Penny Family from Lancashire.

[Christine Knapp]

Hi all, this is my first time on.I've been at it a wee while but as always we need help.I'm still searching for James Penny bn 1775 and his family. My gt gt grandmother Jane Penny bn 1815 at Nibthwaite had a twin sister.Jane Penny married Thomas Leece.The names of Coniston and Brown Hall keep popping up.I cannot connect this family beyond 1775. I'd love any help on offer. Thankyou.

[georgiep]

Hi Christine
When you say the names Coniston and Brown Hall keep popping up.
Do you mean place names not surnames?

Tks

Georgie

[Christine Knapp]

Hi Georgie,thanks for the contact. Coniston is the name of the area near the Lake District where a lot of my family come from. Brown Hall is or was a building at Coniston where someone by the name of George Penny lived.The info I found said "it was the property and occassional residence of George Penny Esquire, it is a pleasant mansion in the township on the the banks of the lake Coniston, the chapel is now a school". I have a small map of the area and it looks like Nibthwaite is not far from there. The Penny families also lived at Penny Bridge Hall.My James Penny b. c 1775 and his wife Alice Nicholson were married at Colton.They then must have been at Nibthwaite and had my gt gt grandmother and her twin sister in 1815 and other children. I have been going round in circles with this family for a long time.There must be somebody connected to this family somewhere in the area. I am trying to work out if they are connected to James penny the Slaver or not.The other info I have been given has different dates for James Penny and Alice Nicholson.They are James penny 1772 forge carpenter,married Alice Nicholson b 1774. The children were George b.1797, Moses and Alice b. 1804, Margaret and Jane b. 1815, and Agnes b.1818.This seems to be more likely my family.Well I've prattled on enough. Be great if anyone out there can help us. I am doing this research for my mum who is 89 soon and loves to talk about back home. She was born in Keswick.Regards Christine.

[georgiep]

Thanks Christine for wonderful info.
Do you have Moses in census at all?
I plucked him as he was easy to find!
He died in 1888 Ulverston rego.
I'm sure I have Penny in my tree, fringe dwellers as I call them.
My Cornthwaites etc came from all of the places you have listed.
Please give your Mum my warmest wishes from Australia which I hope gives her a surprise.
Cornies, my branch moved to Lpool, so did some Pennys.

Georgie oxo

[georgiep]

Hi again
It looks like Alice is still alive in 1861 census
Do you have the info at all?
I'll list it anyway as it could help someone researching the same tree.
Nibthwaite
Alice 86 wid her occupation looks like farmer bn Colton
daughter Margaret as Margret 43 unm farm servant bn Colton.

1851 Alice is on her own born Broughton living in Colton.

Best wishes
Georgie

[bob graham]

One problem here is that all that part of the country is actually Lancashire at that time so you may get more help on the lancashire boards. In Cumberland the name penny is most famous for being the Bishop of Carlisle around 1503. Maybe this where the money came from! If you look in some of the old directories at www.historicaldirectories.org (http://www.historicaldirectories.org) you will find quite a few Penny's around coniston in 1829 (the earliest I've got for that area including a Joseph Penny Esq. so he must have been quite important.
There was a Jane at Kirkland in 1829 and a school run by 2 penny sisters in Maryport.
bob

[georgiep]

Hi Christine
Just wondering about info sent by myself & Bob has helped with your tree.

Regards
Georgie

[Christine Knapp]

Hi Georgie and Bob,you people are fabulous. Thankyou so much for your replies.I've been on night shift so I'm a bit bog eyed at the moment but I have printed off the info you sent me and when I go to see mum on Thursday we'll sort through the Penny file together and I'll see what I have on Moses. Mum said, she remembers a conversation she had with her dad when she was little. He said " Ruthy, remember, your Uncle Thomas Leece is called Thomas Penny Leece, and your grandfather was William Penny Leece and your gt gt grandmother was Jane Penny married to Thomas Leece and your grt grt grandmother ran a Dames School and played the melodian ".This was all we had to start with.We can't get any further back than James Penny and Alice Nicholson.Mum also said we are connected to the Backhouse family, she remembers a conversation her mother had with someone in church in the 1920's saying they were related to the Backhouse family but I don't know where the connection is but we believe it is with the Penny family.I will do some home work over the next few days and get back to you. By the way Georgie are you in OZ too or back in UK. Regards Christine.

