Introduction

Other articles within the website which relate to particular aspects of this story are noted within square brackets in the text. Links to these articles can be found in the table towards the bottom of column 2

Tansley, with its spelling variants Tansly, Tansye, Tanslee and Tansey, is an English surname thought to have originated from the village of Tansley in Derbyshire. Tansley is derived from the pre seventh century words 'tan' meaning a branch off a main valley or dale and 'leah' which is a fenced enclosure. The name of the village was first recorded in the 1086 Doomsday Book as Taneslege and although the village was remote it was badly affected by Bubonic Plague in the 1660s when it is thought that many people fled, taking the name of Tansley with them. The first recorded spelling of the family name was in 1591 in Greater London to where, it is thought, that many of the earlier inhabitants of the village moved.

The surname in one form or another appears in the parish records from the seventeenth century in several of the communities of interest in the Welland Valley in Northamptonshire. Baptisms of the offspring of at least three families took place in Gretton in the 1670s. The earliest recorded marriage was between spinster Frances Tansley of Gretton and William Ventner of Cliffe in November 1689. Tansley does not appear in the parish records of Cottingham until late in the seventeenth century. The earliest baptism was that of a Catherine in 1688, but no mother's name has been noted. The earliest burial is of Catherine Tansley on January 19th 1701. The earliest marriage in Cottingham was of Edward to Catharine Hector on August 18th 1701.

Edward the tailor and his two wives

The provision of parish and other records from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is notoriously patchy and where they are available they are often incomplete or insubstantial. Where the validity of a relationship is not known for certain here, it will be extrapolated from what facts are known on the balance of probabilities. The progenitor of this saga, Edward Tansley, was born about 1669 in the hamlet of Benefield which lies about 10 miles to the east of Cottingham. His parents are not known for certain but anecdotally they were George and Emma Tansley. Many of the early family records are transcribed as Tansly but this account will continue with the one most common spelling. It appears Edward had an older brother, David, who married Frances Ladson in the village on October 27th 1686. They had at least one son, David, in 1691 and remained in Benefield. Edward married Katherine Weldon in Benefield on February 28th 1687 but almost immediately the couple moved west to Cottingham where Edward plied his trade as a tailor. Their three children (Catherine on December 12th 1868; William on April 29th 1691 and Edward on November 25th 1694) were consequently baptised in their new surroundings. It was Edward's first wife who died in early 1701 and Edward married again, this time in Cottingham, to Catharine Hector. The couple had one son they named George who was baptised on September 29th 1706, probably as an acknowledgement of Edward's father, but who sadly died and was buried on October 18th the same year. Edward died and was buried on September 19th 1713.

Daughter Catherine was to marry on July 4th 1714 within a year of her father's death, her new husband being William Bellamy. Over the course of the next ten years they were to suffer a tragic series of infant mortalities. Catherine gave birth to at least seven babies but four are known to have died in infancy and a further two are lost to the records. Three sons were named William, born in 1714, 1715 and 1718 respectively. Another son, Richard, was born in 1725 but died in 1728. A daughter Elizabeth was born in 1716 but died before 1719. A second daughter was named Elizabeth and was baptised on April 8th 1720. Her history will be followed up later in the article.

Edward and Katherine's older son William married Ann Hubbard in Cottingham in 1713 and will be followed in the next section. Nothing is known of younger son Edward after his baptism.

The family of William Tansley and Ann Hubbard

Elder son William was baptised at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Cottingham on April 29th 1691. He married local girl Ann Hubbard on November 29th 1713 just a year after his father had died. Over the next fifteen years they had eight known children: three sons and five daughters. Of the girls, second born Sarah was baptised on March 25th 1717 but does not appear again in the records. Next born daughter was born on February 4th 1719 and baptised Mary seventeen days later. She died at the age of seventeen years and was buried on October 27th 1713. A son, William, was born in 1725 and married his first cousin Elizabeth. Their story will be followed later in this section. A fifth girl, Anne was baptised on July 16th 1727 but nothing further is known of her. Their final child, a son Edward was born on March 24th 1730 but died just two years later and was buried on March 20th 1732. William and Ann lived on in Cottingham and died within months of each other: William on June 5th and Ann on December 28th 1757.

Lucy (1715 - 1773)

First born daughter Lucy was baptised on September 26th 1715. She was to marry James Smeaton, also from Cottingham, on October 20th 1740. They were to have four children: William, 1742; James, 1744; Anne, 1754 and John, 1759. Husband James died and was buried on January 25th 1763. He was in his early forties. Lucy married again on August 1st 1769 to widower James West. Nothing is known of his previous wife or family life. The union lasted barely four years as Lucy died and was buried on April 25th 1773.

Thomas (1720 - 1756)

Oldest of William and Ann's three sons, Thomas was born about 1720. He married Sarah Scott on October 10th 1744. They had three children: Catherine, 1746; Thomas, 1750 and Mary 1754. It is likely that Thomas died aged 36 years and was buried on September 16th 1756. Daughter Catherine married Thomas Holley from Wilbarston on January 25th 1769. Little is known of Sarah Scott. There is a possible burial record for her under the name Sarah Tanzley on December 14th 1810 which would have put her well into her eighties.

Catherine (1715 - 1751)

Fourth daughter Catherine was baptised on July 22nd 1723. She was 24 years old when she married Robert Spriggs, also from Cottingham, by licence on September 20th 1747 at St Peter and St Paul's Church in Harrington, a village near Desford Northamptonshire. They returned to Cottingham where their daughter Elizabeth was baptised at the Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene on September 3rd 1749. Catherine probably died in December 1751, possibly after giving birth. There is a Cottingham burial record dated December 17th 1751 for a Catharine Spriggs; the same given name that she used when she married Robert. A son, Robert, was baptised on June 12th 1752. There were no further Spriggs children after that date.

