Copyright: Jill Coulthard. These pages are intended for
private Family Research only, not for Commercial Use. If extracts
are copied, please give an acknowledgement.
Updated October 2008
SOME EXTRACTS FROM
THE
MOSCROP AND MOSSOP FAMILIES
OF
WEST CUMBRIA
DESCENDED FROM
WILLIAM MOSCROP OF PRIOR SCALES
Copyright: Jill Coulthard. These pages are intended for
private Family Research only, not for Commercial Use. If extracts
are copied, please give an acknowledgement.
TO ALL THOSE RESEARCHING MOSCROP/MOSSOP ON W. COAST CUMBRIA
A group of us has joined together to try and sort out the relationships which have occurred since William Mossop lived in Prior Scale Farm, Calder Valley, died January 1684/85.
Below is our latest "write up" but other relationships have become apparent since so it is very much ongoing. Anything you can add will be welcome.
With any other information or queries please contact
The initial research came to me through George Kendall Gillberry who had collected papers passed down through Ruth Geldart (a founder member of Cumbria F.H.S.), Arthur Brewin (grandson of Clement and Martha Mossop (neé Coulthard ) of Rottington, Dr. A.G. Mossop who was descended from the Seascale/Lincolnshire branch.
This input would not have been possible without the contributions of Marshall & Jean Mossop, George Kendall Gillberry, the late Grant Dixon, Maggie Blyth and all the other persons who have added their own family line.
Scope of Research
The above covers the known lines of those researching so far and linking back to William of Prior Scale. There are more descendants whose details are not given in full. There are still others whose lines do not tie in to date but may become evident when other evidence is brought in.
To date I have recorded over 4.5 thousand descendants of William. Many more are known to individual members of our group.
Although very much information has been supplied by Marshall Mossop and George K. Gillberry, I have not yet had access to all the parish registers for all dates, all wills, nor examined all the census returns. Therefore it is probable that much more is yet to be found regarding these families.
I have researched our main line back through Moses of Rottington Hall and on to known descendants. For the rest I have relied on several good people who have provided registration certificates, parish register information, census returns, churchyard inscriptions, wills and family knowledge. Any further information is gratefully accepted towards the combined pool of Mossop knowledge.
This summary is just an outline from information obtained from various sources and is open to correction and discussion.
INDEX
SUBJECT DATES RELATIONSHIP
GOSFORTH, CUMBERLAND
BACKGROUND & EARLY YEARS 1559-1638
PRIOR SCALES, CALDER VALLEY
WILLIAM 1638-1685
LOW PRIOR SCALE
JOHN & BRIDGET (WILSON) 1642-1707
1ST SON OF WILLIAM
CLEMENT & BRIDGET (STEEL) 1677-1748
1ST SON OF JOHN & BRIDGET
CHARLES & ANNE (WILLIAMSON) 1726-1810
4TH SON OF CLEMENT & BRIDGET
CLEMENT & JANE (MOSSOP) 1755-1815
1ST SON OF CHARLES & ANNE
4TH DAUGHTER OF CLEMENT & JANE SHARP
JOHN & MARY (IRWIN) 1785-1841
1ST SON OF CLEMENT & JANE MOSSOP
CHARLES & AGNES (SHARP) 1793-1867
GRANDSON OF CHARLES & ANNE
CHARLES & JANE (GUNSON) 1832-1884
3RD SON OF CHARLES & AGNES
JOHN SHARPE & LIZZIE (JOPSON) 1858-1909
1ST SON OF CHARLES & JANE
WILLIAM & MARY (MOSSOP) 1771-1841
7TH SON OF CHARLES & ANNE &
2ND DAUGHTER OF JOHN & ABIGAIL
HIGH PRIOR SCALE
CLEMENT & ABIGAIL 1650-1737
2ND SON OF WILLIAM
JOHN & FRANCES (BENN) 1686-1784
2ND SON OF CLEMENT & ABIGAIL
CLEMENT & ELIZABETH (JACKSON) 1716-1790
2ND SON OF JOHN & FRANCES
JOSEPH & ANN (WALKER) 1763-1837
5TH SON OF CLEMENT & ELIZ.
HENRY WALKER & ESTHER HUTCHINSON 1838-1909
GRANDSON OF JOSEPH & ANN
CONISTON
MOSES AND JANE (DIXON) 1755- 2ND/3RD TWIN SON OF CLEMENT & ELIZABETH
CLEMENT & ANN (MOSSOP) 1758-1834
4TH SON OF CLEMENT & ELIZABETH &
(MOORSIDE, GOSFORTH) DAUGHTER OF THOMAS OF GOSFORTH
HENRY & MARY WOODCOCK 1719-1797
3RD SON OF JOHN & FRANCES
ELEANOR COOK
JANE ATKINSON (NEE WALKER)
(SIDE & STRUDDABANK)
MOSES & HANNAH (STEEL) 1754-1809
1ST SON OF HENRY & ELEANOR
(SIDE)
HENRY & MARY 1781-1857
ONLY SON OF MOSES & HANNAH
(LAMPLUGH)
HENRY & JANE (HAIG) 1812-1889
1ST SON OF HENRY & MARY
(MORESBY & AUSTRALIA)
ROTTINGTON HALL, ST. BEES
MOSES & ELIZABETH
(ASHBURNER) 1696-1785
4TH SON OF CLEMENT & ABIGAIL
& HANNAH (KITCHEN)
& RUTH (COOK NEE KITCHEN)
CLEMENT & ELEANOR (WALKER) 1730-1814
2ND SON OF MOSES & ELIZABETH
MOSES & MARY (FOX) 1772-1866
2ND SON OF CLEMENT/ ELEANOR
HENRY & MARY (DICKINSON) 1805-1889
4TH SON OF MOSES & MARY
SUBSEQUENT YEARS
-1956
DAUGHTERS OF WILLIAM & RUTH COOK 1732-
CLEMENT AND JANE (SHARP)
1709-1789
4TH SON OF CLEMENT/ ABIGAIL
(BECKERMET, ENNERDALE &
TORTLECOTE, HAILE)
WILLIAM & MARY (PONSONBY) 1737-1817
2ND SON OF CLEMENT & JANE
(PRIOR LING, ENNERDALE,
EHENSIDE & CRINGLETHWAITE)
SHARPE & SARAH (STAVELY) 1807-1882
GRANDSON OF WILLIAM & MARY
(CLIFTON & DEARHAM)
MOSES AND MARY (COPELAND) 1744-1816 3RD SON OF CLEMENT & JANE
(MIREHOUSE, ST. BEES, PONSONBY &
WALTON, ST. BEES)
MOSES AND SARAH (LITTLE)
1807-1857
2ND SON OF
MOSES & MARY
(SANDWITH, WHITEHAVEN &
PORT HAMILTON)
CHURCH HOUSE, PONSONBY
ISAAC AND FRANCES (SOUTHWARD) 1749-1809
4TH SON OF CLEMENT & JANE
JOHN AND ANN (WILSON) 1781-1841
2ND SON OF ISAAC & FRANCES
ISAAC AND JANE (BATEMAN) 1814-1887
1ST SON OF JOHN & ANN
(SELLA PARK, SCARBROW &
THISTLETON)
THOMAS AND MARY (ATKINSON) 1826-1910
4TH SON OF JOHN & ANN
(GREEN MOORSIDE)
CLEMENT AND ANN (POOLE) 1828-1871 5TH SON OF JOHN & ANN
(GOLDEN FLEECE)
THOMAS AND JANE (IRWIN)
1792-1850
5TH SON OF ISAAC & FRANCES
(LOWLING BANK, MOSS SIDE
& BLACKBECK HILL)
WILLIAM & ELIZABETH (AGNEW) 1825-1884
3RD SON OF THOMAS & JANE
(BLACKBECK HILL &
QUARRY BROW)
ANOTHER DESCENT FROM CLEMENT
& JANE
JOSEPH & SUSAN (KITCHEN) 1758-1836
7TH SON OF CLEMENT & JANE
(BUTCHER OF EGREMONT)
ISAAC & SARAH (NICHOLSON) 1795-
5TH SON OF JOSEPH & SUSAN
(SHIPWRIGHT OF WHITEHAVEN)
CAPT. CLEMENT & ELIZABETH (DELANEY) 1818-1872
1ST? SON OF ISAAC & SARAH
BECK COTE, CALDER VALLEY
HENRY AND BARBARA (JACKSON) 1652-1719
3RD SON OF WILLIAM
CLEMENT & ELIZABETH (GRAYSON?) 1688-1732
2ND? SON OF HENRY & BARBARA
& ANN
& ANNE (CURWEN)
HENRY AND MARY (MARSTON) 1711-1783
ONLY SON OF CLEMENT & ELIZABETH
ISAAC & ELEANOR (COOK) 1742-1807
2ND SON OF HENRY & MARY
(SELLA PARK)
JOHN & JANE 1782-1821
2ND SON OF ISAAC & ELEANOR
& MARY (BENSON)
(EHENSIDE & BECKCOTE)
HENRY & ELEANOR (GLAISTER) 1806-
ONLY SON OF JOHN & JANE
(EHENSIDE & ARLECDON)
CLEMENT & MARY (WATSON) 1792-1864
