Ellen Barton is a confirmed 3 x Great Grandparent. From the 1841 Census we know that she and her two illegitimate children Thomas and Ann lived with her father John Barton at Grimshaw where her father was the Delf Master and her mother is missing from the census presumed dead.
From this starting position we need to find John’s wife and John’s other children. This is made difficult because the marriage and birth of the children were before civil certification started in 1837.
Ellen’s date of birth can be guessed from the various census returns she appears in and from her marriage and death certificates though, as is common for people born in the first half of the 19th century, they often did not know how old they were and ages were often suspiciously round numbers (eg. 15, 20, 25, 30 etc) plus the death certificate was filled in by someone who may not have known the deceased person’s age
- 1841 census age is 25 giving date of birth 1816
- 1844 marriage certificate age is 32 giving date of birth 1812
- 1851 census age is 37 giving date of birth 1814
- 1861 census age is 49 giving date of birth 1812
- 1871 census age is 59 giving date of birth 1812
- 1881 census age is 69 giving date of birth 1812
- 1891 census age is 78 giving date of birth 1813
- 1894 death certificate age is 73 given date of birth 1821
Searching for extant Parish Baptisms of an Ellen Barton with father John in Lancashire between 1810 and 1830 gives
- 1811-09-01 Liverpool, abode Liverpool, no occupation, mother Mary Sarratt
- 1812-06-14 St Thomas The Martyr Upholland, abode Skelmersdale, occupation labourer, mother not given
- 1822-08-25 St Cuthbert North Meols, abode Birkdale, occupation farmer, mother Margery
- 1826-01-22 St Aidan Billinge, abode Winstanley, occupation nailor, mother Mary
- 1827-12-30 Christchurch Salford, no occupation, mother Mary (this was a methodist church)
The likely baptism is 1812 given its location close to Grimshaw and multiple matches to census returns.
The subsequent baptism of Ellen’s sister Clarissa at St Thomas The Martyr Upholland on 1815-04-16 gives abode Skelmersdale, occupation Delfman and a mother’s name of Ann.
An Ann Barton has death certificate dated 1841-04-22 (just before the 1841 census of 1841-06-06) with location Skelmersdale and husband John Barton Delf Master, so Ann is a good bet for our John’s wife’s name.
John’s death certificate in 1854 gives an age of 82 giving a birth year around 1772, and Ann’s death certificate in 1841 gives an age of 67 giving a birth year around 1774, so searching for extant parish marriage records for John Barton and Ann in Lancashire between 1790 and 1800 gives
- 1791-08-29 “Collegiate” Manchester, parish Salford, occupation weaver, bride Ann Dickenson (the “collegiate” church of Manchester became Manchester Cathedral in 1847)
- 1791-10-11 St Anne Liverpool, parish Liverpool, occupation plasterer, bride Ann Kenyon (Widow)
- 1799-06-17 “Collegiate” Manchester, no parish, no occupation, bride Ann Price
1791 matches the birth dates of Ellen’s siblings (see below) and John was originally a weaver, according to baptisms of Ellen’s siblings, so Ann Dickenson is a good bet for John’s wife.
Given John and Ann’s projected birth years, they would have been around 19 and 17 respectively at the time of the marriage, and the first child was born 5 months later so Ann would have been pregnant at the time of the marriage.
However why would they get married in Manchester if they lived in Skelmersdale and why did they say they lived in the Parish Of Salford? The ancient parish of Manchester did not extend to Skelmersdale. They could have been married at the parish church of St Peter and St Paul Ormskirk. Given that both parties were under the “full” age of 21 (see Institute Of Heraldic And Genealogic Studies) and Ann was pregnant maybe they were not allowed to get married in Ormskirk? Maybe they did not have parental consent? But then why were they able to get married in Manchester? Did they just lie about living in Salford? This remains an outstanding mystery and identification of Ann Dickenson as John’s wife is not 100% certain (the marriage record could have been lost or not transcribed). All their children were baptised at St Thomas The Martyr Upholland not at St Peter and St Paul Ormskirk.
