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 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/cumb...verston_f.html

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

maltonboy