Fifth Generation - Thomas Horner of Pateley Bridge

Thomas Horner, grandfather of George Horner was born in Pateley Bridge in 1760 the son of William Horner ^[1] . All, the Horners in the Settle area, who remain in the area in the nineteenth century, descend from William Horner the father of Thomas Horner and were born in Pateley Bridge [2] .

Thomas was the fifth son of William Horner of Whitehouses. His elder brother Thomas died young when William Horner was still living at Forthings and Riggs [3] .  He joined his elder brothers James, eight, Michael, five and William aged three [4] . By the time he was seven years old, he had been joined by his siblings Mary and John. Most of his siblings survived childhood, which indicates that his family were well fed.

It is not certain what occupation William Horner was involved in, but it is quite possible that he was a smallholder and a weaver. Certainly, in later life Thomas was a weaver and it is highly likely that he learnt his trade at home with his father. If so, Thomas would have been engaged in the weaving trade from an early age at home.

As Thomas lived in an area where the linen trade was predominant it is highly likely that he worked with flax and may have helped to weave linen. This would have involved soaking, retting and scotching and carding the fibres from about the age of three. As he grew older he would have been employed by his father as a weaver from the age of ten or eleven and would have helped to bring in another three or four shillings a week. His father William may have found that the profits from weaving were greater than the smallholding he tended and to make a profit ten hours a day labour was needed. Therefore it is highly likely that William Horner disposed of any smallholdings he may have had and moved into a dependent position on the textile industry. At its height after the introduction of the Spinning Jenny, which speeded up the supply of thread, William may have found that his wages were more than sufficient to have a comfortable life. With four sons able to weave at home by 1770, and two young children and his wife Mary to help prepare the thread William would have been earning in the region of £4 a week and his outgoings would have been four or five shillings a week to cover rent and food. This was an extremely comfortable life [5] .

The Linen Industry

At three Thomas would have been old enough to help with the domestic industry of preparing, spinning and weaving flax, and certainly by the age of seven he would have been coming quite proficient at his work. Processing flax involved a long and laborious process [6] . First the raw flax stems would be retted, either by placing the stems in a field and allowing the dew to moisten the plants, which took 21 days, or using a local stream for water retting, which took 7 to 10 days. This process was highly obnoxious due to the rank smell and the poisoning of water. It is not certain if the Horner family was involved in this process, as this may have been a specialist task.

The Flax seeds were then removed by drawing the flax through coarse combs, known as Rippling. It is highly possible that Thomas may have been involved in this task, but he may not have been involved in the breaking process, which would have needed more strength. Flax was put through a wooden breaking frame, which crushed the outer hull without damaging the inner fibres. The broken stems were then placed on a scutching board and a large wooden knife scraped the fibres clean.

Thomas may have been involved in the heckling process which used tools similar to those used for combing wool. Heckling removed bits of straw and short fibres called the tow [7] . After all this the flax was then spun. Linen was not easy to spin when dry, finer yarn was produced when dampened. Thomas’s mother and younger sister Mary may have been spinners, but even with two spinners in the household there would have been a need for more thread. It took five or six spinners to produce enough yarn to keep a weaver busy, so having a good source of yarn was a prerequisite. Therefore living near the new spinning mills would have been very important. Thomas may have worked as a weaver in his father’s household, but he may have woven linen or wool as looms were capable of weaving different fibres and could have been set up for wool or flax.

Thomas was a weaver and may have woven for the flax mills in Pateley Bridge, which was only a few miles away [8] .  He married Anne and had a family of two children under five and was expecting his third when he lost his older brother Michael. At the age of thirty-one Thomas’s brother Michael Horner was buried in Pateley Bridge Church in February 1786 [9] . This must have come as a shock as they were very close in age.

The Move to Wilsill

Thomas moved his family from Whitehouses to Wilsill between 1788 and 1790 [10] . This move meant that he was nearer his younger brother James Horner who had moved there before February 1790. In 1834 most of the inhabitants of Wilsill were linen weavers [11] . It is therefore highly possible that Thomas Horner wove for the local spinning factories.

There was a cotton-spinning factory at Hollins Hall, a few miles away and at Castle Mill Knaresborough and Thomas may have begun to weave cotton instead of linen [12] . He would be using the same linen warps and it could have helped in 1792 when there was a depression in the flax and linen industry. It is highly unlikely that he worked for the cotton industry in 1787, as there was a depression in the cotton industry caused by the East India Company stockpiling cotton goods from India in their warehouses. By weaving for both textile industries as a handloom weaver Thomas would have netted a handsome income. The work would have had some slack periods when he may also have worked as a labourer to keep bringing in the wages needed to feed his family. 

