John Hardaker, Miller of Wibsey: Facts and Fallacies
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John Hardaker, Miller of Wibsey: Facts and Fallacies J Brian Hardaker Draft of March 2016 Numbers following the hash mark # are id numbers in the Hardaker One Name Study Tree Most family history involves a good deal of guesswork, so it is easy to get things wrong. There is a tendency to ‘own’ the ancestors you have identified, so that it is then particularly galling to discover that you have made an error – usually pointed out by someone else. An uncovered error can mean that you lose a whole limb from your family tree. This family history story is different since, as far as I know, John Hardaker, corn miller of Wibsey, was at best only a distant relative of mine. I am therefore more comfortable about making my guesses public in the hope that some reader may be able to help me sort fact from fallacy. Curiously, the story of this branch of the Hardaker family appears to link the places of Wibsey, now a suburb of Bradford on the southern side, Idle, on the northern outskirts of Bradford, Kippax and Ledsham, adjacent villages to the east of Leeds, and Thornhill, a village to the south of Dewsbury. It is by no means clear why these Hardakers were so peripatetic, although there are some clues. John and Jane, corn millers of Wibsey That John Hardaker #1641 was a corn miller at Wibsey in the late 18th century is clear from the Bradford Parish Church registers. He baptised a number of children there between 1778 and 1800 and some of these records give his place of residence and occupation. It is also clear that he operated a windmill at Wibsey for there is a record in the West Yorkshire Archive Service of a ‘lease and release’ for John Hardaker (the younger) of Allerton, yeoman, of a windmill in Wibsey, dated 8-9 Nov. 1776. Then in 1790 there is a record of the tenants of the manor being summoned to appear at 10 am on 12th May that year at Royds Hall Manor Court, which was to be held ‘at the House of John Hardaker known by the name of the Windmill in Wibsey.’ The Wibsey Windmill no longer exists but was located behind where the Windmill Inn now stands at 162 High Street. The baptismal record of John’s son Charles #1656 in 1797 gives the name of the mother as Jane, which is confirmed by the admon of her husband who died in 1820. Admon for Jane Hardaker #1642, relict of John late of Wibsey, farmer, deceased, 17 July 1821 to get all her husband’s possessions. Jane made her mark, witnesses include John Hardaker. [email protected] Catalogue finding number MISC:468/112-113. Allerton is a village near Bradford, about 5 km as the crow flies to the north-west of Wibsey. Source: The Wibsey Word via the Internet: www.thewibseyword.co.uk/wibsey/history/history_group_june.html Transcribed from records at the Borthwick Institute, University of York. Who the witness John Hardaker was is unclear, but I suspect that he was the John born 1807, an illegitimate son of Jane’s daughter Sarah. 2 From the memorial inscription at Bradford Low Moor Holy Trinity, we learn that John Hardaker of Wibsey died on 8 Sep. 1820, aged 74 (born c. 1746), husband of Jane. However, the burial register gives his age at burial on 12 September of that year as only 70 (born c. 1750). I am inclined to put more faith in the record in the burial register as MIs are quite often wrong or are so degraded that they are wrongly transcribed. The first recorded baptism of a child of John and Jane I have found was in 1776, so I assume that they married about 1775. In fact, John Hardaker #1641 (transcribed Hardaire) married Jane Wrigglesworth #1642 at Ledsham parish church by licence on 27 Nov. 1775, he of Idle in Calverley parish and she of Ledsham. If we assume that John was about 25 when he married, we might hope to find his birth in Idle in about 1750. Unfortunately, there is no obvious candidate. The most likely choice seems to be John son of John Hardaker #1643 baptised at Kippax on 11 Oct. 1749. Kippax is only about 5 km from Ledsham. That John the corn miller was the son of another John is supported by the record of a burial of John of Wibsey at Calverley church on 28 Aug. 1782, not John the husband of Jane, since he died much later. I am guessing that John buried 1782 was the father of John baptised at Kippax in 1749, and that this John was a one-time resident of Idle who had gone to live with his son at Wibsey in his declining