5TH SON OF ISAAC & ELEANOR
(ARLECDON)
JOHN AND ABIGAIL (MOSSOP) 1745-1808
3RD SON OF HENRY & MARY &
(LAMPLUGH, BRAYSHAW, BECKCOTE) 1ST DAUGHTER OF CLEMENT & JANE
ISAAC & JANE (NORMAN) 1725-1813
1ST SON OF CLEMENT & ANNE
(HIGH BROAD LEYS)
CLEMENT & ANNE (COOK) 1750-1822
1ST SON OF ISAAC & JANE
(CROASDALE)
JOSEPH & ELEANOR (ROBINSON) 1804-1882
GRANDSON OF CLEMENT & ANNE
(DRIGG & IRTON)
MOSCROPS AND MOSSOPS
Background and Early Years
The first mention of these families appears to be in Gosforth area of West Cumberland. There is a story, probably fanciful, that the first of this name was a foundling, discovered by a monk on a bank of moss outside an abbey and given the surname "Moss Crop". It certainly seems to be true that the early origins of the name of those who eventually changed to Mossop are confined to this area. Those originally Moscrop in other areas appear to have retained the original spelling.
In the earlier years the surname was given as Moscrop/Moscrope/Mosscroppe and similar variants but around the 1730s this branch began to change to Mossop although by then they were fairly dispersed over West Cumberland. After this date, I have used the spelling Mossop although, inevitably, around the transition period some individuals were baptised under one spelling and married and buried under others.
From information collected by Dr. A. G. Mossop in the early part of this century, Chancery Records between 1559 and 1565 state that Richard Moscrop of Gosforth conveyed lands in his own lifetime to his son Thomas. I do not have the precise date but Thomas had apparently died by 1565. (Dr. Mossop was a descendant of a Seascale family one of whom, Rev. John had moved to Lincolnshire and founded a dynasty there.)
Thomas had at least one son and probably at least two. The definite one is Richard, born before 1558 who married Elizabeth Mayson at Gosforth on 29 August 1573. Richard and Elizabeth had a son, William, baptised 27 September 1573 and a daughter, Margaret, baptised 13 February 1574/5, both at Gosforth. It appears that this son, William, lived in maturity at a place/farm called "Rackes" in Gosforth and is henceforth known as "William of Rackes".
The next probable son of Thomas was another Thomas who was born before 1550 and married Johanna (Jane) Gibson at Gosforth on 6 September 1572. It appears that Thomas and Jane, too, had two children named William and Margaret. I have no baptismal dates for William at present but Margaret was baptised on 12 June 1575, again at Gosforth. This son, William, is almost certainly the one known in future as "William of Bankhouse, Gosforth".
(Dr. Mossop’s commissioned chart dating from the 1930s is very detailed but the parentage of the above children is reversed. From my own research I believe the above to be the more likely scenario for reasons below. There are other mistakes in this chart which was very well compiled but before the benefits of IGI and other records being available)
I believe that the children of Richard and Thomas probably married each other, i.e. each male cousin married the other’s sister. So there were two sets of cousins married, both William and Margaret, one of Rackes and one of Bankhouse, Gosforth.
17 October 1596 at Gosforth: William Moscrop married Margaret Moscrop. I believe this was William (of Rackes), son of Richard and Margaret daughter of Thomas.
In December 1619, William of Rackes died and his administrator was his widow Margaret. In December 1622, Margaret, widow of Ponsonby died (presumed widow of William of Rackes). Her administrator was her brother, William. It therefore appears that William of Rackes and his wife Margaret had no children, which the above mentioned chart showed them as having and this is why I think the parentage should be reversed.
In contrast, William of Bankhouse did have children: I can find no marriage for him and Margaret. I have assumed his wife’s name was Margaret for reasons, see below. Even so, it is circumstantial that her maiden surname was Moscrop and that she was William’s cousin.
His known children were as follows and all events were at Gosforth
THOMAS Baptised 2 July 1598 buried 16 April 1668
Married Dorothy 6 children of which 2 died young.
Lived at Bankhouse, Gosforth
CLEMENT Baptised 25 May 1601 27 March 1665
Married Mary 8 children of which 1 died young
Lived at Boonwood, Gosforth
BRIDGET Baptised 10 March 1603
I also believe he had two other sons for this reason. The name Clement is very strong in our branch and carries on even to the present day. Almost every generation had a Clement and it was also adopted by some families the Moscrop/Mossop married into. I have not found it in any other branch I know about although there are several families whose origins I cannot trace at present. If this is so, the other two sons are:-
WILLIAM moved to High Prior Scale farm in the Calder Valley, parish of Beckermet St. Bridget just north of Gosforth. William died in January 1684/5 at High Prior Scale and was buried in the parish of St. Bridget.
BARNARD Married Ann and had three daughters. Buried 24 December 1691 at Haile. Lived at Ennerdale and later at Dixonhill, Haile
In 1665 Clement Moscrop of Boonwood died. The witnesses to his will were Thomas Moscrop and William Moscrop. The bondsmen were Clement’s widow, Mary, Thomas Moscrop of Gosforth and William Moscropp of St. Bridget’s. Clement had only one surviving son, John, so it is more than likely that Thomas and William were two of his brothers. Instead of using two people living in Gosforth itself, William obviously had to attend from the parish of St. Bridgets. I think this makes it almost certain that William and Barnard were also children of William of Bankhouse but I have no proof. I have looked in every imaginable place for a will of William of Bankhouse without success.
In 1668 Thomas of Bankhouse died. His executors were his widow and two of his daughters.
I do not know what became of their sister, Bridget.
Definite Family Information
The above is piecing together information which is not proven but the
first time we definitely identify our family is in 1638 when Margaret Moscrop,
widow, died at High Prior Scale and was buried in the parish of St. Bridget.
Her administrators were her two sons, William and Barnerd. I think it is
more than likely that in her widowhood she had gone to live with William.
However, the plain fact of the proven matter is that a widow, Margaret, died
at HPS and had two sons, William and Barnard. We are descended from William.
