4. MIDDLETON, Lancashire: 1690–1864
by Alan Craig Download the PDF of this page (21.9 MB)
Click here to open a map of Middleton. Names coloured purple are direct ancestors to Robyn, and all text coloured blue and often [inside brackets] are corrections or additional information that was not part of the original documents. Copies of the original documents are held by me in the cloud, and can be made available to interested parties on request.
PART A: Hardman & Butterworth
(i) Prestwich, Lancashire (Hardman)
Since about 2025, Ancestry.com has begun uploading images of original images of English parish records (baptisms, marriages and burials). Previously, most of what had been available to researchers was transcribed entries from index lists — so with copies of original documents, we can now push back a little further for most of our English ancestors. For this family branch, our earliest records are for the ‘Hardman’ name, and these are from St Mary, Prestwich, which lies about 9 km (5.6 miles) west of Middleton. They lived, worked, and died in the triangle formed by Prestwich, Middleton and Manchester.
1690 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: St Mary, Prestwich 1Source: HARDMAN, Adam & PARR, Alice; 1690 England Marriages; L160/1/1/4; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Nupt. Anno ye Domini 1690
Decr. 30 Adam Hardman et Alice Parr1717 ENGLAND BAPTISMS: St Mary, Prestwich 2Source: HARDMAN, Thomas; 1717 England Baptisms; L160/1/1/5; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Bapt. in A:D: 1717
May 5 Thomas Son of Adam Hardman of Prestwich
While some genealogies push back even further, we can be cautiously confident that our earliest ‘Hardman’ record is the marriage of Adam Hardman and Alice Parr (see right). We have two children for this couple (though there would surely have been more): George (11 April 1716, died aged 3 weeks); and Thomas Hardman (also see right).
1716 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: St Mary, Prestwich 3Source: HULTON, William & BLAKELEY, Mary; 1716 England Marriages; L160/1/1/5; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Married at Prestwich 1716
April: 1 { William Hulton & Mary Blakeley1726 ENGLAND BAPTISMS: St Mary, Prestwich 4Source: HILTON, Jane; 1726 England Baptisms; L160/1/1/5; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Baptized in A:D: 1726 Prestwich
November 13 { Jane D. of William Hulton Bricklayer &
Mary [Blakeley] his wife of Whitefield
Thomas (Robyn’s 5g-grandfather) was to marry Jane Hilton in 1750, and we have her parent’s marriage (1716), and her baptism (1726) as well (see both left). We know almost nothing about the lives of these people, but we do have burial records for William Hilton and Mary Blakeley (see below). Whitefield is in the Prestwich Parish, just over 2 km north of St Mary’s Church.
1767 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Mary, Prestwich 5Source: HILTON, William; 1767 England Burials; L160/1/1/6; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Buried at Prestwich 1767
April: 24th { William Hilton of Whitefield1767 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Mary, Prestwich 6Source: HILTON (Blakeley), Mary; 1770 England Burials; L160/1/2/4; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Buried at Prestwich 1770
March 4th | Mary Hilton [Blakeley] of Whitefield Widow
Their son Thomas was 32 and recorded as a “weaver” when he married 23-year-old Jane Hilton (see below). He and Jane had at least one child, though some genealogies name several others (but offer no sources), and many more would be likely. Luckily, however, we do have a record for our next in line for this branch, and Joshua was born baptised in 1714 (also see below).
1750 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: St Mary, Prestwich 7Source: HARDMAN, Thomas & HILTON, Jane; 1750 England Marriages; Drm/2/260; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Married at Prestwich, 1750
April: 17 { Thomas Hardman Weaver, & Jane Hilton
Spinster, both of this Parish, by Pubn.1754 ENGLAND BAPTISMS: St Mary, Prestwich 8Source: HARDMAN, Joshua; 1754 England Baptisms; L160/1/1/6; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Baptized at Prestwich 1754
Jan. 1 | Joshua Son of Thomas Hardman Weaver and
Jane [Hilton] his Wife.
These records don’t tell us where Thomas and Jane were living when they married or baptised their son, but we do know that when they died they were residing at Cheetham Hill, which is about 4 km (2.5 miles) north of Manchester. Both were buried at St Mary’s Church — Jane died in 1774, and Thomas in 1778 (see below right).
