Beyond Rothwell

When searching for the birth of John Farrar who married Maria Wood at Rothwell in 1635 the register is of no help. There a number of 'Farrar' entries for the 1500s, but only a few for the early 1600s when it is calculated John was born, and none that can be associated with John Farrar. The conclusion must be that he was born outside the parish and we should look beyond Rothwell for the place of his birth. There are no shortages of likely parishes in Yorkshire or the rest of England for that matter where Farrars were living at the appropriate time.

Methley, the nearest parish, is 2 or 3 miles south-east of Oulton, and a Farrar family was living there in the 17th century. Here the register began in 1560 and records a John Farrar, son of John Farrar, who was baptised in April 1627. He was born too late to be a candidate, being only 8 when John was married, but he would have been contemporary to John at Rothwell. The Methley family lived in village for at least three generations and further research has shown that he belonged to one of the many Halifax branches.

Just across the River Aire from Oulton are three ancient churches at Swillington, Kippax, and Whitchurch. Swillington and Kippax can be ruled out, though there were Farrars at Kippax in the 16th century, the register does not contain a John being born at the appropriate date.

Whitkirk parish register however, has an entry which is a possibility. The registers have been preserved from 1603 and an early entry shows that Christopher and John, two sons of Christopher Farrowed (later spelled Faray), were baptised on December 14th 1603. Young Christopher was buried a few days later but John appears to have survived and in 1635, at the age of 32, may have crossed the River Aire to marry Maria Wood in Rothwell.

The following year a wedding took place in Whitkirk when John Farrer gent. married Dorothy West. He is unlikely to be the John who was born there in 1603, but possibly the son of John Farrar of Ewood Hall, Halifax.

Another connection with Whitkirk was made when John Farrah, shoemaker of St Martins le Grand, Middlesex, made his will in 1677/8 and left 40s. a year his mother Ellin who was 'living in Whitkirk parish near Leeds'. The will suggests that he was too young to be the John born there in 1603.

Richard Farrowed (or Farra) and Stephen Farrer are also mentioned in the Whitkirk register at this period indicating other families were also living in the village. In 1675 the register tells how William Wilcocke and George, the son of William Rish of Seacroft, were buried after 'being slaine in a colepit of Sir Thomas Gascoigne and Tim Mauleverer's Esq. upon Winmoore, near Robert Farra's house'.

Wakefield, a large parish to the South of Rothwell, lists a birth for a John at the appropriate date. A record dated 1308 shows that the trade name was being used there for identification when Robert the farrier was accused of unjustly diverting a stream beside his house and causing damage to the town.

Leeds was so insignificant for many years that in 1480 it was described as being near Rothwell. However, when Headingley, Burley, Kirkstall, Holbeck and Hunslet were merged with other villages in the 17th century, development of a large town was assured.

Farrars are found living in Leeds in the late 16th century. Gilbert Farrow of Kirkstall had a son, William, baptised there in 1589, William Farrow of Headrow had a son, Thomas, baptised in 1596 and Richard ffarray of Holbeck had a number of children baptised in Leeds towards the end of the century. However, the first John does not appear in the registers until 1680, when John Farra of Calbrow buried his daughter Hannah.

In 1625, Alice Lodge a widow of Leeds, 'comeing into the place where the said Fardinando [Ferrar] lay sicke and thinking upon the sight of the said Fardinando that he was no liklie to live long therefore asked him the said Fardinando to whom he would give his porcon'. He answered, 'it shall goe to my father during his life and after the decease of my father to my brethren and sisters'.

Ferdinand belonged to a family who lived at Coxwold and Easingwold in North Yorkshire. The Administration of his goods were to his brothers Henry, Nathaniel, George, Robert, and sisters Ursula Johnson, Alice Redshaw, Susanna and Ann are mentioned. Ferdinand and Nathaniel are unusual names yet both occur in Coxwold when Nathaniel Farrer baptised his son Ferdinand in 1605. Nathanial also baptised sons Nathaniel, George and Robert and daughters Susan and Jane, most of whom are mentioned in the Administration of his will.

Calverley is situated between Leeds and Bradford. It's an ancient parish which includes Pudsey, Bolton and Idle, and the hamlets of Thornbury and Windhill. Many of the inhabitants found employment in the towns numerous woollen and worsted mills or the extensive stone quarry workings.

The parish registers began in 1574, a comparatively early date, and numerous 'Farrars' appear on the pages. Richard Ffarrowe of Pudsey baptised his daughter Grace at Calverley on October 10th 1574. William Ffarrowe of Pudsey baptised his son William the following January and Thomas Ffarrowe baptised his son, William, there a few weeks later. They are just three members of the six or seven families living in Calverley parish in the second half of the 16th century.

A register of the church seats in 1606 shows that William Farrowed of Idle had been allocated the fifth seat 'upon the southe and northe sidds, betwextt the pillars of the Church and the Wall'. Seat nine had also been allocated to a William Farrowed. Farrowed tends to be the favoured early spelling, while Farrer was more common in the later registers.

A link between Calverley and Rothwell was made in 1634 when Tristram Farrey married Isabel Maymon in Rothwell Church, a year before John and Maria Wood were married there. Afterwards the two families run parallel in Rothwell.

Like John, Tristram did not appear to have been born in Rothwell, but having such an unusual Christian name, it was possible to discover where he was born. The only birth of a Tristram found in Yorkshire at a relevant date was in 1605 when Richard Farrow baptised his son of that name at Calverley. This is almost certainly the Tristram who married Isabelle Maymon and settled in Rothwell.

Were Tristram and John cousins, or even brothers, who went to Rothwell to get married and settle there? The only problem with this theory is that John's birth does not appear in Calverley register, and the two families did not use the same Christian names. They would surely have done so if they were closely related. Samuel, so popular with John's family, was not used by Tristram's (though it was used in Calverley), while Richard and Abraham were used by Tristram's, but not by John's family.

After many years of dedicated research, Charles Derek Farrar of Nottingham has traced his family back to the Calverley, and to the time they lived in Bramley, Armley and Pudsey.

It is possible that many of these families were related and came from a single ancestor. The most important Yorkshire family in the 15th-18th centuries lived in the Halifax area, and are the subject of the next chapter