X00383 The Mystery of Betsy Taylor - Solved!

A Tangent in the Taylor-Whittle Tree: The Mystery of Betsy Taylor

Genealogy often leads you down unexpected paths. While deep in the weeds of tracing the Rothwell family, I recently found myself taking a detour — one that pulled me back into the tangled branches of the Taylor-Whittle line. I hadn’t planned on shifting my focus, but sometimes a name, a hunch, or a missing piece of the puzzle can spark a new direction in the research.

This time, the name was Betsy Taylor.

While reviewing several public family trees on Ancestry, I noticed that quite a few researchers had included a daughter named Betsy Taylor, reportedly born in 1858, as a member of the Taylor-Whittle family. What stood out immediately was how little information followed her name—no marriage, no death, no census entries. Just her birth year and a deafening silence after that. It piqued my curiosity. Who was this mysterious Betsy? And did she actually belong in this family?

As I combed through census records and other documents tied to the Taylor-Whittles, one thing became increasingly clear: Betsy never appeared with the family in any records beyond her supposed birth. If she truly was their daughter, her absence in later documents suggested she may have died young—likely before the 1861 census.

The only source cited across those Ancestry trees was a GRO (General Register Office) birth index entry—nothing more. So I headed straight for the GRO indexes myself to see if I could locate the original record. Sure enough, there it was: a Betsy Taylor, born in 1858 in Blackburn, with a mother’s maiden name listed as Whittle. On the surface, it looked like a perfect match. Right place, right time, and the right surname connection. Encouraged, I ordered the birth certificate, hoping it would either confirm her place in the Taylor-Whittle tree or finally put the speculation to rest.

When the certificate arrived, the mystery began to unravel. The parents were listed as Francis Taylor and Nancy Taylor, formerly Whittle. So yes — Betsy was the daughter of a Taylor and a Whittle, just not our Taylor and Whittle. She belonged to an entirely different family.

Interestingly, this discovery hinted at a broader pattern: there may have been more than one Taylor-Whittle union occurring in Blackburn around the same period. That alone is worth investigating further. However, with Taylor being one of the most common surnames in the region, it may be more of a coincidence than two brothers from one family marrying two sisters from another.

In the end, the mystery of Betsy Taylor served as a reminder of how easy it is for names to blur, families to overlap, and assumptions to take root in family trees. But it also underscored the importance of digging deeper, ordering the records, and following the threads with care. Even a small detour can shed light on the broader landscape—and sometimes lead to entirely new stories waiting to be told.

X00375 Henry Rothwell 1838-1840 - Solved!

I've gone back to look at X00375 and the birth and death information for Henry Rothwell 1838-1840 again. I still have not been able to find a birth record from the GRO for a Henry Rothwell that has a maiden name for the mother of Hacking.

But instead, I had another look at the father's professions in the baptism, death and burial records:

• Baptism (1838) Father's profession: Ostler
• Death (1840) Father's profession: Ostler
• Burial (1840) Father's profession: Not given

The fact that the baptism and death records both list the father as being an ostler is good evidence that the two are related. The question is, is the father (also named Henry Rothwell) the one in my family.

I had a look at some other records to see if the profession is the same. In later years, Henry Rothwell, the father's profession is given as a carter most often. Both ostlers and carters work with horses, so that is a good indication. But in the baptism records for both Mary Rothwell (1836) and James H.R. Rothwell (1835), Henry's profession is listed as being an ostler

And with that, I'm willing to conclude that Henry Rothwell (1838-1840) is connected to my Rothwell family.

X00370 & X00371 Nancy Rothwell Birth info - Solved!

Nancy Rothwell appears in the 1841 census living with the rest of the Rothwell family, aged 13 (implying a birth year of about 1828). Unfortunately, she doesn't appear in any later census records with the family that I could find.

This information created a few questions as described in previous posts:

• X00370 - Birth information for Nancy Rothwell
• X00371 - When did Henry Rothwell and Alice Hacking get married?

I have found a marriage record for Henry and Alice in 1833

A marriage in 1833 implies that Nancy was likely born before the marriage. And sure enough I found an interesting baptism record:

It's a baptism record for a Nancy Rothwell, baptised 21 May 1841 and the parents are Henry and Alice Rothwell. And Henry is listed as a carter which matches. The actual date of birth however is given as 2 April 1828, which would match. So, it's a definite possibility that Nancy was born 2 April 1828 out of wedlock, but was baptised later in life (at age 13) when the parents were married.

So this fits. I did however, find a baptism record dated 11 Oct 1829 for a Nanny Hacking, born to an Alice Hacking, with no father listed:

This could be an original baptism record, but the date and location don't match and there's not enough other information to tell for sure.

I did also look into the possibility that Alice Hacking as married previously and found a marriage record between an Alice Strong and a James Hacking on 28 November 1828.

But this seems unlikely. For one thing, Alice is listed as a spinster in the 1833 marriage record, and the name Hacking appears as a middle name for one of her children. Also, the marriage would have taken place after Nancy was born, according to her later baptism. So, it would seem that this is more of a coincidence than anything else. I have also found James and Alice Hacking in later census records.

After considering the evidence and timing, it would appear that the 1841 baptism record for Nancy Rothwell and the 1833 marriage record for Henry Rothwell and Alice Hacking are the correct records.

Profile: The Bass Family

The Bass Lineage: A Weaver’s Legacy in Blackburn

When Mary Alice Rawcliffe Rothwell married John Bass on 2 March 1882 at the Furthergate Congregational Church, she laid the foundation for a new chapter in the Rawcliffe family story — one that continued to spin its threads in Blackburn’s weaving sheds and bustling neighborhoods.

John Bass, born around 1861, shared Mary Alice’s industrious spirit, and together they raised a large family against the backdrop of cotton mills and rapidly changing times. Their first child, Aquila Bass, arrived the same year they married, in 1882. Though his life was heartbreakingly short — he passed away in 1890 — he was the forerunner of a line that would carry the Bass name into the 20th century.

The couple’s second child, Martha Bass, born around 1885, also died in infancy. Despite these early losses, the family continued to grow. Their daughter Alice (born circa 1887) and son Samuel (born around 1888) would have come of age as Blackburn navigated the final decades of the Victorian era. The family's resilience was evident as they moved from Alker Street to Cook Street, where Mary Alice lived out her final years.

The youngest children — Harry, William, and Elizabeth Bass — were born between the mid-1890s and 1899. Records indicate Harry passed away in childhood, but William and Elizabeth likely saw the dawn of modern Britain, shaped by the industrial landscape their parents had known so intimately.

Living at 18 Cook Street by 1911, Mary Alice managed a household that had endured hardship yet remained rooted in love, labor, and endurance. Her death in 1916 at that address marked the end of an era, but the Bass children and their descendants would carry her legacy forward.

Though their stories are still unfolding, the Bass family’s roots in Blackburn are planted deep in the same soil that nourished the Rawcliffes — a testament to endurance, work ethic, and the bonds of kinship.