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Thomas Bird married Ruth McDade of Bacup. Ruth, however, at the age of 24 was a widow when she married Thomas. Her maiden name was Hargreaves and her parents were Henry and Sarah Hargreaves. This has been another family that is difficult to track. I can't find any records of Ruth's first marriage and on her marriage certificate to Thomas Bird her name was transcribed wrongly as McDads. I have checked the writing and I'm sure it is McDade. Her maiden name is also recorded, and also the name of her father.
Thomas Bird and Ruth McDade Marriage Certificate
I found Henry and Sarah Hargreaves in the 1851, 1861, and 1871 Censi, but after that they both disappear. They were in their 40's in 1871 so I suppose it's possible that they died before 1881, but I can't find their younger children, who would have been too young to have been married, either.
Henry and Sarah Hargreaves - 1851 Census
Henry and Sarah Hargreaves - 1861 Census
Henry and Sarah Hargreaves - 1871 Census
Henry Hargreaves age also varies by two years in the different censi, so he was born sometime between 1826 and 1828, in Spotland, Lancashire. I had the idea that Spotland was a lovely, rural place, but it's actually part of Bacup, which is a typical industrial, northern town. Henry was a Power Loom Weaver, so I suppose that's to be expected.
Another reason the family were difficult to track is that the district boundaries have changed over the years. The family members variously give their birthplaces as Spotland, Bacup, Newchurch (in Rossendale). In 1837, these areas all became part of the Haslingden District.
Sarah was born in Newchurch (Bacup) in 1826. She was also working as a Power Loom Weaver in 1851, at a time when she had a one-year-old and a three-year-old at home. Who looked after these children? Perhaps they had family in the town who helped out.
Henry and Sarah had eight children, all born in Bacup, and Ruth was the eldest, born in 1848. Abraham was born in 1850, Emma in 1856, James Henry in 1858, Elizabeth A. in in 1860, Sarah in 1863, Elizabeth in 1866, and John in 1870. The reason there are two Elizabeths is because the first Elizabeth died in 1865 at the age of 5.
This is a map that covers the Haslingden Registration District. It actually is called the Rossendale Valley and more information about the area can found at: |
Perhaps Sarah was already pregnant at the time, because in the following year she had another daughter, who they called Elizabeth. This seems odd to us, but it seems to have been a fairly common practice in Victorian times. Perhaps as child mortality was so high, it was just a way of keeping cherished family names within the family.
By the time of the 1871 Census, Ruth was presumably married to her first husband, but I can't find her in the 1871 Census as Ruth McDade. By 1881, the family seems to have dispersed. Of the ones I can track down, Ruth was married to Thomas Bird, Abraham was married to Elizabeth from Coventry, Warwickshire and they had a seven month old son, Rupert. Rupert was born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, and at the time of the census he and his family were living in Stansfield, York, so it seems as though Abraham had to move quite a bit to find work.
By the time of the 1891 Census, Abraham was a prisoner in H.M. Prison Wakefield. I have no idea what was his crime, but by 1901, his wife Elizabeth was living in Todmorden with her three sons and seemed to be keeping a Boarding House, as there were 5 boarders living in the house. Her first son Rupert had died in Haslingden in 1883 at the age of two.
I can't be absolutely sure that this is the correct Abraham Hargreaves, because, believe it or not, Abraham Hargreaves was quite a common name in that area (it would be interesting to know why!) However, I think it is quite likely to be the correct man.
