The story of the RAWLING line

NB - also known as Rawlings, Rawlin, Rowlin, Rowling etc.

I am extending and revising this page April 2016 - many many thanks to Chris Dickinson, Carla Jacobs and Michael Loat, for sharing documents, interpretations and ideas. The work is still in progress and I plan to refine the details to this page and add the pages for each generation of the line.

The RAWLINGs have farmed in and around Lamplugh in Cumberland for many generations. I have reconstructed our ancestry from the late 16th century into the 20th, and I believe another branch of the same family still has the same farm.

The generations of my Rawling line:

12. John (born mid 16th century, died 1621) and Janet (also born mid 16th century, died 1621) RAWLING of Hollins in the parish of Lamplugh in Cumberland.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

11. John (born before 1591, died 1670) and Janet (died 1654) RAWLING of Hollins in the parish of Lamplugh in Cumberland. Janet had been a FEARON before their marriage.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

10. John (1622-75) and Elizabeth (died 1697) RAWLING of Hollins in the parish of Lamplugh in Cumberland. Elizabeth had been a ROGERS of Ennerdale.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

9. Jeremiah (born 1660s, died 1762) and Martha (died 1755) RAWLING of Hollins in the parish of Lamplugh in Cumberland. Martha had also been born a RAWLING.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

8. Jonathan (born end 17th c, died 1763) and Elizabeth (born end 17th c, died 1761) RAWLING of Hows and later Hollins in Lamplugh. Elizabeth had been a FRIER.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

7. William (b abt 1733) and Mary RAWLING of Hollins.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

6. Jeremiah (b abt 1770) and Ann RAWLING of Hollins.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

5. Jonathan (b abt 1802) and Jane (b abt 1803) RAWLING of Godferhead at Loweswater. Jane had been a PEARSON.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

4. Jeremiah (b 1847) and Margaret (b 1852) RAWLING of Hollins. Margaret had been a JACKSON.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

3. Jackson (b 1878) and Catherine Ann (b 1877) RAWLING of Mosser. Catherine had been a SWAINSON.
Brief story below - Full details on their own page

RAWLING research notes
index of surnames

The story of my RAWLING line:

12. John and Janet

In the parish of Lamplugh in Cumberland, the RAWLINGs look to have been an established family already by the time of the first readable entries in the parish register in the late 1500s. There were at least three married men called Thomas, including one of Winder Row and another of Kirkland. Our ancestral family was none of these and lived at a third location: Hollins, a farm at the southern end of the parish, near the border with the neighbouring chapelry of Ennerdale (where there were also RAWLINGs in the 16th century). There was another Hollins nearby in Lamplugh parish, but the one in the township of Kelton is the RAWLING farm.

Hollins, by the way, means holly trees. It is quite a common name for farms and fields across the north of England. According to this article, holly branches were at one time used as winter feed for livestock, which may help explain their ubiquity and their landmark status.

John and Janet RAWLING of Hollins had the following known children (where dates are given, all in Lamplugh):
John, eldest son
Anthony, baptised 28 June 1591
William, baptised 15 July 1594 but buried 15 February 1594/5
Janet, baptised 4 March 1597
Arthur, baptised 15 August 1603

John senior was buried on 20 July 1622 and Janet his wife just two days later.

Anthony and Arthur lived to at least 1663; John their brother lived at the Hollins until 1670 (see below). Janet their sister may have died before 1663.

Full details on John and Janet's own page

11. John and Janet

This John may have married a first wife, Magdalen FOX (pronounced and sometimes spelled Mawdlen), in 1614, but she died in 1618 and the couple don't appear to have baptised any children.

John married Janet FEARON, a widow herself, from another local family, on 2 June 1622. They lived at the Hollins and had several children, though baptismal dates are only recorded for some of them in the Lamplugh parish registers:
John, baptised 21 July 1622 (just a few weeks after the marriage - Chris Dickinson infers that Janet's father drove a hard bargain in the marriage negotiations)
Janet, baptised 6 March 1624/5
Elline (or Ellinor), baptised 22 November 1626
Henry and William, both baptised 12 April 1629, but William buried 11 March 1629/30, and Henry buried 18 April 1630
Margaret, baptised 27 March 1631
George, baptised 16 March 1634/5
Anthony, baptism not found
Elizabeth, baptism not found
Frances, baptism not found

A John RAWLING of Lamplugh was fined in Ennerdale manor court in 1624 for unlawful card games in his house. Two John RAWLINGs (of which I expect one was the father of this family; the other may have been his son or another householder such as John of Stonywath) and an Arthur RAWLING (I'm sure John's brother) are listed in the Protestation Returns in 1642. John and his son paid the Hearth Tax in 1664, which I think means they were not poor and may mean that they had a decent-sized house with more than two hearths.