The family of William Tansley and Elizabeth Bellamy

William, the middle son of William Tansley and Ann Hubbard, was baptised on May 30th 1725 in Cottingham. He was to marry Elizabeth Bellamy, his first cousin and daughter of William Bellamy and Catherine Tansley on June 5th 1746. Elizabeth was about five years older than William, having been baptised on April 8th 1720. The couple had two sons and two daughters. Son William was baptised on April 24th 1749; his younger brother John, on January 6th 1756. Both brothers were to marry twice. Little is known for certain of Elizabeth, baptised on January 27th 1752, or Mary, baptised on March 17th 1760. William died and was buried in Cottingham on January 26th 1781; Elizabeth followed him five years later on February 24th 1786.

The two marriages of William Tansley

Marriage 1: Comfort Cox

William's first marriage was to 19 year old Comfort Cox in Desborough on December 26th 1770. She was the daughter of John Cox and Elizabeth Loak and had been baptised there on October 20th 1751. The couple settled in Cottingham where Comfort had three boys in quick succession. Their first son was named John on January 26th 1772. His story will be told in the next section. The second son appeared and was baptised William on January 14th 1774. Tragedy struck the family barely two years later for the little two year old died and was buried on February 16th 1776. Comfort was already in the middle trimester of her third pregnancy and gave birth to another son in July 1776. He too was called William. Sadly though the little tot too died and was buried at St Mary Magdalene Church on October 23rd the same year. Comfort herself did not survive for long and she was buried in the churchyard on February 7th 1777. She was 26 years of age.

Marriage 2: Ann Hollidge

William did not remain single for long. He married Ann Hollidge at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Kettering on November 14th 1777. Little is known of her background save that she was the daughter of Collier Holldge and Mary Pell, both from Kettering, and had been baptised in the town on April 11th 1755. The couple had six known children: two sons (Thomas, 1784 and Samuel, 1790) and four daughters (Elizabeth, 1787; Mary, 1788; Ann, 1792 and Sarah, 1793). Sarah died in 1810 aged 17 years. Ann died and was buried in Cottingham on January 11th 1820; William outlived her by eighteen months being buried on July 25th 1821.

Of the children who survived to adulthood, Elizabeth had an illegitimate daughter before she married Edward Panter in 1806 and then had another 19 children. Their story is recalled later. Samuel married Frances Smith and settled in Kettering becoming first a thatcher and then a farmer. They had three sons (George, William and John) and a daughter (Ann). Their final abode was in Roses Yard off Silver Street in the town. Samuel died at the beginning of 1856; Frances in 1863.

The two marriages of John Tansley

Marriage 1: Ann Leigh

Like his brother William, John, William Tansley and Elizabeth Bellamy's younger son was married twice. His first bride was named Ann Leigh. The circumstances of their union are unknown save that they took place in Presbury, Cheshire on May 29th 1775. The couple immediately returned to Cottingham. Ann became pregnant and was delivered of a daughter they named Mary in a baptism ceremony on May 29th 1778. The baby survived only six weeks and was buried on July 3rd the same year. Ann also died within a week and was laid to rest on July 11th 1778. The cause of their demise is unknown. It may have been through a traumatic labour and delivery or from an intercurrent infection as her sister in law had succumbed to.

Marriage 2: Mary Nutt

After Ann's death John remained alone for over a year. He took 24 year old Mary Nutt from Rockingham as his second bride on October 28th 1779. They were to have five known children: daughters Elizabeth, 1781; Sarah, 1790 and Mary 1800 and sons John, 1784 and Joseph 1788. Nothing for certain is known of the three girls. The older son John married three times spawning 18 children between them. Younger son Joseph married twice (his first wife, Mary Crane, was the aunt of Henry Crane who achieved notoriety for a murder in the village 1875 [Article A.]) and had seven children. Three of these babies were named Mary (1820, 1822 and 1823) and it is known that the first two died in infancy. Mary, Joseph's wife died within six weeks of the last birth.

The family of John Tansley and Elizabeth Bull

John, the surviving son of William Tansley and Comfort Cox was baptised in Cottingham on January 26th 1772. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Joseph Bull and Dinah Charity, on October 21st 1792. She had been baptised on October 7th 1770. She was apparently the oldest of five girls although second born Alice died in infancy and the third born was also named Alice. The couple were to have eight children: six sons and two daughters. First born daughter Elizabeth was baptised on August 8th 1793. First born son Joseph was baptised on September 13th 1795. Nothing is known of them after that date. Their final son, Benjamin, was baptised on February 26th 1815. He was 22 years old when he was died and buried on August 20th 1837.

John spent his working life as an agricultural labourer. In the early nineteenth century the family were housed in a cottage on Wood Lane. Elizabeth died in the village on December 17th 1844. After her death and by the time of the census of 1851, John had moved in with the family of his married son David. He had given up work and was in receipt of parish relief. He died in June 1857 and was buried on the 30th of that month.

James (1797 - 1867); Comfort (1808 - 1844)

James, the second born son, and Comfort, the second born daughter of John Tansley and Elizabeth Bull share much of their ongoing history. James was born in September 1797 and married Elizabeth Munton from Thorpe by Rutland in Rutland on December 24th 1820. They were to have seven children to add to Elizabrth's illegitimate daughter born in 1815. Comfort, born in November 1808, married James Craxford from Gretton in 1836. They had a daughter they named Comfort in 1838 before Comfort died in February 1844. Their stories will be followed in a separate article ([Article B.]) .

William (1805 - 1873)

William, born in October 1805, married local girl Amy Jackson in the village in 1836. They had five children. Their story follows in the next section and ORANGE pages ([Article C.]).

David (1813 - 1889)

David, John Tansley and Elizabeth Bull's fifth son, was born in 1813. He started his working life as an agricultural labourer but ultimately became a gardener. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Conyers Peach and Martha Oliver in the village of Stoke Dry, Rutland, on May 27th 1833 before taking his new bride back to Cottingham. They had three sons and seven daughters between 1834 and 1856. Their history is told in a separate article ([Article D.]).

The family of William Tansley and Amy Jackson

William, the fourth son of John Tansley and Elizabeth Bull, was born on October 2nd 1805 and baptised four days later. He married Amy Jackson from Middleton on May 30th 1836. Amy was the daughter of Edward Jackson and Anna Goodjer who were married in Finedon on November 4th 1803. Anna was born in Lubenham near Market Harborough to Thomas Goodjer and Ann Orton and baptised on December 27th 1778. There had been a little girl named Anna who was born and died within months in 1776. Amy had three known brothers (Thomas, 1804, John, 1806 and William 1817) and three sisters (Mary, 1807, Anne, 1814 and Elizabeth, 1815).

