A previous post outlined what I know about my 3x great grandfather John Micklethwaite who was born around 1805 and died in 1849. This post outlines the possible John Micklethwaites I have found.
John baptised 1803 Mirfield, Yorkshire: Mirfield had 3 branches of Micklethwaites. Separating them was one of the first tasks I undertook in my One Name Study. John was born in 1803 to James and Elizabeth nee Oxley, part of the branch which at one time owned Hopton Hall and donated land for the new Hopton Church in the 1840s. He was easy to eliminate from my search as there is a death for a John in Mirfield in 1809 which doesn’t fit any other John in Mirfield.
John baptised 1803 in Cumberworth, Yorkshire: This is another stronghold of Micklethwaites, and this John was born to Charlotte (a single woman). She married Joshua Marsden a few weeks after John’s baptism. John then seems to have adopted his step-father’s surname and is with Charlotte on the 1841 census as John Marsden.
John baptised 1805 Kirkburton, Yorkshire: Yet another place where there are several Micklethwaite families, some linked to the Mirfield branches, others to nearby Cumberworth and Penistone. John was born to Samuel and Mary nee Fisher. Samuel married Mary in Thornhill by Dewsbury, close to Mirfield, but his father was from Denby in Penistone parish. I have not found any further trace of John, no marriage or death. He had several siblings, including Martha who married in Almondbury, where my John married. He cannot yet be ruled out as my John.
John baptised 1805 Flockton, Yorkshire: There are not many Micklethwaite recorded in Flockton, but this family (Daniel and Sarh nee North) baptised their 2 eldest sons in a chapel here before baptising the rest of the family in a chapel in Hopton. Daniel is descended from one of the Mirfield branches mentioned earlier. Again I have nothing on John, no marriage or death. That the names Samuel, Daniel and Henry appear in this branch makes me wonder if this is my John, particularly Henry which is uncommon in other branches until later in the century, and as Henry was the second name of my John’s first son, Sam Henry, a practice used when the name had been given to a child who had died young – Daniel and Sarah had a son Henry born 1821, died 1823. So this Joh is the strongest contender.
These are the Johns whose baptisms I have found. It is possible there are more, or ones who weren’t baptised. In this context, there’s Godfrey to consider – more on him another time!
Andy Micklethwaite's Family History Blog 