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Timothy
Jennings of Skipton Timothy
Jennings, father of Sarah Jennings, was born in Skipton and christened
on 24 March 1728
[1]
. He was the youngest son of John Jennings and
Rebecca Cockshott. Timothy’s
two eldest surviving brothers, twenty-year-old John, and thirteen-year-old
Edmund may have had little interest in the new arrival
[2]
. They would have been working with their father
in the family business to ensure the family had sufficient income.
Timothy’s brother Joseph would have been six when Timothy was born
and he may have been closer and played with the young boy when he
began crawling. Timothy may have been even closer to his sister
Hannah who would have been only three when the new baby arrived
[3]
.
Timothy
may have begun his career as a woolcomber in his father’s home in
Skipton. However, he may have had to fend for himself at an early
age as his father John Jennings died in 1745, when he was only seventeen
years old
[5]
. His closest siblings set up home in Skipton.
His sister Hannah married Richard Jonson, brazier, in 1746 when
Timothy was eighteen years old
[6]
. His brother Joseph was a mason and was earning enough by
1747 to set up his own home. He married Mary Wright in Kildwick
[7]
. Their first child, a daughter
Anne soon followed in December of that year
[8]
.
Each
move between Skipton and Ingleton would have been quite tortuous
for a young family and would have taken a couple of days. The family then moved from Ingleton
to Settle by 1759 where their next two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth,
were christened
[13]
. Finally, the family again moved back to Skipton
where their youngest son John Jennings was christened in 1763
[14]
. John may have been born blind, or he may have
been injured before the age of twenty-three when he was recorded
as a blind fiddler. His
brother Joseph had increased his family whilst Timothy was
in Ingleton. Joseph appears
to have led a fairly settled life in comparison with Timothy’s almost
gypsy lifestyle. He was a
Mason, and worked in Skipton in 1747, moving to Connonley in 1753,
and then to Bradley by 1757 when he was described as a Labourer
and a Husbandman. This may mean that Josephs’ work as a mason had
enabled him to build up enough funds to buy a smallholding in Bradley.
His first son John was buried in Kildwick in 1753 before
he was four months old
[15]
. Another son, also named John soon followed a
year later
[16]
. Two sets of twins followed in 1757 and 1760,
christened in Kildwick and Skipton
[17]
. Their youngest daughter Martha was christened
in 1764 in Skipton
[18]
. Timothy
must have made a good living in Skipton as he stayed there for the
rest of his life. The many moves and bearing six children had unfortunately
left his wife Sarah weakened and she passed away in October 1765
in Skipton
[19]
. She was only thirty-seven years old and left
three young children motherless. Timothy must have found it difficult
to cope and may have been supported by his parents in bringing up
his large young family. He probably took his time to grieve as he
did not marry a second time for three years. In May 1768 Timothy
married Martha Hudson
[20]
. Timothy may have combined woolcombing with agricultural
labouring and may have worked in Cracoe towards the end of his life
[21]
. In the next seven years Timothy lost two nieces, Margaret and
Ann Jennings
, daughters of his brother Joseph, was buried aged only sixteen and eighteen
[22]
. Timothy’s
oldest daughter Mary was the first to leave home and she married
William Holme in 1773 and left the Skipton area
[23]
. Rebecca was the next to leave home and she married
Moses Topham in Kildwick in 1775
[24]
. Rebecca Topham nee Jennings appears to have
moved to Bradford with her husband and had a family of six sons
[25]
. Timothy’s daughter Elizabeth does not seem to
have married. Timothy’s eldest son Timothy followed his father in the woolcombing
business and must have found that business was booming. He certainly
felt that he had a sufficient income to marry and start a family
and married Elizabeth Blackbrough
in 1777
[26]
. Timothy and Elizabeth soon started a family
with a son and a daughter in quick succession
[27]
. Timothy’s wife Martha died and was
buried in Skipton 1781
[28]
. Timothy
also died in 1781 aged fifty-four.
[1]
Timothy Jennings was christened
on 24 March 1728. Holy Trinity Skipton Parish Registers.