Of her brothers, Thomas married a Sarah Bull, no known relation to Elizabeth Bull - Amy's mother in law. However, Thomas and Sarah's older son Thomas married Alice Chambers, the daughter of Pridmore Chambers and Frances Claypole, in November 1860. Thomas and Sarah's younger son, John, married Elizabeth, the daughter of David Tansley and Elizabeth Peach and William Tansley's niece, in October 1859. They were to have ten children and at least fifty grandchildren whose marriages included links back to the Tansley, Claypole and Binley families. Amy's younger sister Anne Jackson married Francis Bamford from Worksop Nottinghamshire in October 1838. One of their grandchildren, Hannah Marie Coe was to become the second wife of William Underwood, the son of William Hands Underwood and Hannah Claypole in Leicester in October 1869 ([Article E.]). Edward Jackson died and was buried in Cottingham on April 13th 1830. There are no census records for Anna in 1841 and 1851 but there was an 81 year old Hannah Jackson living in the Almshouses in East Carlton in 1861 who died there on November 7th 1861 and was buried in Cottingham on November 11th 1861.

William spent his life as an agricultural labourer. They made their first home in the High Street, Cottingham, where their five children (two sons and three daughters) were born. By 1861 they had moved to Rockingham Road and then later that decade they occupied the Toll Gate house where Amy was kept busy as the village midwife. William died and was buried on January 26th 1873. Amy survived him by two and a half years, being buried on September 7th 1875.

Ann (1836 - )

Some confusion surrounds William and Amy's first born daughter, Ann. She was born on August 30th and baptised on October 9th 1836. Curiously her baptism was initially recorded in the parish register for 1830 and then crossed out. As a 14 year old, she was in domestic service as a house servant with widow and inn keeper Sarah Reynolds and her two sons, James and Thomas, at the Red Lion Inn, Isham near Kettering. Nothing further about her is known.

Thomas (1839 - 1883)

Thomas, William and Amy's first born son was baptised on January 31st 1839. As he approached manhood he took on labouring jobs and by 1860 he had moved to the Aston district of Birmingham where he was lodging in Gate Street with the family of John Edwards who was a watchman at a carriage works. In the autumn of 1861 he married Mary Ann Lattimore at the parish church of St Peter & St Paul. Mary Ann was the daughter of William Lattimore and Frances Walker and born in Corby in 1842 There was a large Lattimore contingent based in Gretton at the same time but a link between the two families has not been established. It is another surname bedevilled with alternate spellings including Latimer and Lattimer.

The couple were to have seven children: Frances Amy (1862), William Jackson (1864), Mary Ann (1869), Thomas (1870), Valentine (1873), Edward (1876) and Clara Alice (1881). The family settled initially in Garrison Street in the heart of Aston but ultimately moved a mile and a half north to Bloomsbury Street by 1881. Thomas died on June 26th 1883 aged 44 years from dysentery and pulmonary tuberculosis. He was buried in Witton Cemetery, Birmingham which is a mile and a half away from Aston Parish Church. After her husband's death, Mary Ann initially moved to Cranesmore Street in the Nechelles suberb of Aston taking her four youngest children amd her granddaughter Laura with her. After the turn of the century she moved to Kidderminster where, in 1911, she was living with her son Valentine. She died in the spring of 1914.

Frances Amy

Thomas and Mary Ann's first born child was baptised on March 23rd 1862 at St Saviour's Church, in the Saltley district of Birmingham. She remained at home with her parents into the early 1880s. She became pregnant in late 1884 and gave birth to a daughter she named Laura in the summer the following year. In 1891 she married Samuel, the son of William Moore and her aunt, Amy Tansley. Samuel took his bride back to his home village, Geddington, Northamptonshire. They had five sons (William, 1893; Thomas, 1895; Frank, 1898; Cyril, 1899 and Guy who died shortly after birth, 1904). Samuel spent his time as a garden labourer. In the years up to the first World War they lived in Grafton Road. After the war they moved to East Street. It is assumed that Frances died in the summer of 1924 as her name had disappeared from the Electoral Roll for 1925. Samuel was living with his disabled son Cyril in Queen Street, Geddington in 1939. He died in January 1949. More of their story is told in [Article C.].

Thomas

Second son Thomas was born on October 19th 1870. He took on work as a labourer at a carriage works. On July 24th he married 22 year old Elizabeth Ada Moore (no relation as far as is known to the family of Frances Amy's husband, Samuel) on July 24th 1892. They were to have eight children: three sons (although two died in childhood) and five daughters between 1892 and 1903. Elizabeth Ada died in Birmingham on March 13th 1950; Thomas, in the spring of 1956.

Amy (1839 - 1879)

William Tansley and Amy Jackson's second daughter was born on January 30th 1839 and baptised in the name of Amy the following day. She was 19 years old when she married agricultural labourer William Moore from Geddington in Cottingham on November 21st 1858. Malting Lane in Geddington was where they settled. They had two sons (Samuel, 1864 and William, 1870) and five daughters (Mary Ann, 1860; Caroline, 1862; Amy, 1863; Matilda, 1866 and Alice, 1867). Sadly, Amy was not to live long. She had been troubled by the effects of diabetes for some time and died from this and congestion of the lungs on April 7th 1879. She was buried four days later.

Of note amongst their children, eldest daughter Mary Ann married bricklayer's labourer Henry Francis Walpole at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Geddington on November 3rd 1887. They had a daughter and five sons. Youngest son Harold Edgar Walpole, born 1899, was killed in action near Mons, Belgium on the last day of the first World War. As noted previously William and Amy's older son, Samuel, married Frances Amy Tansley, his first cousin, in 1891. More of their story is told in [Article C.].

William (1846 - 1923)

Second son William was baptised on August 27th 1846. He spent his early days as an agricultural labourer. Towards the end of the 1860s he spent some time in employment in Orlingbury near Kettering.

