Visit to Darwen.

On Saturday Joseph and I paid a flying visit to Darwen. First we went to Manchester Victoria to watch a double headed steam train pass through on its way to Buxton - impressive sight and it had a diesel at the back. We then caught the train to Darwen. We only had a couple of hours there and it was really just a recognisance outing. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the pretty run up from Bolton by 'reservoirs', with trees decked in their autumn colours I was filled with excitement. We managed to find Sainsburys and toilets, and most importantly the library. But first things first what happened to the station? Its one of those modern platform only things with a bus shelter - no buildings at all!!! Looking at an old map of Darwen your Coopers lived quite close to the railway and looking from the platform it looks like the original stone terraces are still standing, this will be an objective of a future visit. Darwen is like in a valley, they lived up above the railway line. I wonder if any of them watched the steam trains passing through.

Anyway back to the library - what a charming building built circa 1908. (circa because I did not write any information down, and I am not very good at remembering things). I was after getting a feel for the place and also to see what kind of information was available in the library. However, as usual for me, I got waylaid......books books books ohhhhhhhh I was in heaven. Its wonderful but don't tell anyone else or else the hoards may descend. There was NOBODY in the local history section of the library hidden away in a corner behind the beehive of activity aca the computer part. Shelf upon shelf of old and modern books to do with Darwen. A quick flick through this book and a quick glance along this shelf and ohhhh this one looks most interesting. You see I am quite sad really but those books made my heart aflutter. Each one offering the chance of some interesting snippet of information. They have a shelf devoted to the history of football in Darwen - I am afraid that shelf may not get looked at. Another on the council minutes. Then there were photocopied books of early directories and early maps of Darwen. Books on the history of Lancashire, Blackburn and Darwen. Thick books, thin books and little slips of books which could easily be overlooked. You see I am not a creature of the present....I would much rather have a book in my hands than wrestle with a computer. A book never changes, I can go back and have another look, it has more of a sense of 'realness'. And old books are a physical link with the past. Who else has turned these pages before me? or how many years has this book stayed lonely on the shelf? .....enough of my rambling. One book more or less jumped OUT at me. J.G. Shaw 'History and traditions of Darwen and its people'. This book includes Jeremy Hunt's "Recollections of Darwen and its people". It is a reprint of an old book and the library has two copies. It includes old Darwen families, unfortunately Cooper was not mentioned but I should think it will give much interesting background information. This will be a priority read (I am going to see if I can get a copy on loan through my library first). {I have googled this book and it is for sale for £135 but that is one of the original books hmmm not worth that much.}
I am afraid that Joseph was quite bored with all this.

http://peekholden.tribalpages.com/tribe/browse?userid=peekholden&view=9&rand=912069223
Someone is actively researching the information in this book - with respect to family trees. One of Joseph's daughters married a Holden so it will be one to keep an eye on.

Finally, I got a 'good' feeling from Darwen. I look forward to visiting again. The only downside was a large message proclaiming - regeneration Darwen 2006-2010 I hope they don't destroy their beautiful heritage. The old market building is still standing, we walked through it. My local market has long since ceased to be of any use, but it would appear that Darwen market is still well patronized.

Joseph's children.

Again from the Lancashire online Parish Clerks site.

Darwen St James : information extracted from Bishop's Transcripts.

There is a baptism of Betty Cooper 30 Oct 1831 parents Joseph Cooper and Mary occupation weaver abode Over Darwen.

From the burials at this church a Betty Cooper age 4 months was buried on 19 Jan 1832.

There is another baptism William Cooper 10 Mar 1833 to Joseph Cooper and Mary occupation Weaver abode Over Darwen.

We need to track down the originals, coverage on this site goes up to 1851 but 1836 to 1847 is missing. This would cover Richard, Ellen and James.

