The family are missing from the 1851 census which is not surprising as these records for the area are damaged.
However the 1861 census gives us another clue. (This one is difficult to read)
52 Whit Lane
Richard Cooper 47 collier coal miner born LOWER DARWEN
Ann 39 born Heywood?Lee?* correction pointed out by Ted
Thomas 20 cotton cloth bleacher ? born Charlestown
Richard 18 collier coal ? born Charlestown
John 16 collier coal ? born Charlestown
George 11 cotton cloth bleacher ? born Charlestown
Thomas 9 cotton cloth bleacher ? born Charlestown
Mary 7 born Charlestown
Elizabeth 4 born Charlestown
Mary Bromley lodger widow 60 proprietress of houses ? Harwood ? Ley?*
(*is this Leigh?)
In 1871 Ann is a widow so Richard probably died between 1861 and 1871 possibly one of the deaths registered in Salford in either SepQ 1863 or DecQ 1864.
I have not been able to track down a christening for Richard born sometime between 1810 and 1820, but from previous research about the Darwen area that too is not surprising - it was an area of dissenters at a time of unrest with people moving about.
As Ted has pointed out the age of Richard does not match to the 1841 census where he is "20", but the common rule in that census is that adults ages were rounded down to the nearest 5 years so that would suggest he was aged between 20 and 24 so if he had said 24 that would make a 3 year difference by 1861. The fact that they gave an exact age for Ann in 1841 also shows variation in how the census was carried out. My feeling about this census is that it was the first time that they had undertaken such a detailed one, how accurate it is depended partly on who the enumerator was - in rural communities he probably knew all the families he was writing about whereas in urban communities they were probably unknown to him. I have read that some of the enumerators were unhappy when they were doing the job because there was more work than they thought and the pay was low so how conscientious an enumerator was must also have played a part. Again too as I understand it the enumerator collected the information from the households then that was copied up - so who gave the information from the household? in this case was it Thomas Bromiley, perhaps he gave the wrong age for Richard, perhaps he guessed. He would have more likely known the exact age of his "daughter". In the 1861 census can we assume that it was Richard himself who was giving the information and that this is more likely to be his age? So all in all there are many errors in census information so a mismatch of some information can be accepted.
As Ted has pointed out the age of Richard does not match to the 1841 census where he is "20", but the common rule in that census is that adults ages were rounded down to the nearest 5 years so that would suggest he was aged between 20 and 24 so if he had said 24 that would make a 3 year difference by 1861. The fact that they gave an exact age for Ann in 1841 also shows variation in how the census was carried out. My feeling about this census is that it was the first time that they had undertaken such a detailed one, how accurate it is depended partly on who the enumerator was - in rural communities he probably knew all the families he was writing about whereas in urban communities they were probably unknown to him. I have read that some of the enumerators were unhappy when they were doing the job because there was more work than they thought and the pay was low so how conscientious an enumerator was must also have played a part. Again too as I understand it the enumerator collected the information from the households then that was copied up - so who gave the information from the household? in this case was it Thomas Bromiley, perhaps he gave the wrong age for Richard, perhaps he guessed. He would have more likely known the exact age of his "daughter". In the 1861 census can we assume that it was Richard himself who was giving the information and that this is more likely to be his age? So all in all there are many errors in census information so a mismatch of some information can be accepted.
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However, it could be that Richard has a sister.
At that time people from Darwen had to travel to Blackburn to marry in the parish church.
St Mary Blackburn - marriage 12 Apr 1841
William Yates X labourer (father George weaver)
MARIA COOPER X (father RICHARD farmer)
witnesses no help
This Maria was also christened at St Mary Blackburn
19 Feb 1815 Maria Cooper daughter of Richard Cooper and Mary
abode Over Darwen, Farmer
I have not found a marriage between Richard Cooper and Mary.
In 1841 the newlyweds were living in Darwen with
James Cooper 43 labourer
Alice 45
Henry 9 Collier
William 6
William Yates 26 Publican
MARIA YATES 24
What connection is James Cooper?
There is another tie in to this family which suggests to me that Richard Cooper from Whit lane kept in contact with family in the Darwen area -
Darwen St John marriage 28 Sep 1875
John Cooper 32 collier, bachelor of Pendleton, father Richard collier
Margaret Ann Yates X 32 weaver spinster of Sandhill father William Quarryman
witnesses Amos Bentley and Hester Bentley
so Richard's son married Maria's daughter
Ted has also spotted that this age does not match up with John's age elsewhere, will look at this again later.
Ted has also spotted that this age does not match up with John's age elsewhere, will look at this again later.
1871 Bolton Road, Over Darwen
William Yates 57 widow Quarryman
Alice 26 Cotton weaver
Esther 24 Cotton weaver
George W 23 cotton weaver
Margaret A 29 cotton weaver
Betsy 16 domestic servant
Thomas 14 cotton weaver
George R. 7 grandson
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Now the following is PURE SPECULATION - it is most likely not true but I shall put it on here anyway as one possibility - from Jimmys research I had a possible family
Richard Cooper 1765-1828
Betty Duxbury 1763-1811
possible children (no marriage has been found )
Thurston Cooper 1783
William Cooper 1785
Betty Cooper 1787
Joseph Cooper 1789
Benjamin Cooper 1789
Betty Cooper 1790
Richard Cooper 1793 - 1822
James Cooper 1798
George Cooper 1804
Joseph Cooper 1809
Could Richard and Maria be the children of Richard Cooper 1793-1822?
Could the James that Maria lived be this Richards brother and so be her uncle?
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