A THORNBER FAMILY IN DARWEN, LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND

I have undertaken very little research in Darwen but having received an enquiry I have gathered together the following information on a family that used both St. Mary's and St. Paul's at Blackburn in the early 19th century.

Richard and Alice Thornber crop up in a number of records but with various spelling of the surname. However, the fact that Richard is stated to be a wheelwright and that the couple lived for a long period in Ostwaldtwistle suggest that all the following records relate to the same couple. The couple were in Over Darwen in 1837.

Marriage Record

Richard Thornborough, wheelwright, a bachelor, (who signed his name as Thornber) married Alice Yates, spinster at St. Mary's, Blackburn on 8 February 1813.

Baptism Records at Blackburn

William son of Richard and Alice Thornborough, wheelwright, Oswaldtwistle, 13 April 1814. St Mary's
Hannah dau. of Richard and Allice Thornber of Oswaldtwistle, wheelwright, 22 August 1815. St. Mary's
Alice, dau. of Richard and Alice Thornber of Oswaldtwistle, born 8 November 1817, baptised 25 March 1818. St. Peter's
Mary dau. of Richard and Alice Thornbar of Oswaldtwistle, born 9 November 1819, baptised 16 February 1820. St. Peter's
Isabella, dau of Richard and Alice Thornborough of Oswaldtwistle, born 27 December 182? (unreadable), baptised 10 April 1822 or 1823. St. Peter's
Rebecca, dau. of Richard and Alys Thornborough of Oswaldtwistle, born 13 October 1823, baptised 2 February 1824. St. Peter's
George son of Richd. and Alice Thornbury, wheelwright of Oswaldtwistle, born 8 September 1826, baptised 27 September 1826. St. Peter's
Sophia, son of Richard and Alice Thornber, born 2 February 1829, baptised 22 June 1829. St. Peter's.
Jacob, son of Richard and Alice Thornborough, wheelwright, of Over Darwen, born 19 August, 1837, baptised 29 September 1837. St. Peter's.

There is also a record for Ellen daughter of Richard and Alice Thornbury of Blackburn, baptised at Clayton Street Independent in Blackburn on 18 April 1832.

Additional Records

The following marriage records may relate to the children mentioned above given that the name of the father is Richard and the ages of the people involved are appropriate for marriage. These records were initially identified from the South Blackburn Marriage Index from 1837 to 1851, compiled by Melvyn Hirst, available at LCRO, Preston but the full details have since been abstracted from the original record.

Alice Thornber, spinster, daughter of Richard Thornber, married John Marsden, labourer, widower, son of Thomas Marsden on 1 January 1847 at Blackburn St. Mary.

Sophia Thornber, spinster, daughter of Richard Thornber, married John Entwistle, spinner, bachelor, son of Thomas Entwistle on 20 May 1850 at Blackburn St. Mary.

William Thornber, stone mason, son of Richard Thornber, married Betty Hutchinson, spinster, dau. of William Hutchinson, by licence on 12 September 1850.

Wills

The will of a William Thornber of Lower Darwen in Lancashire, stone mason and builder, died 10 January 1866 at Lower Darwen was proved at Lancaster by the oaths of George Thornber of Lower Darwen, stone mason and William Thornber of Lower Darwen, stone mason, the executors. The occupation of stone mason could fit the William Thornber described above in the marriage record and it could be his brother George who was one of the executors. It would be worth obtaining a copy of the death certificate to establish the age of this William so that his identity can be checked.

Census Information

The Census of 1881 shows only a few Thornber households in Darwen and very few additional individuals living in Lancashire who were born in Darwen. Without checking the burials it is not possible to know if any of the children of Richard and Alice lived to maturity but if the son Jacob had lived to 1881 he would have been aged 43 at the time of the census and a Jacob of that age appears, born in Over Darwen. FHL Film 1342008 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 4209 Folio 32 Page 13

There is a GRO index reference to an Enoch born in the June Quarter of 1872 with Reference: Blackburn 8e. 444.

If Enoch was aged 9 in 1881 would have been 22, 13 years later in 1894 and so is very probably the Enoch Thornber, aged 22 the son of Jacob Thornber who married Louisa Oakes, aged 20 the daughter of Joseph Oakes on 14 July 1894 at Over Darwen, St. John's. (The GRO index reference for this marriage, in the September Quarter of 1894, has reference Blackburn 8e 736.)

Another census record deals with Enoch Thornber, who is only two years older than Jacob and could be related given that Jacob called a son Enoch. Both Jacob and Enoch call their first son Richard, known to be the name of Jacob's father. This following census record was for 359 Bolton Road, Over Darwen on FHL Film 1342007 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 4203 Folio 85 Page 14

A great deal of work is needed on burial records, earlier census records and certificates (at £7 a certificate now) in order to consolidate these initial observations.

I have received the following information from Tony Foster on Monumental Inscriptions at Holy Trinity Darwen, now St. Peter's.  The graveyard has now been cleared but Tony was able to see a microfilmed copy of MIs made before the stones were removed.

The dates following are believed to be dates of death:

William Thornber 10 Jan 1866 aged 52  (He was therefore born about 1814 and this would fit with William son of Richard & Alice of Oswaldtwistle)
wife Betty died 4 Feb 1889 aged 76
Daniel their infant son, (no date given)

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