[Christine Knapp]

Hi Bob, Interesting info about the school run by the two Penny sisters at Maryport. Do you have any dates for them and where they come from. A coincidence, mum taught at Maryport. Her name was Ruth Leece.Thanks for your help. We are going to try and get a map of the area, so I can get an idea of distances and areas in the lake district, Coniston and Lancashire.Regards Christine

[maltonboy]

BLAWITH, which is a township and chapelry, comprising the village of Watergate,4 at the foot of Coniston Lake, eight miles north of Ulverston. It is pronounced like the British word Blaith, signifying a wolf, with which animals this country was formerly much infested. Indeed, some writers assert that Ulverston took its name from being a place where premiums were awarded to wolf killers. About one mile from Watergate, stands Blawith Chapel, an humble edifice. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of T.R.G. Braddyll, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. Joseph Patch, M.A., who in 1849, erected a neat dwelling here, called Meadow Lodge. The benefice received several lots of Queen Anne's Bounty, most of which were laid out in the purchase of land, now let for £56 a year, and the remainder, £200, is still at interest, so that the benefice is worth about £64 per annum. Near the chapel is a school, possessing a small ancient endowment. Brown Hall, the property and occasional residence of George Penny, Esq., is a pleasant mansion in this township, on the banks of Coniston Lake.


i found this info on this site: http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/ulverston_f.html

i know people in the area so i will get in touch with them and see if they know anything?

maltonboy

[maltonboy]

Just had a quick look on an OS map and there is a Brown Howe (house & buildings) on the S W shore of Coniston. i would have said a little bit too far away but need to check it up as i know the rural parishes can be quite large.

maltonboy

[maltonboy]

Hi,

can't help much more as my contact, who is born and bred in the area, agrees with me that it could be Brown Howe and thats about it, i'm sorry. :o

maltonboy

[Astoria]

I came across this site which may be of interest, if only for the nice photo.

http://www.leaney.org/lake_district_fell_photo.php?fell_id=beacon_fell&photo=20030302a

Old walking guides might be useful, Alfred Wainwright springs to mind. They could maybe be purchased online, they often have quite detailed maps naming houses and points of interest known only to locals.

[Christine Knapp]

Hello Maltonboy,thankyou for your interest in the Penny family. I have the info you have posted I got it form the same site.Just wondering if that George Penny was connected to my Penny family seems close to Nibthwaite which is where some of my lot come from. Look forward to seeing what comes up next. Kind regards Christine.

[Christine Knapp]

Hi Georgie, did you get my reply, I did thank both you and Bob but am now wondering if I replied to myself, oh dear, I'm finding my way around the site slowly.Regards Christine

[Christine Knapp]

Hello Bob, thankyou for your reply,I'm still finding my way round the site and I sent your thankyou to myself I think.I am interested in the two Penny sisters who were teachers at Maryport. My mum Ruth Leece used to teach at Maryport. Look forward to hearing from you, and once again, thankyou. regards Christine

[bob graham]

Christine, sorry I've been so long. The historicaldirectories site isn't easy to use and faced with 130 hits I'de passed over that particular directory. Only when the other 11 directories had yielded nothing did I dive in - and guess what - it was the first hit. So Pigot and Co's Directory 1828-29 lists Margaret and Mary Penny as proprieters of a girls day school on King st in Maryport. The next directory is 1847 and there is no mention of them. In 1858 there is a Mrs Mary Penny running a coffee room on High St.
I remember someone asking you if you'de found Moses on a census. Someone (and you have got to assume the same family) obviously liked biblical names as Esau features prominently in the directories from 1850's on as a joiner just outside Maryport.
bob

[Christine Knapp]

Hello Georgie,just had a quick look at my info. The Moses I have on my tree is Moses Leece b.1848, son of my gt gt gt grandfather Thomas Leece and Jane Penny.I think there is also a Moses Penny somewhere but I need to find it.Hope this is of some interest to you. Moses also had quite a few siblings. Take care Regards Christine.