1774 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Mary, Prestwich 9Source: HARDMAN (Hilton), Jane; 1774 England Burials; L160/1/2/4; Prestwich, Lancashire..
April 17th. Jane Wife of Thomas Hardman of
Cheethamhill
Richd. Berry, Curate1778 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Mary, Prestwich 10Source: HARDMAN, Thomas; 1778 England Burials; Drm/2/260a; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Augt. 14th. Thomas Hardman of Cheetham Hill
Joshua was 20 when married a Mary Hampson, just 7 months after his mother died. We have no record of Mary’s baptism, and therefore, no parents to report.
1774 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: St Mary, Prestwich 11Source: HARDMAN, Joshua & HAMPSON, Mary; 1774 England Marriages; L160/1/4/3; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Marriages 1774
Novr. 15th. Joshua Hardman & Mary Hampson
both of this Parish were married in this
Church by Banns, by me – James Archer
Marriage Solemnised by us } Joshua Hardman
} Mary X mark Hampson
Witnesses } James Hilton; Thos. Lees
Their marriage was better written up in the parish records (see left) than the ones we have to date, and we get a minister’s name and witnesses. Interestingly, one of the witnesses was a James Hilton, and likely related to Joshua’s mother (probably a brother or an uncle). His name will pop up again in just a short while.
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich – 1852
You will have noticed by now that all the records we have quoted so far are from the parish records of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, in Prestwich (originally founded around 1200). The picture to the right shows St Mary’s in 1852, and no doubt this scene would have been fairly familiar to our Hardman family, though some alterations had taken place in 1756 and 1803.
1781 ENGLAND BAPTISMS: St Mary, Prestwich 12Source: HARDMAN, Robert; 1781 England Baptisms; L160/1/2/4; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Baptized at Prestwich 1781
April 13th. Robert Son of Joshua & Mary
Hardman of Hardmans Green
Examined by { John Hadfield, Curate
Joshua and Mary had at least one child (see left), and he was born just a few hundred yards north of St Mary’s Church at a place called ‘Hardmans Green’ — presumably the name has something to do with our family, and there is still a “Hardman’s Road” at the same locality on modern maps. Sometime in the next 20 years, Robert Hardman was to move to the town of Middleton and marry a girl from Milnrow, Lancashire; and, from then on, St Leonards Church would be the focus of family events (see Part B).
1801 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Mary, Prestwich 13Source: HARDMAN (Hampson), Mary; 1801 England Burials; L160/1/2/2; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Buried at Prestwich 1801
May 8th. Mary Wife of Joshua Hardman
of Whitefield
James Hilton, Minister
However, Prestwich Parish and St Mary’s still had one more service to provide. Mary Hardman (née Hampson) died at Whitefield in 1801, and was buried at St Mary’s by the previously mentioned James Hilton, now recorded as being a “minister” (see right).
Her husband Joshua lived on for another 20 years, and when he curled up his toes for the last time, he was residing in Crumpsall, about 2 km north of Cheetham Hill, and buried in the churchyard of St Mark’s Church (built 1794, demolished 1998).
1821 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Mark’s, Cheetham Hill 14Source: HARDMAN, Joshua; 1821 England Burials; DRM 2/205; Cheetham, Lancashire.
BURIALS in the Parish of Manchester and Chapelry of Cheetham
in the County of Lancaster _________ in the Year 18 21
Nº | Name | Abode | When buried | Age | Minister
746 | Joshua Hardman | Crumpsall | Feby 13 | 67 | John Ticcoti
(ii) Rochdale & Milnrow, Lancashire (Butterworth)
Known DNA matches to Robyn have linked her to Joseph Butterworth and Mary Haward of Milnrow, which lies about 12 km (8 miles) north-east of Middleton, and close by Rochdale. We may have a baptismal record for Joseph at Milnrow Chapel: “Joseph son of John and Susan Butterworth of Rhodesford; Bap. December 15 – 1745”, but as yet we cannot confirm this. “Rhodesford” was actually “Road Ford” a tiny farm a few hundred yards north of Milnrow, now the site of sewage works on the River Beal. However, we do have his marriage (see below left):
1770 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: St Chad, Rochdale, Lancashire 15Source: BUTTERWORTH, Joseph & HOWARD, Mary; 1770 England Marriages; L48/1/4/8, roll 648; Rochdale, Lancashire.