years, but who wished to be buried at his own parish church of Calverley. It may also be relevant that there were windmills at Kippax, Ledsham and Wibsey. I believe that Jane was baptised at Sherburn-in-Elmet on 6 Jul 1755, the daughter of William Wrigglesworth #1647. I think the family of John and Jane comprised: William #1644 bap. 3 Nov. 1776 at Bradford St Peter, son of John Hardaker of Allerton, farmer – see the lease mentioned above of the Wibsey windmill to John a farmer of Allerton a few days after this baptism. John #1645 bap. 19 Jul. 1778 at Bradford St Peter, son of John, miller of Wibsey. Benjamin #1646 bap. 27 Feb. 1780 at Bradford St Peter, son of John, joiner [sic] of Wibsey. He died in 1782 and was buried at Bradford Low Moor Holy Trinity on 3 Sep. aged 2, son of John of Wibsey. Mary #1648 bap. 28 Dec. 1781 at Bradford St Peter, daughter of John, corn miller of Wibsey. She died 30 Sep. 1783 aged one year, and was buried at Bradford Low Moor Holy Trinity on 2 Oct. The record in the register was transcribed as Mally, but she was recorded as Mary on the MI. Jonathan #1649 bap. 2 Oct. 1783 at Wibsey chapel, son of John, miller of Wibsey Windmill. He died in 1815, aged 33, of Royds Hall Mill, and was buried at Bradford Low Moor Holy Trinity on 9 Jul. Information supplied by the South Bradford Local History Alliance. Ancestry.com. BMDs have been derived from various sources including www.sblha.com, IGI, Ancestry.com, www.calverley.info and transcriptions of the BTs or registers. Images of many church registers from the West Yorkshire Archive Service are now accessible via Ancestry.com. In the absence of any birth or baptism records currently available, birth dates are estimated from census information. 3 Elizabeth #1650 bap. 24 Jul. 1785 at Bradford P.C, daughter of John, miller of Wibsey. She died in 1789 ‘aged under 7’, and was buried at Bradford Low Moor Holy Trinity on 8 Jan., recorded as Betty, daughter of John, miller of Wibsey. Sarah #1651 bap. 19 Aug. 1787 at Bradford St Peter, daughter of John, corn miller of Wibsey. I suspect that she was the Sarah, spinster of Great Horton, who was the mother of John Hardaker #1652 baptised at Bradford St Peter on 18 Sep. 1807 when this Sarah would have been about 20 years old. The re-use of her father’s forename encourages me in this belief. Jonas #1653 bap. 12 Jul. 1789 at Bradford St Peter, son of John, corn miller of Wibsey. Peggy #1655 bap. 28 Apr. 1793 at Bradford St Peter, daughter of John, miller of Wibsey. Charles #1656 bap. 5 Feb. 1797 at Bradford St Peter, son of John and Jane of Wibsey. He died in 1818 at Royds Hall Mill, aged 21 and was buried on 5 Nov. at Bradford Low Moor Holy Trinity. James #1675 bap 12 Oct 1829 at Bradford St Peter, son of John and Jane of Shelf, father a farmer. In the margin of the register it is written that James was born in 1800. It is possible that the place or residence and occupation referred to James himself rather than to his father. Note that John Hardaker bap. 25 Oct. 1801 at Wibsey chapel, son of John, appears to me not to be a son of this family because the place of birth is Carr Lane and the occupation of the father is ‘collier’ [coal miner]. He might have been a grandson, son of John above, born c. 1778. However, I can find no marriage around this time or other evidence to support that notion. Similarly, I have assumed that Mary Hardaker bap. 16 Jan 1791 at Bradford St Peter, daughter of John of Wibsey, a shoemaker, was also not a child of the above family. Jane, the mother of the above 11 children, outlived her husband by around 14 years. It is clear that she continued the milling business for she was listed as a corn miller of Wibsey in Baines Directory and Gazetteer for 1822. However, by 1815 it seems that the milling business had been moved from the hilltop windmill at Wibsey to Royds Hall Mill, a couple of kilometres south west. This was a water mill on Royds Hall Beck. Presumably, the beck offered a more assured source of power than the wind. Jane died at Wibsey on 28 Nov. 1834 at the good age of 82. She was buried at Bradford Low Moor Holy Trinity on 3 Dec. in the same grave as her husband. John #1643 father of John the corn miller Now the story gets more speculative. After much head-scratching, I have formed the view that John Hardaker senior, father of the miller of Wibsey, married Sarah Woofended #1658 (perhaps Wolfenden in modern spelling) at Thornhill-by-Dewsbury on 10 Dec.