Gilberthorpes in Barnsley

The Barnsley family has always confused me. I have recently been able to unravel some of the complexities, but it still continues to both sadden and frustrate me, particularly the tragedies that befell many of this family.

My interest begins with two William Gilberthorpes - William Gilberthorpe (1801) who appears in Rich Lane, Barnsley in 1841 and William Gilberthorpe (1802) who in 1841 resided in Pogmoor.

William Gilberthorpe (1801) married Susannah Hyde in Silkstone in 1822. They appear to have had eleven children. The ages on the census (and consequently, birth years) seem to be full of errors, and those shown below should be viewed with caution.

George (1823) seems to have disappeared before 1851 and may be the one who died in Q1 1847.

John (1826) likewise disappeared and may be the one who died in the Darley mining disaster in Feb 1847.

William (1825) married Esther Shepherd (1829) in 1844 and they had three children; Susannah (1848), Walter (1851) and George (1857), but by 1861 William (died 1855) and Esther (died 1858) were no longer with us and the three children were in the Barnsley Union Workhouse, where very soon afterwards Walter and George appear to have died. Susannah, however, survived and went on to marry George Ward in Leeds in 1868, and had a least two children; Mary Susannah (1869) and George Walter (1871). George Ward also died young and Susannah remarried in 1880, to Thomas Barrass.

Joseph (1828) who was baptised 25/12/1828 also disappeared before the 1841 census, and may be the one who died Q1 1847.

James (1830) baptised 9/1/1831 married Charlotte and they had several children, but the couple appear to have split up before 1871. James died in 1901 in Barnsley workhouse after being institutionalised for several years. Charlotte also died in 1901 and eldest son John (1859) had stayed with his mother but died quite young in 1890.Their other two sons, George (1857) and Walter (1866) went on to become hairdressers, and remained in Barnsley. They both  married and George produced a large family.

Martha (1833) seems to have disappeared after the 1841 census.

Harriot (1840) died as an infant just after the 1841 census.

Elizabeth (1827) looks to have married William Roberts in 1848 and had at least two children; Martha (1849) and Mary Ann (1851). At the time of the 1851 census the two remaining children of William Gilberthorpe (1801) and Susannah Hyde (1800), Susannah Gilberthorpe (1835) and Isaac Gilberthorpe (1837) were living with their sister Elizabeth in Greenwood Square, Barnsley.

Susannah Gilberthorpe (nee Hyde) had married William Gilberthorpe in Silkstone 5 Feb 1822, and  had probably died in 1847. At this stage I have two or three contenders for this role, the most intriguing (but perhaps least likely) is the daughter of the Rev. Robert Hyde, who was vicar of the Baptist church in Salendine Nook, Quarmby, Huddersfield.

I have identified two possibilities for William Gilberthorpe (1801) . The most likely one being the eldest son of George Gilberthorpe (1778) and Mary born in Chesterfield 17 Oct 1801, who I have yet to find in any census. There was another Gilberthorpe marriage in Silkstone around this time, that of Elizabeth gilberthorpe to Charles Roberts, and I am exploring the possibility of William and Elizabeth being children of yet another family, perhaps George Gilberthorpe (1775), who at the time of the 1851 census was living in South Kirkby with his younger wife Henritta (1789) - nee Hinchcliffe.

William Gilberthorpe (1802) who married Ann Jackson 27 Aug 1825 in Barnsley. They and their three children; George (1825), Ann (1841) and Mary (1831) are shown in the  censuses of 1841, 1851 and 1861 (Ann had died by then) as living in Pogmoor, which is very close to Silkstone.

My interest in this family (apart from the obvious one of being generally interested in the Gilberthorpe family) is that there seems to be very few Gilberthorpe records from the area prior to William. My own family originated from Conisboro, with the marriage of William Gilberthorpe (1785) to Mary Robinson in Laughton-en-le-Morthern in 1806. Rather unusually, the eldest son I have recorded is Thomas (1807), they did not name a son William until 1814. Thomas married a Mary Nussey, who originated from Darton. Darton, Pogmoor and Silkstone are all with a 3 mile radius in north-east Barnsley, which in turn is many miles from Thomas's birthplace, Laughton. At this stage I can see no obvious link, but will continue to explore this from time to time.