This page last updated 16 February 2010
Thomas ROBINSON was a farmer and may be inferred to have lived in Tarleton (between Southport and Preston in Lancashire) about 1828 when his daughter Alice was born.
In 1851, she was living at Car House, Holmes, Tarleton, as a house servant with a family called HARRISON, headed by Jane, a widow of 70, and her 45-year old widowed son James.
Alice married James WATKINSON on 20 January 1857 in Tarleton. She gave her age as 28, four years older than James, and signed her mark to the certificate. Either they had small baby already or she was heavily pregnant - their oldest son Thomas is given as 4 years old at the 1861 census. See James's page for their married life.
Here's a thing that I think I need to get to the bottom of: Jame's WATKINSON's father was Thomas HARRISON, a farmer. Was James related to the HARRISON family that Alice was in service with? Witnesses to James's and Alice's marriage were John and Jane HARRISON. How can I get into this? Fill out the census information, including for the HARRISONs who aren't directly ancestral to me. Get Thomas WATKINSON's birth certificate (or he may be ROBINSON). Find James WATKINSON's birth and generally try to put together the story of him and his mother - but that's for their page.
If you are interested in this line I'll be very pleased indeed to hear from you. Email me at deletethis.ianwilliamson161@gmail.com but delete everything up to and including the first dot, leaving just my name and 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 if you like but if you delete what appears I may not read your mail.