Nº 463
Banns of Marriage between: Joseph Butterworth & Mary Haward
both of this parish were published on three Sundays underwritten:
That is to say, On Sunday, the 20th of Janry by me R. Podmore
On Sunday, the 4th of Feb: by me R. Podmore, Curate
On Sunday, the 11th Do. by me R.Podmore
**** Weddings February ****
26 Joseph Butterworth & Mary Haward
St Chad, Rochdale, Lancashire.
We can account for ten children to Joseph and Mary, all likely born at Butterworth Hall: John* (1771); James (1775); Milly (1778); Joseph * (1779); Martha (~1780); Charles (1781); Sally (1783); Betty (1784); Edmund * (~1786); and William* (1787). [ * known DNA connections to Robyn.]
The Chapel at Milnrow, Lancashire.
The hamlet of ‘Butterworth Hall’ is hard by the village of Milnrow, and is close to the River Beal in the foothills of the Pennines. It takes its name from one of the Norman families that settled here after the 1066 Conquest, and the surname is particularly common in the area. The one that most concerns us, of course, is Betty, and we have her baptismal record from the Bishop’s Transcripts of Milnrow Chapel:
1784 ENGLAND BAPTISMS: Chapel of Milnrow, Lancashire 16Source: BUTTERWORTH, Betty; 1784 Church of England Baptisms; Drm/2/295; Milnrow, Lancashire.
Month | Day | Child’s name | Father | Mother | Surname | Place
Novr. | 15 | Betty | Joseph | Mary [Haward] | Butterworth | Butterworth Hall
We know little else of this family, but there is a burial record for “Mary, wife of Joseph Butterworth” that has her dying aged 78 at Hamer Mill (just north of Milnrow) on 8 October 1835. However, what took her daughter Betty from Milnrow to Middleton is unknown (probably work in the woollen mills), but that’s where she married Robert Hardman (see his baptism above), and this connects us to the first part of this chapter in the Parish of Prestwich:
1803 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire 17Source: HARDMAN, Robert & BUTTERWORTH, Betty; 1803 Church of England Marriages; GB127.L56/1/4/2; Middleton, Lancashire.
Nº 963 } Robert Hardman of this Parish, Weaver,
and Betty Butterworth in this Parish, Spinster, were
Married in this Church by Banns
this eighth Day of February in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Three
By me, James Archer, Curate
This Marriage was solemnized between Us { Robert Hardman; Betty Butterworth, her X mark
in the Presence of { Samuel Mitchell , his X mark; John Kenyon
St Leonards Church, where so many of this family were baptised, married and buried.
The town of Middleton (pop. 43,000) is now part of Greater Manchester, but in the years our families lived there, it was part of the ancient county of Lancaster. The village was probably founded in the 7th century, although it was not mentioned in the “Doomsday Book” of 1086. However, by 1194, the name had appeared and was known in the Middle Ages as a centre for domestic flannel and woollen cloth production. The heritage-listed St Leonards Church was erected in 1412 by local boy Thomas Langley, who was the Bishop of Durham and Lord Chancellor of England, and expanded in 1524 in celebration of Sir Richard Assheton’s part in the Battle of Flodden in 1513 (Scots are permitted to go, “Boo, hiss!” at this point 🙂).
In 1770 (about the time Captain Cook was charting a future homeland for the descendants of these families), the village was known to have about 20 houses. Robert and Betty would have easily recognised the church in the picture above, and had at least seven children baptised there between 1804 and 1815. Their last child, Richard, was born just a few weeks after the Battle of Waterloo; but their third child was James Hardman, Robyn’s great-great-grandfather, and his baptism was recorded in 1807:
1807 ENGLAND BAPTISMS: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire 18Source: HARDMAN, James; 1807 England Births and Christenings; FHL 1545699/1; Middleton, Lancashire.
