Faulder Family Genealogy Faulder Family Genealogy

James Keighley was my Great Great Great Grandfather. His daughter Martha (1834-1920) married Robert Fell (1924-1910) and their eldest child, Elizabeth Fell (1856-1929) was the mother of my paternal Grandmother, Marjorie Fell Lendrum (1887-1963).

Reconstructing James’s family or families is of interest not just because he is at the time of writing the most distant Keighley relative but also because of two outstanding genealogical itches:

• The identity of “Granny’s sister and her bridesmaid” – an elderly woman standing behind Martha Fell in Robert and Martha’s Golden Wedding Photograph at Somerville, Hungerford Road, Huddersfield – the annotation written from the perspective of someone of the same generation as my Grandmother Marjorie Lendrum.

• A suspicion that the recently acquired Carte de Visite of Martha Fell shows her in mourning dress – who was she mourning?

As a “read” it is probably only of interest to Keighley, Fell and Ramsden relatives and those wanting to find out a bit more about the two posts referenced in the paragraphs above.

Proof of Relationship to James Keighley

There are a fair number of James Keighley’s, so it is necessary to be sure that the correct one has been identified.

1. I knew my Grandmother, Marjorie Fell Faulder. She died on 21 March 1963 (when I was just old enough to remember being told), having been a widow of the First World War for almost 45 years. My father was the informant when registering the death; she was registered as a 75 year old Widow of Army Captain Harold Faulder. [Ref: Death Certificate for Marjorie Faulder]

2. Marjorie Fell Lendrum married Harold Faulder at Holy Trinity Church in Huddersfield on the 2nd November 1915, giving Belgrave Terrace Huddersfield as her residence. Harold Faulder was listed as a 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (then residing in Camp at Hylton Castle outside Sunderland – as part of the “Tyne Garrison” which covered most of the North East coast). He was 30; she was 28 (implying a year of birth of about 1887). Her father was listed as Robert Henry Lendrum, Manufacturer. The witnesses were George Bertram Faulder – the middle of 3 brothers; Harold being the oldest – and Robert Henry Lendrum and Elizabeth Lendrum – probably the same people as her parents. [Ref: Marriage Certificate for Harold Faulder and Marjorie Lendrum]
3. The 1911 Census shows Robert and Elizabeth Lendrum living at 6 Belgrave Terrace, Huddersfield with their surviving daughter, Marjorie and a Domestic Servant. Marjorie was listed as a 23 year old governess, born in Huddersfield (implied year of birth of about 1888). Her father was listed as a 52 year old “Correspondent (foreign) – woollen manufacturer”, born in Kirkheaton (a village a few miles East North East of Huddersfield). Her mother Elizabeth was listed as Robert’s wife of 25 years (2 Children, 1 living) who was born in Huddersfield and 54 years old (implying a year of birth of about 1857). [Ref: 1911 Census RG14PN26296 RG78PN1521 RD495 SD8 ED11 SN118]
4. The 1901 and 1891 Censuses shows similar details for addresses in Huddersfield (1901: Reinwood Road, Portland Pl ; 1891: Wentworth Street)
5. Marjorie Fell Lendrum was born on the 12th June 1887 at Wentworth Street, Huddersfield. Her father gave that as his address when he registered the birth. He gave his profession as Woollen Manufacturer and recorded Marjorie’s mother as Elizabeth Lendrum formerly Fell. [Ref: Birth Certificate for Marjorie Fell Lendrum]

6. Elizabeth Fell married Robert Henry Lendrum at Lindley Parish Church (in the North West Suburbs of Huddersfield) on 3rd February 1886, giving Somerville, Edgerton as her residence. Robert Henry Lendrum was listed as a Manufacturer of Sunny Bank, Lindley. He was 27; she was 30 (implying a year of birth of about 1856). Her father was listed as Robert Fell, Chemist – he was also believed to be the witness signing as Robt Fell. [Ref: Marriage Certificate of Robert Henry Lendrum and Elizabeth Fell]
7. Elizabeth Fell is listed on the Censuses of 1881, 1871 and 1861 as living with her parents, Robert and Martha Fell and various siblings (1881 & 1871 at Somerville, 1861 at Market Walk (off King Street) Huddersfield).

