Padley & Young families 1800-1860

Ann Padley, born 1852
Ann Padley is my mother's mother's mother's mother's mother! That is, she is my 3xgreat grandmother. I have attempted to piece together her life and family from mainly the census, IGI records and parish records available from Durham records online. I have yet to obtain the vital registration certificates, but hopefully they will confirm these relationships.

I originally found that Matthew Carr had married Ann Padley from the 1891 census image, which showed that Matthew Carr was living his wife, Ann, and his mother-in-law, a widow, Ann Padley. That Matthew's wife was called Ann Padley was confirmed when I found the index of their marriage: Matthew Carr & Ann Padley - Mar 1871, Sunderland, Durham, 10a, 644. - though I have still have to obtain the original document. See here for an update.

I started to piece together the Padley line:

Ann's birthdate in the 1871-1901 censuses, when she was living with Matthew Carr was always given as about 1853-4. However, the place of birth varies widely. I have found the following birthplaces given in the various censuses:

1871 - Rainton, Durham
1881 - Sherburn, Durham
1891 - Roker, Durham
1901 - Hetton, Durham

Searching the vital registration index on freeBMD, I found one possible match - Ann Padley, Jun 1853, Houghton-le-Spring, Durham - which I shall obtain - Most of the places above are townships of Houghton-le-Spring.


Who were Ann Padley's parents?

However, knowing her birthplace and age, and those of her mother, I searched for Ann Padley jnr, in the 1861 census. I found them living at Brick Garth, Hetton-le-Hole, daughter of Joseph Padley (b. ~1825, Houghton-le-Spring, Dur) and Ann Padley (~1825, Longbenton, Northumberland). The only thing here is that the birthplace of Ann Padley Snr does not match that which I had already found on the 1891 census. It was not a matter of it being the wrong parish, but it was the wrong county entirely. However, I have already talked about this particular enumerator of the 1891 census! He seems to have been either completely incompetent or lazy - he also got Matthew Carr's birthplace wrong by about 80 miles! Therefore, I was quite happy that I had the right census entry. This census also gave another birthplace entry for Ann Padley jnr, which was Moorsley, Durham - another township of Houghton-le-Spring.


I was able to gather more information about Joseph and Ann Padley from the 1871 census at 18 Australia Row, Seaton Colliery, Seaham, Easington and the 1881 census at 22 Ogle Terrace, Southwick, Sunderland. This enabled me to find out about the siblings to Ann and that Joseph Padley was a coal miner during this period. Joseph Padley died at some point between 1881 and 1891, as Ann Padley Snr was a widow living with Matthew and Ann Carr by the 1891 census. She died between 1891 and 1901 (nb see here, she may have lived longer). I think Joseph Padley died in Dec 1881 as I have found a death certificate indexed for Dec 1881, Sunderland, Durham, 10a-319, for a Joseph Padley of the right age.


I then decided to take Joseph Padley and Ann Padley's lives backwards in the census. In the 1851 census, Joseph Padley is a coal miner at Haswell, living with his mother-in-law, Ann Young (b.1796, Newcastle) and two sister, Rachel and Elizabeth Young. I am presuming that they are sisters of his wife, Ann Padley (nee Young). Although Ann was born in Northumberland, her two younger sisters were born in Rainton, Durham. It appears that her family moved into Durham around 1826. I then looked for Ann Young in the 1841 census, knowing that her mother was also called Ann Young and that she had two named sisters, but was unable to find a suitable match. I did find possible matches in Haswell though -Ann Snr and Elizabeth living together; Ann jnr living with a different family; but no Rachel.

I also looked in the IGI for potential Young births in Rainton (church pictured on the left), and found the following, which matches with the census data and what I already know - these are potentially the siblings of my Ann Young - though I am always cautious of over-interpreting the IGI, it is an incomplete index after all:

22/11/1826 Rachel Young, dau of Robert and Ann Young, W. Rainton

10/7/1831 Elizabeth Young, dau of Robert and Ann Young, W. Rainton

This then prompted me to re-search the IGI for the baptism of Ann Young, and I found one match:

about 5/9/1824 - Ann Young, dau of Robert & Ann Young, Longbenton, Northumberland

Checking the Tynemouth marriage index and the IGI gave two possible marriages for a Robert Young to an Ann in the right date range:

13 Sep 1818  Robert Young = Ann Canlish
25 Nov 1818  Robert Young = Ann Morton

What about the parents of Joseph Padley?

I have not definitively found Joseph Padley in the 1841 census yet, though there was a Joseph Padley living in Haswell (as he was in 1851) working as a coalminer, who is of the right age. He is living with a John and Matthew Padley who could be brothers. Interestingly, I found at the Durham Mining Museum Records that it looks as if this John Padley died in a mining accident at Haswell where 95 people lost their lives following an explosion on 28 Sep 1844. This web page gives the names of others who lost their lives in the disaster and some rememberance poems.















Joseph Padley consistently gives his birthdate as 1824 and his birthplace as Houghton-le-Spring in the censuses - you can see an image of St. Michael's church, Houghton-le-Spring above.
Therefore I searched the IGI and I found a strong candidate for his baptismal entry:

15 AUG 1824 Houghton Le Spring, Durham, England, Joseph Padley son of John and Margaret Padley. Houghton-le-Spring

This was confirmed by searching Durham Records Online:
Baptisms, Houghton le Spring District - Parish/Church: Houghton le Spring (St. Michael & All Angels) 15 Aug 1824 Joseph Padley, son of the late John Padley & Margaret, abode Houghton-le-Spring.

This gave me the extra information that Joseph Padley's father had died by the time he was born, meaning he must have died in early 1824 (given that he was born in August!). Searching the baptismal entries for Houghton-le-Spring, I found two potential siblings,

07 JUL 1822 Houghton Le Spring, Durham, England Sarah Padley dau of John and Margaret Padley. Houghton-le-Spring.

4 June 1819 Houghton Le Spring, Durham, England Matthew Padley son of John and Margaret Padley. Houghton-le-Spring.

I also searched the Durham Records Online for other Padley records in Houghton-le-Spring and found this marriage:

1 May 1815 John Padley = Margaret Moralee

It is possible that my Joseph Padley is the son of John Padley and Margaret Moralee, and that he has a sister, Sarah, and a brother, Matthew, which may be the Matthew Padley that he could be living with in the 1841 census. I haven't found a baptismal entry for the John Padley who was also living with him in the 1841 census.


Can we piece all of this work together?
What conclusions can we draw from these various strands of evidence? Well, using the various parish records, census entries, IGI records and vital registration certificates enables me to tentatively draw out the family tree above. However, I have used a hashed line for the Padley line as I still need to confirm these relationships. In particular, I need to find -

- the baptism of Ann Padley circa 1853 in Durham, in any number of parishes?
- the marriage of Joseph Padley and Ann Young circa 1849, in Haswell or elsewhere?
- the baptism of Ann Young circa 1824 in Wapping or Longbenton, Northumberland
- the marriage certificate of Matthew Carr and Ann Padley

This family line is a good example of where it is important to flesh out the family history - as it may take converging evidence from numerous sources on cousins, brothers, sisters, etc. to finally establish these relationships.