[2]
John Jennings
was
christened on 25 June 1708. Joseph
Jennings
was christened on 10 August
1710. Joseph probably
died young. Edmund Jennings
was christened on 20 March 1715.
Kildwick Parish Registers.
[3]
Hannah Jennings
was christened on 31 May 1725.
Holy Trinity Skipton Parish Registers.
[4]
Hugh the
son of John Jennings of Silsden shoemaker and Alice was
christened on 16 May 1732. Holy Trinity Skipton Parish Registers. [5] John Jennings was buried on 29 October 1745 in Skipton. Holy Trinity Skipton Parish Registers.
[6]
Hamah Jennings married Richard
Jonson on 5 June 1746. Their sons Gilbert Jonson was christened
on 5 April 1747 and John Jonson was christened on 4 February
1750, Richard Jonson was described as a navigator. Holy
Trinty Skipton Parish Registers.
[7]
Joseph Jennings
married Mary Wright
in Kildwick, North Yorkshire, 3/02/1747. Kildwick
Parish Registers.
[8]
Ann Jennings
was christened on 20 December
1747. Kildwick Parish Registers.
[9]
Timothy Jennings
married Sarah
Wilkinson on 27 January 1749. Ingleton
Parish Registers.
[10]
Mary Jennings
was christened on 27 January 1751. Ingleton Parish Registers
[11]
Timothy Jennings
was christened on 15 July 1753. Holy Trinity Skipton Parish
Registers
[12]
Rebecca Jennings
was christened on 29
August 1755. Ingleton Parish Registers
[13]
, Elizabeth Jennings
was christened on 2 April 1759, Sarah Jennings
was christened on 1 March 1761.Giggleswick Parish Registers.
[14]
John Jennings
was christened on 12 April 1763. Skipton Parish Registers.
[15]
John Jennings
was christened on 11 December 1752, and buried on 17 February 1753 in
Kildwick. Kildwick Parish Registers.
[16]
John Jennings
was christened on 31 March 1754.
Kildwick Parish Registers.
[17]
Samuel Jennings
and Margaret Jennings
were both christened on 5 August 1757. Skipton Parish Registers. Peter
Jennings
and Elizabeth Jennings
were christened on 19 November 1760. Kildwick Parish Registers. Elizabeth Jennings later
married Thomas Hawkswell
. They had
two children.
Thomas Hawkswell
was christened on 21 October
1792, Margaret Hawkswell Jennings
was christened on 25 December 1783. Skipton Parish Registers.
[18]
Martha Jennings
was christened on 31 May 1764. Holy Trinity Parish Church Skipton.
[19]
Skipton Parish Registers.
[20]
Timothy Jennings married Martha
Hudson
in Skipton on 16 May 1768. Holy Trinity Parish Church Skipton.
[21]
In 1792 he is described as
a woolcomber of Skipton. In 1792 he is described as a labourer
of Cracoe
[22]
Margaret Jennings was buried
on 8 December 1773 in Skipton. Ann Jennings
was buried on 7 February 1775
in Skipton. Skipton Parish Registers.
[23]
Mary Jennings and William Holme
had two daughters Ellen and Anne who appear to have been
christened in the Independent Congregational church in Keighley.
IGI.
[24]
Moses Topham and Rebecca Jennings
married on 21 December 1775. Kildwick Parish Registers. [25] AARON TOPHAM - Christening: 18 OCT 1778, WILLIAM TOPHAM -Christening: 13 DEC 1776, MOSES TOPHAM -Christening: 18 FEB 1781, SAMUEL TOPHAM Christening: 22 APR 1787, DAVID TOPHAM Christening: 30 MAR 1783, BENJAMIN TOPHAM Christening: 05 JUL 1789 Bradford. IGI. [26] Timothy Jennings married Elizabeth Blackbrough on 21 February 1777 in Skipton. Holy Trinity Skipton Parish Registers. [27] Mary Jennings was christened on 10 January 1778 in Kildwick, John Jennings christened on 25 December 1779, in Kildwick. Kildwick Parish Registers.
[28]
Martha Jennings was buried
on 31 March 1781 in Skipton. Skipton Parish Registers. |