Burnley Family

The Burnley Family

William, Mary Ann and their young son Henry arrived in Burnley sometime in 1850, and rented a house in Thomas Street, Burnley. The exact house cannot be identified as yet, but the 1851 census may throw some light on it. Family legend describes the family as living behind "The Pedestrian Inn" in other words between numbers 2 - 10. Today the site is covered by an extension to the offices of what was the Burnley Building Society, but the line of the street is still walkable.

In Burnley William and Mary Ann's family grew considerably. There was Mary b.1850, William 1852, Frank 1855, Elizabeth 1856, Emma 1859, Thomas 1862 and Walter 1865. There is considerable work still to be done in sorting out the families descended from the children.

HENRY the eldest, born in Liverpool married ESTHER ANN HARTLEY on the 8th July 1869. They had no children, and Esther died of Cystitis and Peritonitis on Boxing Day 1869. Henry remarried in the spring of 1871this time to JANE KAY - the couple had a daughter, ELIZABETH who was born on the 21st November 1871. Sadly Henry himself died at the age of 23 on the 27th July 1872, and Jane died in December 1875. This left Elizabeth as an orphan, and she is shown in the 1881 census as living with a family on Hebrew Road Burnley. There is still work to do on the later life of Elizabeth.

Very little is currently known about MARY born 1850. She may have married in 1870, as she does not appear in the 1871 census, though evidence for this still has to be found

WILLIAM HEBDEN was born in Burnley on the 19th September 1852. Unlike many members of the family he did not become a shoemaker. He worked as a book-keeper in Accrington and had lodgings (1881) at the Golden Lion in the town centre. He met and married Nanny Beagham at the Independent Chapel, Oak Street, Accrington on the 2nd June 1883. The Beagham's lived at No.98 Dowry Street Accington, overlooking the town centre. At the time of her marriage, her father had died, and she was lodging with the Hartley's, who lived two houses lower down the street. This

left her brother, sister and the sisters illegitimate daughter living in the family home. After they were married, William took a job at the Accrington Corn Mill and they rented a house at No. 15 Meadow Street (opposite the "Royal Oak" pub in the image above.) Nanny and William had one son, HARRY, born in October 1884, who became my grandfather.

William and Mary Ann's next child was FRANK HEBDEN born in Burnley in 1855. He married SARAH BIBBY on the 11th May 1875, and they moved into a house on Daneshouse Road. They had five children. MARY ANN born 1877, JOHN HENRY born 1879, TOM born 1881 who died the same year, EMILY born 1883 and WILLIAM born 1886. By 1901 the family had emigrated leaving for Philadelphia USA. Work to complete their details and identify their descendants has still to be done. Mary Ann may well have stayed in the UK and married in Blackburn in June 1894, but this still has to be verified.

William and Mary Ann's next child was ELIZABETH HEBDEN born in Burnley in 1856. She may have married in the September quarter of 1876, but this has still to be verified,. Beyond this, little is known about her.

The next member of the family was EMMA HEBDEN born 1859. in 1880 she married WILLIAM BARRETT from Skipton, and they moved into a house on Parkinson Street Burnley. They had two children ANNIE BARRETT and WILLIAM BARRETT

The family was completed by the addition of THOMAS HEBDEN born in June quarter 1862 and WALTER HEBDEN born on the 21st February 1865.

Dowry Street Accrington, the home of Nanny Beagham (No.98) is the brown house in the centre of the image behind the red estate car. She was married from No.96 (The Hartley's home) the brown house next door but one lower down the hill. Mary Hannah Hartley was a witness at the wedding.