The Rawcliffe family story unfolds in the heart of industrial Lancashire, where weaving looms, cobbled streets, and a tightly knit community defined the rhythms of life. At its center stands Martha Alice Rothwell, born on 25 April 1840 in Blackburn, to Henry Rothwell and Alice Hacking. Although her birth year fluctuates across records—from 1837 to 1841—what remains constant is her enduring presence in Blackburn’s working-class fabric, quite literally: she was a cotton weaver her entire adult life.
In 1864, Martha married Samuel Rawcliffe at St. Michael’s Church in Blackburn. Samuel, likely born around 1839, also in Blackburn, worked variously as a labourer, carter, and general haulier. The pair shared a life that saw them move through multiple addresses—Alker Street, Swarbrick Street, Cob Street—places which map the flow of Lancashire’s industrial heartbeat. They remained in Blackburn throughout their lives and were residing on Birley Street when Martha passed away on 22 July 1899, following a cerebral apoplexy. Samuel, still living and working at the same address as a carter at the time, faded from official records not long afterward.
Together, Martha and Samuel had one biological daughter, Mary Alice Rawcliffe Rothwell, born 1 May 1861 at Union Buildings, Blackburn. Her middle name, Rothwell, perhaps signifies the importance of her maternal lineage. Like her mother, Mary Alice entered the weaving trade, working half-time by the age of ten. Over the years, she lived mostly on Alker Street and Cook Street before her death on 15 February 1916 due to a cerebral hemorrhage. She married John Bass in 1882 at the Furthergate Congregational Church. Their seven children included Aquila, Martha, Alice, Samuel, Harry, William, and Elizabeth—a testament to a thriving family legacy rooted firmly in Blackburn.
The Rawcliffe family profile—built from scattered census entries, occupational listings, church records, and burial sites—forms a poignant and richly textured tapestry of working-class resilience. Their story, while deeply local to Blackburn, echoes the larger narrative of 19th-century English industrial life: anchored by hard labour, uplifted by family, and quietly heroic in its constancy.
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