In the 1790s he would have found that the Spinning Jenny ensured that there was a good supply of cotton thread to weave with and may have found that industry the mostly lucrative after 1792. With the introduction of mule yarns he would have been able to weave different kinds of fabrics. With his young family as winders, he could have earnt at least £1 a week, and perhaps £2 a week, but this would have meant working a ten hour day at his loom, perhaps producing two pieces of 9/8ths shirting a week [13] . This was a great improvement on the eight shillings a week he could have earned in 1770 [14] .

 The move to Wilsill did not affect his family well.  In March 1790, Thomas lost his younger sister Mary [15] . This was the beginning of a very bad year for him. He lost his wife Anne in December 1790 and then his youngest son, Michael in the April of 1791 [16] . With a young family of four to feed Thomas must have found things very hard and it is surprising that he did not immediately remarry to provide a mother for his children. His brother James and James’s wife Peggy lived in Wilsill with two young children and perhaps Thomas depended on them to help care for his young children. Perhaps he also had a very caring mother in Whitehouses, only a few miles away, who would take on the care of his young brood while he worked. This support network would have ended in July 1795 when his mother Mary died and was buried [17] .

James Horner of Pateley Bridge and Arncliffe

Thomas’s younger brother James had married Peggy Preston in Arncliffe in 1788, but had brought his bride back to Pateley Bridge for the births of their first two children [18] . Their first daughter Betty was born in Whitehouses [19] . Between September 1789 and February 1790 Peggy and James had also moved from Whitehouses to Wilsill [20] . Thomas was probably following his eldest brother in search of work when he moved to Wilsill with his young family. The fact that James Horner was a flax dresser and Thomas was a weaver may have meant that they were a team; with James ensuring the flax thread was ready for weaving by Thomas. If they were a partnership this would explain why they both moved to Wilsill in the 1790s.

By March 1792 James Horner had settled at Haltongill in the parish of Arncliffe [21] . James is recorded as a flaxdresser from Ripon parish on his marriage to Peggy Preston in 1788 [22] . Flax dressing meant preparing the flax fibres into a condition in which they could be spun. Flax-dressers were independent and provided the raw dressed flax to the mills to be spun. The spun yarn was then farmed out to weavers to make linen cloth. As there were many flax mills in the Pateley Bridge area that James could have worked for, it would appear that he moved to the Arncliffe area to be with his wife’s family.

The depression in the flax and linen industry in 1792 may have caused James to move from the linen to the cotton trade. As a flax dresser he was used to heckling flax fibres, which was a very similar process to carding cotton or wool. It is therefore highly likely that James became a carder in the cotton industry. If so, he may have moved to Arncliffe on the opening of the new Cotton Mill in 1792 or he may have worked in the cotton Mill that was running for a few years around 1800 in HaltonGill [23] . This mill seems to have ceased working early in the 1800s as it was distant from the major road networks and very secluded. At this time James may have moved down the valley to Arncliffe.

There are no Horners recorded in Arncliffe, or in Littondale in the 1803 muster rolls, even though James would have been aged about 51, and men under fifty-five were recorded in the Muster Rolls. This might indicate that James had an income worth less than £5 per annum at this time.  It is self-evident that James’s income increased and was invested wisely as by 1807 James was recorded as a farmer voting for Foxup, but living in Arncliffe in the electoral roll of that year [24] . This indicates that by this date he owned substantial lands in Foxup, which may have been inherited from his wife’s family.  This James Horner is also recorded as a Colonel who has spent some time in America [25] . There are other Horners in the Arncliffe registers but these are mainly of marriages ^[26] .

The Move to Arncliffe

It is not certain why the Horner brothers chose to move as there were many opportunities for work in the Pateley Bridge area in 1792. Within the local area there were eighteen flax mills [27] . There was also a cotton mill at Wreaks [28] . Flax was imported through Hull from the Netherlands, Baltic and Northern Russia. When mechanical spinning was introduced at the end of the 18th century mills turned by waterpower introduced the factory system to the dale. These included Glasshouses Mill and New York Mill at Summerbridge, built on the Nidd, Shaw Mills on Thornton Beck and Fringill mill above Darley. The villages of Glasshouses, Summerbridge and Shaw Mills owe their being to these developments. However, most of these Mills were built from the early 1800s onwards and would not have been available to provide Thomas and James with work in the 1790s. The main centres of linen production at the time were York, Ripon and Knaresborough and it was the latter which processed the bulk of Nidderdale yarn. The depression in the linen industry in 1792 and the increased need for cotton may have meant that both James and Thomas had decided to work in the cotton industry.

