Rebecca Cockshott and the Cockshotts of Kildwick

      Rebecca Cockshott, mother of Timothy Jennings, was born in Kildwick, and christened on 31 December 1687 the daughter of John Cockshott of Swartha and Maria [1] . She joined her seven-year-old sister Anna and they were probably very close [2] .

Rebecca’s father died when she was only fourteen years old and Rebecca, her sister and her mother may have had to fend for themsleves [3] . Her mother Maria remained for another ten years before she too passed away in 1711 when Rebecca was only twenty-four-years old. [4] . Rebecca’s sister Anna married John Holliday in 1707 and she may have taken in Rebecca and their mother [5] . However, Rebecca’s uncle’s Thomas Cockshott of Silsden Moor or William Cockshott of Silsden may have taken them in.

       Rebecca married John Jennings in Kildwick Parish Church, in 1708 [6] . This may have been a shotgun marriage as Rebecca was already four months pregnant with their first son John who was born in June of 1708 [7] . John was recorded as an agricultural labourer of Silsden in 1709 and he may have moved from Stirton to Sildsen on his marriage to Rebecca. They seem to have made a comfortable home as their second son Joseph arrived two years later in 1710 [8] . However, 1711 was not a joyous year as Rebecca’s sister-in-law Ann Jennings was buried in November of that year [9] . She was only twenty-eight years old. Life continued for John and Rebecca and their third son Edmund was christened in 1715 [10] .

       Rebecca lost her father-in-law Edmund Jennings in 1721, when her family appear to have moved to Stirton from Silsden [11] . This may have been to enable John to inherit a smallholding in Stirton. This move may have mean that John and Rebecca could increase their family as they had more income to support their family. Rebecca and John appear to have had no more children for seven years, after the birth of Edmund in 1715. After the move to Stirton they had their last two sons, Timothy and Joseph and their only daughter Hannah [12] . Rebecca’s mother-in-law Grace may also have been on hand to help care for the young children and certainly lived to see the birth of her grandchildren Hannah and Joseph. However, Grace Jennings nee Cryer passed away and was buried on 3 May 1725 [13] .  Rebecca and John may have had to bring up their children with limited support from their families.             

                        Rebecca’s eldest son John was the first to marry. He had set up as a shoemaker, married Alice and had a son Hugh christened in Skipton in 1732 [14] .

       Rebecca lost her husband John Jennings in 1745 aged only forty years old [15] . Life may have been hard for fifty-eight year old Rebecca; as she had a seventeen-year-old son Timothy to care for, but it would seem that her children probably took her in as they were living close in Skipton. Her daughter Hannah married Richard Jonson, brazier, in 1746, and Rebecca may have been useful in attending the birth of her grandchild Gilbert Jonson ^[16] .  Her son Joseph had set up as a mason and was earning enough by 1747 to set up his own home. He married Mary Wright in Kildwick ^{[17] .} Their first child, a daughter Anne soon followed in December of that year [18] . Rebecca must again have been in demand to care for the young child. 

       Two years later in 1749 Rebecca’s youngest son Timothy set up his own home and married Sarah Wilkinson, daughter of Christopher Wilkinson and Mary Richardson in Ingleton [19] . Timothy may have been a woolcomber who moved from Skipton to Ingleton in search of work, where he met his future wife. Sarah Wilkinson’s father was a householder in Ingleton and this indicates that he was fairly well off. Whatever the reason Timothy and his wife Sarah stayed in Ingleton for the first three years of their married life. Their first daughter Mary was christened in Ingleton in 1751 [20] . By 1753 Timothy and Sarah appear to have moved back to Skipton where their first son Timothy was christened [21] . But only two years later the family were back in Ingleton where their second daughter Rebecca was christened in 1755 [22] .

            Unlike Timothy, Rebecca’s son Joseph stayed in the area. 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 [23] . Another son, also named John soon followed a year later [24] . 

Rebecca must have been happy to see her children settled and she passed away in 1757 at the good old age of  seventy-five [25] . 

John Cockshott of Swartha

Rebecca’s father John Cockshott was born in Addingham and christened on 17 September 1756, the second son of John Cockshott of Addingham [26] . He joined his older brother William who was only two years older than him [27] . He was soon joined by his younger sister Ann, when he was four, and his youngest brother Thomas, when he was seven years old [28] .  His sister Anne was buried in 1669, aged only eleven [29] . This must have been quite a blow to the young John who was only two years older then her. John and his two brothers survived to adulthood and they all married.