PRIOR SCALES, CALDER VALLEY
WILLIAM & ? OF HIGH PRIOR SCALE
We do not know the name of William’s wife but it appears she predeceased him as she is not mentioned in his will. William died in 1684/5 at High Prior Scale. He had the following children all in his will but daughters unnamed except by married surnames:-
JOHN Born/bap
24 April 1642 buried 30 May 1707. Married 26 July 1677
at Haile to Bridget Wilson - 4 sons and 1 daughter
Lived at Low Prior Scale which stayed in the line of this branch until
this century
(There are two farms at Prior Scales, Low by the River Calder and High up on the hill nearby)
DAUGHTER married Henry Benn, a local farmer. Their granddaughter was Frances Benn (1690-1770) - see below.
DAUGHTER married William Moscrop, also probably a relation and local farmer
DAUGHTER married John Jackson from a local farming family
CLEMENT Born about 1650 (guess as John’s is the only baptism recorded and other details come from William’s will)
Clement married Abigail (I do not have the marriage in Cumbria. There is a marriage which would fit of a Clement and Abigail Williams in Ireland on 4 July 1682 [date of bond]. That Clement is described as a mason of Moncktown, Dublin and Abigail as of the parish of Bray. Abigail is not a common name so I am inclined to think it might be the correct marriage and not just a coincidence. However, it would mean that Clement was working as a mason in Ireland at the time. There was considerable cross sea traffic between Whitehaven, Isle of Man and Ireland so it is not impossible that Clement sought a change of scene in his early years. Williams is also a Welsh name rather than an Irish one so it appears Abigail’s family were not natives of Ireland. I have provisionally put this on my tree but have not seen the original entry.)
Clement lived at High Prior Scale and this farm stayed in the family into this century. Clement and Abigail both died in 1737, he slightly before her.
HENRY Born about 1652 (guess) Married 2 March 1685 at Haile to Barbara Jackson - about 8 children. It is possible that Barbara was the sister of John. Haile is the adjoining parish to Beckermet. Later members of the families intermarried with the Jacksons too. Henry lived at Beck Cote, another farm in the Calder Valley and it stayed with his descendants for some time.
JOHN & BRIDGET
John was baptised in 1642, the eldest son of William of Prior Scale. From this time onward, Prior Scale is mentioned as two farms, Low by the River Calder and High further up on the hill. John took over Low Prior Scale and his brother Clement High Prior Scale. John married Bridget Wilson in 1677. John died in May 1707 aged 65 and was buried on 30th May at St. Bridget Beckermet. He predeceased Bridget who is mentioned in his will. In his will he names his children:-
CLEMENT Born 1677 at Low Prior Scale. He was married on 25th November 1704 at St. Bees to Bridget Steel. Although John’s will stated that his four sons were to share equally some money due to John and Henry was named, with his mother Bridget, as residual legatee, it was Clement who continued at Low Prior Scale.
GRACE Born 1678 at LPS and married on 28th January 1696 at St. Bees or Whitehaven St. Nicholas (whose registers were kept by St. Bees) to John Bragg. They had at least one daughter, Elizabeth, married on 5th July 1720 at St. Bees to Henry Mossop, from what branch not at present known.
HENRY Born c. 1680 at LPS. He may be the Henry buried at St. Bridget Beckermet in 1736.
CHRISTEY GAITSKELL Born 1685 at LPS. Nothing further known. No marriage or burial records.
ANTHONY GRAISON Born 1686 at LPS. Nothing further known. No marriage or burial records.
Clement was the eldest son of John & Bridget born 1677 at Low Prior Scale which he continued to farm after his father. He died on 11th January 1748 and was buried on 13th at St. Bridget Beckermet. Bridget lived until 1766 when she was living in Whitehaven. Their children were:-
SARAH Born 1705. Died 1725
MARY Born 1707. Married firstly JOHN HINKSTER in 1734 at Newcastle-on-Tyne and secondly JOSEPH BARRON in 1743 at Gateshead. She was the mother of both John Hinkster and Mary Barren mentioned in her brother John Mossop’s will of 1791.
JOHN
Born 1709. Died 1791 aged 82. John apparently
took over Low Prior Scale. He made his will in 1789 and left everything
to his nephews and nieces. It appears that John was unmarried but there
was a marriage of a John Mossop of Prior Scale to a widow, Isabel Powe,
at Ponsonby on 31 March 1744. This is the only John available but Isabel
was buried as a widow two years before John and John himself is buried
with his parents.
SHADRACH Born 1712. Died 1788. Married twice. First to Hannah Thornthwaite which resulted in children, Mary 1741, Shadrach jnr 1742, Eliza. 1743 and William 1743/4. Only Shadrach mentioned in uncle John’s will. He married Jane and was a watchmaker. Second marriage to Rose, resulted in Nancy 1747, Elizabeth 1748, Bridget 1749 who married Joseph Stewart. These three are all mentioned in the will.
ISABEL Born c. 1714? Baptism not found. There is an Isabel daughter of Clement buried in 1717 at St. Bridget. However, Clement’s first cousin, also Clement of Beckcote was having children at this time and the register is not specific as to which child belongs to which family.
ISABEL Born c. 1718? Baptism not found. Alive when father made his will in 1748.
BRIDGET Born 1720. Died 1726. Again could be child of Clement of Beckcote. However, it appears that this family did have a Bridget and from another website that she was the daughter who married, on 2 May 1743 at Lancaster, ABRAHAM KIRKBRIDE whom Clement names as a son-in-law. His son John (died 1791) mentions his niece Isabel married to Henry Thompson of Whitehaven, grocer. Isabel was the daughter of Abraham Kirkbride but unfortunately no mother is given in the baptism register. For some reason their four children aged between 12 and 3 were all baptised together on 13 July 1758 at Whitehaven St. Nicholas with only their father's name given.
JOSEPH Born c. 1722. Married Elizabeth Robertson in 1765. They had at least one son, John, mentioned in his uncle’s will. Joseph received an annuity from this will.
CHARLES Born 1726? Baptised 1st January 1726/7 at St. Bridget Beckermet. Married Anne Williamson in 1753. Several children detailed below. Charles inherited Low Prior Scale from his brother John.
CHARLES & ANNE
Charles inherited Low Prior Scale in 1791 from his brother John who was seventeen years older than him but Charles himself was 65 years old at that time and had been married for 38 years. He farmed Boonwood at Gosforth during this time and had the following children born there and baptised at Gosforth. Boonwood had been held by Clement son of William of Bankhouse in the earlier days. The fact that Charles farmed it might strengthen the likelihood of a family connection or might be a complete coincidence in that the farm was available for lease when Charles required one. Anne died in 1798 and Charles in 1810. They were buried at Gosforth with their predeceased children. All the children were born at Boonwood and baptised at Gosforth.
CLEMENT Born 1755. Married Jane Mossop, daughter of Clement Mossop and Jane Sharp and a granddaughter of Clement and Abigail of High Prior Scale on 29 January 1778 at St. Bridget. They had several children, some of whom died young. Clement was left the freehold of Low Prior Scale by his father which he left in turn to his eldest son, John, when he died in 1815. It is probable that Clement and Jane took in his niece Ann and nephew, Charles, children of his late brother John. See below. Certainly Charles gave Prior Scale as his abode at marriage and later owned Low Prior Scale.
NICHOLAS Born 1758. Died 1786
SARAH Born 1760. Died 1779
ISAAC Born 1762. He may not be a son of this family as another Isaac born below but no burial record for this Isaac and not on family gravestone at Gosforth.
JOHN Born 1763. He married Sarah Walker 23 February 1789 at Ponsonby and they lived at Mealbank, Gosforth. Sarah’s sister, Ann, married Joseph Mossop of High Prior Scale in 1791. John and Sarah had two children, Ann baptised 8 December 1789 at St. Bridget and apparently born the previous day at Prior Ling in the Calder Valley and Charles baptised 1 February 1793 at Gosforth. John died the following year aged 31 and it is probable that Sarah and the two children went to live either with Clement and Jane at Low Prior Scale or with Joseph and Ann at High Prior Scale. Joseph and John were third cousins and their wives sisters. Sarah remarried to William Hartley on 24 November 1796 and they had four further children including a daughter, Sarah, who married Richard Threlfell.