From census information the children of Joseph and Mary

William Cooper (born about 1833)
Betty Cooper (born about 1835)
Richard Cooper (born about 1838)
Ellen Cooper (born about 1840) looking 1840 Jan - March
Mary Cooper (born about 1845)
James Cooper (born about 1847)
Maria Cooper (born about 1850) looking 1849 Apr - June
Ruth Cooper (born about 1856) looking 1855 Apr - June

Lancs. BMD site shows registration district Blackburn and a subdistrict of Darwin, I have used it to try to located the birth certificates - this site just gives the year of registration.

The free BMD only shows the Blackburn district , so will include all the Coopers from Blackburn as well as Darwen but this is divided into four quarters of the year and can be used to narrow down the search for baptisms.

Registration began September quarter of 1837, but not all births were registered.

I could not find anything for Richard or James.
Ellen Cooper 1840 Darwen D/3/47 and on free site Blackburn Mar 1840 21/41
There were two Mary Cooper registered in Darwen in 1845
Maria Cooper 1849 Darwen D/15/60 and on free site Blackburn June 1849 21/65
Ruth Cooper 1855 Darwen D/24/49 and on free site Blackburn June 1955 8e/361

Joseph's marriage.

Taken from Lancashire Online Parish Clerks.

Possible marriage for Joseph Cooper.

1 May 1831 St Mary the Virgin, Blackburn

Joseph Cooper (made his mark) weaver bachelor of this parish.
Mary Simpson (made his mark) spinster of this parish.
witnesses Joseph Faibrother and Thomas Walsh (but these witnessed other marriages so may have been church people rather than relatives).

They were actually married at St. Peters Church, the site explains that there was a fire in St Marys.

At that time there were only certain churches that people could marry in, St Marys would have been the main church for Darwen. At that time fathers details were not included. (And interestingly one of mums direct relatives was married at St Marys in 1833.)

In the census Joseph was a labourer but at the time of his marriage he was a weaver. From looking at the Cotton town site it would seem that in this time period there were many hand loom weavers but it was the time when the process was being mechanised and times became very hard for the handloomers. From my own understanding (and I may very well have got hold of the wrong end of the stick) although being a handloom weaver was a hard job they did have freedom - they decided when and how long they worked at the loom, often whole families wove on one loom taking it in turns. When this work went into the mills they had to work the hours that the master set. It was a time of much unrest.

Joseph Cooper.

From the census, Joseph appears to have been born around 1810.

Someone on the familysearch site has submitted the following details :

Joseph Cooper born 18 Jun 1809 christened 15 Oct 1809 Over Darwen, Blackburn
father Richard Cooper mother Betty

No church has been given, as there are dates given it is a case of trying to find the appropriate parish records.

The batch no. of this information is 7425305 and you can see what other information they have submitted including Richard Cooper about 1770 of Darwen and Betty Duxbury (married) about 1789 Darwen. As no dates are given this has to be viewed as a guess !!!

This can be linked to an entry on the IGI. (also on the familysearch site) batch no C133071 Over Darwen Lower Chapel Independent christenings 1751-1837

Benjamin Cooper christened 28 Jun 1789 born 11 Jun 1789 parents Richard Cooper and Betty Duxbury

It would appear that Benjamin may have been Josephs older brother but this has to be viewed with much sceptism until further proof has been found. Benjamin's christening though does tell us that we will have to look at nonconformist churches. We need to find Joseph's and look at the original baptism record of Benjamin, and find Richard and Betty's marriage. Also the fact that Joseph does not have a son called Benjamin also goes against there being a connection.

From other information (which I shall post later) Joseph definately had a sibling and at a guess we are looking for a brother James.

Interesting websites.

This one is brilliant, information on the cotton industry and history of Darwen and Blackburn.

http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?pageid=257

I found this article particularly interesting -

http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?pageid=2572&language=eng

For information on Darwen

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/OverDarwen/

The free BMD site

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

Lancashire BMD site

http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/

Some transcribed lancashire parish records,

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/index.html

The family search site - run by the Mormons in USA, including the IGI.

http://www.familysearch.org/

1841 census-Richard

According to Ancestry there are 40,371 Coopers in England.
3,201 Coopers in Lancashire.
287 Coopers in Blackburn (Darwen was included with Blackburn)
6 Richard Coopers in Blackburn.

