Jackson (1878-1959) and Catherine Ann (1877-1954 formerly SWAINSON) RAWLING of Mosser in the parish of Brigham in Cumberland
Page updated 13 January 2014
Links:
Immediate ancestors:Jeremiah and Margaret RAWLING; William and Lydia SWAINSON
The Rawling story - RAWLING research notes
index of surnames
I have been given details of this family by living descendants, and have corroborated them in vital records. They appear as a couple as parents of the next generation on their gravestone (the dates and ages also tie in with other sources for this information on this page). I also have a book once owned by Jackson with his name and address in it, which has passed down through the family.
Jackson's parents were Jeremiah and Margaret RAWLING according to his birth certificate (GRO births Sep Q 1878 RAWLING Jackson, Whitehaven 10b 613); Catherine's were William and Lydia SWAINSON according to hers (GRO births Mar Q 1878 SWAINSON Catharine Ann, Holywell 11b 257)
Jackson grew up (as far as I know) on the family farm, which was called Hollins in the parish of Lamplugh in Cumberland. He went to school in nearby Ennerdale, apparently until he was 15 - he owned an agricultural textbook inscribed in a clear hand and correct spelling with his name, school, address and date on the inside flyleaf and on a home-made paper dust cover (the book was Principles of Agriculture by Wm T Lawrence, priced 10d. and sold by [R?] Burlington of Whitehaven). From the text and scientific content of the book if he was following it he would have to have been fairly literate and technically-minded. Jackson seems to have lived on the family farm until he married - he's there in the 1901 census and gives it as his address at marriage.
Though she was born in Wales to a coal mining family with Cumberland roots, Catherine's father William SWAINSON was killed in an industrial accident when she was a child, and the children split up. Catherine was among the children brought up by their childless uncle and aunt Taylor and Annie SWAINSON at a farm called Pasture Gate in Lamplugh, close to where Jackson was growing up. Again, this is the address she gives at her marriage.
Jackson and Catherine married on 21 February 1905 in the parish church at Lamplugh; he was 26 and she 27. The marriage was witnessed by two members of each of their families (Thomas Taylor SWAINSON, I think Catherine's brother, Taylor SWAINSON, I think her uncle who she lived with, William RAWLING, probably Jackson's brother, and Jane RAWLING, who could have been his sister or aunt). I have this from their marriage certificate (GRO marriages Mar Q 1905 RAWLING Jackson and SWAINSON Catharine, Whitehaven 10b 945).
By 1912 they had established themselves at a farm called Gill Brow at Mosser; this is in the parish of Brigham, some distance north of Lamplugh. They had a son and two daughters in the 1900s and 1910s - I won't give details because some people in my grandparents' generation are still living.
By 1954, the two were in their mid 70s and retired. Catherine suffered from heart disease but died of a blood clot on the lung - on 8 May at Garlands Hospital I think in Carlisle the county town, aged 76. Jackson later lived with his grand-daughter in the local market town of Cockermouth; he died aged 81 in the cottage hospital there, of chronic heart disease on 5 November 1959.
They are buried together with one of their children in Ennerdale churchyard.
I don't yet have anything on wills or similar.
If you are interested in this family I'll be pleased to hear from you. Click this link to email me at deletethis.ianwilliamson161@gmail.com but delete everything up to and including the first dot, leaving just my name and the number @ service provider. Please do not delete the automatically-generated subject line, so that I know your email is not spam. You can add more to the subject but if you delete what appears I may not read your mail.
Links:
Immediate ancestors:Jeremiah and Margaret RAWLING; William and Lydia SWAINSON
The Rawling story - RAWLING research notes
index of surnames