BRIDGET Born 1765. Married name Kirkbride according to her father’s will though almost certainly it was Rothery. The only Bridget recorded around this time married William Rothery 17 May 1790 at St. Bridget’s. They had a long line of children including Charles and Ann which also suggests it was this Bridget. The youngest was born 22 Dec 1808 and her presumed father Charles died 24 May 1810. Charles had made his will some nineteenth months earlier on 22 October 1808 before the last baby, named after him, was born. A Bridget Rothery was buried at St. Bees in January 1815 aged 48 which is almost the same age as this Bridget would have been. From all the evidence it appears that through some slip of mind the married name of Charles sister Bridget (see above) was written rather than his daughter's. Ann Rothery, daughter of William and Bridget, born c. 1795, married a fourth cousin, William Mossop of the High Prior Scale line, 19 July 1817 at Whitehaven St. James. This marriage gives two lines of descent from our original William for Brenda Pearce.
CHARLES Born 1768. Married Betty Mossop, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth of Windsor, Nether Wasdale from a Gosforth family in 1798. They farmed at Montreal, St. Bees parish. Betty died in 1801 less than six months after giving birth to their daughter Elizabeth. CHARLES remarried to Ann Benn in 1803 having three further children. He became a Grocer in Egremont, dying there in July 1812 at the age of 44 and being buried with Betty at Nether Wasdale. Ann carried on as a Provision Merchant in Whitehaven surviving until the age of about 89.
EDWARD Born 1769. Died 1770.
JOSEPH Born and died 1770.
WILLIAM Born 1771. Married MARY MOSSOP daughter of John and Abigail, both descended from William of Prior Scale. Lived at Prior Ling, Calder Valley and died at Catgill. See below.
ISAAC Born 1775. Married Sarah Mossop, daughter of Henry Mossop and Jane
Atkinson (nee Walker). (Henry another grandson of Clement and Abigail)
Isaac was a farm labourer in Egremont and later a farmer at Southam in the
parish. Most of their children died young
but one, John, appears to have become an auctioneer in Egremont.
Isaac died at Southam in 1854 with Sarah living until 1857.
CLEMENT AND JANE
Clement was the eldest son of Charles and Ann of Boonwood and Low Prior Scale. He was baptised 23 November 1755 at Gosforth and inherited Low Prior Scale from his father in 1810. He married Jane Mossop, daughter of Clement Mossop and Jane nee Sharp of Ennerdale, Tortlecote and Prior Ling, on 29 January 1778 at St. Bridget. They were second cousins once removed. Clement died only five years after his father on 12 June 1815 (six days before the Battle of Waterloo) and was buried at St. Bridget. Jane lived on until 12 September 1843 when she died at Thornholme. Clement and Jane had ten children of whom at least four died young.
Of their sons,
JOHN Baptised 3 April 1785 at Gosforth where his parents had taken over Boonwood until his father inherited Low Prior Scale in 1810. Married Mary Irwin 24 May 1806 at Gosforth. Mary was almost certainly the sister of Jane Irwin who married Thomas Mossop of Low Ling Bank and Moss Side (Church House family). They had about nine children of whom the first five or six were born at Boonwood. There is some query about a boy named John who died at Boonwood aged 2 days in early March 1814 as he does not appear on the MI at St. Bridget's with his presumed parents and two sisters. A daughter Bridget born that year was baptised and died at St. Bridget Beckemet in June after they had moved to Farmery in that parish. Their sixth or seventh child William was born at Low Prior Scales in 1821 after John had inherited that farm. A further two probable children are John born Arlecdon 1824 and Charles in 1827 at the same place.
CLEMENT Baptised 3 February 1794 at Gosforth. Married Mary Ann Banks whose family kept Langhorn Farm, Egremont on 10 August 1817 at Egremont. It is very probable that Mary Ann was an aunt of Ann and Isaac Banks who later married into the Mossop family of Rottington Hall. Ann’s late father-in-law, Moses, and Clement were second cousins.
Clement and Mary Ann’s eldest daughter, Esther, was born at Langhorn and baptised 8 July 1818 at Egremont. She died unmarried as a young woman. There then appears to be a gap until Jane was born in 1824 at Low Prior Scale. They then had three sons born there and baptised at St. Bridget, Clement 1826, John 1832 and Joseph 1834. I have no record of what happened to any of these children. Clement apparently lived and farmed with his brother John at Low Prior Scale. Mary Ann died in September 1834 and by the time Clement died in 1859 he was living in Whitehaven. There is an ambiguous suggestion in his obituary that Clement might have at one time farmed Thornholme, further up the Calder Valley, where his mother died in 1843.
John was the eldest son of Clement and Jane Mossop of Low Prior Scale, baptised 3 April 1785 at Gosforth. He married Mary Irwin 24 May 1806 at Gosforth and inherited Low Prior Scale from his father in 1815. John died very suddenly on 9 November 1841 at Egremont whilst he had then been living at Hensingham, Whitehaven. Presumably by this time Low Prior Scale was tenanted or managed for him. Mary died on 27 September 1852 and was buried at St. Bridget with her husband and infant daughter Bridget. Their daughter Ann who was buried at Gosforth is also included on their memorial. No will is apparent either for John or his brother Clement and therefore I do not know how the freehold of Low Prior Scale was passed down. John and Mary's surviving children were as follows:-
CLEMENT Baptised 8 March 1807 at Gosforth whilst his parents were living at Boonwood. He married Martha Sumpton on 9 May 1830 at Arlecdon and made his home there, farming Scalescough. They had three daughters, Mary, Jane and Anne but apparently no sons. Martha died in 1864 and Clement in 1881, both being buried at Arlecdon. It is apparent that Clement did not take over Low Prior Scale when his father died in 1841.
JANE Born 3 March 1809 at Boonwood and baptised at Gosforth on 5 March. Married Samuel Bowman 15 November 1829 at Arlecdon.
SARAH Born 18 January 1811 at Boonwood and baptised at Gosforth on 27 January. Married William Irving 14 December 1835 at St. Bees. William and Sarah are ancestors of Val Taylor.
WILLIAM Baptised 4 July 1821 at St. Bridget after his father had inherited Low Prior Scale. It appears he married three times but without children. William became the postmaster at St. Bridget Beckermet (Calder Bridge).
JOHN Baptised 18 December 1824 at Arlecdon. Appears to be the John who married Mary Casson 22 May 1847 at Arlecdon.
CHARLES Baptised 28 November 1827 Arlecdon. Married Mary Pattinson early 1862 in Cockermouth Registration District.
CHARLES AND AGNES
Charles was the only son of John Mossop and Sarah Walker, baptised 1 February 1793 at Gosforth.
He had an elder sister, Ann. After their father died in 1794, their mother Sarah married William Hartley on 24 November 1796 at Gosforth. William and Sarah had at least four other children.
Charles was a nephew of Clement Mossop of Low Prior Scales on his father’s side and of Joseph Mossop of High Prior Scales on his mother’s side. Charles eventually owned Low Prior Scale though I do not know if he inherited it from his cousins, who farmed it after their father, or bought it from them as no relevant wills have been found. Charles also owned Allans and two cattle grazings on Ponsonby Fells. However, he preferred the leased farm of Thornholme where he spent his life.
