Daniel Dunkerley's younger brother, so my father Norman and Tom were first cousins. After the war they only met once or twice because my father moved away from Oldham, although I know from his war letters that my father kept in touch with his Uncle Billy.

Tom spent most of his life as an agricultural worker. When he was in his fifties he lost his job and started working with machinery. In later life he suffered from lack of mobility because he  lost both his kneecaps and cataracts stopped him reading and doing jigsaws. He had a cheerful relaxed personality, with a dry sense of humour, well able to look after himself in the house although his daughter Maureen kept an eye on him. He married Doris Mansfield, who was born in 1909 and died in 1995.

 

SOURCES

The International Genealogical Index    (IGI)

GRO Civil Registration.

PARISH RECORDS

The Parish Registers of St Mary’s Oldham

The Parish Registers of Holy Trinity, Shaw   (Shaw Chapel)

The Parish Registers of St. Chad’s Saddleworth

The Marriage Registers of St. Mary’s Prestwich

The Marriage Registers of Manchester Cathedral

Bishop’s Transcripts (B.T.’s) for St. Mary’s Oldham  1604  1622 – 1641

1665 – 1732

The Registers of Greenacres Independent Chapel, Oldham

1763 – 1880

The  Baptismal Registers of

Manchester Street

Wesleyan Methodist Chapel 1791 – 1837

The Registers of St. Thomas’s Church Moorside Oldham

 

PARISH RECORDS.

The Muster Roll for Oldham of 1569

Manchester Constables’ Accounts Vol. I

Poll Tax List for Oldham 1641 – 2

Protestation Roll for Oldham of 1642

The Hearth Tax for Oldham 1664

Window Tax for Oldham 1728, 1733

Constable Ley 1735, 1738

Overseers of the Poor Records from St Mary’s Oldham

(L.D.S FILMS –18445 – 1484968 – 1484969.)

 

PUBLISHED MATERIAL

The Most Dismal Times - William Robottom’s Diary 1787 1799

Historical Sketches of Oldham by the late Edwin Butterworth

A History of Oldham by Hartley Bateson

The Diary of Daniel Defoe   1727

Oldham The Formative Years by K. McPhillips

The History of Oldham Churches by John Beever

Going, Going, Gone! Disappearing Oldham by Roy Moses

The Cotton Mills of Oldham by Duncan Gurr and Julian Hunt

The Dunkerleys of Oldham by Dr. Peter Rathbone The Manchester Genealogist Vol 35. No.3 1999

The Hallases A Coal – mining family in Yorkshire by Dr. George Redmonds  Ancestors Issue 9 Aug/Sept 2002

DDHP Hopwood of Hopwood Assignments between 1638 and 1649

-Lancashire record Office. Also Ref. Qpp 231418 Account of Legal costs with regard to Joseph Dunkerley and his appeal against embezzlement.

 

DUNKERLEY WILLS

John Dunkerley of Shoulver dated 15th May 1749

John Dunkerley of Mumps dated 10th July 1781

Joseph Dunkerley of Mumps dated 30th August 1788

Sarah Dunkerley of Rhodes House dated 25th January 1812

Penninnah Dunkerley of Barnfold dated 13th June 1812 Probate 6.3.1821

Isaac Dunkerley of Francises dated 15th February 1821

John Dunkerley of Furtherfield dated 1st April 1835

Enoch Dunkerley of Watersheadings dated 23rd April 1835

John Dunkerley of Broadbent dated 25th December 1821 Probate 4.12.1835

Kate Isabel Dunkerley of 9,

Ryeburne Street

, Oldham,

dated  24thOctober 1927 probate 7.12.1936.

Doris Annie Dunkerley of 63,

Manser Road

, Rainham, Essex dated 27th June 1981

John Dunkerley of Francises  1818  4 x great grandfather

Daniel Dunkerley of

Potters Lane

  1825.  Brother to John of Francises.

MAPS

Butterworth’s Map of Oldham 1817

Map of Oldham above Town 6” to 1 mile 1844/48

Tythe Map 1848

Large scale Map of Mumps Ward Oldham 1891

Platt Brother’s Map showing the location of Cotton Mills in Oldham

c.1926

CENSUS

1841 (Transcript by Peter Ardern) Incomplete.   

L.D.S. Film 10447, 10448    

 1881 Census L.D.S Centre Cottesmore Close, Peterborough     

1891 Census CD pack for Lancashire published by S & N British Data Archive Ltd

The World Book of Dunkerleys

 

MEMORIAL INSCRIPTIONS

Memorial Inscriptions relating to Dunkerley’s supplied by Oldham Local Studies Archive Service,

84 Union Street

, Oldham

A Map of Greenacres Congregational Church Burial Ground surveyed by the Oldham and District Historical Society.

A Map of St. Thomas’s Churchyard Moorside surveyed by  the Oldham and District Historical Society with an alphabetical index of surnames. Additional material on M.I.s provided by Maureen Walsh.

M.I’s for Waterhead Church

 

)