Census	Address	Name	Relationship	Occupation	Age ⇒ YoB	Birthplace
1881	Somerville	Robert Fell	Head	Lead Manufr & Chemist	57 ⇒ 1824	Huddersfield
		Martha	Wife		46 ⇒ 1835	Bradford
		Elizabeth	Daughter		24 ⇒ 1857	Huddersfield
1871	Somerville	Robert Fell ‡	Head	Chemist and Druggist Manufacturer, Sheet Lead’g and Lead Pipes	45 ⇒ 1826	Huddersfield
		Martha ‡	Wife		36 ⇒ 1835	Bradford
		Elizabeth	Daughter		15 ⇒ 1856	Huddersfield
1861	Market Walk, King Street	Robert Fell	Head	Chemist, Druggist and Lead Merchant	37 ⇒ 1824	Huddersfield
		Martha	Wife		27 ⇒ 1834	Bradford
		Elizabeth	Daughter		5 ⇒ 1856	Huddersfield

8. [Refs: 1881: RG11; PN: 4392; FN: 107; PG:38;, 1871: RG10; PN: 43­81; FN: 56; PG: 28;, 1861: RG09; PN: 3263; FN: 59; PG: 14:]
   • ^‡ Robert and Martha are also shown at Matlock House “Establishment & Boarding House” in Matlock on census day 1871 – presumably “taking treatment”.
9. Elizabeth is baptised In Huddersfield Parish (St Peters) on 1st February 1856 – having been born on 4th January. Her parents are described as Robert and Martha Fell of King Street (he a Chemist). [Ref: West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: WDP32/68 – Collection on Ancestry. There are two relevant images in this collection; one of a conventional “baptismal register” with pre-printed numbered lines and one a manuscript record of baptisms (including date of birth). The manuscript may be the clergy’s original working document; because it has dates of birth, unlike the baptismal register, it is unlikely to be a Bishop’s Transcript of the register.]
10. On her birth certificate it confirms she was born 4th January 1856 at King Street, parents Martha Fell formerly Keighley and Robert Fell, Chemist and Druggist of King Street. [Ref: Birth Certificate of Elizabeth Fell Huddersfield : Q1 1856; Volume: 9a; Page: 295;]
11. Martha Keighley married Robert Fell at the Parish Church in Bradford on 20th September 1854. He is a Chemist and Druggist of full age from Huddersfield; she was a minor (less than 21 years old – born on or after 1833) from Bradford. Her father was listed as James Keighley, Plumber. His father was listed as John Fell Chemist and Druggist. The witnesses were Charles Bankart (probably a Brother-in-Law – who married her eldest sister Mary Hannah Keighley^†) and Edward Keighley, one of her younger brothers. [Ref: Marriage Certificate (Parish Register Copy) of Robert Fell and Martha Keighley, Bradford: Q3 1854; Volume: 9b; Page: 121;]
    • ^† Mary Hannah Bankart, a widow is with her father, James Keighley in the 1881 Census. [Ref: 1881 Census, RG11; PN: 4474; FN: 82; PG: 10;] Free BMD shows a marriage of a Mary Hanna Keighley to a Charles Bankart in Q2 1852 in Bradford [Ref: Birth Registration Index: Bradford: Q2 1852; Volume: 9b; Page: 58;]
12. Martha is probably listed on the Census for 1841. Relationships were not detailed in that Census but if we assume the Household was a family (including James, Martha, Mary and Edward) we find at Chapel Court, Bradford,: [Ref: 1841 Census, HO107; PN: 1294; BK: 8; FN: 41; PG: 24;]

