The next few posts will describe what we know about David Hiley who was married in 1720 and died in 1767. David was a 6 x Great Grandfather.
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| Marriages at Halifax Parish Church in June 1720 David and Dorothy were married on the 7th (with the permission of West Yorkshire Archive Service) www.wyjs.org.uk/archives |
David married Dorothy Maud in Halifax Parish Church on 7th June 1720. The record of the marriage shows that he was a weaver and Dorothy was a spinster from Warley.
There is no record of a baptism for David so we do not know when he was born or who his parents were. However the inscription on his gravestone said that he died on 4th August 1767 in the 68th year of his age. This means he was born between 5th August 1699 and 4th August 1700.
At this time there were a number of baptisms for children whose father was shown as Henry Hiley. Because of the timings of the baptisms it is likely that these were children from two marriages - Henry Hiley who married Maria Whittaker on 2nd February 1685/86 and Henry Hiley who married Sarah Cockcroft on 20th December 1691.
Sarah was buried on 19th January 1700/01 and there are no more baptisms after this date. There were gaps between the baptism dates of the children where David might have been baptised so it is possible that he was the son of Henry but we can't be sure who his mother was.
Anne Mealia, Genealogist at Evergreen Ancestry writes:
David may not have been baptised: although the majority of children were baptised a few were missed; he may have been baptised but the baptism was not noted in the register; again this was not unusual as clerygmen often noted baptisms on pieces of paper before writing them up and sometimes these pieces of paper were lost. This is often why parish registers and the copies sent to the Bishop each year differ in some of the entries. He may have been baptised in a Non-conformist chapel for which records no longer exist or he may have been baptised a Catholic and registers for Catholics do not survive for this area. He may have been born elsewhere and in a place for which registers do not survive. His name may have been wrongly recorded or he may have been baptised with a name but used either a different first name or a different surname. If his mother was unmarried when he was born and she later married he may have taken his stepfather's name.
Between 1695 and 1706 there was a tax on each baptism and some families decided not to baptise their children. Some children were then baptised later after the law was repealed but there is no record of a possible later baptism.
Next post: David's children and his Settlement