This census is not as informative as the later ones. There were census before 1841 but they were mostly head counts, or just named head of the household. 1841 was the first national census where everyone was named, however relationship to the head of the household was not recorded nor the place of birth only if they were born in the county or not. Another difference is the age of adults is rounded DOWN to the nearest 5.

HO107,503,24,11
Blackburn Darwen 13
Roddly Fold ??

Joseph Cooper 30 Labourer
Mary 30
William 8
Betty 6
Richard 3
Ellen1

All born Lancashire.

1851 census-Richard

According to Ancestry there were 45,588 Coopers in England.
3,465 Coopers in Lancashire.
169 Coopers in the parish of Darwen.
3 Richard Coopers in Darwen - birth years 1809, 1837, 1850

HO107,2261,214,28
Blackburn, Darwen 2g
Pole Lane

Joseph Cooper 41 Ag. Lab
Mary 40
William 19? Power Loom weaver
Betty 16 Power Loom weaver
Richard 14 Power Loom weaver
Ellen 11 short timer at factory
James 4
Mary 6
Maria 1

All born Over Darwen.

So Richards father was Joseph Cooper, he would be your great great grandfather.
Gap between Ellen and Mary.

Lets look at the earliest census 1841.

1861-Richard

According to Ancestry there were 50,732 Coopers in England.
4,785 Coopers in Lancashire.
173 Coopers in the parish of Darwen.
2 Richard Coopers in Darwen.

RG9,3109,102,19
Blackburn, Darwen 7
4 Inn? Croft Fold

Richard Cooper 23 Blacksmith
Ellen 22
Joseph 2
John 1

Lets go back to 1851 to see if we can find Richards father.


All born O.Darwen

1871 census - Richard

According to Ancestry there were 58,123 Coopers in England
5,489 Coopers in Lancashire.
233 Coopers in Darwen.
4 Richard Coopers living in Darwen.

RG10,4189,166,42
Blackburn, Darwen 20
13 Olive Lane

Richard Cooper 33 Blacksmith
Ellen 32
Joseph 12 Coal miner
John 11 Cotton whouseboy
Alfred 9 half time cotton mill worker
Ann J. 7
James 5
William 8m

All born Darwen except Ellen who was born Eccleshill.
Also note gap between James and William. Anyway lets move on to 1861.

1881 census - Richard

According to Ancestry there were 68,866 Coopers in England.
6,804 Coopers in Lancashire.
28o Coopers in the parish of Darwen.

There were 4 Richard Coopers in Darwen.

RG11,4207,41,10
Blackburn, Darwen, 18
19 Marsh Terrace

Richard Cooper 42 Blacksmith
Ellen 42
Joseph 22 Paper finisher
John 21 Cotton weaver
Alfred 17 Cotton weaver
Ann J. 17 Cotton weaver
James 15 shopman grocers
William 10 Cotton weaver
Richard 8
Mary 5
Ellen 3

All born in Darwen.

(I think Alfred should have been 19)

Lets see if we can find your great grandfather Richard born about 1838 in the 1871 census.

1891 census - Richard

According to Ancestry there were 74,669 Coopers in England in 1891.
7,857 Coopers in Lancashire.
337 Coopers in the parish of Darwen.
And 6 Richard Coopers in Darwen, only one with a birth year of 1873.

RG12,3414,137,25
Blackburn, Darwen 18
19 Marsh Lan.
Richard Cooper 53 Millwright born Darwen
Ellen 52 born Darwen
William 20 Millwright born Darwen
Richard 18 papermaker born Darwen
Mary 15 cotton winder born Darwen
Ellen 13 born Darwen
Mary (sister) 46 living on own means born Darwen

So in 1891 your grandfather Richard was working in a paper mill, and your great grandfather Richard was a Millwright.

Lets see if we can find Richard in 1881.

1901 census - Richard

The starting point information : your grandparents Richard and Ada Cooper born about 1870 from Darwen.

