Jack Priestley’s Family History
This site is a work-in-progress. There is a massive amount to cover. I have included both male and female lines, and some go back 30 generations. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from my own as (1)
THOMAS NEWELL and JANE TRIPP (7)
Thomas Newell and Jane Tripp are the most likely parents for Catherine Newell, who married George Bray in 1809.
THOMAS NEWELL was living in West Halton, south of the Humber, when he married in 1759. The most likely baptism for him in 1730 in Barrow on Humber, 10 miles east. [1]
Baptism. Barrow on Humber.
1730 Sep 17. Tho: son of Tho: and Frances Newell.
He was the child of Thomas Newell and Frances Coverdale of Barrow on Humber. This identification is supported by the fact that he named two of his children Thomas and Frances.
His father died five months after Thomas was born.
Within a year, his mother remarried.
Three younger half-sisters were born, but two of them died within a month or so.
His stepfather died when Thomas was 14, leaving him the only male in the family.
JANE TRIPP. Jane was baptised in South Ferriby on 13 Feb 1736/7. She was the daughter of Thomas Tripp and Mary Jobson. [2]
She was the third of four children. Her mother died when Jane was 4 years old. Three years later, her father married again to Mary Camil. At least six other children were born, though one of these died aged three.
Her father came from a labouring family, but bettered himself to become a yeoman, and acquired land, both in South Ferriby and in other parishes.
Marriage. St Nicholas. South Ferriby.
1759 Apr 17. Tho Newel of West Halton and Jane Trip.
Thomas was 29 and Jane 20.
South Ferriby is on the south bank of the Humber, just west of Barton upon Humber. West Halton, where Thomas was living, is 5 miles further west.
South Ferriby dates back at least to Roman times when there was a major settlement here. It is known locally as one of the ‘Low Villages’ at the bottom of a chalk escarpment, where the chalk meets the clay to give a plentiful water supply. This marks the point where the Lincolnshire Wolds meet the Humber Estuary. It gets its name from the ancient ferry over the Humber to North Ferriby. The entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 records a church, a mill and two ferries. To sustain two ferries suggests that a prosperous trading community was flourishing here at the time. [3]
The church is dedicated to St Nicholas and appears to be the remnant of a much larger church. The rest is thought to have been lost in a landslip.
Their first two children were baptised in Barrow on Humber.
Baptisms. Holy Trinity. Barrow on Humber.
Children of Thomas and Jane Newell.
1759 July 1 Mary
1761 Jan 18 Thomas
The family moved to Burton upon Stather, 9 miles west of South Ferriby. It stands on the edge of a cliff above the River Trent, not far from where it joins the Humber. “Stather” is the name for a landing stage. It commands magnificent views.
View along the Trent from Burton Stather [5]
Six more children were born here.
Baptisms. St Andrew. Burton on Stather.
1762 Dec 14 John
1770 Feb 18 Jane. Thomas’s occupation is given as labourer
1772 Aug 16 Elisabeth
1775 May 25 Sarah. This time, Thomas is said to be “of Coleby, Labourer.”
1777 July 25 Frances. The same is said here of Thomas.
1779 Nov 30 Katherine
Coleby is a hamlet just over 2 miles NW of Burton upon Stather. It should not be confused with the larger village of Coleby south of Lincoln. It lies in the parish of West Halton, where Thomas was living when he married Jane. Although it is only mentioned in two of the baptisms, it is possible that the Newells were living there for the others as well.
When Jane’s father died in 1769, he left money to her sisters, but not to her. A possible reason is that she had received a gift of money when she married.
The period in which the Newells were using St Andrew’s was a calamitous one for Burton on Stather. Around 1770, a storm destroyed a large part of the town. The river bank gave way, flooding the rest of the parish. In 1777, the brig Phoenix caught fire. 20 barrels of gunpowder exploded. It blew the roofs off many houses and damaged the church.
Soon after the completion of their family the Newells appear to have moved to Broughton by Brigg, near Scunthorpe, 7 miles SW of Coleby.
There are two burials there.
Burials. St Mary. Broughton by Brigg
1783 Mar 1 Jane, the wife of Thomas Nowel. She would have been 46.
1802 May 21 Thomas Newill. Thomas would have been 71.
[1] Unless otherwise stated, BMDs are from Lincolnshire Parish Registers on Findmypast.
[2] Marriage IGI.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ferriby
[4] http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/05/11/30/5113059_8b1893cc.jpg
[5] http://www.andrewswalks.co.uk/Burton%20Stather-9.jpg
NEXT GENERATION: 6. BRAY-NEWELL
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 8. NEWELL-COVERDALE