He married Agnes Sharp on 4 January 1816 at Muncaster. Charles died at Thornholme on 26 April 1867 and Agnes on 14 April 1874 at Prior Scale. Their family was as follows:
CLEMENT Born 1817 at Thornholme. Married Ann Smith 28 June 1845 at Haile by Rev. John Fox, the incumbent and native of St. Bees. Although Ann’s father, John Smith, was a yeoman living in Haile at the time and it is a common surname, I think there may be a family connection with the Smith family of St. Bees. Rev. John Fox’s brother Clement was vicar of Corney and married to Frances Smith, daughter of Rev. John Smith, vicar of Millom and perpetual curate of Ponsonby, Sella Park and St. Bridget. Frances’ niece of the same name married as second wife the son of Rev. John Fox. Revs John and Clement Fox’s mother was Hannah Mossop of the Rottington branch. I also think there are other family connections going further back. Rev. John Smith was buried at St. Bees. Rev. John Fox was an ancestor of Carmel Reynen and Dianne Fox and his sister Catherine of John Coulthard.
Clement and Ann had one child, Eleanor, baptised 1 March 1846 at Haile. Eleanor married Edward Braithwaite BA Cantab on 16 April 1868 at St. Bridget. They had two very distinguished sons in the medical profession.
Clement and Ann lived at Braystones, St. Bees parish, where he died on 27 July 1848 aged 31. He was buried at St. Bridget where he has a memorial with his parents. His executors were his father and Isaac Hutchinson of Braystones. He made good provision for Eleanor but left nothing directly to his wife. It seems that alternative provision must have been made for her by other family members.
Did Ann, his widow, marry a widower, John Quayle, on 7 November 1850 at Haile, her father again being given as John Smith, yeoman? Or was she Ann Mossop aged 37 of Braystones buried July 1855 at St. Bees? Both seem very likely and maybe it was the same Ann buried by her family under her first married surname?
JOHN SHARP Born at Thornholme and baptised 9 April 1820 at St. Bridget. John did not marry. He was left Low Prior Scale and Allans on Ponsonby Fell by his father and three houses at Moss Side near Calder Bridge by his sister Hannah. He died in March 1909 and left his property to his nephew, also John Sharp Mossop
HANNAH Born at Thornholme and baptised 28 April 1822 at St. Bridget. She inherited Moss Side from her father. In 1881 she and her brother John were living together in St. Bridget, both unmarried. She died on 6 December 1898.
JANE Born at Thornholme and baptised 31 October 1824 at St. Bridget. She died in 1853 at the age of 28.
CHILD A baby whose name was not given was baptised at St. Bridget 15 March 1829.
CHARLES Born at Thornholme and baptised 8 March 1832 at St. Bridget. Married Jane Gunson of Yottenfews on 16 February 1858 at St. Bridget. They lived as his father’s tenant at Low Prior Scale until his father died in 1867 and then moved to Thornholme. His father’s will asked that Charles’ brother, John Sharp, who inherited Low Prior Scale, should buy Charles’ stock from him so that it remained on the farm. He then left Charles an equal value of his own stock when he took over the lease of Thornholme.
AGNES Born Thornholme and baptised 11 October 1835 at St. Bridget. Died infant.
CHARLES AND JANECharles was the youngest son of Charles Mossop and Agnes, born 1832 at Thornholme. He married Jane Gunson in 1858 and lived first as his father’s tenant at Low Prior Scale then took over the lease of Thornholme. Charles died on 10 May 1884 at Thornholme aged 52. Jane lived to 5 May 1905 when she died at Dalton-in-Furness. Their children were:-
JOHN SHARPE Born at Low Prior Scale and baptised 18 December 1858 at St. Bridget, Calder Bridge which had been consecrated in 1842. He became a Veterinary Surgeon. Married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Jopson on 20 January 1885 at St. Bridget. He died in July 1909 only three months after inheriting all the property of his uncle of the same name. Lizzie appears to have lived on at the farm with her sons. Lizzie’s mother was a Mossop as was an uncle who married her father’s sister, both Mossops originally from the High Prior Scale branch through her father Clement and grandfather William, both Stone Masons of Calder Bridge.
AGNES Born at Low Prior Scale and baptised 10 January 1860 at St. Bridget. Married Thomas Mason Greenip. Died 1937.
ANNIE Born Low Prior Scale and baptised 14 December 1861 at St. Bridget. Was a teacher at St. Bridget Beckermet in 1881. Died 1936.
CHARLES Born 1863 at Low Prior Scale and baptised 15 October 1863 at St. Bridget. Married Lily Southward and moved to Jersey, Channel Islands where Charles was a Market Gardener. They had two sons born there, Edward in 1897 and Charles Stanley in 1898, the latter dying as a Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force on 13 August 1918 and buried in Touraville Communal Cemetery, France.
JANE Born at Low Prior Scale and baptised 2 November 1865 at St. Bridget. Died 1939.
HENRY Born at Low Prior Scale and baptised 25 December 1866 at St. Bridget. Married with two daughters and two sons, one of whom was named Stanley and the father of David John Campbell Mossop of Australia.
HANNAH Born at Low Prior Scale and baptised 26 September 1868 at St. Bridget. Died 1950.
MARY Born at Thornholme and baptised 30 April 1870 at St. Bridget. Married Charles Johnson with a son Charles Stanley Johnson. Died 1926.
WILLIAM CLEMENT Born at Thornholme and baptised 6 April 1872 at St. Bridget. Mining Engineer apprentice in 1891. Married Dorothy Braithwaite and had two daughters, Ruth whose married name was Williams and Vera whose married name was Verster.
JOSEPH GUNSON Born at Thornholme and baptised 14 January 1874 at St. Bridget. Died 2 October 1904 at Mountain View, Johannesburg and buried in Braamfontein Cemetery.
JOHN SHARPE AND LIZZIEThe eldest son of Charles and Jane born 1858 at Low Prior Scale. A Veterinary Surgeon, married to Lizzie Jopson. Inherited Low Prior Scale from his uncle in 1909 but died three months afterwards. They had a daughter, Jane Agnes, who died young and two sons.
CHARLES Baptised 5 January 1886 at St. Bridget. He died in Barrow-in-Furness.
JOHN JOPSON Baptised 5 June 1887 at St. Bridget. His experiences in WWI
greatly affected him and he continued to live on at Low Prior Scale
with his mother where he helped around the farm and worked as an insurance
agent. He was found mysteriously drowned in the nearby River Calder on
30 September 1928. The coroner concluded that it could not have been
intentional and his state of mind had probably had a bearing on it.
At this time or when Lizzie decided to leave, the farm passed out of the family.
Low Prior Scale had been in Mossop hands for over 250 years.
WILLIAM
& MARY OF CATGILL HALL
William was the next but youngest son of Charles and Anne (Williamson) of Low Prior Scale, born 1771 at Boonwood. His elder brother, Clement, inherited Low Prior Scale. William married Mary Mossop who had dual Mossop parentage. Her father, John, came from the Beckcote line and her mother Abigail from the High Prior Scale line. Their children, therefore, had direct ancestry to the three sons of William of Prior Scale.
William and Mary married about 1793 and lived in various locations. (Mary was the younger sister of Hannah who married Joseph Rothery - Maggie Blyth’s line) First it appears that they lived at Prior Ling, another farm in the Calder Valley.
William became a farmer for T.R.G. Braddyll Esq. at Catgill Hall, Egremont. He died in 1841 at Catgill but his will was not proved until 1847. Mary was still alive at this date. Their children were:-
ABIGAIL baptised 3 November 1794 at St. Bridget Beckermet. Married William Fox 15 August 1813 in Egremont. Bob and Jim Southward, Sid Bean and Jim Allan’s line.
ANN baptised 9 December 1795 at St. Bridget. Died February 1796 at Beckermet.
CHARLES baptised 26 December 1796 at St. Bridget.
MARY baptised 28 September 1798 at St. Bridget.
SARAH baptised 13 April 1800 at Lamplugh
HANNAH baptised 22 May 1802 at Lamplugh. Married William Jenkinson in 1824.
BRIDGET baptised 29 July 1806 at Lamplugh. Married Isaac Russell. At least one son, William.