If James Horner moved to Arncliffe due to his wife’s family connections, it is possible that Thomas Horner may have moved to Halton Gill with his brother James when the new mill at Arncliffe opened, or to the Halton-Gill Mill. There may even have been an offer of free transport from the owner to move weavers and workers from Wilsill to Arncliffe. This is made more probable in that the Hollin House Mill in Birstwith, a few miles from Wilsill, was occupied by Parker, Grainge and Co. in 1795 and spinning cotton [29] . It is likely that Thomas and James were employed by this factory as a carder and weaver, and may have been employed by the mill in 1791-2 as the Mill was probably in production by then. This may explain James and Thomas’s move of one mile from Whitehouses to Wilsill to be nearer their place of employment. Hollin House Mill was situated a mile south of Glasshouses. The walk of three or four miles would have been walks that the young men could have accomplished to work in the factory. In 1792, Grainge, one of the partners, had been involved in plans to base a cotton mill in Pateley Bridge which eventually came to nothing, but his partner, Thomas Parker of Keighley had built a cotton mill at Arncliffe by 1792 [30] . Thomas Parker may have wanted to move experienced workers from the Pateley Bridge area to Halton Gill and Arncliffe to set up these new factories [31] . If so, it is highly probable that James and Thomas moved to Arncliffe at this time to work in the new mill.

The Horners would have had to travel by carrier rather than coach, as this would have been much more expensive. Sitting on the back of the carrier’s carts with goods and vegetables cannot have been an easy ride, especially as these families were carrying all their worldly goods with them. First of all the two families would have had to move by foot or cart to Pateley Bridge. Then they could have chosen from a number of carriers to get to Grassington [32] . This ten-mile journey was over potholed roads and would have been uncomfortable. It would have taken the most part of a day. At Grassington they would have hitched a ride with one of the carriers to Hawes who would have taken the rickety road through Arncliffe, Halton Gill and then over the tops to Gayle and then Hawes. This could have been Benjamin Mitchell’s cart from the Royal Oak in Settle, or William Parish’s cart from the Red Lion in Skipton both of which departed every Monday [33] . Robert Procter also ran a service from Skipton to Arncliffe every Wednesday from the Hole in the Wall Inn, which would have traveled through Grassington. The Horners may have been able to tackle both parts of the journey in one day, or have had to remain in Grassington for a few days waiting for the next carrier. If they had caught the carrier to Arncliffe they may have had to walk the remainder of the way to Halton Gill.

If Thomas accompanied his brother James to Arncliffe he may have found that there was not enough business to support a weaver. As a weaver there needed to be plenty of spinning mills to provide the thread to weave with and Arncliffe was very isolated. Sometime between 1794 and 1803 Thomas Horner left his brother James in Arncliffe and moved his family once again. This may have happened in 1801 when the partnership between Thomas Parker senior and Thomas Parker Junior was dissolved [34] . As a flax dresser and a smallholder it seemed as if James’s family was very settled in Arncliffe and he remained until 1807 at least.

Clapham Mills

Thomas may have traveled from Arncliffe to Ingleton to work in Ingleton Mill. Ingleton Mill was built for cotton spinning in 1791, but between 1797 and 1807 it was owned by Thomas Lister Parker [35] . Again, Thomas Horner may have traveled from Arncliffe to Ingleton through this Parker connection. Perhaps he was required as an experienced factory hand. Perhaps once again Thomas did not find Ingleton to be the centre of trade that he needed as a weaver. Although, Ingleton Mill was owned by Thomas Lister Parker, it was leased by John Armitstead who had links with Mills in Clapham and Austwick. The earliest Cotton spinning Mill at Clapham was built in 1786 by four partners, three of whom originated from Nidderdale [36] .  Armitstead and Company also bought Ingleton Mill, and ran cotton mills at Rathmell from 1793-1797. Austwick Mill was built in 1792 [37] . This may have helped Thomas and his family move yet again. However long Thomas and his family may have spent in Ingleton, by 1803 they were settled in the township of Wharfe in Austwick, in Clapham Parish [38] . Interestingly the mill at Austwick had four flax spinning frames in 1795, which may explain Thomas Horners move there.

