SOME PARTINGTONS

(notes by P John Partington)

THOMAS (bef. 1802 - aft. 1846) AND HIS FOREBEARS

‘Partington’ was a village, and is now a suburb, on the edge of Manchester;   and it is presumably from there that our family takes its name.  The name is very much a localized one until recent decades, with the large majority of Partingtons being found in north-west England, especially Lancashire.  At the point at which our family becomes identifiable, they are working (like so many at that time) in the weaving industry.

Our earliest known Partington ancestor to date is Thomas, born in 1775/6.  He married Alice Ashcroft at Croston in Lancashire on 20 May 1819.  They had at least two children – John Ascroft, born in 1822/3 and Margaret, born in 1825/6.  In 1841 Thomas, Alice and Margaret were living in Croston – Thomas was working as a “hand loom weaver”.

THE CHILDREN OF THOMAS  (bef. 1802 - aft. 1846)

Thomas & Alice’s son John Ascroft was born in Croston in 1822/3.   On 11 July 1847 he married Eleanor Waring at St Bede’s Roman Catholic chapel in Clayton Green, Leyland:  the certificate shows him as a ‘labourer’, and illiterate.  They had at least seven children – Catherine in 1848/9, Thomas in 1850/1, Annie in 1852, Alice in 1856/7, William in 1857/8, Catherine T (or Susan?) in 1863/4 and John James A in 1870.  The 1851 census records John and Eleanor as living at Berry’s Cottage in Brindle (shared with the Berry & Cliffe families) with their baby son Thomas:  John is described as a farm labourer and Ellen as aged twenty-seven, born in Walton-le-Dale.  The following year they had a daughter, Annie.  By 1861 John and Ellen were living in Walton le Dale:  John was working as a groom, and Ellen as a housekeeper.  In  1871 John and Ellen were living at 1 Abbey Street, Preston:  John was now working as a “labourer in iron works”.  Ten years later John and Ellen were still in Preston, now at 29 Whittingham Street:   Catherine/Susan and John were with them, and John was now working as a farm labourer.  By 1891 John had died;  Catherine was then living with her two youngest children at 2 Ashton Drive, Preston.

Thomas’ daughter Margaret was born in 1825/6.  In 1841 she was living with her parents in Croston.  Nothing further is yet known of her.

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN ASCROFT  (abt. 1822 - aft. 1850)

John Ascroft’s first child, Catherine, was born in Brindle in 1848/9.  In 1861 she was living with her family in Walton le Dale, and working as a house servant.  Nothing further is yet known of her.

John Ascroft’s second child, Thomas, was born in 1850/1 in Brindle.   In 1861 he was living with his family, in Walton le Daleand working “half-time in cotton mill, half time as scholar”.  Ten years later he was with them at 1 Abbey Street, Preston, and working (like his father) as a “labourer in iron works”.  In 1877 he married Catherine Lomax, and they had four children:  Susannah born in 1877/8, John in 1879/80, Richard Lomax in 1882 and Thomas in 1887/8 (further details on page 2).  The 1881 census records the family at 19 Defence Street, Bolton:  Thomas is a “Police Officer”.  In 1891 they were at 29 Gibbon Street, and in 1901 at 241 Deane Road;  Thomas was now a “police sergeant”.  Catherine died on 10 January 1926, and on 19 March administration of her estate was granted to Thomas, then living at 134 Spa Road, Bolton and described as “formerly a police sergeant”.  His date of death is not yet known.

John Ascroft’s third child, Annie, was born in ?1852.  Nothing further is yet known of her.

John Ascroft’s fourth child, Alice, was born in Brindle in 1856/7.    In 1861 she was living with her family in Walton le Dale, and ten years later with them at 1 Abbey Street, Preston, working as a “cotton weaver”.

John Ascroft’s fifth child, William, was born in Brindle in 1857/8.  In 1861 he was living with his family in Walton le Dale, and ten years later was with them at 1 Abbey Street, Preston, working as a “cotton spinner”.  He seems to have married Elizabeth (surname unknown), with whom he had a son, Richard, born in 1876/7:  in 1881 the three of them were living next door to William’s parents, at 28 Whittingham Street, Preston – William was working in a cotton mill.

John Ascroft’s sixth child, Catherine T, was born in Walton le Dale in 1863/4.  In 1871 she was with her parents at 1 Abbey Street, Preston, and ten years later at 29 Whittingham Street – though the census return appears to give her name as ‘Susan’.  In 1891 Catherine was living with her widowed mother and her younger brother at 2 Ashton Drive:  herself recorded as blind, she was working as a “teacher in blind institute”.

John Ascroft’s seventh child, John James A, was born in Preston in 1870.  In 1871 he was with his parents at 1 Abbey Street, Preston, and ten years later at 28 Whittingham Street.  In 1891 he was living with his mother at 2 Ashton Drive, and working in a cotton mill.

THE CHILDREN OF THOMAS  (c. 1850 - )

Thomas’ first child, Susannah (‘Annie’), was born in Bolton in 1877/8;  in 1881 the census records her living with her parents at 19 Defence Street, Bolton.  In 1891 she was living with the family at 29 Gibbon Street and working as a “cotton weaver”.  Ten years later she was with them at 241 Deane Road, working as a “Household Furnishers Assistant”.  She subsequently married, and is remembered in old age as a widow looking after her widowed father.

Thomas’ second child, John, was born in Bolton in about 1879.  Two years later the census records him living with his parents at 19 Defence Street.    In 1891 he was living with his family at 29 Gibbon Street and working as a “cotton weaver”.  In 1901 he was living with the rest of the family at 241 Deane Road, Bolton, now working as a cabinet-maker.

Thomas’ third child, Richard Lomax, was born on 22 December 1882 at 19 Defence Street, Bolton.  In 1891 he was living with his family at 29 Gibbon Street, a ‘scholar’.  In 1901 he was with the rest of the family at 241 Deane Road, and working as a Post Office Clerk.  In 1904 he married Annie Elizabeth Osborne Warr in Bolton and had four children, the first two being Arnold Lomax (born in 1906), and Kathleen (born in 1908).

Thomas’ fourth child, Thomas, was born in Bolton in 1887/8.  In 1891 he was with his family at 29 Gibbon Street;  ten years later he was with them at 241 Deane Road.  Nothing else is yet known of him.

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