Name	Surname	approx DoB	Place of Birth	Assumed Relationship
James	Keighley	1806	Yorkshire,	Head (Plumber & Glazier)
Elizh	Keighley	1811	Yorkshire,	Wife
Mary	Keighley	1831	Yorkshire,	Daughter
John	Keighley	1833	Yorkshire,	Son
Martha	Keighley	1834	Yorkshire,	Daughter
Edward	Keighley	1836	Yorkshire,	Son
Elizabeth	Keighley	1838	Yorkshire,	Daughter
Maria	Keighley	1841	Yorkshire,	Daughter

13. Looking up Elizabeth and Maria in the GRO Birth Indices reveals their Mother’s maiden name to be Ramsdon/Ramsden. (Ramsdon is probably a transcription error) Searching on that combination of parental surnames brings up further potential children; James (Q4 1839 – Q1 1841) and Frederick (Q3 1845 – )
14. Martha is not with her parents in 1851. James & Elizabeth are at Belle Vue, Bradford with Elizabeth, Mary and John from the above list. James gives his occupation as “Dyer, Plumber & Glazier – employing 11 Men and 2 Boys”. [Ref: 1851 Census, HO107; PN: 2310; FN: 407; PG: 41;] (He should not be confused with a James and Betty Keighley also in West Yorkshire – Betty’s husband is a farmer)
15. I cannot find a 1851 Census record for her; there are Martha Keighley’s but they are with the “wrong parents” or have an improbable occupation for a 17 year old daughter of a man who employs “11 men and 2 Boys” or they have the wrong birth place. Many of the improbables can be found again in the 1861 census when we know our Martha was by then married to Robert Fell.
16. The birth register for Westgate Baptist Church in Bradford records “Martha, daughter of James & Elizabeth Keighley was born May the ninth one thousand eight hundred & thirty four”. [Ref: General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths Surrendered to the Non-Parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 1910]
17. This matches a document that I have in my possession called the Fell “Family Register”.

18. James Keighley was married (by Banns) to Elizabeth Ramsden in Tong (SE of Bradford near Pudsey) on 11 November 1829. In the Bishop’s Transcript of the register he is described as “of this parish, Glazier” and she “of this parish, spinster”:

19. The names of the parties, his occupation and the rough date and proximity to Bradford, together with an absence of alternatives would tend to indicate that this is the correct couple.
    • From their ages on the 1851 Census, he would have been 24 or 25 and she would have been 17 or 18.
    • In the register the phrase “with consent of” has been struck out. Between the Hardwick Marriage Act of 1753 and the Law Reform Act of 1969, parental consent was required for a marriage when one party was under 21. While the parent of a minor could forbid the banns and so prevent a marriage from going ahead, a marriage by banns that took place without active parental dissent was valid. This gave rise to the practice whereby underage couples would resort to a parish where they were not resident to have the banns called without their parents’ knowledge. [Ref: Wikipedia: Clandestine Marriages Act 1753 (aka The Hardwicke Act)]
    • Apart from this marriage and a later census record for an as yet unconnected branch of the Keighley Family, Tong does not otherwise feature (to date) in the family that is the subject of this blog.
    • The ancient parish of Birstall, was split in the early 19th century into a number of parishes including Tong along with Drighlington, Heckmondwike, Liversedge, Gomersal, Cleckheaton, Cleckheaton St John, Wyke, Birkenshaw cum Hunsworth. The “ancient parish of Birstall” lies immediately to the South East of the “ancient parish of Bradford”.
20. From Census records (1851 to 1881) James’s place of birth is consistently reported as “Bradford”; his reported ages consistently (1851: 46; 1861: 56; 1871: 66; 1881: 76;) imply a Year of Birth of 1804 or 1805.
21. The 1851 Census records Elizabeth Keighley as being 38 and born in Bradford; implying a year of birth of 1812 or 1813.
22. There are a number of birth and baptisms of James Keighley’s in the Bradford area in 1804/1805, but without a generation spanning event it is hard to narrow down a specific event.
    • Purchase of the certificates relating to his last two marriages may give details of his father.
    • The certificate for his third marriage in 1864 identifies his father as Joseph Keighley – a plumber. Whilst he is not noted as deceased, he was not one of the witnesses and given James would have been 59 or 60, it is probable that Joseph was deceased at the time of his son’s marriage.
    • Looking in the Census records for 1841 and 1851 for a Joseph Keighley b 1770 +/-20yrs who was a plumber failed to find a possible candidate.