The first leg of the journey from Arncliffe to Grassington would have been by carrier again. The Hawes to Skipton carrier would have traveled this way and it would have reminded the Horners of their journey out, but a few years before. Then at Grassington they would need to board the carrier to Settle which would go across the highlands along Mastiles Lane. This was an ancient route, which had been traveled, by shepherds and travelers since the middle ages. After traveling across Mastiles lane to Great Stainforth the carrier would then travel down into Settle.

At Settle the Horners would probably have rested for the night, perhaps sleeping in the stables, unless they could have afforded a room at one of the Settle Inns. They may have rented a room in the New Inn to be ready for John Dowker’s carrier to Kendal on Tuesdays or Fridays, or Thomas Chandler’s carrier to Lancaster on Mondays and Thursdays. These both left from Shepherd’s warehouse in New Inn Yard. If they missed these carriers or could not find a space they could have taken Leonard Sedwick’s carrier to Lancaster from the Naked Man Inn on a Monday or Thursday. They would have traveled through Giggleswick and past Lawkland and Clapham on their way to Ingleton and it would have taken them most of a day. They would have arrived in Ingleton exhausted and drained from two days of traveling.

However, if Thomas moved straight from Arncliffe to Wharfe, at Settle the Horners would only have needed to take Robert Stockton’s carrier to ‘Astick’ on a Tuesday from the Royal Oak Inn. From Austwick a two-mile walk to Wharfe would have seen them arrive tired and jolted from a day in carters’ wagons.

Joseph Horner of Wardsgarth

There were close links between the community at Haltongill in Arncliffe and the Settle area. The ancient medieval court of Malham had included lands in the parish of Clapham such as Austwick, and Haltongill as well as Bordley, Malham Moor, Hebden, Horton in Ribblesdale, Long Preston and Wigglesworth [39] . In the nineteenth century, the Overseers of the poor at Haltongill owned property in Settle and leased it out [40] . Families such as the Fosters of Settle also originated in Arncliffe. In the 1851, Census for Settle an Ann and Nancy Foster are recorded living in Duke Street. Ann, aged eighty, and Nancy, aged seventy-six, were landed proprietors, but were both born in Arncliffe [41] . There were certainly strong links between the community of Arncliffe and Settle area.It is possible that Thomas and his family did move straight from Arncliffe to Wharfe.

Thomas may have had family connections in the Settle area. In 1803 Joseph Horner of Wardsgarth near Lawkland was buried aged eighty [42] . This Joseph was a gardener and was living close to Lawkland Hall, which was occupied in 1791 by J.A. Ingleby [43] . Joseph Horner may have been a gardener on the Lawkland Hall estate and living in a tied cottage.

Joseph Horner, had married Mary Grange at St. Cuthberts, Pateley Bridge in 1763 [44] . Mary, his first wife died in 1777, before he moved to Lawkland, and he may then have married Agnes [45] . His daughter Mary did not marry and died in 1818 in Wharfe [46] . .

The Horners of Marton in Craven

It is possible that Thomas Horner was related to a Horner family already established in Settle in the late eighteenth century who had moved there from Horton in Ribblesdale [47] . A Robert Horner married a Jane Hammond in Horton in 1782 and they had four children, christened in Giggleswick of whom only one son, Joseph, made it into adulthood before dying at the age of twenty-one [48] . Robert Horner himself came from Marton in Craven where his family had lived for at least one generation. [49]

Robert Horner had been living in Settle since at least 1787, and he had been a witness to the wedding of Winnifred Hammond of Settle, his sister-in-law in 1789 [61] .Robert Horner had settled in Settle as a grocer in 1791 and was the joint Overseer of the Poor in 1799 with Ephraim Hargreaves in Giggleswick, which indicates that he was a man of some substance [50] . Robert was reimbursed from the parish funds by 4 shillings and 9 pence for cloth for a bed gown for John Marsdens wife by the Parish [51] . In 1800, his bill was settled for £2, 14 shillings and 11 pence [52] . In 1801 Robert Horner was paid 2 shillings for a pair of old shoes for ‘Temp. son’ and another £4 3 shillings and a halfpenny [53] . This indicates that Robert was a man of some substance.

