There are at least two candidates for the parents of Harriet FIRTH who married Robert ARCHIBALD in 1822.
The preferred couple is John and Hannah FIRTH who baptized a Harriet shortly after their marriage in 1801 in Ovenden.
John FIRTH of Ovenden, weaver married Hannah RAMSDEN of Ovenden, spinster on 7 Jun 1801 in St John the Baptist, Halifax. John signed his name. One of the witnesses was Thomas FIRTH (with the other appearing in many marriage records.) Hannah was born in Illingworth which is adjacent to Holdsworth.
John and Hannah FIRTH baptized twelve children between 1801 and 1823. This is supported by the fact that all twelve are baptized at Mount Zion Chapel near where they lived at Holdsworth, Ovenden near Halifax, and most of her girls (Lucy, Nancy, Hannah, Sarah Ann and Betty) are living with Hannah in 1841. By this time, her eldest, Harriet, was living in Blackburn.
In 1841, Hannah was not living with John and was described as being of independent means. Living nearby was Thomas FIRTH, a plasterer, aged 65, who could have been John's brother and the witness to his marriage.
But the couple appear together again in the 1851 census, still in Ovenden, living with daughter Hannah, a "cripple" aged 32, and Betty, 28, a power loom weaver (worsted). John is a hand loom weaver of worsted wool aged 69 from Northrowram and Hannah is aged 70 and from Ovenden.
The 1851 census record supports that John's parents were John FIRTH and Betty HOLDSWORTH who baptized a John in Northrowram in March 1782. This would make John 19 when he married Hannah RAMSDEN.
As he turned 70, John appears to have given up weaving and taken up as a plasterer, presumably assisting his eldest daughter's husband, Robert ARCHIBALD.
John died in the summer of 1854, aged 72, and was buried in Illingworth on 2 Aug 1852.
Other research notes:
- A John and Hannah FIRTH baptised Mally (11 Mar 1793), Ely (5 Jul 1795) and Ann (16 Jul 1797) in Heptonstall, Sowerby. Also in Heptonstall, a Betty FIRTH was baptized on 22 Jan 1792 by John FIRTH of Sowerby. This cannot the same family because John would have been too young.
- Another marriage for a John and Hannah occurred on 25 Jun 1797 in Halifax between John FIRTH, shoemaker of Sowerby and Hannah WOOD of Sowerby. This would be too early for the John FIRTH born 4 Feb 1782 by John and Betty FIRTH as he would have only been 16 years old, the residence is wrong and the profession is wrong, so this couple can be ruled out as being the parents of the Harriet baptized in Ovenden in 1801.