Dickey Brook (1775 - 1853)

Born Nov 1775 in Edge End, Crosland Edge, South Crosland, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died Jul 1853 at age 77 in Edge End, Crosland Edge, South Crosland, Yorkshire, England

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Biography

Richard was born at Edge End, Crosland Edge, South Crosland, Yorkshire. The exact date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 26 November 1775 at the Chapel of Meltham ^[1], son of Richard Brook and Susannah Wood. He appears to have lived his entire life at Edge End in Crosland Edge. He and his wife Mary raised 6 children to adulthood. Although he was formally baptised "Dickey" he went by the name Richard in all confirmed documents on record.

England Census of 1841^[2]: Lived in Edge End, Crosland Edge, South Crosland, Yorkshire, with his wife and five grown children.
England Census of 1851^[3]: Lived in Edge End, Crosland Edge, South Crosland, Yorkshire, with his wife and two grown children.

Richard passed away, aged 78 (we have no record of the exact date of death) and was buried at Holy Trinity in South Crosland on 10 July 1853 ^[4].

Research Notes

Many genealogical trees place Richard's wife Mary as Mary Lister, who married one Richard Brook in St Mary, Mirfield on 12 June 1812. Mirfield is an implausible, but not impossible location. But the Richard Brook in that record is stated to be a Linen Dealer from the Parish of Leeds, which is not at all a plausible candidate for Richard "Dickey" Brook, a woollen weaver who lived out his life at the family home at Edge End. For these reasons, we choose to reject that marriage record as referring to a different couple entirely.

Of Richard & Mary's 6 children, we have baptismal records for five of them, missing only that of Hannah, the youngest. The other three youngest, Charles, Thomas, and George, were all baptised in Baptist (i.e. non-conformist) Chapels. It must be noted the baptisms of the oldest two, Joseph and Robert, appear in the records of the Established Church, and also that when they died both Richard and Mary were buried at Holy Trinity, South Crosland. On balance, therefore, it remains a realistic possibility that Richard and Mary could have been married under a non-conformist rite, which may explain why no plausible marriage record has yet surfaced. However, note that at that time it was still a requirement that non-conformist marriages be registered "by license" with the local Established Church parish.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism: West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: WDP12; "West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812" [database on-line], via ancestry.co.uk, accessed 23 September 2021 Ancestry uk Record 2256 #4546253 (account required), or (free Ancestry image)
2. ↑ 1841 Census: 1841 England Census [database on-line]; Class: HO107; Piece: 1273; Book: 10; Civil Parish: Almondbury; County: Yorkshire; Enumeration District: 10; Folio: 19; Page: 5; Line: 23; GSU roll: 464243, via ancestry.co.uk, accessed 23 September 2021 Ancestry uk Record 8978 #12079105 (account required), or (free Ancestry image)
3. ↑ 1851 Census: 1851 England Census [database on-line]; Class: HO107; Piece: 2291; Folio: 361; Page: 25; GSU roll: 87485, via ancestry.co.uk, accessed 23 September 2021 Ancestry uk Record 8860 #10594386 (account required), or (free Ancestry image)
4. ↑ Burial: West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; New Reference Number: WDP198/1/4/1; "West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1985" [database on-line], via ancestry.co.uk, accessed 23 September 2021 Ancestry uk Record 2254 #6476404 (account required), or (free Ancestry image)