He met Charlotte Rawlinson, originally from Woolsthorpe near Lincoln and they were married in at St James Church, Shardlow, south Derbyshire in the summer of 1873. They were to have six children (Elizabeth, 1874; William Edward, 1876; John Richard, 1878; Amy Mary, 1880; Frederick, 1883 and Cecil, 1885). The family initially settled on Primrose Hill in Blackwell, a village one and a half miles north west of South Normanton where William became a groom. By the turn of the century they had moved to the village of Stanton by Dale which lies to the south of Ilkeston. Sons William, Frederick and Cecil took up apprenticeships in various aspects of the engineering industry whilst son John followed his father as a groom. William died aged 76 years in the spring of 1923. Charlotte lived on in Stanton by Dale until her death in the spring of 1935.

Daughter Elizabeth was 22 years old and two years older than her spouse when she married Albert Bailey Hardy from the north Nottinghamshire village of Misterton at St Michael and All Angels Church, Stanton by Dale on October 28th 1896. Albert also worked locally as a groom. They lived in the village until after the first World War. Elizabeth was, to say the least, prolific in her production of children. In all she had 12 sons (including a set of twins) and a daughter - the first three born before the turn of the century. Before the outbreak of the second World War, the couple had moved on to ilkeston. Elizabeth died in the early months of 1943. Albert followed her on January 17th 1948.

Elizabeth (1851 - 1870)

The third of William and Amy's three daughters was born on June 27th 1850 and baptised Elizabeth on July 21st 1861. Hers was to be a short life. As a teenager she was sent into domestic service locally. She was not yet 17 years old when she became pregnant and gave birth to a son she named Adiel on December 30th 1867. Just over two years later she was dead from pulmonary tuberculosis. Her death was reported by near neighbour on Rockingham Road 20 year old Hannah Liquorish, another young girl working as a domestic servant, who herself died the following year. Elizabeth was buried on February 10th 1870. She was just 19 years old.

Adiel spent the next few years after his mother's death with his grandparents in Toll Gate house. By 1881 he was lodging with his uncle William and aunt Charlotte and their four young children in Blackwell. When he became of age he started work as an engine fitter and moved to the Handsworth district of Woodhouse in Yorkshire, lodging with the family of highway labourer Robert Spurr. He married Harriett Fisher in 1892, having one daughter they named Amy Elizabeth. They settled in the Pleasley district of Blackwell where Adiel became a railway engine driver. After the turn of the century they moved to the Mansfield area of Nottinghamshire. Harriet died on November 25th 1933. Adiel lived on for another 18 years and finally died on June 15th 1951.

The Associations of Elizabeth Tansley

Eldest daughter of William Tansley and Ann Hollidge, Elizabeth had an illegitimate daughter Mary in 1805, the year before she married Edward Panter (the common alternative and interchangeable spelling of this surname is Panther) on October 21st 1806. Mary was baptised on December 22nd 1805 but then disappears from the record. It seems Elizabeth's procreational skills were prolific as between 1807 and 1831 she was noted to have had 19 more baptised babies: 12 boys and 7 girls. Eleven of these babies, however, died in infancy.

Their first born was also named Mary and was baptised on July 22nd 1807. She died aged 13 years, presumably from one of the recurring epidemic infections and was buried on August 16th 1820. Their next daughter was baptised Elizabeth on February 20th 1810 but apparently died the same year as Elizabeth was pregnant again and their third daughter was also named Elizabeth on August 20th 1810 (see below). A second son, William was baptised on August 4th 1811 but was buried just three years later on August 28th 1814. Fourth son Charles was baptised on August 7th 1814 but died and was buried under one year later on June 1st 1815. Elizabeth's tenth pregnancy resulted in her fifth daughter who was baptised Ann on April 11th 1819. She then disappears from the records. Sixth son Samuel was baptised on December 8th 1820 but died at the beginning of July 1821. Ninth son, Reuben was born on Boxing Day 1823 but only lived for one month. He was buried on January 30th 1824. Tenth son William fared only a little better. He was born on March 17th and baptised on August 21st 1825 but died in September and buried on the 29th of that month the following year. Two girls followed. Sarah was born on November 10th 1826 and baptised two weeks later. She died in October 1828. Final daughter Charlotte was born on June 27th 1828 and baptised on the 20th of the following month. She died and was buried on January 17th 1830. Penultimate son was baptised Henry Felix the day after his birth on November 30th 1829. He succumbed in April 1830. Elizabeth's final pregnancy ended with son Michael on July 2nd 1831. He was baptised at 15 days. He died in mid April 1832.

The family lived in Church Street in Cottingham. Edward died first in November 1834. By 1841 Elizabeth still had four of her children living at home: Rachel, Levi, Joseph and Thomas. Now married son John was living next door. Elizabeth survived for almost another 20 years, finally dying in September 1852.

John Panter (1808 - 1864)

Edward and Elizabeth's first son was baptised on September 13th 1808 at St Mary Magdalene Church. He married Maria, the daugher of Daniel Spriggs and Mary Wright, at St Leonard's Church in Rockingham on September 15th 1836. Maria was John's junior by ten years. The couple made their first home in Church Lane, Cottingham from where John worked as an agricultural labourer and Maria supplemented the family income as a lace turner, probably carrying out embroidery at home. Later she became a dressmaker. By 1851, and as the family enlarged, they moved into Water Lane. They were to have seven children: four sons (John, 1851; Edward, 1852; Edward, 1856 and Frederick, 1859) and four daughters (Charlotte, 1837; Elizabeth 1839; Eliza, 1843 and Mary 1846). The first baby named Edward died aged 6 months from influenza and was buried on March 22nd 1853. His death was reported by near neighbour Mary, the wife of John Jarvis. Second daughter Elizabeth and sons John and Edward all married and moved south to London. Nothing is known of youngest daughter Mary after the census of 1851. John died at home and was buried in Cottingham on January 10th 1864. Maria lived on for more than 30 years and finally died in November 1896.

Continued in column 2...