            The family had moved to Kildwick Parish by 1675 when John’s first daughter, Anna, by his wife Maria was baptised [30] .  John and his young family settled in Swartha, on the hilltops from Steeton. Seven years later their second daughter Rebecca arrived [31] .

            John’s brothers had also settled in the Silsden area, Thomas on Silsden Moor, and William in Silsden itself. Thomas Cockshott married an Anne Hudson in Addingham in 1684 [32] . It is not certain if this is ‘his wife Margaret’ named in the baptismal records of his children. Thomas had three children, Jane, John and Benjamin christened in Kildwick [33] . Thomas’s son John, John’s nephew, married Isabel Bramley daughter of Thomas Bramley and Mary Newall in 1711 [34] . William married an Anna Wade in Kildwick in 1685, and again it is not certain if this is the same woman as ‘Margaret his wife’ in the baptismal records [35] .  William was buried in June 1711 in Addingham [36] .

John Cockshott died in 1701 when he was only forty-five years old leaving his small family to fend for themselves [37] . His wife Maria outlived him by another ten years before she too passed away in 1711 [38] .

John Cockshott of Addingham

       Rebecca Cockshott’s grandfather John Cockshott of Addingham was born in 1626 the fourth son of John and Agnes Cockshott of Kildwick Parish [39] . He joined his two elder brothers George aged five and William aged three [40] . By the time he was eleven years old, he had been joined by another two brothers, Dionisius and Thomas, and a sister, Anna [41] .

       John’s brother George was the first to set up his own home. He married Maria and they had two children in Kildwick, Jane and Dionisius [42] . John’s brother William married Rebecca Marshall in 1657, and they had two children, James and Ann [43] .

       John married and moved to Addingham from Kildwick Parish by the time his first children arrived. John’s first son William was christened in Addingham in 1654 [44] . Another son, John, soon followed William in 1656 [45] . By 1664 John had another son Thomas and an only daughter Ann [46] .  However, Anne was buried in 1669, aged only eleven [47] . This must have been a difficult time for John and his family.

John and Agnes Cockshott of Kildwick

       John Cockshott was born in 1592, the second son of William Cockshott and Isabella Bradley of Swartha, near Silsden [48] . He joined his two-year-old sister Jane and his three-year-old brother George [49] . By the time he was fourteen John had another three surviving sisters, Elizabeth, Margaret and Agnes and another brother Dionisisus [50] .

       John’s sister Elizabeth was the first to leave home in 1614. She married John Taylor in 1614 and they had their first daughter Ann in 1619 [51] . John’s brother George was the next to leave home and marry. He married Ann Gill in 1615 [52] . They started a family in Silsden and had nine children [53] . John’s sister Margaret married William Scott in 1624 [54] . His youngest brother Dionisius married Margaret Eastburn in 1636, and after her death in November 1636 he married Elizabeth Boulton in 1637 [55] . Dionisius had two sons, Thomas and William [56] . His sister Agnes married John Johnson in 1634, but she died in 1638 after giving birth to a daughter Isabel in July 1635 [57] .

       John married Agnes and began a family in Kildwick in 1620 with the birth of his first son William, closely followed by George, another William and John [58] . John’s eldest son William probably died young. Within the next ten years John had two more sons, Dionisius and Thomas, and a daughter Anna [59] .

       John did not live to see his son John married and settled in Addingham as he passed away on 6 March 1641 [60] .

William Cockshott of Swartha

       William Cockshott married Isabella Bradley in Kildwick on 13 January 1588 [61] . William was described as ‘of Swartha’, which is near Silsden. William and Isabella had two sons, John and George, and a daughter Jane, by 1592 [62] . Isabella must have found this difficult with three children under four. Within the next fourteen years William and Isabella had another three surviving daughters, Elizabeth, Margaret and Agnes and another son Dionisisus [63] .

       William’s daughter Elizabeth was the first to leave home in 1614. She married John Taylor in 1614 and they had their first daughter Ann in 1619 [64] . William’s son George was the next to leave home and marry. He married Ann Gill in 1615 [65] . They started a family in Silsden and had nine children [66] . William’s daughter Margaret married William Scott in 1624 [67] . His youngest son Dionisius married Margaret Eastburn in 1636 [68] . His youngest daughter Agnes married John Johnson in 1634, but she died in 1638 [69] .

       William’s son John married Agnes and began a family in Kildwick in 1620 with the birth of his first son William, closely folloed by George, another William and John [70] . John’s eldest son William probably died young. Within the next ten years John had two more sons, Dionisius and Thomas, and a daughter Anna [71] .

William Cockshott of Silsden was buried on 19 October 1620 [72] .