How far can we go back part 1

Crowther

The Wouldhave Family

We have been researching our Wouldhave connections for some years now and, although there are mentions of the Wouldhave surname in medieval times our most reliable information traces our direct line back to Thomas Wouldhave who lived in Newcastle and died in 1686, a year after James II acceded the throne.  In parish registers he is described as ‘of Benwell’, an area in the west end of Newcastle, which was in the parish of St John’s. 

St John's Church in Newcastle taken last summer

Thomas married Elizabeth Anderson in 1672 and they had three sons, Robert 1673, John 1676, who died in infancy, and Thomas 1678.

There were a large number of Wouldhaves in the Newcastle area in Tudor and Stuart times.  Many were Freemen of the city and involved in specific trades.

The original font at St John's Newcastle

The family line linking us back to Stuart times is as follows

v  Thomas (1678-1751) a ropemaker and freeman by apprenticeship, married Mary Ellison.  They had four sons and lived in Newcastle.

v  William (1711-?) a ropemaker and freeman by patrimony and was also a mariner or seaman.  The only evidence we have of this is the apprentice certificate for his son Richard.  He may have married Elizabeth Dalziel in Morpeth. We haven't yet found a record for his death.

v  Richard (1742-1783) a mariner who lived in Hull.  He married Mary Grey and had four children, only one of whom survived to adulthood.

v  Richard (1772-1838) a mariner who was brought up in Hull, press-ganged and eventually lived in North Shields.  He married two sisters Anne Whately in North Shields with whom he had two children and Elanor Whately in Wallsend, with whom he had six children.

v  Richard (1794-1844) a shoemaker who lived in North Shields.  He married Isabella Arkel and they had six children

v  George Arkell Wouldhave (1837-1908) a cabinet maker who lived initially in North Shields and later moved with his family to South Shields.  He married Phillis Robson and they had seven children.

v  Hannah Isabella Wouldhave (1861-1911) married Joseph Crowther in South Shields

McAndrew

The Pinkney family

Joseph Pinkney (1738-1823) was baptised in Brancepeth and his father was Ralph Pinkney. It is possible that Ralph was born in either 1687 or 1690.  There are two baptisms for a Ralph Pinkney in Brancepeth, one with father Ralph and one with father John.  It is impossible at this point to work out which one is the direct link. 

Map of Durham showing some of the places the Pinkneys lived

The family line linking us back to the time of William of Orange is as follows

v  Ralph Pinkney (1773-1853) a horse keeper lived in Beamish, owning a freehold property in Great Lumley. Ralph married Ann Pate, who may have been born in Lincolnshire, and they had ten children.

v  Thomas Pinkney (1803-1871) a wagon rider and colliery labourer who lived in Holmside and Craghead. He married Mary Thompson and they had eight children

v  John Pinkney (1822-1884) a coal miner and later, a horse keeper.  He lived in Craghead and Twizell. He married Ann Wright and they had ten children.

v  William Pinkney (1846-1909) a coal miner living at West Pelton. He married Mary Ann Stobbs and they had six children

v  Sarah Pinkney (1874-1951) married Frank Burridge, lived in Twizell and Beamish.

St Thomas's church at Craghead taken last summer

We will be following back through some of our other family lines in later blogs.