William Walton

1673 - 1723

William was born in Tideswell in 1673 ⁽¹⁾, the eldest son of William & Elizabeth. He had five younger brothers - Charles, Nehemiah, Elisha, Robert and Matthew, although Charles and Robert died as infants, and Nehemiah as a teenager ⁽²⁾.

He married Barbara Wise on 21st January 1705 ⁽³⁾, and their eldest daughter Sarah was born the following year ⁽⁴⁾. They had a son John in 1709 ⁽⁵⁾, and a younger daughter Susanna in 1712 ⁽⁶⁾.

Whether the family temporarily moved away, or whether there is simply a gap in the parish register is unknown, but at some stage over the next 5 years it seems that Barbara died, and William remarried a woman called Ann ⁽⁷⁾. They had a daughter Mary in 1717 ⁽⁸⁾, but she only lived for a month or two ⁽⁹⁾. His son Thomas was born the following year ⁽¹⁰⁾, and finally his youngest. Elisha, in 1721 ⁽¹¹⁾.

William died a pauper just two years later, and was buried in Tideswell on 26th October 1723 ⁽¹⁴⁾. His wife survived him by nearly 10 years ⁽¹⁵⁾.

• Sarah was born in Tideswell in 1706. Nothing more is known of her.
• John has his own page
• Susanna was born in Tideswell in 1712. Nothing more is known of her.
• Mary was born in 1717 in Tideswell, and died there a few weeks later.
• Thomas was born in Tideswell in 1718. Nothing more is known of him.
• Elisha was born in Tideswell in 1721. He was probably very ill when he was first born, but survived this first challenge. Nothing more is known of him.

1. Bishop's Transcript of the Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell (transcript by Val Neal) includes the entry:
   Baptised: William, son of William Walton, on 30/9/1673
2. See his father's page
3. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
   [January 1704] Nupt inter William Walton et Barbra Wise de Tiddswell       21
   This is dated by the Julian calendar, so is actually 21/1/1705 in the Gregorian calendar.
4. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
   [March 1705] Bapti: Sarah filia Gulielmi at Barbara Walton       10
   This is dated by the Julian calendar, so is actually 10/3/1706 in the Gregorian calendar.
5. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
   [March 1708] Bapt John y^e son of W^m & Barbary Walton de Tidswall       6
   This is dated by the Julian calendar, so is actually 6/3/1709 in the Gregorian calendar.
6. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
   [April 1712] Baptized Susana y^e daughter of Will & Barbara Walton of Tiddswall       [1..]
   End of line is unreadabale on microfilm. The date starts with a '1' and is the first entry in the teens. My guess would be for the 10th April, but Val Neal's transcript gives it as 16th.
7. This is pure speculation based on very little. Barbara is not mentioned again in the parish registers after the birth of Susanna ⁽⁶⁾, but William's wife is named Ann at the baptism of Thomas in 1718 ⁽¹⁰⁾. As there is a five year gap between the baptisms of Susanna in 1712 and Mary in 1717 (at which William's wife is not named) ⁽⁸⁾, I have assumed that this apparent death and second marriage occured then. Whilst it is possible that the William married to Ann was a different person from the William married to Barbara, there is no indication of another William of around the same age alive at the same time, so I have discounted that (until/unless other evidence comes to light).
8. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
   [August 1717] Bap^t Mary y^e Daughter W^m Walton of Tiddswall       18
9. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
   [October 1717] Bury^d Rob^t Mary y^e Daughter of W^m Walton of Tiddswall
   The end of the line is not readable on microfilm, so the exact date is unknown. However it was the first entry in October, and the transcript by Val Neal gives the date as 1st October.
10. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
    [August 1718] Bapt Thomas y^e Son of W^m & Ann Walton       14
11. Elisha appears to have been baptised twice, a few weeks apart ^(12)(13). Even more confusing is that 'she' was named as a daughter at the first one and then 'he' was named as a son at the second one. The differing gender must be a mistake on the part of the vicar who originally wrote up the baptisms. Ignoring this, there are two possible explanations for the two baptisms - either Elisha was a very sick baby, and the first was a private baptism at home, while the second was in church after (s)he unexpectedly recovered; or alternatively the second entry should actually be for a burial, but was erroneously written up as a second baptism.
12. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
    [Feb^y 1720:21] Bapt Elisha y^e Daughter of William Walton of Tiddswall       28
13. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
    [Feb^y 1720:21] Bapt Elisha y^e Son of W^m Walton of Tiddswall       20
14. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
    [October 1723] Buryd Will^m Walton of Tideswell a pauper       26
15. Parish Register of St John the Baptist, Tideswell, includes the entry:
    [May 1733] Buried Ann Walton Widdow of Tideswell
    The end of the line is unreadable on microfilm. However the entry before is dated 20th May, and the entray after 21st May, so it must be one of those two dates. Val Neal's transcript gives it as the 21st.

Confirm Bishop's Transcript entry in original.