Janet, the mother, was buried on 14 March 1654/5. John, the father, made his will in 1663 (this may suggest he thought then he was close to death) but did not die until 1670, when he must have been at least about 80.

Of the children, John raised his family at the Hollins and lived to 1675 (see below). I don't know about George except that he lived to 1663,but perhaps not as long as 1672. Anthony was a miller at nearby Hawes; he seems not to have had a family of his own and died in 1672. Elizabeth married John Kendall and lived to at least 1672. Elinor and Frances also survived to 1672 but do not appear to have married. Janet and Margaret are not mentioned by name in later documents I've found - I suspect that by 1663 one at least had died and the other may have married John NORMAN.

Full details on John and Janet's own page

10. John and Elizabeth

John RAWLING married Elizabeth ROGERS of Ennerdale on 9 July 1655 in Lamplugh. They lived at Hollins. They had, or may have had, the following children:
Margaret baptised 1656, perhaps died by 1663
Frances after 1656 but by 1663, and surviving at that date
Quite likely Jeremiah or Martha (not both), after 1663 but probably not many years after
Possibly also Elizabeth

John died in 1675, leaving Elizabeth with whatever children she had surviving at that point. None of the children would have been of full age and Elizabeth was granted administration of John's estate. She lived until 1697.

There were marriages in 1692 of Elizabeth RAWLING (to John WALOSE ie WALLACE) and Frances RAWLING to Henry FREAR. Either or both of these may have been daughters of John and Elizabeth. For Jeremiah and Martha see below - the fact that they took over the Hollins is the main evidence for one of them being a child of this family, but it is possible that they were some other relation.

Full details on John and Elizabeth's own page

9. Jeremiah and Martha

Jeremiah RAWLING married Martha RAWLING on 20 December 1689 in Cockermouth, the local market town. They spent some time out of Lamplugh parish before returning to take over Hollins, perhaps around 1697 when Elizabeth died. They are thought to have had the following children:
Jonathan, date and place unknown but probably by 1700. For his future life see below.
John, date and place unknown but probably before coming to Lamplugh. He was still living at the Hollins when he died in 1723.
Jane 1694 in Ennerdale - she may have married John WOOD in 1719 in Lamplugh.
Joshua 1704 in Lamplugh (of Hollins) - he was renowned as a cow-doctor and his book on the subject was published after his death in 1792. He was buried in Lamplugh.
Elizabeth 1708 in Lamplugh - she does not seem to have married and was buried in Lamplugh in 1761.
Thomas 1711 in Lamplugh - his later life is unknown.

Martha died in 1755 and was buried in Lamplugh; Jeremiah survived her until 1762 and was likewise buried in the parish. He must have been of a very ripe old age, if he married 73 years previously.

Full details on their own page

8. Jonathan (d 1763) and Elizabeth (d 1761) of Hows and later Hollins.

Jonathan RAWLING married Elizabeth FRIER on 13 June 1719 in Lamplugh. They lived at Hows in that parish. Their children were:
Thomas 1720
Jeremy 1722 (died 1766 and buried at Lamplugh)
Martha 1725 (married John GUEST, 8 January 1749 at Lamplugh)
John 1727 (died 1730 and buried at Lamplugh)
Henry 1729
Jonathan 1732 (died 1733 and buried at Lamplugh)
William 1733 (see below)

I believe that as Jonathan's parents and unmarried sister Elizabeth grew older or less well, Jonathan and Elizabeth moved to Hollins from Hows. Jonathan's mother Martha died in 1755 and his sister Elizabeth in 1761. Elizabeth Jonathan's wife died only a few weeks after her sister-in-law and was at Lamplugh on 29 December 1761. Jonathan survived her by not much more than a year and was also buried in Lamplugh, on 13 March 1763.

Full details on their own page

7. William (b abt 1733) and Mary of Hollins.

William RAWLING was a yeoman of Hollins, married to Mary. They had children:
Martha 1762 (married James ROBERTSON 6 March 1788 at Lamplugh; they seem to have christened two children, William and Hannah RAWLING, on the same day as well)
Hannah 1767 (married Henry TYSON 7 December 1789 at Lamplugh; they also seem to have christened a son, William RAWLING, on the same day)
Jeremiah 1770 (see below)
Fanny 1776 (Married Nicholas DICKINSON 26 October 1800 at Lamplugh)

Full details on their own page

6. Jeremiah (abt 1770 - at least 1851) and Anne of Hollins.

Jeremiah also lived at Hollins, with Anne. I could speculate again that Anne was daughter (or other relative) of John JACKSON. Their children were:
William 1797 (married Ann, lived at Arlecdon, had one child Joshua about 1825, all buried at Lamplugh: Joshua 1837, William 1865, Ann 1892)
John Jackson 1800
Jonathan 1802 (see below)
Mary 1804
Sarah 1805
Elizabeth 1807 (married John PEARSON, who had been born in Gosforth but they lived at Water Gate in Loweswater, apparently without children)
Ann 1810 (died aged 7 months, buried Lamplugh)
Note that the parish register information I have ends in 1812 so there may be later children I don't know about.