WILLIAM baptised 21 August 1808 at Lamplugh. Died July 1831 at Catgill.
ISAAC baptised 23 September 1810 at Egremont. Married Mary Salaney 4 November 1840 at Whitehaven Holy Trinity. They had one son William born 1843.
CLEMENT baptised 7 March 1812 at Egremont. Married 1) Ann Wear 28 February 1843 at St. John Beckermet. No children. 2) Betsy from the Isle of Man. They had six children. Clement became a grocer in Egremont. This is Roy Ennor’s line.
CLEMENT AND ABIGAIL
Clement was the second son of William of Prior Scales and took over the farm at High Prior Scale. He was buried on 16 September 1737 and Abigail on 2 November that year. There is some discrepancy in the wills of Clement and Abigail as to how many children they had. Clement has five sons, the four elder unnamed, and five daughters. Abigail has four sons and six daughters amongst the latter two named Ann - Moscrop and Benson. The possibility has been proposed that one of the elder sons was married to an Ann but died between the time that Clement and Abigail made their wills so she was in fact a widowed daughter-in-law. Clement and Abigail’s children were:
JOHN 1686-1784. He was married in 1713 to Frances Benn, his first cousin once removed. They had a large family. John lived at Goody How Style farm, Ponsonby, then at Calder Abbey farm. He was at Prior Scale in 1770 when Frances died. In 1784 I believe he was at Struddabank, another Calder Valley farm living in retirement with his son Henry. Henry had previously been further up the valley at Side. John’s youngest son was Clement who inherited High Prior Scale from his childless uncle, William. This Clement married Elizabeth Jackson, niece of Elizabeth Nicholson/Mossop below.
WILLIAM 1687- Sep 1763. He married Elizabeth Nicholson, a tanner’s daughter. She was the sister of Sarah Nicholson, Elizabeth Jackson’s mother. There were other marriages between the Nicholsons and the Jacksons. William inherited High Prior Scale but he and Elizabeth had no children so left HPS to William’s nephew Clement, son of his brother John, who was married to Elizabeth’s niece. William and Elizabeth's initials are carved into a barn at High Prior Scale farm.
ANN Married name Benson. I have been told that Ann married John Benson 1714 at Ponsonby. This would tie in with their descendants being intertwined in threads of both families.
MARY Married name Poslat (Postlethwaite?)
MOSES Baptised 24 January 1695/6. Died 13 September 1785 at Cringlethwaite, parish of Beckermet St. John and close to Egremont. First marriage to Elizabeth Ashburner, second to Hannah Kitchen and third to Ruth Cook nee Kitchen. See below for further details. (Line of John Coulthard, George Kendall Gillberry, Carmel Reynen, Dianne Fox, Kate Matheson and Jane Privett)
SON Unnamed in Clement’s will. Assumed to be married to an Ann.
SARAH Baptised 10 March 1699/1700
HANNAH Baptised 28 February 1702/3. Married Isaac Moor.
EASTER Baptised 31 March 1706. Married Thomas Wood. Died 1790 in Whitehaven and buried at Arlecdon.
CLEMENT Baptised 18 September 1709. Died 29 (or 20th) December 1788. Married 6 July 1734 in Whitehaven St. Nicholas to Jane Sharp12 children. 1st baptised at St. Bridget, nos 2-7 at Ennerdale, nos 8-12 at Haile whilst living at Tortlecote. Clement’s two eldest sons subsequently farmed at Prior (Pier/Pear) Ling, another Calder Valley farm.
JOHN MOSSOP AND FRANCES BENNJohn was the eldest son of Clement and Abigail of High Prior Scale and lived from 1686-1784. The burial registers noted that he was aged 98. He was married in 1713 to Frances Benn, his first cousin once removed. They appear to have lived at Goody How Style farm, Ponsonby, then at Calder Abbey farm. He was at Prior Scale in 1770 when Frances died. In 1784 he was at Struddabank, another Calder Valley farm living in retirement with his son Henry. He made a will in May 1784 and died on 5 November that year. However, for some reason the will was not proved until 1797 at the same time as that of his son Henry. Probate of both wills was granted to Henry’s son John. John senior had quite a few properties in and around the area which he had bought on mortgage then rented out and these he left between certain children and grandchildren. As his will was not proved for some years one wonders what happened to these in the meantime.
The children of John and Frances, all baptisms given at St. Bridget Beckermet were:-
WILLIAM Baptised 7 May 1714. Probably the one who married Esther Fisher 21 July 1752 at St. Bridget’s with no resulting children.
CLEMENT Baptised 16 December 1716. Married 9 December 1745 at Ponsonby to Elizabeth Jackson. (A duplicate entry says at Haile to Anne Jackson but his wife’s name was definitely Elizabeth.). Clement farmed at Yottenfews, St. Bridget’s and then at Dalegarth in Eskdale until he inherited High Prior Scale from his childless uncle, William. Clement’s wife, Elizabeth, was also the niece of William’s wife so an uncle and aunt left it to a nephew and niece. High Prior Scale was afterwards inherited by Clement’s youngest son, Joseph.
HENRY Baptised 12 July 1719. He was farming at Calder Abbey when he married Mary Woodcock on 31 January 1743 at Haile. They had one son, John, who died a year or so later, Mary dying shortly after. It was over five years before Henry married again to Eleanor (believed to be Eleanor Cook married 1 August 1748 at Whitehaven St. Nicholas) and farmed Side, a remote farm up the Calder Valley. Ten children were born to them before Eleanor died in 1768 and their youngest child the following year. By about 1764 they had moved further down the valley to the farm Struddabank. On 1 September 1770 Henry married for the third time to Jane Atkinson, nee Walker, a widow with a young son. They had four children of whom the first died young. Henry settled an estate he owned at Sellafield on Jane in lieu of her widow’s rights to Struddabank which he instructed be sold to provide for all his children. He also left a small legacy to his stepson John. For Henry’s descendants, see separate section.
MOSES Baptised 28 January 1721/2. Married 8 May 1744 at Ponsonby to Elizabeth Pickering. Two children, Elizabeth and Pickering. Lived at Nether Wasdale.
JOHN Baptised 29 November 1724 apparently as a child of this family but not in father’s will.
ABIGAIL Born about 1726 and married Jonah Sewell on 21 February 1748 at Ennerdale. Jonah and Abigail are ancestors of Pam Baines.
FRANCES Born about 1728 and married John Robertson or Robinson on 31 January 1753 at Ponsonby.
CLEMENT & ELIZABETH
Clement was the second son of John Mossop and Frances Benn, baptised 16 December 1716 and married 9 December 1745 at Ponsonby to Elizabeth Jackson. Clement had farmed at Yottenfews, St. Bridget’s and then at Dalegarth in Eskdale until he inherited High Prior Scale from his uncle William in 1764 after the death of William’s wife. Clement died in October 1790 and was buried at St. Bridget. Elizabeth survived him until 1800 when she died at High Prior Scale and was also buried at St. Bridget. The children of Clement and Elizabeth were:-
HANNAH Baptised 14 November 1746 St. Bridget. Married 28 December 1785 at St. Bridget to Darcey Curwen. Two sons, Thomas and Matthew. Thomas Curwen married Sarah Mossop, his first cousin and daughter of Moses of Coniston below. Thomas was a Spade, Shovel and Edge Tool Manufacturer at Beckermet and later a small Farmer at Black Beck, Haile. He and Sarah had about thirteen children. Several of their sons went to sea whilst another graduated from London University. Thomas lived to the age of 83 and Sarah to 84.
