THE FAMILY OF THOMAS THORNBER
IN SLAIDBURN AND GISBURN FOREST
FORMERLY YORKSHIRE, NOW LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND

Slaidburn 4

Thomas Thornber the son of William Thornber and Jane Brennad, married first Betty Whittle then her half-sister Isabella. They were the daughters of Edward Whittle. Their children are shown below and those with an asterisk are mentioned in the will of their uncle, Anthony, who described them as "William Thornber, John Thornber, Benjamin Thornber, Edward Thornber, Robert Thornber, Hannah Thornber and Mary Ann Thornber, the seven children of my brother, Thomas Thornber." The children were baptised at the Anglican chapel of ease known as Tosside Chapel or Houghton Chapel, and at the independent chapel of Mount Sion, Sandy Syke, both of whose registers I have transcribed and published.

• 1. Thomas Thornber of Slaidburn, described as a husbandman at the time of his marriage. Farmers were commonly hand loom weavers in the winter and Thomas is shown as a weaver on the baptism records of some of the children. Thomas died on 28 March 1872 at Well House, Easington aged 83. He is said on the death certificate to have been formerly a farmer. The informant was William Parker, present at the death, of Lower Stony Bank Easington. This would have been his nephew as his brother-in-law of the same name died in 1851. Footnote 1 shows details of the family in the census.
• + Betty (x) Whittle of the same parish, spinster, on 30 December 1809, at Slaidburn, by banns, Joseph Bowman, curate. Witnesses were Wm Lund and Ralph Thornber. Betty, of Annicelandend, was baptised at Slaidburn on 11 September 1785. She died aged 40, was buried on 27 June 1826, at Slaidburn.
  • 2. Isabella, 1st daughter of Thomas Thornber, a weaver of Stony Bank and Elizabeth Whittle, was born on 18 March and baptised 22 April 1810 at Tosside (Houghton by Settle). Isabella was buried at Slaidburn aged 28 on 20 January 1839.
  • 2. Hannah*, daughter of Thomas, weaver, and Betty of Stephen Moor, was baptised on 19 June 1814 at Slaidburn.
  • 2. Margaret, daughter of Thomas, weaver, and Betty of Stephen Moor, was baptised on 6 October 1816 at Slaidburn. She was buried aged 27 on 8 January 1844 at Slaidburn.
  • 2. Willim*, son of Thomas and Betty of Lower Stony Bank, was born on 25 March and baptised on 23 May 1819 at Holden Chapel near Bolton by Bowland. William and his sister Hannah lived at Acre Hill, Grindleton and farmed 20 acres as shown by the 1861 and 1871 census returns.
  • 2. John* is known from his uncle's will and the census returns. He must have been born about 1820/21. John appears in the census for 1861 as a grocer aged 38, fitting with birth in about 1822/23. He had a wife Mary, and children Elizabeth Ann, Thomas and Bridget at Highcroft in Grindleton.
  • 2. Edward is probably from this family but is known only from his burial as an infant of Annicland End on 15 August 1824 at Slaidburn.
  • 2. Thomas son of Thomas, farmer, of Aniceland (Annas Lane End) was baptised on 27 June 1826 at Slaidburn. Thomas son of Thomas of Anniseland End was buried aged 11 on 24 April 1838 at Slaidburn.
• + second wife of Thomas Thornber was Isabella (x) Whittle, spinster, on 19 June 1827 at Slaidburn in the presence of William Thornber and Matthew Thornber. Isabella, wife of Thomas of Anniseland End, aged 41, was buried on 12 July 1838 at Slaidburn.
  • 2. Benjamin*, son of Thomas, farmer and Isabella, Anniceland End, baptised on 8 June 1828 at Slaidburn.
  • 2. Edward*, son of Thomas Thornber, farmer, Alice Landend, and Isabella Whittle, daughter of Edward Whittle of Slaidburn, born on 31 October 1828 and baptised on 13 February 1829, at Sandy Syke, Tosside. Mrs. Jessie Thornber of Clitheroe provided the following details of his family. Edward died at Clitheroe in 1886.
  • + Peggy Slater at Slaidburn in 1860. She was born in 1830 and died in 1911 in Clitheroe. (See footnote 2)
    • 3. Thomas, 1861.
    • 3. Edward, died as an infant in 1862.
    • 3. John, 1865.
    • 3. Mary Ann, 1867.
    • 3. Jane, 1869.
    • 3. Margaret Ellin, 1871.
  • 2. James son of Thomas and Isabella, farmer of Annsland End, baptised on 4 February 1832 at Slaidburn. James, an infant, of Annysland End, was buried on 27 February 1832, at Slaidburn.
  • 2. Mary Ann*, said to be 10th child although I have her as 11th. Mary Ann, the daughter of Thomas Thornber and Isabella Whittle, daughter of Edward Whittle of Slaidburn, was born on 23 June 1833 and baptised on 1 August 1833, at Sandy Syke, Tosside. See census details at the end of this chapter.
  • 2. Robert. According to the registers of Sandy Syke there was a Richd. son of Thos Thornber and Isabella Whittle, daughter of Edward Whittle of Slaidburn, born 31 August 1835 and baptised on 3 October 1835 at Sandy Syke, Tosside. The original registers have been examined and the word Richd is quite clear. However, the I.G.I. has indexed the name as Robert. This is intriguing as we have no further information on Richard but several pieces of evidence on Robert. Robert was mentioned in his uncle Anthony's will and appears in census records as shown below.
  • 2. Martha is probably from this family but is known at this stage only from her burial as an infant, the daughter of Thomas of Anniseland End, on 24 April 1838 at Slaidburn. Her mother, Isabella, was buried later in the year on 12 July 1838.