According to Ancestry on the 1901 census there were 85,429 Coopers in England.
9,280 Coopers in Lancashire.
361 Coopers in the parish of Darwen.

There were 6 Richard Coopers born in Darwen, all living in Darwen but luckily they have different birth years - (1898, 1887, 1873, 1838, 1883, 1859).

There was only one Ada Cooper in Darwen.

So lets look at the details for Ada.

RG13,3921,123,24 Blackburn, Darwen 14
64 London Terrace

Richard Cooper 28 Corn Merchant Foreman born Darwen
Ada 28 born Darwen
James 4 born Darwen

James birth year would be about 1897 from the census. Looking at Lancs BMD there are no James Cooper registered in 1897 but 3 registered in 1896 and 2 registered in 1898.

Next looking for the marriage details.
On Lancs BMD there is no marriage.
On Free BMD
Sep 1895 Blackburn 8e 688
Richard Cooper + Ada Clapham

Looking at the coverage on Lancs BMD I am guessing their marriage may have been at Darwen St James as that year for that church has not been indexed. So it is a case of looking at the parish records for this church. (Preston record office - when I next visit).

I am going to leave Ada until I look at the Clapham tree.

This leaves us with Richard, from the cesus his birth year is about 1873 and he was born in Darwen. Looking on Lancs BMD at the decade 1870-1880 there is only one Richard registered in Darwen.

1873 Richard Cooper Darwen Blackburn D/58/57

Now lets go back 10 years to 1891 and see if we can find Richard.

Limitations and abbreviations.

Ideally one should send off for birth, marriage and death certificates to verify information, but as these cost upwards of £7 a piece it can get pretty expensive very quickly.

Civil registration began September quarter 1837, before that date there were no certificates. Even after 1837 many people were not registered. Some believed baptism was the same as registration and the process was not enforced until 1870s.

Information on the internet is known as "finding aids", one is suppose to verify the information by tracking down the source and consulting the original images. This can be tricky.

Baptisms can be used to back up birth certificates - if you can find the right church. However not all parish records have survived, you have to find where you can view them. And I must admit that I find it difficult to read them, mainly because you do not get to handle the original registers rather filmed copies of them.

Marriage certificates are exactly the same as you send off for after 1837, again if you can find the parish register. The exception being where the Registrar attended - I haven't worked that one out yet. When you go back in time parent details were not given.

Burial details in the parish registers can be used. I have found these the least useful.

What I try to do is match up the index of the civil registrations to church records. Of course, that involves a lot of guesswork. I will try to explain my reasoning as I go on.

****************************************************

1840 - 1901

This is my favorite period because we have another source of information - the census.

Question about Arthur Richardson

The information I have been given is Arthur Richardson born about 1870 Darwen married Mary Jane Kirkham born about 1870 Darwen.

I have been unable to track down a marriage.

There is a marriage on Lancashire BMD

1891 Arthur Richardson and Mary Jane Haworth
married at Darwen St Cuthbert.

There is a birth

1896 Maggie Richardson registered Darwen/Blackburn.

On genes reunited someone has similar names but Margaret is given as 1904.

Introduction

Hello Jimmy.

I have decided to put on here the search for your family history as the chase is as interesting as the catch.

Also I can ask you questions on here, I won't loose any important papers and maybe others will chip in and help too.

I will not put information on here about any living person.

The idea being to go backwards from 1901.

I frequently make mistakes and I don't mind in the least being corrected, or if I do not explain clearly feel free to ask me questions.

I am not an expert but I am enthusiastic, I enjoy reading names from the past these were real people and I find it quite amazing that hundreds of years later I can know something (even if it is only a tantalizing snippet) of those who lived so long ago. I do like thinking about the lives behind the names, and through this interesting hobby realise how poorly educated I am and how little I know of social, economic and political history. But I am learning, ad hoc, bits and pieces. If you can shed light or add to this knowledge I would be most appreciative.

This is a work in progress.

Finally, if I put anything on here that you object to please tell me and I shall delete it.