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.

Profile: Rawcliffe Family

The Rawcliffe Family of Blackburn: A Legacy Woven Through Lancashire’s Cotton Mills

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.

X00377 Who are Richard Rothwell's Parents

In last week's post about Alice Rothwell's date of death, you may have noticed that the witness on the death certificate was an "R. Rothwell, grandson"

The question is, who is this R. Rothwell and where does he fall in the tree?

There is a Richard Rothwell who appears in both the 1861 and 1871 census records, living with Henry Rothwell and Alice Rothwell and listed as their grandson.

From the census records, what we know about Richard Rothwell is that he was born about 1855 in Blackburn, Lancashire and is the grandson of Henry Rothwell and Alice Hacking Rothwell. But the question is, who are his parents?

The most likely candidate would be James H.R. Rothwell and Margaret Airey, who were married in 1856. James Rothwell is the only Rothwell son that I am aware of that would have been alive in 1855. But there are some problems with that; the first being that the birth would have been before the marriage. But also, Richard does not appear in the later census records with either of his parents.

As for other possibilities, there could be an additional child of Henry and Alice Rothwell that I haven't yet discovered. Or Richard could be the child of an unmarried Rothwell daughter. To this point, I have not been able to find a birth record that fits the possible scenarios.

Next Steps:

• Look for birth/baptism record
• Investigate James H.R. Rothwell and Margaret Airey after 1856 [X00376]
• Look for Richard Rothwell in later census records
• Look for Richard Rothwell in later marriage or death records
• Trace daughters of Henry and Alice Rothwell to see if they may have been the parent

X00373 Alice Rothwell Date of Death

Similarly to my research on the death date for Henry Rothwell, I had a similar issue for finding the death date of his wife, Alice. She appeared in the 1881 census, but I could not find her in any later census records, so presumably she died between 1881 and 1891. I had found a death certificate that looked to fit:

The location of Blackburn and the address of Alker street are consistent with my Alice Rothwell. The year of birth is a little off (about 1810 vs about 1807) but still close. She is listed as the husband of a Henry Rothwell, although as established previously, there were more than one Henry and Alice Rothwell couples living in the area at the time.

I managed to find her in a burial record for Blackburn Cemetary:

Then I checked the other names in the same plot. This is the same burial location as the Henry Rothwell that I have recently determined is the correct one, which would also suggest that this Alice Rothwell is also the right one.

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Sources:
[D01347] 1881 census of England, Blackburn, Lancashire, folio 24, page 41; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.ca (accessed 15 Feb 2025); citing PRO RG 11/4189.

[D02680] Deceased Online, "Deceased Online," database, Deceased Online (Deceasedonline.com : accessed 25 May 2025), 1492.

[D02683] England and Wales, death certificate for Alice Rothwell, died 4 November 1889; citing 08e/292/476, Q4 quarter 1889, Blackburn registration district, Blackburn Southern sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.