August 26 | James s. of Robert Hardman Weavr. & Betty [Butterworth] his w. of Middleton
PART B: Frankland & Warburton
The other branch of our Middleton forebears was, however, better documented. James Frankland was a clogger and cordwainer (basically, a shoemaker) who lived and worked in the shadow of St Leonard’s Church in an area called ‘Back o’th Brow’, which lay between the cemetery and the Whit Brook. James had married earlier than the Hardman’s:
1796 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: Manchester Cathedral (Collegiate), Lancashire 19Source: FRANKLAND, James & WARBURTON, Ann; 1796 England Select Marriages; 1,545,576; Collegiate Church, Manchester.
Nº 505 } James Frankland of this Parish & Town of Man[chester] Clogger
and Ann Warburton Spinster
were Married in this Church by Banns pubd. May 8th 15 & 22d. 1796
this twenty ninth Day of May in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety six
By me John Gathoff
This Marriage was solemnized between Us { James Frankland ; Ann X Warburton
in the Presence of { Jno. Harrison
The Olde Boar’s Head was built in 1622, just 120 m (130 yds) due west of St Leonards, andwould have been very familiar to our family.
Although this record is marked “Manchester Cathedral”, it is very unlikely the marriage took place there — at the time, the Cathedral insisted that all fees paid in the larger diocese were to be collected and registered by them, and this would have applied to fees collected at St Leonards in Middleton. Some parishes made the marrying couple pay two fees!
We know nothing about the parents of James Frankland and Ann Warburton, but the couple, though married in the Church of England, had four children baptised as Wesleyan Methodists between 1802 and 1809 — two of these (Richard and Benjamin) died young. It seems likely that there would have been more children earlier in the marriage, but perhaps some had died young, or their baptismal records have not yet been discovered. The last of Ann’s four recorded children was Mary Ann Frankland (Robyn’s 2g-grandmother) who was born just two years before her mother’s death (see below):
1810 ENGLAND BAPTISMS: Wesleyan, Middleton, Lancs 20Source: FRANKLAND, Mary Ann; 1810 England Wesleyan Christenings (Wesleyan); RG4/1490; Middleton, Lancashire.
Mary Ann Daughter of James Frankland (Clogger)
& of Ann [Warburton] his Wife of Middleton. Born Decemr. 11th 1809
was Baptized Jany. 16th 1810 By me —— John Farrar
Nothing else is known of Ann Warburton’s life. There is a tantalising baptismal record from the nearby town of Bury for 31 October 1776 (father named John), but we have been unable to verify this. However, her burial was recorded at St Leonards Church in September 1811, and she would only have been in her mid-30s (see below):
1811 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire 21Source: FRANKLAND, Ann [Warburton]; 1811 Church of England Burials; Drm 2/225b/3; Middleton, Lancashire.
September 10 | Ann [Warburton] wife of James Frankland Clogger of Middleton
James had been married to Ann for over 15 years (1796–1811), but had only been a widower for less than nine months before he married for the second time (see below):
1812 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: Middleton, Lancashire 22Source: FRANKLAND, James & Taylor, Hannah; 1812 England O.P.R. Marriages; GB127.L56/1/4/3; Middleton, Lancashire.
Nº43 } James Frankland of this Parish Clogger & Widower
and Hannah Taylor in this Parish, Spinr, were Married in this Church by Banns
this twenty first Day of May in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twelve
By me James Archer Curate
This Marriage was solemnized between Us { James Frankland; Hannah X Taylor
in the Presence of { James Verity ; Rickd. Kenyon
Hannah Taylor was the daughter of William Taylor, weaver, and his wife Elizabeth, and was baptised at St Leonards on 20 April 1788; she was probably about 14 years younger than her husband, and 24 when they married. Hannah went on to bear James eight children between 1813 and 1829, though at least six of these died before they reached 30, and are buried at St Leonards.
