Richard BLACKOW (1707-1776)

Richard, son of William BLAIKOE of Catterall, was baptized on 3 Aug 1707 according to Garstang parish records on Ancestry.com. Catterall is a small village about 1.5 miles south and a little east of Garstang in Lancashire, England.


Catterall, Lancashire, England. Image courtesy of Apple Maps.

Unfortunately we don't know at this time to whom Richard BLACKOW was married or much else about him. There are no other records until the 1767 Returns of Papists (Worrall, 1980, V. 1, 108.) when we find him in Cabus as "Rich BLACOE" living with his son, Joseph.

Richard BLAKOE died in 1776. We are trying to acquire a copy of his will from the Lancashire Archives, but recently found a transcript of another researcher's copy on a Rootschat forum online. It reads as follows:

This is the last will and testament of Richard Blakoe of Snape Wood in Cabus in the parish of Garstang and County of Lancaster, yeoman by him made this 20th day of August in the year of our Lord 1776.

First it is my will and mind that all my left debts & funeral expenses together with the probate of this my will be first of all fully discharged by my executors & executrix, hereafter nominated & appointed and I do subject all my effects to the full payment & discharge of the same.

I also give to my niece Catharine Kilshaw of Sandholme and John Baines in the Forest of Wyredale the sum of £201 and it is my will and mind that £150 due to me from my son in law John Baines of Sandholme be called in for the discharge of the said legacy. All the residuary part & surplus of my effects of what kind nature or quality so ever, I give, bequeath & divide to my son Joseph Blakoe.

Lastly I nominate, constitute and appoint my son Joseph Blakoe, John Baines of Wyredale aforesaid & my niece Catherine Kilshaw executors & executrix of this my will.

And this I declare to be my last will and testament & do hereby revoke all & every other will here before made by me any time in witness whereof I Richard Blakoe the Testator above named here unto subscribed my hand & seal the day & year above written.

Signed sealed published & declared by Richard Blakoe the Testator above named as and for his last Will & Testament in the presence of us who subscribed our names as witnesses here unto his request in his sight & presence & in the sight and presence of each other.

Witnesses John Serjeant & Thomas Corbis [Corlis?]

Signed with mark & seal
Richard Blakoe

1st September 1776
Joseph Blacow and Catherine Kilshaw two of the executors in this will named were sworn will and faithfully to execute and perform the same and so forth (Power being reserved for John Baines the other executor in the said will named) before me
James Fisher Surrogate[/i]

Certainly it confirms the year of his death, as well as Joseph as his son, and John Baines as his son-in-law. We are still trying to determine how his niece Catherine Kilshaw is related.

Richard BLACOW was buried at St. Helen's, Garstang, Lancashire on 1 Sep 1776 according to the parish records.


Detail of Parish Register burial record. Richard BLACOW of Claughton (1 Sep 1776). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.


Detail of Bishop's Transcript burial record. Richard BLACOW of Claughton (1 Sep 1776). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Joseph BLACKOW (c. 1743-1809)

Joseph BLACKOW was born about 1743 presumably in the township of Cabus, in Garstang parish, Lancashire, England. Unfortunately we have not found a baptismal record as of yet, but his burial records state that he was 66 years old in 1809 which would put his birth at around 1743. His father was Richard BLACKOW of Cabus. The name of his mother is still unknown.

On 23 Sep 1765 Joseph married Alice Park of Roseacre in Kirkham, Lancashire according to the Lancashire parish registers. Banns of marriage are a "public legal notice made in a church proclaiming an intention of impending marriage with the object that persons aware of any impediment to the marriage may make their objection known." (Britannica.com)


Marriage record. Joseph BLACKO and Alice Park (23 Sep 1765). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Of note is that the ceremony was witnessed by his brother, Henry BLAKOE, and a William Park, an unknown, but probable relative of the bride. Also of note is that Joseph is described as a husbandman, which at that time was a free tenant farmer or small landowner. The bishop's transcript doesn't supply any additional information, but corroborates the date.


Detail of Bishop's Transcript. Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Some time in 1766, Joseph and Alice had a son who they named Richard following the tradition of naming the first son after his paternal grandfather. Sadly Alice may have died in childbirth. The Garstang parish records indicate the burial at St. Helen's Church of (interestingly) an "Ellin," wife of Joseph BLACKOW/BLEAKOW of Cabus on 22 Sep 1766, almost their first year anniversary. The reason for the name change is unknown, but it seems most probable that it is the same woman.


Details of Parish register (left) and Bishop's transcript (right) burial records. "Ellin" BLACKOW (22 Sep 1766). Images courtesy of Ancestry.com.

The following year both Joseph, 25, and his father "Rich" BLACOE, 61, are listed together as husbandmen residing for 20 years in Cabus, Garstang, Lancashire in the 1767 Returns of Papists (Worrall, 1980, V. 1, 108.) Joseph's one-year-old son, Richard, is living with his aunt and uncle in Barnacre with Bonds, Garstang.

On 29 Aug 1768 Joseph BLACKOE, husbandman of Cabus, signed and sealed a bond indicating his intention to marry Dorothy Robinson of Singleton township.


Bond. Joseph BLACKOE and John Robinson (29 Aug 1768). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

They were married on the same day in Kirkham, Lancashire. Witnesses were John Robinson and Jane Cornall.


Marriage record. Joseph BLACKOE and Dorothy Robinson (29 Aug 1768). Image courtesy of Amazon.com.

Joseph and Dorothy had at least three children: Ann (b. 1772), who married George Rogerson; Jennet (d. 1776); and Peggy (d. 1787). Unfortunately we do not know a whole lot about them. Dorothy died in 1797 and was buried 20 Dec 1797 according to the parish records and Ancestry.com database.


Details of Bishop's transcript (left) and Parish register (right) burial records. Dorothy BLACKOE (20 Dec 1797). Images courtesy of Ancestry.com.

By the time of Dorothy's death, Joseph was 54 and living in Claughton, about two and a half miles south of Garstang. Two months later on 20 Feb 1798 he signed another bond indicating his intention to marry Elizabeth "Betty" Threlfall. Henry Baines was Joseph's nephew, the son of his sister Mary.


Bond. Joseph BLACKOE and Henry Baines (20 Feb 1798). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Joseph and Betty were married the following day, 21 Feb 1798. Witnesses were Henry Baines and John Cornthwaite.


Marriage record. Joseph BLACOE and Betty Threlfall (21 Feb 1798). Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

A few months later on 19 May 1798, it appears that Joseph fathered an illegitimate child, Henry, with a Jane Smith. The record doesn't specify whether his surname was BLACKOE or Smith. The child would have had to have been conceived around July 1797 before his previous wife Dorothy had passed away.

Joseph lived another eleven years and died in 1809. He was buried at St. Helen's in Garstang parish, Lancashire on 17 Oct 1809.


Details of Bishop's transcript (left) and Parish register (right) burial records. Joseph BLACKOE (17 Oct 1809). Images courtesy of Ancestry.com.