Jeremiah was still living at Hollins in 1837, renting a cottage and two perches of land from John CROSTHWAITE and owing no tithe. By 1851 he was living with his married daughter Elizabeth PEARSON in Loweswater; he was 81 by then and I think he probably died before the next census, since I haven't found him then.

Full details on their own page

5. Jonathan (abt 1802-1891) and Jane (abt 1803-1874) of Godferhead at Loweswater.

Jonathan married Jane PEARSON, though I don't know the exact date - probably about 1825-28. Jane was the daughter of a farmer from nearby Ennerdale, and slightly younger than Jonathan. They had the following children, and I guess they would have been living at the birth-places at those dates (though the Ennerdale locations may have been Jane staying with her own family for her early confinements):
Ann born about 1828, Ennerdale (died Ann WILLIAMSON 1887, poss married Henry WILLIAMSON 1854 Loweswater)
Thomas born about 1830, Ennerdale (living unmarried with his parents to at least the age of 20 in 1851)
Bridget born about 1836, Loweswater (died Bridget JACKSON 1911, poss married Jonathan JACKSON 1863 St Bees)
Jane born about 1840, Loweswater (living unmarried with her parents to at least the age of 30 in 1871)
Mary born about 1845, Loweswater (died Mary JACKSON 1920)
Jeremiah born 1847, Loweswater (see below)

Ennerdale is the same valley as Hollins in Lamplugh, but across a parish boundary. Loweswater is several miles from Hollins, in the next valley to the north. By 1841, the family lived at a small place called Godferhead there, but moved in to the Hollins about 1865, when Jonathan's older brother William died without surviving children to take it over.

Jane died in 1874. By 1881 Jonathan had retired and his son Jeremiah was the farmer. Jonathan in turn died in 1891 aged about 89.

Full details on their own page

4. Jeremiah (1847-1939) and Margaret (1852-1947) of Hollins.

Jeremiah was a farmer at the Hollins when he married Margaret JACKSON on 19 December 1874 at Lamplugh. Margaret was the daughter of a local farmer; she was 22 and Jeremiah 27. They had children, all born in Lamplugh:
Jonathan 1875/75 (died 1935, commemorated on his parents' gravestone in Ennerdale)
Jackson 1878 (see below)
Jane 1880 (lived to 100, died in 1981 and commemorated in Ennerdale churchyard alongside her sister Elizabeth)
Anne Mary about 1882 (married Edward WALLACE and moved to South Africa; also lived to 100 and died about 1984)
Elizabeth 1886 (became a head teacher in Whitehaven; died in 1950 and commemorated in Ennerdale churchyard alongside her sister Jane)
William abt 1888
Thomas J abt 1892

In 1881, as well as the first three children, they are living with Jeremiah's father Jonathan in his retirement (see above). Jeremiah is described as a farmer of 70 acres, and living with the family are a boy of 15 and a girl of 16 described as servants and therefore presumably employed on the farm and in the house respectively. In 1901 they no longer had servants living there, but perhaps with sons of 22, 12 and 8 (Jonathan appears to have left home), and daughters of 20, 18 and 15 they had plenty of labour and/or not enough room. There is evidence that the children had a decent amount of schooling - I have a book (Principles of Agriculture) inscribed with Jackson's name and age (15), Ennerdale school and the date (1893).

Jeremiah died in 1939, aged 91, and Margaret died in 1947, aged 95. Both are commemorated with their son Jonathan in Ennerdale churchyard.

Full details on their own page

3. Jackson (1878-1959) and Catherine Ann (1877-1954) of Mosser.

Jackson married Catherine Ann SWAINSON on 21 February 1905 at Lamplugh. Catherine was, at 27, slightly older than Jackson; she had been born in Wales to a coal mining family with Cumberland roots, but her father had been killed in an industrial accident when she was a child and she had been brought up by her uncle in Lamplugh.

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.

Jackson was still described as a farmer in 1934, when he would have been in his mid-50s, but he is described as a retired farmer when his wife Catherine died in 1954 - she was 76 and he 75. When he died in turn, in 1959 aged 81, he was living with his grand-daughter in the local market town of Cockermouth.

Full details on their own page

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 initial and surname @ service provider.

RAWLING research notes
index of surnames