Help with Thomas Longbothom of Halifax, Yorkshire (born 1548)

Question

I am tracing the ancestry of the 1635 immigrant, Mary (Longbothom) Butterworth-Clifton (born in 1600).  Her grandfather appears to be Thomas Longbothom born 1548, Halifax, Yorkshire (son of an Edward Longbothom).  I thought this Edward Longbothom was presumably the one who born about 1510 and died in 1557 and I created a wikitree profile for him.  However, I have now marked this Edward as an "uncertain" father, because his will makes no mention of a son Thomas.  Could there be some reason the will doesn't mention a 10-year-old son Thomas (but it does mention younger sons Umfray and Martyn), or do I have the wrong Edward Longbothom?  

IMPORTANT UPDATE:  It seems likely he is presently attached to Edward Longbothom Sr., and that Thomas was probably son of Edward Longbothom Jr. (see my latest answer below for details).

P.S.  Does it seem likely (as I noted in the profile of Thomas), that he is the Thomas Longbothom who married Alicia Welles in 1567.  He would have been 19 years old (and his son John was born in 1570).

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Answer 1

I see that the Thomas Longbothom baptised 31 January 1548 is of Northowram, not Warley. 

https://archive.org/details/parishregisterof37hali/page/51

There is a Hellen the year before him, of Warley, and Humfrey after him, also of Warley. There are more children of Edward of both places in the following years. People did sometimes move township but it would be very unusual to alternate, so it looks like two separate Edwards.

People did marry quite young in that area then, so the 1567 marriage would not be out of the ordinary if there is no other possible Thomas. I find the printed registers the best place to look, they are very accurate, easy to search. Both early volumes are on the Internet Archive, here is the marriages and burials one 

https://archive.org/details/parishregisterof45hali/page/56

Comments

P.S. I’ve now had a chance to look at Edward’s will. He leaves to Humphrey and Martyn “all my new land in Shepden within the townshipe of Northowrom” so he had bought land there which might account for some of the movement in baptisms, depending on the date. The footnote to this refers to Humphrey and Martyn as “younger sons of the said Edward” but I can only see mention of an elder son Richard, not Thomas. There is so much information there to sort out!

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It is interesting to note that Elizabeth (Longbotham) Shaw of Northowram had a son Abraham Shaw who was in the Puritan Great Migration to Massachusetts.  Her wikitree profile is here:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Longbotham-2  

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If I interpret the record correctly, Edward also had a son named Edward.  If that Edward Jr. was born about 1529, he could be old enough to be father of Thomas (b. 1548).  That might explain why Thomas was born at Northowram rather than Warley.  Here's the quote:

"Another son, Edward, also had a provision made out of his father's lands. My. 13, 4 and 5 Phil, and Mary. Edward Longebothome surrendered a cottage and ten acres of land in Warley in the tenure of James Denton, Edward Longebothome and James Mawde to the use of Edward Longebothome, son of the said Edward, and his heirs for ever. [W.M.C.R.)"  Source:  https://archive.org/details/halifaxwillsbein02york/page/174/mode/2up?q=Longbothom   

Therefore, in my latest answer to this post, I give my reasons that I am contemplating showing Thomas as son of Edward Longbothom Jr. (and changing Edward Longbothom Sr. as the grandfather of Thomas).

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Answer 2

A definite Warley-Northowram-Puritan Great Migration connection.  Not only did Elizabeth (Longbotham) Shaw (who died in Northowram) have a son Abraham Shaw who was in the Puritan Great Migration to Massachusetts, but also note that Abraham Shaw's father-in-law (Henry Best) was born in Warley:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Best-12

Comments

Also, the Edward Drake of Northowram whose will John Longbothom witnessed has a migration connection, as his sister married John Northend (probably the witness on the will) who seems to be the ancestor of a large family who went to Massachusetts.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Drake-1955

That's what I love about the Halifax yeoman families at this time, many of them are connected in big marriage networks of common interest, such as clothiers, migrants, religious dissenters etc. A fascinating period of history!