Footnote 1.

Census Information on the Family of Thomas Thornber

In the 1841 Census for Annislandend, Thomas is shown as a widower with seven children. In this census the ages of those above 15 were usually rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5. Thomas was 55; Margaret, 20; Will, 20; John 15; Benjamin, 13; Edward, 12; Mary Ann, 8; and Robert 6.

In the 1851 census accurate ages were given but we find a few inconsistencies. In particular Robert was stated to be only 13 but if he was born in 1835 he would have been 16 by 1851.

1851 Census: Annislandend

Thomas 66
Hannah 36
Will 33
John 30
Mary Ann 17
Robert 13

Margaret had died in 1844 but Hannah was living at home again.

In the 1861 census (RG9/3084, folio 18, page 2 in Easington) Thomas was said to be a farmer of 16 acres and to be 76. Mary Ann was 26 and Robert was 24.

In the 1871 census Thomas Thornber, a retired farmer, was said to be 88 and was living at Well House, Easington where Laurence Earnshaw, 44, was head of household, farming 61 acres, and Mary Ann his wife was 36. Mary Ann was the daughter of Thomas Thornber. When Thomas died at Well House Farm in 1872 he was said to be only 83 so there must be a mistake in one of the records.

Footnote 2

Census information shows Edward lived in the main street in Slaidburn and worked as a labourer on several farms. The census of 1851, (film HO 107/2256 folio 71, enumeration district 4b) shows an Edward Thornber, unmarried agricultural labourer aged 22, at Greenwood in Grindleton. He was said to be born in Slaidburn.

In the 1861 census for Slaidburn (RG9/3084, folio 20 page 6) Edward was a servant aged 33 with a wife Margaret aged 30 and a son, Thomas aged 2 months. They were at Brighouse as servants, where the head of household was Henry Turner, aged 77, a farmer of 100 acres. There is also a reference to an Edward Thornber, aged 50, in the Clitheroe Census of 1881 at 32 Brook Street (4172, folio 8 page 10). He was married to Peggy aged 49 with three children, Thomas, 20; Jane, 12 and Margaret E aged 10.

Slaidburn families page 1
Slaidburn families page 2
Slaidburn families page 3
 
Return to Thornber Families page

©  Craig Thornber, England, United Kingdom    Main Site Address:  https://www.thornber.net/

1.0 Strict