Between 1824 and 1853, in at least five business directories (Deans’, Pigot’s, Baines’, Slater’s & Whelan’s), James Frankland was registered as living at the “Lodge”. He was also given this address in the 1836 Poll Book and Electoral Register. The Lodge extends from the Back o’th Brow around the southern end of St Leonard’s cemetery. In these directories, James is noted as a “Clog and Patten Maker” (sometimes described as a “boot and shoe maker” or a “cordwainer”). Hannah was eventually to outlive James by about eight years, and following are the parish index entries for those Frankland family members who were buried at St Leonards:
1818–1864 INDEX of BURIALS: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire
Nº 1575; p.197; Frankland, Sally; 13 Nov 1818; age 3; Dau of James & Hannah
Nº 2216-3; p.108; Frankland, Elizabeth; 6 Oct 1839; age 26; Dau of James & Hannah
Nº 2217-4; p.227; Garner, Hannah; 19 Jan 1843; age 28; PR Wife of Thomas
Nº 2218-5; p.88; Frankland, James; 16 Oct 1847; age 29; Son of James & Hannah
Nº 2219-6; p.119; Frankland, Betty; 11 Jun 1848; age 18; Dau of James & Hannah
Nº 2220-7; p.146; Frankland, Martha; 28 Apr 1849; age 21; Dau of James & Hannah
Nº 2221-1; p.59; Frankland, James; 23 Jul 1856; age 82; of Middleton
Nº 2222-2; p.85; Frankland, Hannah [Taylor]; 13 Jun 1864; age 76; Wife of James
In all, James Frankland had lost at least eight children from his two marriages, so we are very lucky that his fourth child, Mary Ann, survived. Until the birth of Martha (27 Jul 1827), all the baptisms for James’ children had been as Wesleyan Methodists.
However, and for unknown reasons (and uniquely in our family history), on the day Martha was baptised, James also had most of his other children still living at home re-baptised at St Leonards as Church of England: Joseph (25), Mary Ann (17), Elizabeth (14), Hannah (13), James (10), Hannah Maria (7), and Martha (new born). Why the four-year-old Daniel was not on the list is unknown — he lived till he was 56.
1827 Church of ENGLAND BAPTISMS: St Leonards, Middleton 23Source: FRANKLAND, Mary Ann; 1827 Church of England Baptisms; GB127.L56/1/3/4; Middleton, Lancashire.
Baptized | Child’s name | Parents names | Surname | Abode | Trade | Ceremony by
July 27 | Mary Ann D. | James & Ann [Warburton] | Frankland | Middleton | Clogger | R.M. Wilkinson, Curate
PART C: James Hardman & Mary Ann Frankland
(2g-grandparents) 1828–1850
Mary Ann Frankland was 18 when she married 20-year-old James Hardman in 1828 — and they were married by the same curate, with one of the the same witnesses, as her father had when he married her step-mother:
1828 ENGLAND MARRIAGES: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire 24Source: FRANKLAND, Mary Ann; 1827 Church of England Baptisms; GB127.L56/1/3/4; Middleton, Lancashire.
James Hardman of this Parish, Weaver
and Mary Ann Frankland of this Parish, Spinster
were married in this Church by Banns with Consent of Parents this Twenty first day of July
in the Year One thousand eight hundred and Twenty eight
By me, James Archer, Curate
This marriage was solemnized between us { James X Hardman’s; Mary Ann X Frankland’s
In the Presence of { Joseph Moore; Richd. Kenyon
When Mary Ann married James Hardman, she was five months pregnant with their first child, Joseph. Her older brother, also a Joseph, had become a clogger like his father and, at 27, married his first wife, Martha Millet, in January 1830 — they lived on Manchester Road in the neighbouring village of Tonge. [Robyn has a DNA connection with 2 of his descendants.]