JOHN Born 1748 at Yottenfews and baptised 21 April 1748 at St. Bridget. Married Frances Russell 7 October 1780 at Ponsonby and had four children, William, John, Isaac and Ruth. John farmed at Egbank, Gosforth and at Brayshaw, Haile. He died at Brayshaw in 1788 leaving a widow and young family. Of his sons, Isaac baptised 13 December 1784 at Haile became a Corn Miller and Maltster at Calder Bridge. He married his first cousin, Sarah Holliday, on 22 August 1813 at St. Bridget as below. Isaac and Sarah are ancestors of Margaret Hartley and John Williamson.
SARAH Baptised 13 April 1750 at St. Bridget, married 1) Richard Tyson 24 January 1771 at Whitehaven St. James and had probably three sons John, William and Richard Tyson. Richard Tyson senior was buried 15 June 1778 at Whitehaven St. Nicholas. SARAH then married William Holliday 5 February 1782 at St. Bridget. They had five children Mossop, Clement, William, Sarah and Joseph Holliday. William Holliday junior born 30 July 1786 and baptised 11 August 1786 at St. Bridget married Sarah Russell 29 Dec 1811 at Whitehaven St. James. They are ancestors of Jonathan Taylor. (William Holliday junior was first cousin to Eleanor Mossop who married John Russell, younger brother of his wife Sarah Russell - see Limerick meat processing section) Sarah Holliday, baptised 13 October 1788 at St. Bridget, married her first cousin Isaac Mossop as above and so is also an ancestor of Margaret Hartley and John Williamson. Joseph born 29 March and baptised 30 March 1791 at St. Bridget married Elizabeth Nicholson 2 June 1817 at St. Bridget. They are ancestors of Jeannette Bolton. (Note that Joseph is recorded on IGI as a son of Joseph and Sarah Holliday but Jeannette has seen the original register which confirms he was a son of William and Sarah). Joseph and Elizabeth spent several years in Limerick, perhaps in connection with his sister-in-law's family meat business, before retiring to Liverpool where their married daughter Sarah Irvine was living.
FRANCES Baptised 11 October 1751 at St. Bridget. Married Henry Braithwaite 24 December 1774 at St. Bridget. It is possible they were great-grandparents of Edward Braithwaite who married Eleanor Mossop (baptised 1846) of the Low Prior Scales line.
ELIZABETH Born c 1753. Married Isaac Wilson 23 August 1778 at Whitehaven Holy Trinity.
WILLIAM Baptised 25 November 1755 at Eskdale on same day as twin brother Moses. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Wilkinson 8 November 1785 at Cockermouth All Saints and they had eight children. He was a Stone Mason of Calder Bridge. He lived to the age of 80 and the newspaper reported that he had never in his whole life had a day off work due to indisposition. Several descending generations used Wilkinson as a boy’s first name and it appears exclusive to this branch. It seems almost certain that Barrie Mossop is descended from this branch as his great-grandfather appears to be Wilkinson Mossop, himself a great-grandson of William and Betty.
MOSES Baptised 25 November 1755 at Eskdale with William. Moved to Coniston, then in Lancashire, where he was a Joiner. Married to Jane Dixon 5 March 1791 at Coniston. They had nine children, seven of whom had descendants. All the Mossop families in the Coniston area were descendants of Moses and Jane. See this line and descendants below.
CLEMENT Baptised 15 April 1758 at Eskdale. Married Ann Mossop of Moorside, Gosforth and had nine children. See below. Pat Mossop’s line.
MARY Baptised 13 January 1761 at Eskdale.
JOSEPH Baptised 28 August 1763 at Eskdale. He married Ann Walker 21 November 1791 at St. Bridget and had eight children. Inherited High Prior Scale from his father although he himself lived at Catgill Hall, Egremont.
RUTH Baptised 27 December 1765 at St. Bridget. Married Isaac Gunson 21 February 1791 at St. Bridget. They had six children of whom the eldest, Dorothy, was an ancestor of the late Ruth Geldart, founder member of Cumberland Family History Society and one of the earliest Mossop researchers. Their fifth child, Eleanor married Joseph Benn, ancestors of Sheila Lawson. Their youngest son, Henry, was an ancestor of Eileen Marshall.
JANE Baptised at St. Bridget 4 February 1768 or 1769 according to various
sources.
JOSEPH AND ANN
Joseph was baptised 28 August 1763 at Eskdale, youngest son of Clement Mossop and Elizabeth. He married Ann Walker 21 November 1791 at St. Bridget. Inherited High Prior Scale from his father although he himself lived at Catgill Hall, Egremont. Joseph died at Catgill, after a long illness, in 1837 and was buried at St. Bridget. Ann had died in 1834. Their children were:-
CLEMENT Baptised 9 April 1793 at St. Bridget. He married Margaret Chester, a widow nee Hutchinson, on 30 April 1803 at St. Bees. Margaret was from the Hutchinson family of Braystones. Clement and Margaret lived at Beckermet St. John although he owned High Prior Scale, inherited from his father, and also by his death property at Sellafield, Struddabank, Spring Leys and Snelling’s Mire at St. Bees. Clement and Margaret had no children so he left High Prior Scale to his brother John for life and then to his nephew, Henry Walker. He died in 1866.
JOHN Baptised 10 January 1795 at St. Bridget. He became a Provision Merchant in Birkenhead, Cheshire and was buried in Flaybrick Cemetery there in 1877 with his second wife Catherine and sister Sarah. He was a widower in 1851 but married Catherine Norris the following year.
ANN Baptised 26 August 1797 at St. Bridget. Married Richard Davis 6 June 1832 at Egremont. I do not think they had children.
JOSEPH Baptised 30 April 1799 at St. Bridget. Died 8 August 1848 apparently unmarried.
SHARP Baptised 27 March 1801 at St. Bridget. Sharp took Holy Orders and married Ruth Brockbank 13 July 1831 at Whitehaven St. Nicholas but she died in June the following year at Croston Rectory, Lancashire. Sharp then married Margaret Collins 26 November 1844 at Whitehaven Holy Trinity. They had no children. He became the Incumbent of St. Bridget and St. John Beckermet. Sharp died 29 May 1851 and is recorded on a plaque in the "new" St. Bridget’s church in Calder Bridge.
ELIZABETH Born about 1803. She lived in Egremont, Cheshire with her sister Sarah where they supported themselves with annuities and letting out rooms in their house. After Sarah's death she returned to Cumberland where she lived with her nephew Henry Walker at Sellafield. She died unmarried at Sellafield on 3 July 1897.
MARY Born about 1807. Married William Walker 13 September 1837 at Egremont. William was a farmer at Nethertown and related to the Walker family of Rottington (see Rottington Hall section). They had five or six children, Henry, Ann, Mary, Hannah/Anne (who may be the same child or two), and Jane. Ann and Mary died as infants. Anne died in 1856 aged 19. Jane died also aged 19 in 1864. Thus it appears that when Mary’s brother Clement died in 1866 Henry Walker was the sole surviving descendant of this side of the family. William Walker had died suddenly in 1858 after a fall from his horse. In 1871 Mary and her sister-in-law, Margaret, Clement’s widow, lived next door to each other in Beckermet St. John, both in receipt of an annuity. Mary died in 1874.
SARAH Baptised 3 November 1809 at St. Bridget. Remained unmarried
and lived with her sister Sarah in Egremont, Cheshire. She died there in
1879 and is buried with her brother John and his wife Catherine in Flaybrook
Cemetery. Her will written in 1874 was witnessed by John and
Catherine whilst her sole Executor and Legatee was her sister Elizabeth.
HENRY WALKER & ESTHER
Henry, son of William Walker and Mary Mossop, was baptised 4 November 1838 at Beckermet St. John. He married Esther Hutchinson of Braystones, niece of Margaret, his uncle Clement’s wife, on 22 May 1862 at St. Bees. They had nine children of whom one or two died young. Henry lived on an estate at Sellafield (from maps exactly the area on which the power station now stands) which he inherited together with substantial property from his uncle and probably his father. As can be seen from the above family, his mother Mary was the only one to have children and he was the sole male heir of this line. His wife Esther died aged only 39 in 1879 and Henry never remarried. At his death in 1909 he divided his property between his children but it was sold by them shortly after.