In terms of what other children did John Barton have we are lucky to have the evidence of John’s will written shortly before his death in 1854. This lists all the bequests, as follows (in broadly oldest first order)
- one eleventh part or share thereof to the children of my son Thomas in equal shares [not to Thomas directly so he is likely to be dead by 1854]
- one other eleventh part or share thereof to the children of my daughter Margaret in equal shares [not to Margaret directly so he is likely to be dead by 1854, this is addition to explicitly stated illegitimate sons of Margaret John and Edward, see below, so maybe this was intended for the children of Margaret by her husband Aspinall]
- one another eleventh part or share thereof to my daughter Betty Amhurst [aka Elizabeth, still alive and married to an Amhurst in 1854]
- one other eleventh part or share thereof to my daughter Catharine Bennett [still alive and married to a Bennett in 1854]
- one other eleventh part or share thereof to my daughter Jane Gerrard [still alive and married to a Gerrard in 1854, Jane’s daughter Ann is also explicitly mentioned, see below]
- one other eleventh part or share thereof to my daughter Ann Ormisher [still alive and married to an Ormisher in 1854]
- one other part or share thereof to my daughter Ellen Mawdesley [this is Ellen the 3 x Great Grandmother, still alive and married to a Mawdsley in 1854]
- one other part or share thereof to my daughter Clarissa Ball [still alive and married to a Ball in 1854]
- one other eleventh part or share thereof to my son John Barton [still alive in 1854]
- one other eleventh part or share thereof to my grandson Edward Barton son of my daughter Margaret Barton [in addition to the eleventh for “children of my daughter Margaret” see above]
- and the remaining eleventh part or share thereof to John Barton son of my daughter Margaret [in addition to the eleventh for “children of my daughter Margaret” see above] and Ann Gerard daughter of my daughter Jane in equal shares [in addition to the share given to Jane, see above].
Given this invaluable information we can find all the children baptised around Skelmersdale with father John Barton and optional mother Ann.
| Date | Child | Church | Abode | Occupation | Comments |
| 1780-01-09 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | Our John is 6 |
| 1782-09-07 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | Our John is 9 |
| 1785-07-03 | James | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Billinge | Weaver | Our John is 12 |
| 1789-03-08 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Billinge | Weaver | Our John is 15 |
| 1791-09-04 | Alice | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Billinge | Weaver | |
| 1792-01-23 | Thomas | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Weaver | |
| 1793-01-20 | William Whittle | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1793-06-16 | Peggy (Margaret) | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Holland | Weaver | |
| 1794-03-26 | John Dean | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1794-03-26 | Richard | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1794-11-09 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Billinge | Weaver | |
| 1795-08-30 | Thomas | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1795-11-08 | Betty (Elizabeth) | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Holland | Weaver | |
| 1796-12-04 | Richard Whittle | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1796-12-04 | Hannah | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1798-03-04 | Richard | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1798-04-08 | Claris | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Holland | Weaver | Died at 15 |
| 1799-08-18 | John Dean | St Paul Liverpool | Stanley Street Liverpool | Plasterer | |
| 1800-03-02 | Ann | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Weaver | Died at 5 months |
| 1801-07-12 | Catherine | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Labourer | |
| 1802-02-28 | Robert | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | |
| 1804-01-01 | Robert | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | Previous Robert died |
| 1805-01-27 | Jane | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Labourer | Our John moves to Skelmersdale |
| 1805-10-20 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Weaver | |
| 1806-07-20 | Ann | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | |
| 1807-05-03 | Elizabeth | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Billinge | Weaver | |
| 1807-05-17 | Ann | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Labourer | |
| 1808-01-06 | Thomas | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Weaver | Cannot be our John as existing Thomas lived until 1850 |
| 1808-05-22 | William | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | |
| 1809-10-08 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Weaver | |
| 1809-12-10 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | |
| 1810-06-03 | Elizabeth | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | |
| 1811-02-17 | Mary | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Weaver | |
| 1812-02-16 | Mary | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | |
| 1812-06-14 | Ellen | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Labourer | |
| 1812-08-02 | Mary | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Billinge | Labourer | |
| 1815-01-15 | William | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Labourer | Mother Ellen |
| 1815-04-16 | Claris (Clarissa) | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Delfman | Mother Ann |
| 1816-04-07 | James | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Husbandman | Mother Ellen |
| 1816-09-22 | Mary | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Weaver | Mother Jane |
| 1817-02-23 | Harriot | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Billinge | Gardener | Mother Betty |
| 1818-08-09 | Mary | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Husbandman | Mother Ellen |
| 1819-05-02 | Margaret | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | Mother Margery |
| 1821-04-15 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Upholland | Husbandman | Mother Ellen |
| 1822-03-10 | John | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Orrell | Collier | Mother Ann |
| 1823-06-01 | Edward | St Thomas The Martyr Upholland | Skelmersdale | Weaver | Mother Margaret |
Obviously there were several John Bartons living in Skelmersdale/Upholland/Billinge/Orrell
- Orrell Collier started having children before our John was of age so all those can be ruled out
- Billinge Weaver started having children before our John was of age so all those can be ruled out
- First Upholland Weaver is our John, later moving to Skelmersdale as a Labourer then a Weaver again and evenutally a delfman
- Liverpool Plasterer is not a serious candidate
- Orrell Weaver starts having children long after our John was married, and too soon after our John has a child
- Second Upholland Weaver has a son Thomas but our John already had a living son Thomas at this date so this must be another John