The Hardman and Frankland families continued to live and work in the area immediately adjacent to St Leonards, and Mary Ann’s parents were, as we would expect, at the Lodge with four of her half-siblings on census night in 1841 (see below):
1841 ENGLAND CENSUS:
Lodge, Middleton, Lancashire 25Source: FRANKLAND, James; 1841 England Census; HO 107 / 544 / 11; Middleton, Lancashire.James Frankland; 60; Clogg Maker; born Lancashire
Hannah Frankland [Taylor]; 50; born Lancashire
Hannah Frankland; 25; born Lancashire
James Frankland; 20; born Lancashire
Martha Frankland; 13; born Lancashire
Betty Frankland; 11; born Lancashire
All of James’ children by his first wife (Ann Warburton) had by now died, or married and moved on. Of his second tranche of children by Hannah Taylor, two-year-old Sally had died in 1818, and unmarried Elizabeth had died in 1839, aged 26. Unaccounted for on census night was Anna Maria (nearly 21), and Daniel (18), no doubt both working and lodging elsewhere. Their daughter Hannah was only three weeks from marrying Thomas Garner, a bleacher — but she would join her deceased brothers and sisters at St Leonards graveyard 17 months later.
1841 ENGLAND CENSUS: Back o’th Brow, Middleton, Lancashire 26Source: HARDMAN, Robert; 1841 England Census; HO107/544/; Middleton, Lancashire.
Robert Hardman; 60; Weaver; born Lancashire
Betty Hardman [Butterworth]; 60; born Lancashire
Robert Hardman; 30; born Lancashire
Betty Hardman; 20; born Lancashire
James Hardman’s parents were also close by (see right). Only two of of James’ siblings were still at home. His youngest brother, Richard, had died at age two, and we know his sister Alice had married John Wilde (in 1824) and had probably moved to Oldham by this time [Robyn has a DNA connection with a descendant of Alice]. What had become of John (35) and Ann (32) is unknown, but it was likely they had married and moved away.
1841 ENGLAND CENSUS: Church Croft, Middleton, Lancashire 27Source: HARDMAN, James;1841 England Census; HO 107/544/11; Middleton, Lancashire.
James Hardman; 35; Weaver; born Lancashire
Mary Hardman [Frankland]; 30; born Lancashire
Joseph Hardman; 10; born Lancashire 🧬
Elizabeth Hardman; 9; born Lancashire
Martha Hardman; 8; born Lancashire 🧬
James Hardman; 5; born Lancashire
Ann Hardman; 1; born Lancashire
James and Mary Ann were also living in the shadow of St Leonards, and already had their first five children (see below) [those with a DNA connection to Robyn are marked with a 🧬 ].
However, the 1841 census (above) was to be Robert Hardman’s last — five years and four months later, he left his wife Betty a widow. Cause of death was still not being recorded at this time, but he would have departed this world at his home in the Back o’th Brow (see below):
1846 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire 28Source: HARDMAN, Robert; 1846 England Burials; Nº 394, p.50; St Leonards; Middleton, Lancashire.
BURIALS in the Parish Church of MIDDLETON
County of LANCASTER, in the Year 1846
Nº | Name | Abode | When buried | Age | Minister
394 | Robert Hardman | Middleton | Oct: 21 |73| R. Durnford
Weaver [65]
The age on his burial record (right) was marked as “73”, but this out by eight years. In the 1841 census (above right), Robert was given as aged 60, and this would be correct for his birth in 1781 (though ages in the 1841 census were often rounded down).
Above we have two photos of St Leonard’s Church. The one on the left was taken in 1888 from the north, and the lighter-coloured building in the left foreground was the ‘Church Croft’. James and Mary Ann were living here for both the 1841 and 1851 censuses, and the Croft was only a minute’s walk from both their parents’ homes. ‘Back o’th Brow’ was an area on the other side of the church off to the left; the cemetery lay directly south of the church with the ‘Lodge’ immediately beyond that. Today, nothing is left of the Croft, with only a car park existing where it once stood (photo right; taken by me in 2018).
YEARS 1851–1864:
At the 1851 Census, a widowed Betty Hardman and two of her children were still at Back o’th Brow — and this census provides us a good deal more information about each individual in the household (below):
1851 ENGLAND CENSUS: Back o’th Brow, Middleton, Lancashire 29Source: HARDMAN, Betty (Butterworth); 1851 England Census; HO107/544/11; Middleton, Lancashire.
