James Silburn (abt. 1765)

Born about 1765 in Pocklington, Yorkshire, England

Husband of Martha (Pearson) Silburn — married 5 Dec 1791 in Catton, Yorkshire, England

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Horsley [send private message]

Biography

Born about 1765 Pocklington villages

James Silburn was born about 1765 almost certainly in a village near Pocklington. At present we know nothing for sure of his origins or life before his marriage to Martha Peirson or Pearson.

Marriage 1791 Catton

In 1791 in Catton (near York but east of the River Derwent) James Silburn (Jas. Sillburn) married Martha Peirson. Over the next seven years James and Martha baptised three children in Wilberfoss, a larger village about 3 miles to the south-east of Catton: Elizabeth 1794: Mary 1796 and William 1798 are baptised in Wilberfoss by James and Martha but later claim to be born nearby in Barmby Moor and Newton on Derwent respectively. So James was probably a farm labourer moving where work was available.

Research: Disambiguation

There are three or more different James Silburns married and having children in the area around Pocklington and Stamford Bridge at the western edge of East Yorkshire in the second half of the 18th century.

• James Silburn marries Elizabeth Arnot in Skirpenbeck 1762 and has four children in Yapham cum Meltonby in a steady stream Richard 1770, John 1773, William 1775 and Thomas 1778. For the last two the mother's name is also given as Elizabeth.

This James Silburn Silburn-69 may well be the same person as James Sylburn born nearby in Full Sutton in 1729 who would be about 33 at the time of the marriage and 49 at the birth of the last known child.

• James Silburn Silburn-62 marries Martha Peirson Pearson-9354 in Catton 1791 followed by three children baptised in Wilberfoss: Elizabeth 1794: Mary 1796 and William 1798 who later claim to be actually born nearby in Newton on Derwent and Barmby Moor.

James Silburn baptised in York 18 4 1749 St Michael le Belfry is too young to marry Elizabeth but at age 42 might be Martha Pearson's husband. Even so, this is possible rather than probable: York was already a busy and growing city, and Wilberfoss and the nearby villages were ten or more miles to the east and very quietly rural.

• James SILBURN marries Harriott SMEATHMAN nearby in Pocklington 1793 and has four sons and two daughters there. He is the most clearly defined of the three, with baptism and death dates established. He seems to be fixed in the small town, born, baptised, married, baptising children and buried all in Pocklington for 65 years.

• James Silburn with Elizabeth Arnot has a son William in Yapham 1775: James Silburn with Martha Peirson has a son William in Barmby Moor in 1798. Both of these Williams are still alive in 1851, so clearly they have different fathers, and these two James Silburns are not the same man. It is theoretically possible that the younger James Silburn is the son of the elder James Silburn with Elizabeth Arnot if he was born in the gap between the marriage and the first known child in Yapham.

Sources