James Keighley: Possible Birth or Baptismal Records

If he was a baptist, we would be looking for a record of birth rather than a child baptism.

No birth records of baptismal records can be found for a James Keighley (or near surname) with a father Joseph in the West Riding of Yorkshire between 1802 and 1808 in the available online records (Ancestry, Find My Past, Family Search, or FreeReg).

From online records the following are possible birth or baptismal records for James (searching for “Bradford” and 1804/05).

Name	Date of Birth	Date of Baptism	Location of Record	Father	Mother	Sources
James K & Margaret K	23 Mar 1805	25 Mar 1805 at Batley	Old Chapel Independent Heckmondwike †	James K	Sarah	[ANCa]
James K		25 Mar 1805	Birstall	James K	Sarah	[FSa]
James K		8 July 1805	Birstall	Edward K	Elizabeth	[FSa]
James K	29 May 1805	9 Jul 1805 at Chapel Fold	Old Chapel Independent Heckmondwike †	Edward K	Elizabeth	[ANCa]
James K	31 Mar 1804	6 May 1804	Hunslet (Leeds) (too distant?)	James K	–	[ANCa]
James K	–	19 Feb 1804 (too early?)	Bradford	John K of Great Horton, Weaver		[FMPa]

Family Search [Historic Jurisdictions Map of 1851] reports Heckmondwike to be an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Yorkshire, created in 1837 from Birstall Ancient Parish (which bordered Bradford Ancient Parish). Heckmondwike village is about 5 km SSE of Bradford and Family Search again reports that it had Independent Methodist, Independent/Congregational, Wesleyan Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist Reform churches or chapels amongst its non Church of England places of Worship.

^† I think that “Old Chapel Independent” was also known as “Upper Chapel Congregational”, a transcription of the history of the later [Ref: Genuki] refers to the minister as being a Mr Hale – which would match the celebrant in the above records. The images of the records indicate that Baptisms took place in a number of nearby locations including: Batley, Chapel Fold, Dewsbury Moor and Dewsbury as well as the “mother location” of Heckmondwike.

James Keighley’s families

Chasing James through the Census records we see that he was married at least three times:

• In 1841 James Keighley (~35yo Plumber & Glazier b in Yorkshire) is at Chapel Court, Bradford with (presumed wife no.1) Elizabeth (~30yo b in Yorkshire) and others including Martha Keighley who later married Robert Fell. [Ref: 1841 Census, HO107; PN: 1294; BK: 8; FN: 41; PG: 24;]
• In 1851 James Keighley (46yo Dyer & Plumber & Glazier b in Bradford) is at 1, Belle Vue, Bradford with Elizabeth, his wife, (38yo b Bradford) and 2 Daughters, a Son and 2 Servants – Martha having left home or visiting somewhere as yet unknown (she married in 1854). [Ref: 1851 Census, HO107; PN: 2310; FN: 407; PG: 41;]
• In 1861 James Keighley (56yo Plumber & Glazier & Gas Fitter b in Bradford) is at Belle Vue, Manningham with Sarah, his wife no.2, (49yo b in Farnley, Yorkshire) and one servant. [Ref: 1861 Census, RG09; PN: 3333; FN: 74; PN: 31;]
• In 1871 James Keighley (66yo Retired Plumber b in Bradford) is at 1, Belle Vue, Manningham with Mary, his wife no.3, (56yo b in Baurton in Lonsdale, Yorkshire) and 2 servants. [Ref: 1871 Census, RG10; PN: 4481; FN: 28; PG: 10;]
• In 1881 James Keighley (76yo Retired Plumber b in Bradford) is at 1, Belle Vue, Manningham with Mary, his wife, (64yo b in Bentham, Yorkshire) and a Step-son, a widowed daughter and a servant. (Bentham is about 2 miles south of Burton in Lonsdale). [Ref: Census 1881, RG11; PN: 4474; FN: 82; PG: 10;]

