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. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from Jack’s as (1)
JOHN HEYS and ALICE WADDINGTON (8)
JOHN HEYS. There is some doubt about the family of John Heys, who was baptised in Padiham on 13 Jan 1765. His family abode was Hapton, a village a mile south of Padiham. Evidence points to his parents being John Heys of Hapton and Alice Waddington of Padiham, who were married in 1750. But there is a ten-year gap between the baptism of their second child in 1755 and John junior’s baptism in 1765. These are the only baptisms at this time which give the family abode as Hapton. There is a succession of other baptisms at St Leonard’s for children of John Hey or Heys, but their place of residence is different. However, one baptism for a child of John Hey of Padiham is followed by the burial of that child, son of John Hey of Hapton. It seems that John senior moved to Padiham and then returned to Hapton. [1]
This marriage seems the most likely for John junior’s parents.
John senior was the second of six children of Nicholas Hey and Susan/Susannah Leigh of Hapton.
Baptism. St Leonard, Padiham.
1720/1 Mar 12 Jon. son of Nich. Hey. Abode: Hapton
He was the oldest son.
His father appears variously in the register as a carpenter and a weaver. We have no information about John’s occupation. The parish register gives occupations for the previous and subsequent generations, but not for his. His son John became a huckster.
The village of Hapton did not have its own church. It was part of the large parish of Whalley, which was divided in several chapelries. Hapton lay in the chapelry of Padiham, a mile to the north. Its church was St Leonard’s.
ALICE WADDINGTON. There are three possible baptisms for Alice, all at St Leonard, Padiham.
1718 May 17 Alice daughter of Will. Wadington. Abode: Read.
1719 Nov 22 Alice daughter of Nicolas Wadington. Abode: Padiham.
This Alice was buried 10 Feb 1721/2
1725 Nov 7 Alice daughter of Nich. Wadington and Anne. Abode: Padiham. Occupation: Collier.
The oldest Alice would have been 32 at the time of the marriage in 1750. She is probably the Alice Wadington who married John Read in Padiham in 1746. The youngest would be a more typical 25.
Her mother was Anne Bradshaw.
Alice was the second of four surviving children. An earlier Alice died before the second one was born. A brother also died in infancy when Alice was three.
Alice’s father’s occupation is given variously as husbandman and collier. The mother in both cases is Anne and the spacing of the baptisms does not suggest a second couple with those names. It would seem that her father farmed a small piece of land, which was not enough to sustain his family, so that he supplemented this income with work as a coal miner.
There were many coal pits around Padiham. This, and the plentiful supply of water, were important factors in the development of Padiham’s cotton mills in the 19th century.
Marriage. St Leonard, Padiham.
1750 Dec 13 John Heys of Hapton and Alice Waddington of Padiham.
We can feel certain about the first two baptisms.
1751 Dec 15 Ann daughter of John Hey. Abode: Hapton.
1753 Sep 7 Susan daughter of John Heys. Abode: Hapton.
The following are more questionable.
1755 Sep 7 Nicolas son of John Hey. Abode: Habergham Eaves.
Nicolas was buried on 10 Jul 1756. Abode: Ightenhill.
1756 Oct 24 Ann daughter of John Hey. Abode: Huncoate.
We have no information about the death of the earlier Ann, so we can probably discount this.
1757 Jul 31 John son of John Hey. Abode: Habergham Eaves.
1759 Jun 10 Alice daughter of John Hey. Abode: Padiham.
1760 May 23 Nicolas son of John Hey. Abode: Padiham.
This second Nicolas was buried on 6 Apr 1763. Abode: Hapton.
This is a clear indication that John Hey of Hapton was for a time living in Padiham.
1765 Jan 13 John son of John Heys. Abode: Hapton.
This may mean that the John born in 1757 had died, though we do not have his burial, or that John Hey of Habergham Eaves was not the same as John Hey of Hapton.
1771 Jan 16 Molly daughter of John Heys of Padiham.
This is rather more doubtful, since the Heys were living in Hapton at the time of John and Alice’s death.
Nicolas was the name of John Hey’s father and Alice the name of his wife.
Alice died in 1778.
Burial. St Leonard, Padiham.
1778 Oct 26 Alice wife of John Hey of Hapton.
John survived her by seven years.
1778 Sep7 John Hey of Hapton.
[1] BMDs from Lancashire Online Parish Clerks. www.lan-opc.org.uk/
[2] http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Padiham/images/PadChurch_old.jpg
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