Edward BLACKOW (1804-1886) Baptism and Marriage

The 1860 and 1870 US Censuses suggest a date of ca. 1804/5 for the birth of Henry BLAKEY's father, Edward. The 1860 Census also lists the family surname as "BLAKOW." As it so happens, Ancestry.com has a record for the baptism of an Edward BLAKOE (son of Ricd. and Peggy BLAKOE) on 20 Aug 1804 at the St. Mary and St. James Church (Roman Catholic) in Scorton, Lancashire, England.


St. Mary and St. James Church, Scorton, Lancashire, England (Dedicated 1861). Image courtesy of Ministry of Information Blog

How did we get from Bradford in Yorkshire county over to neighboring Lancashire county? For the answer to that we'll need to wait until we take a look at the 1841 and 1851 UK Censuses.

First though, let's recognize that currently we don't have any additional intervening records until Edward gets married. We've known for some time from the US Censuses that he married a woman named Margaret who was born ca. 1800/1 and died in Feb 1870. A search on Ancestry.com provides only two probable candidates for Edward's wife: (1) Margaret Sutton, who married an Edward BLACKOW on 26 Apr 1834 at St. Mary's, Lancaster, in Lancashire; and (2) Margaret Kellam, who married an Edward BLACOW on 11 Jun 1829 at St. Mary, St. Denys and St. George, in Manchester, Lancashire. Their marriage records are provided below.


Marriage record. Edward BLACKOW and Margaret Sutton (26 Apr 1834). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.


Marriage record. Edward BLACOW and Margarett Kellem (11 Jun 1829). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.


Marriage record (Bishop's transcript). Eduard BLACOW and Margarett Kellem (11 Jun 1829). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

It is interesting to note that on the BLACOW/Kellem documents, Edward's occupation is listed as a Wool Comber. Keep this in mind as it will come up again in future records. It is also worthy of note that one of the witnesses is Thomas BLACKOW/BLACOW and Edward had an older brother named Thomas.

We will soon see in the 1841 and 1851 UK Censuses that Edward and Margaret had three children: Henry (b. 15 Apr 1829), Eliza (b. 18 Oct 1832), and James (b. 10 Nov 1834). It would have been more unusual for Edward to have married Margaret Sutton in 1834 about five years after Henry's birth and one and a half years after Eliza's birth, than to have married Margaret Kellam about two months after Henry's birth.

Further evidence supporting Margaret Kellam as Edward's wife is found in Eliza's and James' baptismal records. Though unfortunately Eliza's lists her mother as Margaret BLACKOW, it also lists a Martha Kellam as her godmother.


Baptismal record. Eliza BLACKOW (23 Dec 1832). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

James' baptismal record is a little more direct. Even though Ancestry.com's editor transcribed the mother of James BLAKER as Margaret Helleson, when I first examined the record her maiden name jumped out to me as Margaret Kellum. Every other capital "H" on the page has a strong horizontal cross stroke that extends beyond the vertical strokes. Hers does not.


Baptismal record. James BLAKER [sic] (7 Dec 1834). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.