The Associations of Elizabeth Tansley (Continued)

John Panter (1808 - 1864) (Continued)

Charlotte, Eliza

Eldest daughter Charlotte was baptised on January 14th 1837. Third daughter Eliza was baptised on June 11th 1843. The sisters were to wed brothers, the sons of Thomas Clarke and Sophia Walker from Geddington, Charlotte to William on March 8th 1860 in Cottingham; Eliza to Henry on December 3rd 1868 in Geddington. Both couples settled in Geddington, William becoming a farm worker and cattleman and Henry, a coal haulier. Eliza had a single child they named Tom; Charlotte and William remained childless.

Frederic

Last son of John and Maria was born on May 1st and baptised Frederic on May 29th 1859 (there was no terminating 'k' on either his birth registration or his baptismal record). When he was old enough he went out to work in the fields. He also learned to drive a plough. On May 24th 1883 he married 20 year old Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of Lewis Binley and Matilda Tansley, his half second cousin once removed.

The marriage of Frederic and Mary Elizabeth produced a whole raft of familial interlinkages. Matilda Tansley was Frederic's half second cousin, herself being the daughter of David Tansley and Elizabeth Peach. Mary Elizabeth's brother, John Lewis Binley (1860) had married Ada Bamford in 1880 and had a daughter who died in infancy. He then had a long relationship with Carrie Townsin which resulted in five children of which son John Albert Binley Townsin married Edith Julia Liquorish and daughter Edith Rosina married Edith's brother Charles Herbert Liquorish. The Liquorish siblings were third cousins of the Hannah who reported the death of Elizabeth Tansley as noted above. Mary Elizabeth's younger brother Abraham (1867) married Mary Ann Langford and produced 11 children. Notable amongst them was Clara Rosina Binley who married Arthur Panther (1890) (see below); Maud Matilda Binley who married Thomas Bradshaw (the son of John Bradshaw and Ann Elizabeth Darker Tansley) - and one of their grandchildren, Roy Bailey married Gillian Binley the granddaughter of Clara Rosina Binley and finally Grace Rosina Binley who married Ernest Edward Beadsworth in 1903 ([Article F.]).

Frederic and Mary Elizabeth moved during their lifetime from Water Lane through Church Street to Corby Road by 1911. In 1901 Frederic was recorded as a waggoner on a farm but by 1911 he had given up land work and become a baker, taking up premises on Corby Road near the Cross opposite to the shop and bakery run by the Philpott family ([Article G.]). It is possible that he had been given pointers by Martin Philpott or his wife Ellen, the daughter of Jeffrey Binley and Caroline Tansley. This led to the rather complex relationships that Ellen was both Mary Elizabeth's first cousin through two lines of descent and was also Frederic's half second cousin once removed. Family recollections suggest that the money to set up this venture came through the father of Mary's son, Thomas Clement Binley, prior to her marriage to Frederic. Ultimately Thomas had a bakery in Kettering alongside Mary and Frederic's in Cottingham and their son William delivered the produce around the villages.

They had five children between 1883 and 1898. First daughter Eliza Elizabeth (1883) married Frederick Chappell in 1941. Frederick's sister, Minnie Marie, was the first wife of Arthur Claypole, married in 1912. She had four sons but died of cerebral meningitis shortly after the last one was born. First son John Frederick ((1887) married Harriet Lizzie Cannam and their daughter Gladys married Verdun Cologne (the son of Edward Harrison and Lillian Emma Tansley) in 1941. Lilliam Emma was the great granddaughter of James Tansley and Elizabeth Munton. Third son Wallace Edwin (1898) married Ruby Bessie May Jackson in 1935. Ruby was the daughter of Alfred Thomas Jackson and Caroline Claypole. Her paternal grandparents were John Jackson and Elizabeth Tansley while her maternal grandparents were John Claypole and Mary Anne Tansley. This led to her having David Tansley and Elizabeth Peach as both paternal and maternal great grandparents.

Mary Elizabeth was first to die and was buried on September 29th 1935. Frederic followed her almost two years later being buried on September 5th 1937. They were both interred in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene in Section G Row 2 Plot 22.

Elizabeth Panter (1810 - 1887)

Edward and Elizabeth's third daughter, probably conceived before their second daughter had died in infancy, was baptised Elizabeth on August 20th 1810. She was married twice, the first time when she was just seventeen years old.

Marriage 1: to William Dalby.

Elizabeth's first marriage took place on December 3rd 1827 to William Dalby (someimes referred to as Daulby) from Great Oakley, a village five miles south of Cottingham. In the 10 years Between 1829 amd 1839, they had two sons (Thomas, 1830 and John, 1833) and four daughters (Charlotte, 1829; Mary Ann, 1832; Rachel, 1835 and Eleanor, 1839). John was baptised on December 16th 1833 but died four months later and was buried on March 17th 1834. Husband William was taken ill and died on March 6th 1840, being buried three days later. The cause of death, not certified by a medical practitioner, was given simply as "abscess" although no site was stated. His death was reported by Elizabeth's brother John Panter. Last born daughter Eleanor was born in February and baptised on March 18th 1839 but died on March 2nd and was buried on March 5th 1841. Her death certificate records "Cause of Death unknown" and the Informant box contains "The Mark 'X' of Thomas Daulby Inmate of House, Cottingham" In the census of 1841, Elizabeth was living in George Street (which was later renamed Corby Road) with her remaining children. Thomas, who was baptised on May 26th 1830 and therefore 11 years old when he reported his sister's death, was still at home but then disappears from the records.

First born daughter Charlotte was born on January 22nd and baptised on February 25th 1829. She married Henry Ward on May 2nd 1850. She was heavily pregnant at the time and gave birth to a daughter, Jane, on June 29th 1850. Four sons and two more daughters followed. They moved through the decades into Blind Lane, Church Street and Water Lane. Henry died first and was buried in April 7th 1898. Charlotte died in January and was buried on February 1st 1902.

Second daughter, Mary Ann, was born on January 21st and baptised on February 26th 1832. She had an illegitimate daughter, Caroline Lucy, on February 19th 1851. Caroline Lucy subsequently became the second wife of Benjamin Tansley (the son of David Tansley and Elizabeth Peach - and Caroline's half second cousin once removed!) on December 14th 1866. Mary Ann married gardener William West on October 15th 1854, producing four sons and three daughters. Mary Ann died and was buried on June 2nd 1882.