Answer 3

Kenneth,  I've brought http://Mary (Longbothom) Butterworth-Clifton into the PGM project and commented on her profile page.  Thank you for your work on this family's profiles.

If there is someone else from the PGM project who has the inclination to comment here, please do so.  Thank you.

Answer 4

Since Edward Longbothom Sr.'s will makes no mention of a son Thomas, I am considering the likelihood that he is actually the grandfather of Thomas, and that the father of Thomas is actually Edward Longbothom Jr. (b. ca. 1529?).  I have not made this change yet, but have outlined my reasons for making such a change in an "Important Note" section of the profile of Edward Longbothom Sr..  It reads as follows:    Edward could actually be the grandfather of Thomas. Edward seems to have had a son Edward Longbothom Jr. perhaps born about 1529, who would have been about 19 years old when Thomas was born in 1548. See page 174 of the "Will" source for the following: "Another son, Edward, also had a provision made out of his father's lands. My. 13, 4 and 5 Phil, and Mary. Edward Longebothome surrendered a cottage and ten acres of land in Warley in the tenure of James Denton, Edward Longebothome and James Mawde to the use of Edward Longebothome, son of the said Edward, and his heirs for ever. [W.M.C.R.)"

The next will is of Richard Longbothom of Warley who made his will after the death of Edward Longbothom Sr., and yet the will is witnessed by an Edward Longbothom (presumably Edward Jr.)

It is thought that Edward Longbothom Jr. was the one who died in February 1599/1600 and buried at St. John the Baptist Churchyard in Halifax. If so, he would have been about 70 years old. Burial Record (six lines from the bottom): https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2256/images/32355_249168-00163?pId=10188838

There is a Northowram connection, since the 1546 will of John Bairstow of "Northorome" names an Edwarde Longbothome as a "supervisour". This was probably Edward Longbothom Sr., but Edward Longbothom Jr. was possibly old enough to have been this "supervisour".  Either way, it shows the family had connections in Northowram.   https://archive.org/details/halifaxwillsbein02york/page/16/mode/2up?q=Longbothom   

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Comments

That certainly sounds good, although I don't feel qualified to comment myself without knowing a lot more about the family, as there seems to be more than one person for every name! For instance, there are several burial candidates for Edward junior - Ancestry has burials for Edward of Warley in 1577 and 1588 (there are two in 1577 but one is a child) also Edward of Shepden (Shibden) on 7 January 1574/5, and we know that the family had lands in Shibden, which is in Northowram. So that's at least 3 families to check, although the migrant connection is a big pointer to being in the right family. Shibden burial -

https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/22121125?h=aa7983

 The link to the 1599 burial goes to Royston near Barnsley register, too far away I think.

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Thank you Lynn.  You have been a great help with sources and sorting all this out.   I have one additional question about these early wills at Halifax.  Can you tell me what the abbreviation W.M.C.R. stands for (often given as a source in the notes to these early wills).

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It is Wakefield Manor Court Rolls. Most land transfers including inheritance had to go through them. Wakefield is quite a distance away but the manor covered a huge area including Halifax. Some of the rolls are on Internet Archive in printed editions. Here’s one with a reference to Edward in the intro https://archive.org/details/YASWCR007/page/n17/mode/2up?q=Longbothome

They are indexed for names. They were published by Yorkshire Archaeological Society and this link might work for the Internet Archive ones. But they cover hundreds of years and only a small fraction available so far.

https://archive.org/details/yorkshirearchaeologicalandhistoricalsociety?and%5B%5D=Wakefield&sin=&sort=-downloads

If the link doesn’t work, search on the collections page of The Yorkshire Archaeological & Historical Society. They have a lot of very interesting published documents.

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Thank you.  The link works fine.  Too bad only a small fraction of the records are available.  I found Volume 9 to be particularly helpful.  I was amazed that it had a 1536 record which gave the age (50 years old) for Richard Longbothom (father of Edward Longbothom Sr.), so I changed his birth year to 1486.  Also was able to start profiles for Edward's wife Christabell and her mother.

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Glad the sources helped. The court rolls are a goldmine for the 1500's particularly if you strike lucky with a will as well.