In 1803, Robert was recorded as a Grocer living in Settle [54] .  Although he and Jane Hammond had married in Horton in Ribblesdale, their first two children, Anne and John, were born in Marton in Craven [55] . Robert died in 1811 and his will was proved on 2 July 1811 [56] . His estate was valued at £300, which was a fairly substantial sum. Horton in Ribblesdale lies along the ancient wool route from Austwick to Kettlewell and it is possible that this Robert Horner was related to the Conistone Horners. If so, there may be connections with the linen industry. His eldest child Ann Horner was recorded as linen draper and Milliner in Settle in 1823 [57] . In 1841 and 1851, Ann Horner retired from the business, but is described as having an independent income [58] . It is interesting that in 1823 when Ann Horner is a linen draper, this was before the flax-linen trade suffered a depression in 1826, and from 1837-8 and 1841-2 [59] . If Thomas Horner were related to these Horners and involved in the linen trade, the slump in the trade may have forced him to search further a field for work.  It is not at present certain what happened to Robert Horner’s son John [60] .  John may have been a weaver. In Grindleton in 1803, a John Horner of the right age is recorded as a weaver, unmarried.

Although Robert moved from Marton to Giggleswick, it would appear that at least one of his brothers remained in Marton. Robert’s eldest brother Henry married Mary Brown in Bracewell and they had five children [62] . Henry’s daughter Isabel Horner married Henry Armitstead in 1810 in Waddington [63] . Henry Armitstead was the son of John Armitstead of Colne [64] .   Henry’s only son Thomas married Margaret Isherwood in Marton and in 1803 was recorded as a cotton spinner [65] .

Robert’s third eldest brother Jonathan married Mary Pollard in Colne and then  moved to Thornton to start a family, and was recorded as a weaver in the 1803 Muster rolls in Marton [66] . Jonathan’s son Robert Horner was recorded in 1825 as a loom manufacturer and furniture deliverer [67] . This would indicate that this branch of Horners were involved in the textile trade as well.  Of the second eldest son John, little else is known [68] .

Thomas Horner, three years older than Robert Horner of Giggleswick moved to Warrington in Lancashire in the 1780s. There he married his bride Bridget Dale and they had at least two daughters and a son Robert christened in Warrington [69] . Thomas and Bridget moved from Warrington to Grindleton in the Yorkshire Parish of Waddington between 1784 and 1795. Bridget died and was buried in Waddington in 1795 and their daughter Sarah died and was buried in Grindleton in 1800 [70] . There may be a connection between these Horners and those of Grindleton.

Life in Clapham

Whatever the reason for the move Thomas and his family thrived. Each move would have found them in a new cottage owned by the mill owner. At Arncliffe Mill Thomas and his family would have inhabited one of the ten cottages adjacent to the mill. These would have been rented out at a reasonable rate of about 1 shilling and six pence a week and would have been relatively spacious having at least two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs [71] . The kitchen would have had an oven and a boiler and a good kitchen grate and would be ‘fully furnished’. There would have been no need for the Horner family to take their furniture with them.

As a weaver Thomas would have still brought in a goodly wage by 1803 and could have earnt at least £2 a week. Their daily diet would have been potatoes and bread washed down with tea, and perhaps some porridge.  As one of the richer families working in the mills they may also have supplemented their diets with some eggs, milk, meat and fish. This meat and fish may not have been of the best quality, but rather seconds, and therefore quite tasty [72] ! They would have purchased three pecks of oatmeal a week to make bread and porridge for the children’s breakfasts and suppers at three shillings, and two ounces of tea for breakfast at nine pence [73] . A pound of butter for the week would have cost one shilling three pence and a loaf of bread a shilling. For ham, fish or cheese and half a pound of beef two shillings two pence would have been paid and one shilling for milk. Barley, potatoes and vegetables would have cost one shilling and eight pence. For warmth and heat, candles, soap and fire would have cost about 3 shillings a week. Shoes and clothing would have cost four and a half shillings a week. In addition Thomas may have had to pay one shilling a week for the rent of his loom. This would make a total of one pound, two shillings and eleven pence, leaving Thomas and his family with quite substantial amounts of surplus cash to invest. Weaving was at this time a very lucrative job.