Third daughter Rachel was born in 1835. She married John Vye, a shepherd from Middleton, on October 15th 1854. They returned to Middleton to live where their son, John Thomas Vye, was born on February 1st 1856. John died and was buried on August 22nd 1877. Three years later Rachel married again in Dingley near Market Harborough to Elijah Freestone from Enderby in Leicestershire. They moved to Rothwell where Rachel died and was buried on September 14th 1897. In the meantime, Rachel's son John Thomas, married Rebecca (the daughter of William Liquorish and Ruth Humphrey) on August 5th 1878. They had a son, John Thomas (1880) and a daughter Rachel Rebecca (1881). Rachel became pregnant a third time in the late summer of 1882 but it soon became clear that she was not well. She carried the child to term, a son they named Thomas, who was born on April 26th 1883. He lived for 12 hours and was buried two days later. Rebecca never recovered her health and died on May 14th 1883, the diagnosis being pulmonary tuberculosis which had been clinically present for six months. She was buried in Section B Row 1 Plot 1 on May 16th 1883 of Cottingham churchyard. Later that same year John Thomas married again to Emma Morley.

Marriage 2: to Thomas Atkins.

Two years after the death of her husband William, Elizabeth married again on November 6th 1842 to Thomas Atkins. He had been born in Kent about 1804 and had moved up to the Midlands as an agricultural labourer. There is no known link with the other Atkins family living in the Cottingham area at the same time. They had two daughters: Elizabeth, 1843 and Harriet, 1845. As the girls reached their teens they both followed the cottage industry as lace runners (embroidering designs on stockings and hosiery). The family lived for several years in Wood Lane. In 1861 as well as their two daughters they were also providing a home for granddaughter Caroline. By 1871 Thomas and Elizabeth had moved to Blind Lane where their two grandsons, Frederick (Harriet's son, now known as Jones) amd John were in residence with them. Thomas died in Cottingham in the summer of 1878. Elizabeth survived for almost a decade more. She was buried on June 3rd 1887.

Daughter Elizabeth was born in 1842, registered as Elizabeth Daulby and baptised Elizabeth Atkins in July 12th 1842 - all before her mother and Thomas Atkins were married. In her teens she also helped to supplement the family income by working as a lace runner. She married Francis (the son of Thomas Coles and Susannah Claypole) on March 31st 1862. Francis' sister Alice had married James Tansley (son of James Tansley and Elizabeth Munton) in 1856. His other brothers and sisters were closely intertwined with the Crane, Jarman and Jarvis families. Francis, an agricultural labourer, and Elizabeth spent most of their lives in Blind Lane and Barrack Yard. They were to have 11 children: 8 boys and 3 girls. Francis died and was buried on May 15th 1895. Elizabeth lived on until the middle of the first World War, dying in 1916.

Daughter Harriet had a tragic short life. She was fifteen years of age when she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, John Thomas, on April 19th 1861. A second pregnancy ensued leading to another son, Frederic in 1864 (he was baptised on August 7th 1864). Harriet then married Frederick Jones in Cottingham on March 9th 1865 but died on November 1st 1865 of an unspecified fever. The death was reported by Mary Ann Oliver who was present when Harriet died. Frederick married again to Maria Oliver, Mary Ann's sister, on April 13th 1873. Of note amongst their six children is youngest daughter Harriet Annie (1886) who married John Henry (the son of Alfred Robert Tilley and Elizabeth Boon) on July 19th 1915 and spent time in Winnipeg, Canada where they had three sons ([Article H.]). Frederick's sister Louisa (1845) married George Henry Vickers in August 1864. Notable amongst their seven children was second daughter Harriet (1868) who married Benjamin Tansley, one of the grandsons of David Tansley and Elizabeth Peach, on July 3rd 1895.

Viney Panter (1812 - 1886)

Edward and Elizabeth's third son was baptised on November 8th 1812. He was given the somewhat unusual, and usually female, name Viney which probably derived from the Roman Lavinium or Lavinia the daughter of Latunus, King of the Latins. He initially became an agricultural labourer but later in life became a keeper of horses. He moved to Wellingborough where he met and married Mary March from Rothwell on November 2nd 1840. They had a son and two daughters both of whom found employment in the boot and shoe trade. Viney died on December 23rd 1886.

Rachel Panter (1816 - 1898)

Fourth daughter, Rachel, was baptised on March 10th 1816. She married John Howes Minns, a tailor who was originally born in Wymondham in Norfork. His father, James Minns had been married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Howes was born in Norfolk but the couple moved to Rockingham around 1830. They had four sons and two daughters. Younger son James Minns married Elizabeth (the daughter of John Almond and Elizabeth Tilley) in Bringhurst, Leicestershire in 1844. Elizabeth's sister, Mary Almond, married John Claypole in Great Easton in 1838. After his wife Elizabeth died in 1838, James Minns married again in 1856 - his second wife was Sarah Foster from Stoke Albany. Of their four children, younger daughter Charlotte (1861) married George Rodgers in 1894 and their daughter Agnes Rodgers married William Sydney, the son of Charles William Liquorish and Ellen Joyce and grandson of Lucy Craxford; whilst son Arthur Edward Minns married Esther Goode in 1890 and their daughter Florence married Frederick, the son of George Crane and Emma Eliza Coles, in 1913. Frederick and Florence's son Bernard married Evelyn, the daughter of Thomas Albert Liquorish and Violet Lilian Beadsworth in 1941.

John and Rachel Minns spent their whole lives in Water Lane, Cottingham. Their marriage was destined to be childless. In 1851 they were giving respite lodgings to Rachel's brother Joseph. In 1861 their niece Ann Panter had come to stay. John and Rachel died within weeks of each other in the fourth quarter of 1898. John was buried on October 26th aged 80 years; Rachel was buried on December 27th at the age of 83 years.

Levi Panter (1818 - 1905)

Edward Panter and Elizabeth Tansley's ninth child and fifth son was baptised Levi on April 11th 1819. He was to spend his working life on the land. He was married three times and moved between villages on the outskirts of Kettering. He died and was buried on August 8th 1905.

