James FORREST was born in 1766 to parents Thomas FORREST and Elizabeth MARSDEN.
He married Betty WALKER from Turton, a village between Darwen and Bolton.
I suspect that they had 8 children, although there were 4 James and Betty FORRESTs baptizing children at that time.
There children are thought to be: William, Henry, Thomas, James, Ellen, Mary, Margaret and Jinny.
If correct then some, if not all his children, were born in Mellor where James was a handloom cotton weaver.
The four James and Betty FORRESTs
There were 4 couples called James and Betty FORREST who baptized 22 children between 1790 and 1818 in Blackburn and Samlesbury. The parentage of some of the children is impossible to unravel, but there are clues that allow some conclusions.
- Betty HARGREAVES died in February 1794. The last child could have been William 3 months earlier. The other Betty's married after the twin John and Isaac were conceived, therefore we can be confident that James, John and Isaac were definitely Betty HARGREAVES' children.
- Samuel, Alice and William were all baptized in 1793 implying three different sets of parents for these children.
- Betty WALKER was only married in October 1792, meaning that, unless already pregnant, she was not the mother of Samuel in Feb 1793 or Alice in May 1793. So William FORREST must have been Betty WALKER's first child.
- Samuel and Alice would be the children of Betty HARGREAVES and Betty COTHAM. Given that Samuel arrived only 1 year after the twins, I'd guess that Alice was Betty HARGREAVES' daughter, and her last child.
- Looking at where the children were baptised: John 1802, William 1804, Ellin 1806, Thomas 1808, Margaret 1810, and Margaret 1814 were all baptized at Balderstone.
- Despite the short period between marriage and birth, this looks like these were Betty HOLKER's children. She was married on 4 Apr 1802 by license, just 3 months before those baptisms started. The license would have been needed for a widow/er or an out of diocese bride or groom.
- Abode information is also useful. The baptismal records of Mary 1808, Margaret 1814 and Jinny 1818 confirm that their parents were from Mellor where James was a weaver. A 1861 census record had unmarried brothers Henry, 56, farmer and James, 51, carter, living on Mellor Brow. Both were born in Mellor.
- Surnames are subject to the whims of the record taker, but one pattern emerges with the name FOREST. The children split as follows (excluding Betty HARGREAVES' and Samlesbury children):
- FOREST: Samuel 1793, William 1793, Henry 1795, Thomas 1800, James 1805 and Ellen 1808
- FORREST: James 1797, Mary 1797, John 1803, Roger 1811, Mary 1811 and Jinny 1818.
- Roger born 19 Feb 1811 and Mary born 31 Aug 1811 can't be siblings. With Mary being born in Mellor, Roger must belong to Betty COTHAM.
Taken together I believe the correct parentage is:
- James FORREST and Betty HARGREAVES: John, James, Isaac and Alice.
- James FORREST and Betty COTHAM, of Blackburn: Samuel, James, Mary, John and Roger.
- James FORREST, weaver, and BETTY WALKER of Mellor: William, Henry, Thomas, James, Ellen, Mary, Margaret and Jinny.
Census records:
In 1861, on Mellor Brow, Henry FORREST 56, a farmer of 17 acres, is living with his brother James FORREST 51, a carter. Both were born in Mellor. James should have been 55 and Henry 66 so this is likely another pair of brothers, however there are no Blackburn baptisms of both a Henry and a James FORREST for the implied years.
In 1851, a James FORREST, 75, farmer is living with Betty, aged 65 on Larkhill (the main road leaving Blackburn heading NE). Also in the household are Henry 30 and Thomas 15, both weavers.
A Betty FORREST, 78, a widow, was living her brother Richard BROWN.
A Betty FORREST, 77, widow, born in Deane (near Bolton), was a visitor to James FORRIST, 45, inn keeper, Jane, and children Elizabeth and James.
