Richard COUNSEL was a cordwainer, i.e. a leatherworker and/or shoemaker.
He married Ann HINDLE in April 1747. Four baptisms have been found for their children but there are gaps suggesting that there were others.
His daughter Peggy (baptized Margaret) named her first child Richard.
The only baptismal records for a Richard COUNSEL (or variants) between 1710 and 1730 were from Somerset. It is possible that he was baptized under his mother's surname.
Richard was buried in Blackburn on 21 Apr 1797. He died aged 73, suggesting a birth year of 1723/4.
In his will, proven on 15 May 1797, he is described as a cordwainer (shoemaker) of Mellor. The main provisions in his will are as follows:
- his wife Mary to retain Richard's goods and chattels provided she agrees to live with his son Thomas and does not "consume or diminish" them, but if she does then they can be sold and she must live off the interest
- after her death, each of his children (or their heirs) receive one ninth of the sale proceeds, but he lists 10 children
- John gets his dictionary
- Thomas gets the other books and wood for a writing desk
His children are listed in the will in the following order:
- John
- Pegy BARNS
- William
- Richard
- Ralph
- James
- Mary, wife of John WIELD
- Ann FORREST's three children (presumably Ann predeceased Richard)
- Thomas
- George
Clearly Richard did not trust his "beloved" wife Mary. The baptismal records found name Ann as the mother up to Anne in 1766. Could the other two children be Mary's?
There are no marriage records that are a good fit.