Betty Hardman [Butterworth]; Head; Widow; 75; Silk Winder; Blind; born Middleton
Robert Hardman; Son; Unm.; 38; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire
Betty Hardman; Daur.; Unm.; 37; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire
At 75, Betty was quite old for her times, and was marked as being “blind”; her two children at home were also quite old to be still unmarried (38 & 37). Again, John (45) and Ann (42) are missing from the record, and may have been dead or living elsewhere. Just a short stroll along the road, we still find James Frankland and his second wife, Hannah, at the ‘Lodge’ with a married daughter staying with them (see below):
1851 ENGLAND CENSUS: Lodge, Middleton, Lancashire 30Source: FRANKLAND, James; 1851 England Census; HO 107/ 2242; Middleton, Lancashire.
James Frankland; Head; Mar.; 77; Cordwainer; born Yorkshire
Hannah Frankland [Taylor]; Wife; Mar.; 63; Cordwainer’s wife; born Middleton
Robert Stringer; Son-in-law; Mar.; 23; Cordwainer; born Middleton
Maria Stringer [Frankland]; Son-in-law wife; Mar.; 30; Cordwainer’s wife; born Middleton 🧬
Alice Eastwood; Lodger; Unm.; 22; Silk Winder; born Middleton
It’s quite interesting that this 1851 record gives James Frankland’s birthplace as “Yorkshire”, even though the 1841 census shows him born in “Lancashire” — this is something for future research. His daughter Anna Maria and her husband, Robert Stringer, eventually migrated to Bendigo, Victoria, in 1858 [Robyn has a DNA connection to two of their descendants]. Meanwhile, Mary Ann and her ever-growing family were still at the Church Croft for 1851 (see below):
1851 ENGLAND CENSUS: Church Croft, Middleton, Lancashire 31Source: HARDMAN, James; 1851 England Census; HO 107/2242; Middleton, Lancashire.
James Hardman; Head; Mar.; 44; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire
Mary [Ann] Hardman [Frankland]; Wife; Mar; 40; Silk Weaver; born Middleton
Joseph Hardman; Son; Unm.; 21; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire 🧬
Martha Hardman; Daur.; 18; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire 🧬
James Hardman; Son; 16; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire
Jane Ann Hardman; Daur.; 10; Scholar; born Middleton, Lancashire
Maria Hardman; Daur.; 8; Scholar; born Middleton, Lancashire 🧬
Robert Hardman; Son; 4; born Middleton, Lancashire 🧬
Alfred Hardman; Son; 3; born Middleton, Lancashire
The younger Hardman family were at home with seven of their nine children — their daughter Elizabeth (21) had married John Hulme in May 1850, and was living in Chadderton, about 4 km (2.5 miles) east of Middleton on the outskirts of Oldham. Elizabeth died at Prestwich in 1889, aged 59. Joseph (21) married Hannah Collinge just over eight months after this census, and moved to Oldham. Hannah only survived another 14 years and died in 1866, but Joseph died at Oldham in 1911, aged 82 [Robyn has DNA connections to their descendants]. The daughter Maria (8) later started called herself “Hannah or Anna”, and we will hear a good deal more about her further on in the story.
After the 1851 census, there was only one more child added to the Hardman brood (the most important to our line), and she would be the only one born outside of Middleton proper:
1853 Church of ENGLAND BAPTISMS: St Michaels, Tonge, Prestwich, Nº 1214 32Source: HARDMAN, Emma Alice; 1853 Church of England Baptisms; Nº 1214; p.152; Prestwich, Lancashire.
Baptized | Child’s name | Parents names | Surname | Abode | Trade | Ceremony by
Decr. 18th | Emma Alice D. of | James & Mary [Frankland] | Frankland | Tonge | Weaver | Mattw. Lawler
Emma Alice, was born in Tonge, which was essentially contiguous with Middleton proper on the south, over the River Irk, and in the Parish of Prestwick. James and Mary Ann had now completed their family — but, in 1856, both were to lose their surviving parents:
1856 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire 33HARDMAN, Betty (Butterworth); 1856 England Burials; Nº 276, p.35; St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire. 34Source: FRANKLAND, James; 1856 Church of England Burials; Nº 467; p.59; Middleton, Lancashire.