James died before the 1891 Census. The Probate Calendar details: “27 October 1888 The Will with a Codicil of James Keighley late of Victoria Park Shipley in the Parish of Bradford in the County of York Gentleman who dies 17 September 1888 at Victoria Park was proved at Wakefield by Robert Fell of Edgerton Huddersfield in the said County Chemist and Druggist and William George Lord of Marlborough-road Bradford Commission Agent the Executors. Personal Estate £2,586 16s.” [Ref: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941 on Ancestry]. A William George Lord married Elizabeth Keighley, James’s daughter, on 9th May 1860 in the Westgate Baptist Chapel, Bradford [Ref: Bradford Observer; 10 May 1860; Page: 8; Col: 6;].

1. James Keighley and Wife No.1: Elizabeth Ramsden

From the above list we can see that in the 1841 Census James was with his probable wife Elizabeth and in the 1851 one she (presumably the same woman) is identified as his wife. (The 1841 census did not detail relationships.)

Children of this marriage are believed to be:

From Census records and Birth/Baptism. Marriage and Death/Probate records we find:

• Mary, b 6 October 1830, Registered at Bradford Westgate Baptist Church
  • married Q2 1852, Bradford
  • died 8th June 1882, Bradford as Mary Bankart
• John, b 23 July 1832, Registered at Bradford Westgate Baptist Church
  • married Q2 1855 to Emma Clayton, Bradford Registration District
  • died after 1901 (Census day)
• Martha, b 9 May 1834, Registered at Bradford Westgate Baptist Church
  • married 20th September 1854 to Robert Fell, Bradford Parish Church (CoE)
  • died 7th July 1920 at York
• Edward, b ~1836, Yorkshire (only found in 1841 Census with probable parents, but away at School in 1851 and married in 1861 living as the head of household)
  • married 6 June 1859 to Jannet Bog Blanchard, St Mary’s Scarborough (witnesses: James, John & Emma Keighley – the latter probably John’s wife Emma Clayton – Edward’s father was listed as James; plumber)
  • Jannet died 3 January 1892.
  • Father of Edward Ernest Keighley, Lord Mayor of Hull in 1924
  • died probably Q2 1907, Scarborough

From GRO Records we get the birth and death (registration) details of later children (which match to parental surnames, places of birth and derived approximate years of birth in Census Records):

• Elizabeth, b Q1 1838, Bradford, (Mother’s Maiden Name: “Ramsdon”)
  • married 9 May 1860 to William George Lord in Westgate Chapel, Bradford
  • died after the 1911 Census (when she was with her daughter Emily Marion and son-in-law Ernest Henry Bentley in Crouch End)
• James, b Q4 1839, Bradford, (Mother’s Maiden Name: Ramsden)
  • died Q1 1841, Bradford, (Age at Death: 1)
• Maria, b Q2 1841, Bradford, (Mother’s Maiden Name: Ramsden)
  • died Q1 1842, Bradford (Age at Death: 0)
• Frederick, b Q3 1845, Bradford, (Mother’s Maiden Name: Ramsden)
  • believed to be alive and at boarding school in Thorp Arch in 1861
  • thereafter hard to definitively trace – despite tracing a number of Frederick Keighleys born in Yorkshire around that time.

James’s first wife, Elizabeth Ramsden, died 26th April 1851, aged 40, at home in Manningham, Bradford from Convulsions and rupture of a blood vessel compressing the brain. James Keighley (plumber and glazier), was the informant. [Ref: Death Certificate – indexed as Elizabeth Krighley – BRADFORD AND NORTH BIERLEY: 1851 Q2; Volume: 23; Page: 139;]

On Find My Past, the Prerogative & Exchequer Courts Of York Probate Index, 1688-1858 shows a record of a Grant of Administration for “Keighley, Elizabeth of Bradford, wife of James Keighley” in August 1855. There are no other couples called James and Elizabeth Keighley on the 1851 Census for Bradford (and none for 1861), so this is probably the Elizabeth we are looking for (excepting the possibility of a couple of that name moving into the district). The online probate calendars which go back to 1858 would normally give a date of death. A subsequent four year gap before a grant of administration is unusual but not impossible.