Marriage 1: to Mary Cooke.

Although Levi was still living with his now widowed mother in 1841, he was soon to move to the market town of Rothwell, 8 miles south of Cottingham and 5 miles north west of Kettering. There he met Mary Cooke who he married at Holy Trinity Church on January 9th 1846. Mary was the daughter of George Cooke and Hannah Daulby. Her mother had died about three years before the marriage; her father just a couple of months after. Mary was three years older than Levi having been baptised on July 15th 1815. They were to have three children: sons John (1847) and Joseph (1851) and a daughter Ann (1849).

Mary had an older brother, William who had married Mary Ann Ward in Weekley, a hamlet on the outskirts of Kettering in February 1836. They had two daughters: Sarah Jane (1834) and Lucy Ann (1837) and a son: John Ward (1838). Mary Ann died on October 19th 1844. William was a school master and a letter carrier in the town. He lived in a large house in the Market Place.

At the census of 1851 William's two younger children were still at home. He was providing lodgings for Levi, Mary and their three children and also Levi's mother who was now a pauper and in receipt of parish relief. Mary started to feel unwell at the beginning of the following year. By the summer, it became clear that her condition was becoming serious and that Mary had contracted tuberculosis. She is likely to have displayed pallor, weight loss, languidity, racking cough, bloody phlegm and night sweats. She died on December 29th 1852 at the age of 37 years, her death certificate, recording Consumption, confirms this. It is of note that the disease was widespread in the Victorian community and indeed as it affected so many young women, their sallow face and thin appearance was often viewed as "highly desirable and linked to poetic and aesthetic qualities". (15).

Levi's daughter Ann returned to Cottingham to live with her aunt Rachel and became a lace runner. In 1872 she had a daughter she named Ellen who, in turn, had an illegitimate son, Arthur, in 1890. Arthur went on to marry Clara Rosina Binley in Cottingham in 1908 after Clara had given birth to a boy they named Cecil Arthur Binley earlier that year. Ann Panter married John Jones, a sawyer from Cottingham, on August 5th 1873. They had a son, Thomas, in 1875. John was one of the eight children of Thomas Jones of Gretton and Mary Rowell. John's older brother Frederick's two marriages (to Harriet Atkins and Maria Oliver) have been noted before. Sadly the union of John Jones and Ann Panter did not last long as John became ill at the start of 1878 which developed into meningitis. Over the last four days of his life he developed cerebral oedema (effusion on the brain) which would have caused severe headaches and convulsions. He died on January 12th 1878 and was buried three days later in Sector A Row 13 plot 183 alongside his parents. His death was reported by sister sister Harriet. He was 35 years old. Ann became a tailoress in Cottingham at the Wallis and Linnell clothing factory on Rockingham Road, living in Barrack Yard and Blind Lane (both are described in [Article I.]) with her unmarried son Thomas until her death in the summer of 1917.

Marriage 2: to Elizabeth Meeds.

Levi's second marriage took place in the fourth quarter of 1858 in Rothwell. His new bride was Elizabeth Meeds who was probably born in the town in 1811. After their union they made their home in Barn Lodge, Rushton, a village two miles north east of Rothwell. Levi's 10 year old son was living with them. Elizabeth died in September 1874. She was buried in All Saints Church, Rushton on the 24th of that month.

Marriage 3: to Eliza Hall.

Levi's third wife was 49 year old spinster Eliza Hall. She had been born in Rushton, the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Hall. She also had a sister, Elizabeth, who was four years her junior. Elizabeth had married a William Burditt in 1853. Levi and Eliza continued to live in Barn Lodge.

In February 1890 Eliza and her sister became plaintiffs in the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice. They were claiming kinship of a William Richard Harrington who had died intestate on January 23rd 1889. An advertisement appeared in "The Time" on March 23rd 1889 inviting next of kin to come forward. The arguments went before a full Court hearing in June 1890. In summary William had left his estate to his sister Rebecca who had predeceased him. A first cousin, Richard Beaumont Harrington a chemist from Nottingham, then claimed the estate but was disbarred on the grounds that his father had been born illegitimate. It appears that Richard was the son of John Harrington and Mary Ann Beaumont and was baptised in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on October 18th 1823. From Suffold archival records, His father John was baptised in Bury St Edmunds on May 20th 1794. At baptism on May 20th 1794, he was described as John Frederic Pogson Smith alias Harrison base child of Sarah Smith (17). In the meantime a Thomas Harrington married a Rebecca Robina Willett on December 24th 1783, both described as single. When Thomas died in 1813 he left a generous annuity to John in his will (18). As Richard Harrington's claim was deemed invalid, probate of William Richard Harrington's estate was granted to Eliza and Elizabeth as they were his second cousins through the the maternal line (19, 20, 21).

Levi died and was buried in Rushton on August 8th 1905. Eliza survived him by 10 years, dying in the spring of 1915.

Joseph Panter (1821 - 1894)

Joseph, the seventh son (and twelfth child) of Edward and Elizabeth Panter, was born on September 27th 1821 and baptised the following day. Like many of his peers he became an agricultural labourer. On August 3rd 1844 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Foode and Elizabeth Liquorish who lived in Middleton (to date her mother has not been connected to our main Liquorish family line). The marriage was short lived and Elizabeth died eighteen months later, the cause being defined as "dropsy" (fluid retention or oedema often caused by renal or congestive cardiac failure). Her death was reported by her mother in law who was with her when she died. She was buried on May 18th 1846. Previous to her marriage, Elizabeth had given birth to two children: Mary (1841) and Lewis (1844). Elizabeth's younger sister Frances also had two illegitimate children: Roseannah (1847) and William (1849) before her own marriage to William Clow in 1858. William Clow's sister, Mary, had married John Jarvis in May 1830. All four of these children were living with their grandparents in Middleton in 1851.