[lizziep]

Hi Christine
Found your posting yesterday but had to wait til membership accepted to post a response. I am researching the Pennys of Colton and Satterthwaite, an area in the southern Lake District, formerly Lancashire and now Cumbria. Nibthwaite is a small village between Lakes Coniston and Windermere.
I have James Penny bn about 1775 in Nibthwaite and a recorded marriage to Alice Nicholson on 15 May 1796 at Colton church (verified from parish registers). Children were George-a son, George, of James of Nibthwaite was baptised 18 Jun 1797 so this is almost certainly correct- , Alice about 1804 , Moses (1805) , Ann (1807) and William (1811). The last are not verified personally from records but from a distant relative's tree. I don't have Margaret but i do have a Jane bn 1815 daughter of John and Elizabeth Penny of Ivy Tree.
Research online of parish records suggests his father may also have been James and he may have had a sister Agnes. Would that fit?
There are an awful lot of Pennys in the area, possibly all related if you go far enough back-that is what i want to find out! Most were small farmers although later many went into mining. There is a landed branch (gentry) related to the Penny Machells, if I remember correctly. Will check out my records and post again.
Keep up with the research.
lizziep

[georgiep]

Hi
I don't think my tree info will be of help but will list it anyway for the snoops...
I have Agnes Penny bn Colton 1770. She married Mark Robson in 1791.

Georgie

[Christine Knapp]

Hi Lizzie, thanks heaps for your interest. I have been going round in circles with the penny family for a long time.My Jane Penny born 1815 @ Colton had a twin sister called Margaret and another sister Agnes bn. 10 August 1818. Jane Penny b.26th Feb 1815 married Thomas Leece. Their children were... William Penny Leece, James, Thomas, John,Alice, Moses, Mathaias,Margaret and Joseph.All I know is that Jane born 1815 has James Penny and wife Alice... as her parents..I have found a John Machell of Hollow Oak married Isabella Penny of Penny Bridge. He was trustee of iron ore mines @ Nibthwaite. Is this your lot? I also found a James penny Machell who married a Anne Penny of Liverpool. As you say, they are all over the place, I just can't put mine together, most frustrating. Talk soon. Regards Christine

[flossmm]

Hi, I am a new member of this site, and I have Penny ancestors.

My ancestors include George Penny, born 1797, whose father was James Penny, and his was Richard Penny. George trained as an Excise officer, and qualified in 1819 - we have his qualification certificate. James was a farmer and 'mechanic' and he died by falling off a roof he was mending. I have a photocopy of a newspaper article about this, which is in a record office.

I have quite a bit of information about this family, and will assemble it and send it to anyone who is interested.

If people are still following this line up, I'd be delighted to share info.

Flo

[daggers]

I've just come across this thread, and am interested in the Penny/Machell link, as they appear in my tree, not as ancestors but out on a branch not well studied so far. If anyone also links with the Knott or Ford families, from the Colton/Satterthwaite part of old Furness, I would be glad to share what I have, which has names but few dates, mainly 19th century.

D

[Grandange]

James Penny of Liverpool-the slaver and merchant was a relation-poss cousin of the Pennybridge Pennys as was Allen Penney and his descendants of Lancaster where William P was mayor 2/3 times c 1700 and left endowment for William Penney/s almshouses in Penny St Angela

[Grandange]

Alos you will find lots of info-though not sorted at all on the Nat Archives site A2A-tap in Penney and lancs and see what turns up-hope you all have plenty of spare time! A