A THORNBER FAMILY IN SCAMMONDEN, WEST YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND

Scammonden is in moorland country near Huddersfield. It was lonely place until the trans-Pennine motorway went right over it. It is most noteworthy these days for a large reservoir called Scammonden Water. According to the Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, Scammonden has parish registers back to 1746.

The following information has been condensed from details provided to me by Sharron Fry in New Zealand. More information will be added for later generations in due course.

William Thornber was born in 1798-1799 in GISBURN FOREST (from 1851 census of Barkisland, West Yorkshire). He could be the son of  Henry and Ellen Thornber, baptised Gisburn, 28 February 1799, but I think it more likely that he is the son of William and Ann, nee Procter, or Proctor, baptised at Tosside, Gisburn Forest, 1 April 1798. If the latter is true, then the family can be linked to that on the page of Thornber families in Slaidburn and Gisburn Forest. Gisburn Forest is an area about 8 miles north of Gisburn and the village there is called Tosside. William married Sarah Hirst, before 1827, in Yorkshire. (No record has been found in the IGI for the marriage but Sarah's maiden name is known from the birth certificate of Sarah Thornber who is probably their youngest daughter, born in 1845.)

Additional information has come from Helen Anderson-Smith whose great grandfather was Henry Thornber in generation 2 below. He had a son John born about 1883 and so not shown in the census data for 1881. John married Lillian Maud Clegg in Wakefield in 1912. Among their children were Mary Thornber, who ? Pilling, Emma married ? Armitage, Sarah married ? Boothroyd. There was a further daughter, Clara, whose married surname is unknown at the moment but she and her husband lived at Nettleton Hill. The Armitages lived at Quebec Moor. Helen also reports that John's eldest brother Thomas had a daughter named Ellen.

• 1.     William Thornber, born 1798-1799, Gisburn Forest.
• +      Sarah Hirst.  The following nine children are known from the census of 1851 at Lower Bottomly, Barkisland, Yorkshire and IGI entries for Scammonden. Sarah Hirst is mentioned on the Whitwam web-site.
  • 2.     John Thornber, born c. 1827 Scammonden.  Died between 1881 and 1890.  Census of 1871 shows John at 1 Irwell St. (Salford or Manchester)  head, marr. aged 43, licensed victualler born Scammonden.
  • +      Ann
    • 3.    Thomas, bapt. Salford St Stephen's in Oct 1858, son of John and Ann is a possible child.
    • 3.    John Henry, bapt. 27 May 1863
    • 3.    Sarah Ann, born 1865, Liverpool (age from census and marriage cert.)  She died 1901, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales.
    • +     Roland Morgan on 12 Mar 1890 at St. Mary, Walton on the Hill, Liverpool.
  • 2.      William Thornber, b. 1829, Scammonden.  Died 2 Feb 1885.  See note below on 1851 and 1881 census. Will shows that two sons were Joseph and Henry. Marriage certificate of 21 October 1849 shows he was 20, a bachelor and a clogger of Barkisland, the son of William Thornber a farmer. The marriage was at Elland in the parish of Halifax.
  • +      Mary Gledhill, born abt. 1828 at Barkisland from 1851 census. She was said to be 20 on the marriage certificate, a spinster and the daughter of James Gledhill a weaver. She was also from Barkisland.
    • 3.    James Thornber, born 19 June 1851 at Fink Hill, Barkisland, son of William Thornber, clogger, and Mary, formerly Gledhill, was registered on 28 July 1851 by the mother, who made her mark in the district of Ripponden in the Registration District of Halifax. (Birth certificate
  • 2.     Joseph Thornber, b. 1831, Scammonden.
  • +      Elizabeth,  abt. 1862. The family was found in the 1881 census for Stainland Cum Old Lindley in Yorkshire at Peter Hill Farm, South Parade (ref 4412 15 23 LDS film number 1342054). Their children were all born in Stainland.
    • 3.    John, b. abt. 1863
    • 3.    Martha, b. abt. 1864
    • 3.    Sarah, b. abt. 1866
    • 3.    Lavinia, b. abt. 1868
    • 3.    Ernest W. b. abt. 1873
    • 3.    Alice A, b. abt. 1874
    • 3.    Mary H, b. abt. 1875
    • 3.    Edith E, b. abt. 1877.
  • 2.     Hannah Thornber, b. 1833, Scammonden.
  • 2.     Henry Thornber, b. 1835, Scammonden. In 1881 Henry was a clogger and a farmer of eight and a half acres.
  • +      Rachel before 1865. The family has been found in the 1881 census for Longwood, Outland Moor, Yorkshire (Ref 4391 129 23 LDS film number 1342049).
    • 3.    Thomas, b. abt. 1865, Barkisland, known to have a daughter called Ellen (Information from Helen Anderson-Smith, see introduction)
    • 3.    Sarah, b. abt. 1868, Longwood.
    • 3.    Mary, b. abt. 1869
    • 3.    William, b. abt. 1871, Longwood
    • 3.    Martha, b. abt. 1874
    • 3.    Annie b. abt. 1875, Longwood;
    • 3.    Emma, b. abt. 1877, Longwood
    • 3.    Clara, b. abt. 1879; Longwood
    • 3.    Unknown infant, born early 1881, Longwood.
    • 3.    John Thornber, born about 1883 (Information from Helen Anderson-Smith, see introduction)
    • +     Lillian Maud Clegg in Wakefield in 1912
      • 4.   Mary Thornber
      • 4.   EmmaThornber
      • 4.   Sarah Thornber
      • 4.   Clara Thornber
  • 2.     James Thornber, b. 1837, Scammonden. He died aged 2 and was buried 31 March 1839 at St. Bartholomew, Scammonden
  • 2.     Benjamin Thornber, b. 1839, Scammonden. Ben, aged 10 was buried on 4 September 1849 at St. Bartholomew, Scammonden.
  • 2.     Thomas Thornber, b. 1842, Scammonden
  • 2.     Sarah Thornber b. 13 June 1845, Barkisland.

1851 Census for Lower Bottomly, Barkisland, Yorkshire

William Thornber, head, aged 52, farmer, born in Gisburn Forest, Yorkshire.
Sarah, wife, aged 50, born in Scammonden.
Joseph, unm, 20, horse and cart driver, born in Scammonden
Hannah, unm, 17, farmer's daughter, born in Scammonden
Henry, 15, woolcomber, born in Scammonden
Thomas, 8, scholar, born in Scammonden
Sarah, 5, scholar, born Barkisland.

William and Sarah's son William, born 1829 also appears in the 1851 census at Fink Hill, Barkisland. He was then 21, married and a clogger born in Scammonden.    His wife Mary aged 22 was engaged in house work and was born in Barkisland. From the birth certificate of their son James, born 19 June 1851, we know that Mary's maiden name was Gledhill. William was still in Barkisland in 1881 but by then was a widower aged 51 and a clogger (Ref. 4413 130 33).

In 1873 there was a survey of land ownership in England, published in 1875. It showed by county, each owner with the number of acres of land and the gross rental value. A copy of this report is available at the Cheshire County Record Office. William Thornber of Barkisland was shown as owning 17 acres with a gross rental value of £38.

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