 Thomas and is recorded living in Austwick Township in 1803 as a weaver ^[74] . Thomas and his eldest son William were both recorded as weavers in the Muster Rolls of Austwick Township that year. There was plenty of work for handloom weavers in the early nineteenth century in a place like Austwick. In fact 19 out of 112 men between the ages of 17 and 55, registering for Military service were weavers in Austwick in 1803. At this time, weaving was still carried out on handlooms in cottages, but small weaving-shops did exist in the village. One such utilised the old Well House in Low Street, which, in 1823, was converted into a Methodist Chapel [75] .

In the late eighteenth century, cotton Mills were built in the area surrounding Austwick. However, both Ingleton and Clapham Mills were put up for sale in 1807 and did not spin cotton again until 1837 [76] . But by 1792, Austwick Mill had been built for spinning cotton in the village of Wharfe in the township of Austwick [77] . In 1803, it is perfectly possible that Thomas Horner was weaving cloth at home for the Mill in Austwick and he may even have been able to make a tidy profit from the occupation. He may have begun as a Worsted, flax or woolen weaver and then changed to cotton when it became more profitable during the Napoleonic wars. After 1807, when Clapham Mill closed, he may have woven cloth for Austwick Mill, or he may have been weaving cloth for both factories up until 1807.

There were many other textile mills in the area. In 1783, the Langcliffe High Mill was adapted for Cotton spinning by three Lancashire men, George and William Clayton and R Walshman. They already had a large cotton factory in Keighley [78] . Alternatively, the shed between Langcliffe and Settle was built for weaving cotton and perhaps worsted. It is more probable that Thomas Horner and his brothers worked here. Bridge End Mill in Settle span cotton from 1785-95 by Williamson, Buck Jay and co.

Thomas may have worked for the Birkbeck family based in Settle. The Birkbecks farmed out wool to be combed by local families, and moved the wool to warehouses in Skipton by the end of the eighteenth century. If so, Thomas and his family may have worked at home as part of the Domestic system. Initially the Cotton industry in Yorkshire also used handloom weavers, and used the same networks as the older Worsted and Woolen industries. If Thomas Horner was a weaver in Austwick in 1803, it is perfectly possible that he may have woven cotton as well as worsted, wool or even linen. It appears to have been relatively easy to learn to weave and also for weavers to change from weaving worsted cloth to cotton cloth [79] .

Thomas Horner's Family

Whatever the reason for the move, the Horner family seemed to thrive in the Settle area. Thomas’s eldest son William Horner was a weaver when he married Jane Leach in 1803, but he appears to have changed occupation quite soon after marriage [80] . Thomas would have seen William make his living as a tinner and the birth of his eleven grandchildren by William and his wife Jane [81] . Thomas’s younger son John Horner married and followed his father as a handloom weaver, but moved to Giggleswick [82] . John Horner had a family of nine children [83] .

Thomas Horner of Pateley Bridge’s son Thomas Horner married Esther Howson, on 25 August 1813 in the parish of Clapham and settled initially in Wharfe and Thomas would have seen the birth of their children in Austwick when they moved in 1818 ^[84] . Thomas’s daughter Ann or Nancy married William Thistlewood in October 1814 in Clapham [85] . William and Nancy Thistlewood lived until 1851 when they are recorded in the Census returns for Austwick as living at Townhead in Austwick [86] . Thomas and his family remained in Austwick until 1828 and then sometime between 1828 and 1834 they moved to Skipton [87] .

By 1815, there was so much competition for yarn that Cotton Spinners provided weaving sheds for local weavers where they provided the yarn and weft threads for the weavers. After 1815, Thomas may have worked in the Worsted industry in Austwick. Thomas and his family may have worked in Austwick, situated in the weaving shed on the outskirts of the village, or woven worsted cloth from wool and cotton at home [88] . He may have spent many hours in cramped conditions for small rewards. As a handloom weaver, he would have earned 4d for weaving about thirty yards of cloth. By 1824 he would have found that the profits from handloom weaving were declining and may have been a recipient of the subsidy that the Poor Overseers of Austwick paid to handloom weavers in 1824-28. In 1828, rather than becoming a pauper or being sent to the workhouse he may have been taken in by his daughter Nancy and her husband to while away his last years with her family.  

Thomas Horner passed away from old age aged eighty in Austwick on 29 September 1840 [89] . Thomas Horner senior was a weaver and died from ‘age and febrility’. Although his sons William in Settle, and John in Giggleswick still resided in the area, he died attended by his grandson James Thistlewood [90] . He was buried in Clapham Church on 1 October 1840 [91] .