Joseph married again at the beginning of 1852 in Wadenhoe, a hamlet on the eastern edge of Northamptonshire six miles north of Thrapston, to Lucy Gadsby, born 1823 to Samuel Gadsby and Hannah Pettit. The couple settled in Church Street. They were to have 6 children: four boys (Thomas, 1854; William, 1860; Joseph, 1864 and Levi, 1868) and two girls (Elizabeth, 1856 and Harriet, 1858). Lucy died in June 1888. She was buried in Section A Row 14 Plot 247 of St Mary Magdalene churchyard on June 20th 1888. Joseph outlived her for nearly six years, joining her in the same plot on May 25th 1894. One curious observation is that there had been a previous interment in that grave. On May 15th 1885, 65 year old Mary Gadsby was buried there having died two days earlier from "Cardiac (Mitral) Hydrops" (an archaic term presumably meaning congestive cardiac failure due to disease of a heart valve). Her death was reported by Lucy which confirms that Mary was her older sister by some ten years. Mary was baptised in Wadenhoe in 1815. She never married and had moved to Horsey in Middlesex where she worked as a china dealer. She probably moved to Cottingham in the early 1880s to live with Mary and Joseph and where she found work as a nurse.

Thomas Panter (1822 - 1899)

Thomas was born one year after his brother Joseph on November 10th 1822 and baptised on the 15th of the following month. He married Anne, the daughter of John and Anne Inkle in Cottingham on April 18th 1847 witnessed by her brother Joseph and sister Sarah. Anne's younger sister, Mary (1832), married Charles Atkins from Geddington in Cottingham on November 2nd 1856. Their daughter Mary is the subject of another article ([Article J.]). Anne's youngest sister Jane married John West in 1860. Their daughter Alice Laura (1858) married John, one of the sons of the infamous Henry Crane and Mary Sculthorpe in 1880 ([Article K.]).

Anne presented Thomas with a son they named Thomas in the spring of 1848. They remained in Cottingham for another twelve months and then Thomas decided to emigrate to Australia using the assisted passage scheme. The three boarded the SS Whitby at Plymouth in Devon in May 1849 amd arrived at Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia on June 28th 1849. They settled in Campbellfield, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria where Anne produced several more children. By 1870 they had moved about 45 miles north to the settlement of Rochford in the Macedon Ranges Shire of Victoria. Anne died there on July 27th 1894 and was buried at Malmsbury Cemetery two days later. Thomas died on October 26th 1899 and joined his wife three days later.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks for the help, comments and suggestions from the following in the construction of this article: Paul Gilbert for permission to reproduce his photograph of the Thomas and Anne Panter Headstone, Chris Goddard for help with Mary Gadsby, Contributors to the Northamptonshire and Suffolk Forums (including DCB, Gobbitt, Heywood, Jonw65, Ladyhawk, QueenoftheWest and Trish1120) at RootsChat.Com

Links to the articles mentioned in the text are in italic capitals below:

Article A: A Murder in Cottingham Death for threeha'p'orth of suckers.
Article B: TThe next generations of Tansleys The Cottingham Tansleys 1: Brother James and Sister Comfort.
Article C: Life in Geddington and death in Mons Brothers in Arms: The Moores and Walpoles of Geddington.
Article D: David and Elizabeth A Family Photograph Album: The Binleys, Jacksons and Tansleys.
Article E: Concerning Claypole and Underwood Claypole: Onward into Northampton and Derbyshire
Article F: A Beadsworth and Binley link Following the Beadsworth family in Cottingham - Part 2b: Anthony
Article G: A walk around the village including the building of a clothing factory My Cottingham
Article H: Tilley and emigration to Canada A History of the Tilley Family: Cottingham Part 1, the early generations
Article I: Life on Blind Lane and Barrack Yard We are the Barrack Yard Preservation Society
Article J: Claypole tragedies before and during the first World War The Sorrows of Mary Atkins
Article K: Like father, like son - almost The Crane family of Cottingham. Part 2: The Younger Generations - Those who left and those who stayed

References

1. Family tree graphic: Freeware Graphics: Vintage Kin Design Studio, Australia
2. St. Peter & St. Paul Church, Harrington: Photograph: © Richard Williams, and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons Licence
3. St. Giles Church, Desborough: Photograph: © Richard Williams, and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons Licence
4. Photograph: Kettering, Northamptonshire: St Peter & St Paul's Church: © Dave Kelly, on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
5. The Alms Houses, East Carlton. 'Hospital of the Blessed Jesus in Carlton': Photograph: © Tim Heaton, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
6. Photograph St Peter and St Paul Church, Aston, Birmingham. Wikimedia Commons. © Oosoom, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
7. Photograph Witton Cemetery and Chapel, Birmingham. Wikimedia Commons. © Oosoom, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
8. St. Saviour's Church, Saltley, Birmmingham: Photograph: © John Salmon, and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons Licence
9. Geddington, St Mary Magdalene: © Mike Faherty, and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons Licence
10. Church of St James, Shardlow, Derbyshire: © Alan Murray-Rusk, and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons Licence
11. Old Postcard: A View from the bottom of Primrose Hill: Nlackwell Parish Council Newsletter Autumn Edition 2018
12. Church of St James, Shardlow, Derbyshire: © David Hallam-Jones, and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons Licence
13. Photograph: All Saints Church, Dingley © Dave Kelly on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons
14. Photograph: Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell © John Davidson on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons
15. John Keats and La Belle Dame A literary rendition of a romantic disease by S. Basu
16. Photograph: All Saints Church, Rushton © David P Howard on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons
17. Bury St Edmunds, St James. Baptisms 1793, 1794 Page 411 Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center at Internet Archive
18. The Will of Thomas Harrington," Gentleman of Bury St. Edmunds, The National Archives, Ref: PROB 11/1550/68. This document is written in an archaic script. David kindly provided a transcription at The Suffolk Forum at Rootschat.
19. "Who Are The Next Of Kin?" Report from the High Court of Justice, Probate Division. Northampton Mercury Page 6 February 22nd 1890. The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
20. Local Law Case: Report of Hall v Harrington: Northampton Mercury Page 7 June 20th 1890 The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
21. Probate for William Richard Harrington: (1) March 26th 1890 (2) July 30th 1890. at Probate Calendar Probate Service at Gov.uk
22. Photograph: Saint Michael & All Angels Church, Wadenhoe © Ian Paterson on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons

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