So ended the Mossop connection with High Prior Scale which had lasted some 227 years
THE CONISTON BRANCH
MOSES MOSSOP AND JANE DIXON
Moses was the twin brother of William, Stone Mason of Calder Bridge, 6th and 7th children of Clement Mossop and Elizabeth Jackson. They were born at Dalegarth and baptised at Eskdale 25 November 1755.
Moses moved to Coniston which was then in Lancashire and worked as a Joiner. He married Jane Dixon 5 March 1791 at Coniston and they had at least nine children.
BETTY was born June 1791 at Coniston and died April 1831 at Bowmanstead, Coniston unmarried.
BELLA was born October 1792 at Coniston. She had a child AGNES in August 1819 at Bowmanstead who married JOHN WILSON, a Blacksmith and Beerhouse Keeper of nearby Torver in late 1839. They had four children, one being born just before their marriage. This is the line of Gordon Harold Booth.
THOMAS DIXON was born 1793 at Coniston. He was still unmarried in 1851 and it is thought that he died in that state.
SARAH was born January 1796 at Coniston. She married her first cousin THOMAS CURWEN of the High Prior Scale line on 25 September 1814 at St. Bridget Beckermet, Cumberland. They had about thirteen children and lived at Beckermet. This was the only child of Moses and Jane to return to that area.
MOSES was born c. 1799 at Coniston and became a Copper Miner. He married JANE RIGG 5 October 1823 at Coniston and they had eight children, Elizabeth, John, Moses, Clement, William, Jane, Dixon and Thomas. Of these, MOSES born December 1826 at Howbank, Coniston married ANN WOODWARD. They had eleven children and emigrated to Australia, some children being born in the Liverpool area and some in Queensland. Moses was a Tailor like several other of his Mossop relatives in this branch. Moses and Ann are ancestors of Mike Mossop of Canberra and Maureen McDonald of New South Wales. Another child of Moses and Jane was JANE born June 1834 at Heathwaite, Coniston. Jane is the ancestress of Nita Atkinson. The youngest child THOMAS born December 1840 married Betsy Braithwaite in 1863. Thomas also became a Tailor and Draper. They had five children of whom the middle child, a son Thomas Braithwaite Mossop, died in 1886 at the age of 17. Thomas and Betsy are ancestors of Judy MacDonald.
CLEMENT was born March 1800 in Coniston. He married JANE THOMPSON 7 April 1836. They had at least one daughter, Mary Ann. Another daughter Jane born well before their marriage must have been the child of one or other of them.
GEORGE was born September 1802 at Coniston. He married ELIZABETH BRAITHWAITE 28 December 1833 at Torver. Elizabeth's family were from the Duddon Valley at Ulpha, Cumberland/Seathwaite, Lancs and she already had three children, Robert, John and Mary Braithwaite. George and Elizabeth had
WILLIAM born c. 1834 who moved to Liverpool and married ANNIE HUGHES in 1864. They had ten children and are ancestors of Maureen Campion. William was known in Liverpool by his mother's surname BRAITHWAITE though official registration documents were carried out in the name of Mossop.
JANE born May 1836 at Beckgate, Coniston. Jane married JOHN CASSON, a Tailor, in 1857 at Holy Trinity, Ulverston. They had two children, George Mossop Casson and John Casson, the latter born after John senior's early death from T.B. in March 1861 at the age of 27. Jane remarried to ISAAC FISHER, a Copper Miner, in 1863 at Ulverston Register Office and had six more children. Early in their marriage, they moved to County Durham where Isaac worked in the Coal Mines. Jane Dyer descends from this line.
SARAH born 1838 at Dixon Ground, Coniston. She had two children, Elizabeth in 1859 at Gateside, Coniston and then Mary c. 1863. She married WILLIAM THWAITES in 1867 and had four more children.
JANE born 1803 in Coniston married JOHN BOWNASS there in 1830. They had seven children, Mary, Moses, Jane, Agnes, John, William and Isabella. In 1851 Moses was a farmhand at Claife but by 1861 was living in Ambleside married to a widow considerably older than himself. By then he had embarked on a career as a Photographer under the name of MOSES BOWNESS reaching both local and national importance. The then Prince of Wales was numbered amongst his patrons. It was a remarkable transition and it is hoped more can be learned in due course.
MARY born May 1807 Coniston. Mary was living in the house of JOHN SPEDDING, Slate Quarryman in Bowmanstead, Coniston in 1851 and died in the same place in February 1855. On 1861 census some of her children were living with John Spedding and given as his stepchildren. However, he and Mary had not married and all her children carried the Mossop surname. She appears to have had four children; MARY was born c. 1831 at Coniston; ADAH born May 1832 at Bowmanstead, Coniston married WILLIAM FLEMING in 1854 and had at least two children; WILLIAM was born 1843 at Coniston and died unmarried in 1881; THOMAS born c. 1851 in Coniston married MARGARET GREENHOW in 1879 with one daughter then after her death ELIZABETH ANN GREENHOW in 1886 with seven children. Elizabeth Ann was the niece of Thomas' first wife Margaret though there was only six years difference in their ages.
CLEMENT & ANN OF MOORSIDE, GOSFORTH
Clement was the eighth child and fourth son of Clement Mossop and Elizabeth, ne้ Jackson, born 1758 at Dalegarth, Ennerdale. He married Ann Mossop of Moorside, Gosforth on 21 February 1784 at Gosforth. Ann was the daughter of Thomas and Eleanor of Moorside and her father left the property to her. Ann died on 6 October 1830 at Moorside and Clement on 16 March 1834. They had the following children, all baptised at Gosforth:-
JOHN Baptised 12 October 1784. Became a writing clerk in Limerick, Ireland Married Mary Ann Sharp on 24 February 1817 at St. Mary the Virgin, Dover, Kent and had about seven children. The family remained in Ireland with John, Mary Ann and three of their children, Clement, Thomas and Eleanor (McGhie) buried together in St. Munchin's Churchyard, Limerick. One son, George, went to the USA and sent for his bride Susan G. Maloney to join him. Padraig (Pat) Mossop’s line.
SARAH Baptised 15 October 1786. Married John Hodgson.
CLEMENT Baptised 30 September 1789. Delivery Clerk in Limerick. Married Bridget Carr on 4 June 1827 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick. They had children mentioned in his will when he was claiming a share of his mother’s estate on behalf of Bridget and their children. Clement died 22 December 1833 at Limerick. Their youngest child, also Bridget, was born just after her father's death. In 1854 aged 19 or 20, she emigrated aboard the "Emerald Isle" to Australia arriving in Adelaide on 16 January 1854. Three days later her future husband, Thomas Foristal, a shepherd, arrived at the same port aboard the "William Hammond". They both gave their previous abode as Queen's County, Ireland. They were married a few months later on 7 July 1854 at Holy Trinity, Adelaide, South Australia after Bridget had obviously found employment as a Parlour Maid as that was the occupation she gave. Thomas and Bridget's story has been well documented by Robert Newton whose wife Hilary is a descendant.
ANN Baptised 24 January 1791. Died aged 24.
ELEANOR Baptised 2 December 1794. Married in 10 October 1815 at Whitehaven St. Nicholas to John Russell of the Braystones, St. Bees Russell branch. John Russell, together with Joseph Matterson, founded a Bacon Production factory in Roches Street, Limerick in 1816. It was one of the major employers in the city. For more details see www.limerickslife.com/thebaconfactories.htm John and Eleanor Russell are ancestors of John Fox-Russell.