X00376 James H.R. Rothwell after 1856

I have mentioned James Hastings Radcliffe Rothwell in previous posts (X00376). He is the son of Henry Rothwell and Alice Hacking and was born 6 February 1835 in Haslingden, Lancashire. He is found living with the family in the 1841 and 1851 census records. He marries Margaret Airey 26 July 1856 in Blackburn:

Previously, I had only found them up to that point, so I did some further research. And here is where it gets interesting. In the 1861 census, both James and Margaret are found back living with their respective families:

James Rothwell in 1861:

Margaret Rothwell in 1861:

In the 1871 census records, they are again living separately. I have also found Margaret living alone in the 1881 census records, but have yet to find James. I have found a death record for Margaret in 1886, but am still looking for a death record for James.

So it looks like I have put together the story for Margaret Airey after 1856; I'm just waiting for a potential death record for James to arrive (stay tuned for more). But the reason why they lived separately for so many years will likely remain a mystery.

X00376 James H.R. Rothwell after 1856 Continued

Continuing the search to findmore information about James Hacking Ratcliffe Rothwell after 1856 (X00376), I did receive the death certificate that I had requested in a previous post.

Recapping: James H.R. Rothwell was born 6 February 1856 in Haslingden, Lancashire. He married Margaret Airey in Blackburn on 26 July 1856. I have found him in the 1871 census, but nothing beyond that date.

As mentioned earlier, I did request a death certificate from the GRO for a James Rothwell who died in 1894, aged 60 in Blackburn:

The name isn't exactly correct; nor is the year of birth or profession, which is what had me a little doubtful. Although one possible clue is that the informant is a daughter named Ellen Sharples, and the James Rothwell in my tree did have a daughter named Ellen. So I had a look for a marriage record between an Ellen Rothwell and someone with the last name Sharples.

I came across this marriage record between an Ellen Rothwell and a Samuel Sharples in 1883. Ellen ROthwell is a daughter of a James Rothwell, so it looks to be the same family as in the death record:

I had a look for a birth record for the Ellen Rothwell in the record and managed to find this baptism record:

The address of York Street in the baptism record matches the address in the marriage record, so the Ellen Rothwell in this baptism record is the same as the one in the marriage record and the same as the informant in the death certificate. But the parents are James Rothwell and a Mary, so it doesn't look like it is the correct James Rothwell. And so the search continues.

X00377 Richard Rothwell and the discover of Ellen Rothwell

I had posted previously about Richard Rothwell, born about 1855 and the challenge of finding out who his parents were (X00377). One of the noted next actions was to look for birth/baptism records for a Richard Rothwell, born about 1855 in Blackburn, Lancshire.

I could not find any Richard Rothwell baptisms in Blackburn in the years around 1855 and there are no Richard Rothwells in the GRO indexes registered in Blackburn from the years 1853 to 1857. There are some Richard Rothwells born in Haslingden in the time period, which could be possibilities, although none of them are born to a mother with a maiden name of Airey.

So, it would appear that either the name, birthdate and/or birth location are incorrect for Richard Rothwell, or the birth was not registered or not indexed properly. It also seems unlikely that Margaret Airey Rothwell was the mother, given that the date is likely before her marriage with James Rothwell; perhaps Richard was the son of James H.R. Rothwell with another woman (his marriage certificate liss his as a bachelor, so no indication of a previous marriage). Or perhaps the son of one of the other children of Henry and Alice Rothwell.

Current Possibilities:

• Richard Rothwell is the son of James H.R. Rothwell and a woman other than Margaret Airey
• Richard could be the child of an unmarried Rothwell daughter
• There could be an additional child of Henry and Alice Rothwell that I haven't yet discovered

Until I have more definite proof, I've marked Richard as unconnected in my tree until I have definite proof of who the parents might be.

Next steps:

• Continue to look for birth/baptism records for Richard Rothwell - Although there were no Blackburn birth records found, there were a few Richard Rothwells born in Haslingden
• Trace James H.R. Rothwell in later years (X00376)
• Look for Richard Rothwell in later census records, marriage or death records (note that he was alive in 1889)
• Trace other children of Henry and Alice Rothwell to see if that yields anything

On a side note, as I was trying to find a birth registration for Richard Rothwell, I did a search to find other births with the surname of Rothwell and a mother's maiden name of Airey. I did manage to find a birth registration for an Ellen Rothwell, daughter of James Rothwell and Margaret Airey, born 27 December 1857 in Blackburn.

Sadly, Ellen died six months later of congenital phthsis. This does, however give a little bit more information about James Rothwell and Margaret Airey (X00376).

On yet another side note, I did come across another birth record for a William Airey Rothwell, born 29 November 1856 in Haslingden, but the parents were John Rothwell and Elizabeth Airey. Not from the same family, but perhaps a distant connection.

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possibility * not registered * Not registered in blackburn * Indeexed incorrectly

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