James Wrathall of Burton and Kathleen Hayhurst's Research

One of the descendants of John Wrathall and Anne Pickersgill, James Wrathall of Burton (b. 1833) had a daughter (Nancy Jane) who married Richard Nelson Hayhurst. John Hayhurst, the husband of Kathleen Hayhurst, is a descendant of that marriage. In late September 2000, I attended an exhibition at Burton-in-Lonsdale produced by The Burton Millennium History Group called "Glimpses of Burton's Past". Kathleen contacted me after the exhibition, where she saw the family tree I had left for John Wrathall and Anne Pickersgill. She passed on quite a lot of information, some of which is preliminary, and in need of further research, which elucidates the Wrathall/Hayhurst connection.

Kathleen gave me a photo of James (1833 -1918) and Mary (née Farrer) (? -1917) WRATHALL from a calendar which she spotted and recognised her husband's ancestors, the photo being captioned "Family at War 1914-1918". Standing at the rear, left to right, are Jack Hayhurst (1889 -1963), Mary Hayhurst (née Johnson), Richard Nelson Hayhurst (1859 -1927), Nancy Jane Hayhurst (née Wrathall, 1864-1940), and sitting are James Wrathall (1833 -1918), Mary Wrathall (née Farrer, d. 1917), and baby Joan Hayhurst. The photo was taken at Milton Mill, which is south of Kendal, near Millness, the latter being where I had my depot and office some years ago. Millness and Milton Mill are now in Cumbria but were in the former Westmorland approximately 6 miles due south of Kendal. They are immediately to the north of the junction of the M6 motorway with the A590 if this is shown on your map. The river, or stream, associated with the mill is Peasey Beck.

James senior was baptised at Thornton-in-Lonsdale, and all the children except one were baptised at Burton-in-Lonsdale. Their home in each census from 1861 to 1891 was at Burton. Mary Farrer was born at Burrow in Lancashire, as was their first child, Mary Ellen. I find with several of the old photographs I have that furniture was brought out of the house for the oldest couple to use, and the descendants were grouped around them. As you say, James has a resemblance of John James and his father Thomas. When I first contacted William Wallbank Wrathall, I spoke to his wife, who asked me if I had bushy eyebrows, as this seems to have been a characteristic of many of the male Wrathalls. I haven't but it certainly applies to all those mentioned above.

Thank you very much for putting the photograph on your website. I would not have thought it possible to stumble across a photograph of a family member so easily, so very far away.

William Dodgson Hayhurst (a brother to Richard Nelson Hayhurst) had a son John (Jack) Dodgson Hayhurst who came to New Zealand with his first wife, Ellen, and maybe their two sons John Swarbrick Hayhurst and Thomas Hayhurst. Jack divorced and had a second family of five; the eldest, Joan, is my mum-in-law. They will enjoy seeing the photograph as nothing is known of his previous life.

I am prompted to write to you after seeing the 'Family at War' picture and references to Richard Nelson Hayhurst of Milton Mill. I am descended from James Hayhurst of Longholme Mill near Ulverston (born ca. 1830, died before 1883). I can claim no connection with Richard Nelson Hayhurst, but it is becoming increasingly apparent, as my research progresses, that several Hayhurst families were involved in milling in the nineteenth century and before. I have identified about ten families so far, roughly in an arc including Settle, Kirkby Lonsdale and Ulverston. It may of course be coincidence, but I suspect a connection.

I'll be more than happy to share my results.