2. James Keighley and Wife No.2: Sarah Knight (née Ingle)

In the 1861 Census James is recorded as residing in the same house as in 1851 (1 Belle View, Manningham) with his wife Sarah, a 49 year old born in Farnley, Yorkshire.

A note in the Leeds Times of 25th October 1862 (page 8 column 5) states: “DEATHS … Bradford … On Monday, age 51, Sarah, wife of Mr. James Keighley, Belle Vue.” This death announcement would indicate a year of birth of about 1811 – reasonably consistent with the 1812 implied from the 1861 Census. No probate record has been found.

Identifying her is not easy as apart from the above two records there seems to be very little else in terms of genealogical records that links her with James.

Separate Research has indicated that she:

• Married James Keighley on 31st May 1854 at Otley:
  • “Otley – On Wednesday last, at the parish church, by the Rev. Jos. Hart, B.A., vicar, Mr. JAMES KEIGHLEY, plumber and glazier, of Bradford, to Mrs. Sarah Knight, eldest daughter of the late Thos. Ingle, of the Royal Oak Inn, Otley.” [Ref: Leeds Intelligencer: 03 June 1854; Page: 8; Column: 5; on Find My Past]
• She had previously been married:
  • “Edmund Knight of the Parish of Bradford Woolstapler and Sarah Ingle of this Parish Spinster were married in this Church by Licence this thirteenth Day of September in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Four.” [Ref: Bishops Transcript of Otley Parish Marriage Register; on Find My Past]
  • Edmund Knight died in 1845: “June 27, in his 33d year, Mr. Edmund Knight, third son of Mr. Benjamin Knight, late of Great Horton, near Bradford.” [Ref: Leeds Intelligencer: 05 July 1845; Page: 5: Column: 6; on Find My Past]
  • They had one child: «28th April 1837 there is a baptism at St Johns Great Horton (Bradford) of a Thomas Edmund Knight, born the 22nd December 1836 to Sarah Knight, wife of Edmund Knight, Woolstapler of Bradford» [Ref: West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1910 on Ancestry]
• Sarah Ingle was the daughter of:
  • «Thomas Ingle of Farnley and his wife Mary, baptised Otley 25 December 1810 (born 30 November 1810)» [Ref: Yorkshire Baptisms (Bishop’s Transcripts at Borthwick Institute for Archives) on Find My Past] but
  • Census records for Thomas Knight (1841 and 1851) indicate that Sarah’s mother was Margaret. Possibly in the above transcription “Margt.” was miss-transcribed as “Mary”. [Ref: HO107; Piece: 1314; Book: 10; Folio: 30; Page: 16; on Ancestry & HO107; Piece number: 2284; Folio: 415; Page: 29; on Find My Past]
• There is no evidence that James and Sarah had any children.

3. James Keighley and Wife No.3: Mary Bentley (née Slater)

The Marriage Register indices as transcribed by FreeBMD show a marriage of James Keighley to Mary Bentley in the 1st Quarter of 1864. [Ref: Bradford: Q1 1864; Volume: 9b; Page: 224;]

The Census records for 1871 and 1881 suggest that this is the correct marriage and infers years and places of birth for Mary:

• In 1871 James Keighley (66 year old Retired Plumber born in Bradford) is at 1, Belle Vue, Manningham with Mary, his wife, (56 year old born in Baurton in Lonsdale, Yorkshire) and 2 servants. [Ref: RG10; Piece: 4481; Folio: 28; Page: 10; on Find My Past]
• In 1881 James Keighley (76 year old Retired Plumber born in Bradford) is at 1, Belle Vue, Manningham with Mary, his wife, (64 year old born in Bentham, Yorkshire) and a Step-son, a widowed daughter and a servant. (Bentham is about 2 miles south of Burton in Lonsdale). [Ref: RG11; Piece: 4474; Folio: 82; Page: 10; on Find My Past]

In the 1881 Census the Step-son is Arthur Bentley born 1834 in Bradford. This leads us to a Baptism in Bradford on 3rd December 1834 where the parents are Greenwood Bentley and Mary. [Ref: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 on Family Search]

Looking at Census records it seems that she reported her age with a degree of variance – which suggests dates of birth ranging from 1806 to 1822. With her son born in 1834, it is unlikely that Mary was born after 1818.

Source	Date	Age	Implied YoB	Place of Birth	Note
Census	1851	45	1806	Barton in Lonsdale	c/o Greenwood Bentley
Census	1861	43	1818	Barton in Lonsdale	c/o Greenwood Bentley
Census	1871	49	1822	Baurton in Lonsdale	c/o James Keighley
Census	1881	64	1817	Bentham	c/o James Keighley
FreeBMD (D)	1889	78	1811		Informant? a Keighley or Bentley?
Memorial	?	78	1811		Bentley Family Memorial

No record of the marriage of Greenwood Bentley to Mary has not been found which means we do not know her maiden name from her marriage to Greenwood. However, purchase of the certificate for her later marriage in 1864 to James Keighley gives her father’s name as William Slater, a White Smith.

Armed with her surname it is then possible to find a Marriage Bond sworn on 6th October 1831 by Greenwood Bentley relating to his proposed marriage at Thornton in Lonsdale to Mary Slater, a spinster of full age. [Ref: Archdeaconry of Richmond, England, Church of England Marriage Bonds, 1611-1861 on Ancestry] Thornton in Lonsdale is the next parish north from Burton in Lonsdale; both are on the Yorkshire side of the current border with Lancashire.

Also found in the same source is another earlier marriage bond sworn on 18 May 1827 by a William Williamson, tailor, relating to his proposed marriage at Preston to Mary Slater a 19+ year old spinster of Preston. It also records that the consent of William Bele Slater, “the natural and lawful father of the said Mary Slater” has been obtained. This marriage seems to have taken place a few days later on 21 May 1827 at St John’s Preston – again with the father’s consent being noted. [Ref: England Marriages, 1538–1973, (Bishop’s Transcripts) on Family Search]

The marriage certificate for the marriage of James Keighley to Mary Slater records her father’s name as William Slater. It is might therefore be thought that Mary, despite being described as a spinster in the October 1831 bond, had an earlier marriage than her one to Greenwood Bentley. Being 19 in 1827 would imply a year of birth of about 1808 which would be consistent with the dates previously implied from Census records. However a 1841 Census for William Williamson, tailor in Preston living with a presumed wife Mary and a number of children born after 1827, would indicate that this second marriage bond is not relevant to the tree that we are following.

Greenwood Bentley was previously married (21 July 1801 in Bradford) to a Jane Stockdale and they had eight children between 1802 and 1824. She died on 21 May 1828. [Ref: Leeds Intelligencer: 29 May 1828; Page: 3; Column: 6;]

Greenwood Bentley therefore probably married Mary shortly after 6th October 1831 and probably before 1834 (their child, Arthur Bentley being born 3rd December 1834).

There are no records available indicating that James and Mary had any children. She outlived James by about one year dying on 11th August 1889 and being commemorated on the Bentley memorial in All Saints Churchyard, Shipley:

In Memory of
Greenwood Bentley
of Bradford
Died July 29th 1858
Aged 81 years

Also Mary
Wife of the above
Died Aug. 11th 1889
Aged 78 years

Also Arthur
Son of the above
Who died May 22 1894
Aged 58 years

Memorial in All Saint’s Churchyard (Memorial ID Memorial ID 82743192 on Find A Grave