BURIALS in the Parish of MIDDLETON
in the County of LANCASTER in the Year 1856
Nº | Name | Abode | When buried | Age | Minister
276 | Betty Hardman [Butterworth] | Tonge | Jan 6 | 80 | Henry E. Garner
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – — – – – –
467 | James Frankland | Middleton | July 28 | 82 | W.W. Kendall
died July 23
Betty Butterworth had been a widow for just over nine years, and her given age would mean she was born in 1776. Only 6½ months later, Mary Ann lost her father, James Frankland, who died just short of 45 years after his first wife, Ann Warburton. His second wife, Hannah Taylor, mother of eight of his twelve children, would battle on for another eight years.
From The Middleton Guardian, 1898. Shows St. Leonard’s from the north. The Church Croft is to the left where James and Mary Ann lived in1841 & 1851. All children except Emma Alice were born here.
As we saw, when Emma Alice was born in 1853 (above), the Hardman family had moved from the Church Croft to the nearby village of Tonge, and the 1861 census registers them in Oldham Road. Only four of Mary Ann’s nine children were living at home on this census night (below left):
1861 ENGLAND CENSUS: 21 Oldham Road, Tonge, Lancashire 35Source: HARDMAN, James; 1861 England Census; RG9 / 3025; Tonge, Lancashire.
James Hardman; Head; Mar.; 54; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire
Mary Hardman [Frankland]; Wife; Mar.; 50; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire
[Hannah] Maria Hardman; Daur.; Unm.; 18; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire 🧬
Alfred Hardman; Son; Unm.; 13; Silk Weaver; born Middleton, Lancashire
Emma [Alice] Hardman; Daur.; 7; Scholar; born Middleton, Lancashire 🧬
Richard[Robert]; Son; Unm.; 16 [14]; Clogger; born Middleton, Lancashire 🧬
We know, their older children, Elizabeth and Joseph, had married off some years before; however, in April 1859, 20-year-old Martha had married Daniel Knott and, a year later, daughter Jane Ann married James Reed, a cotton dyer (April 1860) — these two couples and their young children were sharing accomodation at 2 Peach Bank, Tonge, at the 1861 census.
The Knott family eventually moved west to Salford, where Martha died in 1883, aged 50 [I have been in touch with descendants of the Knott family via Ancestry.com]. The Reed family remained in Tonge for many years, but Jane Ann died in 1893, aged 53, in Bradford, Yorkshire. Their other unmarried son, James (25), was not at home, but lodging with a family in Spotland (5 km / 3 miles, north of Tonge) and, like his granddad, working as a clogger. He would, however, rejoin the family for their next adventure.
S.V. “Wanata” was built at New Brunswick, Canada, in 1852. It sank after a collision with the “Queen of Beauty” in the Bay of Biscay in 1866.
We know nothing more about the lives of the Hardman family until we find seven of them boarding the two-mast Sailing Vessel “Wanata” in London on 1 November 1862. James and Mary Ann set sail for the Southern Antipodes with five of their children: James (24); “Hannah” Maria (19); Robert (17); Alfred (14); and Emma Alice (10) — the other four children remained in Lancashire: Joseph, Elizabeth Hulme, Martha Knott, and Jane Ann Reed. The “Wanata” sailed via Queenstown, New Zealand, and after three months and three weeks at sea arrived in the port of Brisbane on 20 February 1863. A new chapter in their lives was about to begin.
They had only been in the colony for 16 months when Mary Ann’s step-mother died back in Lancashire, ending the Middleton story for our family:
1864 ENGLAND BURIALS: St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire 36Source: Frankland, Hannah; 1864 England Burials; GB127.L56/1/5/7; St Leonards, Middleton, Lancashire.
BURIALS in the Parish of MIDDLETON
in the County of LANCASTER in the Year 1864
Nº | Name | Abode | When buried | Age | Minister
676 | Hannah [Taylor] widow of | Middleton | June 16 | 76 | E. Nates
James Frankland died July 23
See the relevant maps (maps open in new browser tabs):
- England & Wales
- Middleton, Lancashire
- Australia migrations 1850–1950
Next page: 2. Brisbane, 1863–1940.
References