Burwell-born PALMERs in Lancashire
What led me to this line of thought/research? It was in March 2001 that I discovered the Burwell
PALMERs in Lancashire; completely by accident whilst looking at the 1881 Census Surname Index,
using place of birth as a finding aid - and found this bunch in Lancashire!
On checking details, the names were right - they HAD to be part of my family.
But it was the following reply to a posting in the English Fens Mailing List that really confirmed it for me:
"There is a list of Strays from Cambridgeshire found in Lancashire on the Genweb Cambridgeshire pages.
There are about 800 of them."
And lo, and behold, in 1871, there was my Gt Gt Grandfather's younger brother William and his family
in Rossendale, working in a cotton mill. Double-checking back to the C.F.H.S. 1861 Census transcription
for Burwell, the names and ages matched exactly.
William's occupation in 1861 was "Engine driver to Threshing Machine" - obviously an agricultural occupation!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1871 UK Census CR1871 Rossendale, Lancashire RG10/4137 131b (from CFHS Strays Index - pg 26)
| PALMER William
| Age 45
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER Maria
| Age 39
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER Delphiner
| Age 19
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER William
| Age 16
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER Louis
| Age 15
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER Stephen
| Age 12
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER Harvey (should be Henry)
| Age 10
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER Amelia
| Age 8
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER Sioed[?] (should be Frederick)
| Age 6
| bn Cambridgeshire
| PALMER George
| Age 4
| bn Cambridgeshire
|
| | | | | | | | | |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BUT what took William, Maria and 8 young children aged from 19 down to 4 away from the
South Cambridgeshire countryside to the cotton mills of Lancashire?
Well, to quote a great-grandson of William & Maria:-
".....the Palmers came from Cambridgeshire to find work in Rawtenstall after there was a famine."
Many families from the Fens moved to the industrial areas of Lancashire during the mid-late 1800's
as the need for cheap labour grew in the Cotton areas and the numbers of unemployed agricultural
workers increased. Lancashire millowners often struck deals with the Parish officials to move
unemployed families north.
This PALMER family moved to Rossendale sometime between 1867 when George was born in Burwell, and
the time of the 1871 Census as William & Maria's youngest child, Alfred Edward was born in Lancashire
in 1872.
Then in January 2002, I received the following information from a descendant of Delphina PALMER:
"William & Maria moved to Lancashire in 1868 with their family to work in the mills.
The family had only been in the district about 3 1/2 years when Maria died leaving a 6 week-old baby,
Alfred Edward. More tragic, 9 months later, William died leaving 9 children orphaned.
The eldest child, Delphina, aged 20, left work to become mother to her younger brothers and sisters.
The eldest brother, William, became father to them all. I have a newspaper cutting from 1938 which
details all this information...............Delphiner, the eldest child, was my Great Grandmother."
I am deeply-indebted to Renee, Delphina's Great-Grand Daughter; she has done a huge amount of
PALMER research. With this new information, I was able to find the death registrations for William
and Maria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the 1881 UK Census, the family has moved from Rossendale; the elder children
are married with families of their own, but they were altogether in the same area:
Reedsholme Buildings, Higher Booths, Lancashire
PRO Ref: RG11/ Piece 4133 Folio 37 Pgs 19 & 23
| HADDAN Henry
| Head
| Age 25
| bn Doddington, Cambs.
| Labourer At Print Works
| HADDAN Delphina
| Wife
| Age 28
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Housekeeper
| HADDAN William
| Son
| Age 2
| bn Higher Booths, Lancs
| .
| HADDAN John
| Son
| Age 9m
| bn High Booth, Lancs
| .
| | | |
| PALMER William
| Head
| Age 26
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Mule Spinner
| PALMER Elizabeth A.
| Wife
| Age 27
| bn Whittlesea, Cambs.
| Throstle Spinner, Cotton Mill
| PALMER John W.
| Son
| Age 2
| bn C. Booths, Lancs
|
| PALMER Ernest
| Son
| Age 8m
| bn C. Booth, Lancs
|
| | | |
| PALMER Louis
| Head
| Age 24
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Labourer in Cotton Mill
| PALMER Ellen Maria
| Wife
| Age 27
| bn Field Dalling, Norfolk
| Dressmaker
| PALMER Annie Maria
| Daughter
| Age 2
| bn Higher Booths, Lancs
| | |
| TAYLOR Richard
| Head
| Age 53
| bn Haslingden, Lancs.
| Labourer Print Works
| HARDMAN Sarah A.
| Daughter
| Age 34
| bn Haslingden, Lancs.
| Labourer W Print Works
| PALMER Margaret A.
| Daughter
| Age 26
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Mule Spinners Wife
| PALMER Stephen
| Son-in-Law
| Age 26
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Mule Spinner
| PALMER Richard W.
| Grandson
| Age 9w
| bn C. Booths, Lancs.
| PALMER George L.H.
| Grandson
| Age 9
| bn Rawtenstall, Lancs.
| Scholar
| | | | | |
| PALMER Henry
| Head
| Age 20
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Mule Spinner Cotton
| PALMER Amelia
| Sister
| Age 18
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Throstle Spinner (C M)
| PALMER Frederick
| Brother
| Age 16
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Labourer in Cotton Mill
| PALMER George
| Brother
| Age 14
| bn Burwell, Cambs.
| Labourer in Cotton Mill
| PALMER Alfred Edward
| Brother
| Age 9
| bn Higher Booths, Lancs.
| Scholar
|
| | | | |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cotton Mills - A description of life in a cotton mill
Cotton Times - The Story of Cotton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To read more about this family, follow the links below:
| William's Siblings:
| ..........................
| William & Maria's children:
| Stephen
| ..........................
| Delphena
| Henry
| ..........................
| William
| Mary
| ..........................
| Louis
| Emmanuel & Susannah
| ..........................
| Stephen
| Honor
| ..........................
| Henry
| Louis
| ..........................
| Amelia
| Phylldelfina
| ..........................
| Frederick
|
| ..........................
| George
|
| ..........................
| Alfred Edward
|
| | | | | | | | | |
William & Maria
Rawtenstall photos showing William, eldest son of William & Maria, and his young family.
PALMER Home Page
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This page created 3 October 2001 & re-written 23 July 2003;
Amended/updated 17:51 09/11/2008
