Origins

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Website created and updated by Alyson Jackson (launched 2002).

How long have Ainsleys been living in Bilsdale? This page looks at evidence for the Ainsley family living in the dale and is updated periodically. Numbers in brackets e.g. (1) refer to W.C.Ainsley numbering system on the family tree.

CMB Bilsdale 1590-1784

At the County Archives in Northallerton initially looking at the microfilm of the original registers of Christenings, Marriages and Burials in Bilsdale, 1590-1812, but this was mostly impossible to read. Later entries were in better condition and include the marriage of John Ainsley and Hannah Atkinson in 1784:

John Ainsley and Hannah Atkinson both of this Parish were married in this Church [St. Hilda's] by Licence (granted by Mr [or Wm?] Clement) this 24^th Day of Feb^y 1784 By me Jms Metcalfe Curate

This marriage was Solemnized between us	}	John Ainsley Hannah Atkinson
In the presence of	}	James Hawkins William Ainsley

The transcripts of the original documents provide the following additional relevant information:

1. John Ainsley married Jone RAIN 03-10-1704; Joan AAINSLEY widow of John AAINSLEY was buried 24-11-1727
2. evidence of RAIN family at Bank House
   • John RAYNE of Bank House buried 10-04-1685
   • Elizabeth RAINE, daughter of John of Bank House, christened 01-03-1696
3. in the 1730's three christenings are recorded as being a child of John Ainsley: John 02-02-1730, Mary 08-02-1732, Elizabeth 02-06-1735.
4. a John Ainsley is buried 12-05-1737 - this John Ainsley is surely the father of the three children in pt 3, but cannot definitively be linked to the John who married Joan Rain. Corresponds to John (1).
5. in the 1760s and 1770s a John (no location)and a John of Cock Flatt are having children, they may or may not be the same person, but the dates of children's christenings do not rule out that they are the same person. :
   • children of John: John AYNSLEY 21-09-1760, William 07-02-1762, Thomas 08-05-1764, Alice 28-09-1766 buried 08-09-1768, Mary 25-05-1773,Peggy 06-06-1775
   • children of John of Cock Flat: Richard 26-06-1768, Stephen 09-09-1770, James 20-07-1777
   the will of "John of Cock Flatt" who died in 1807 names his wife Alice as executrix and names children (bar Alice who died aged 2): John, William, Thomas, Richard, Stephen, Mary, Peggy, James.¹   Therefore safe to conclude that John and John of Cock Flatt are one and the same, corresponding to John (2)
6. John Ainsley married Hannah Atkinson 24-02-1784, one of the witnesses being William Ainsley - almost certainly the brothers John and William, eldest sons of John(2); John husband of Hannah is thus John (3)
7. in the 1780's and 90's christenings of children of John of Low Crosset are recorded: Nanny 22-08-1786, John 24-03-1788, Joseph 21-07-1790, Thomas 01-07-1792, Stephen 02-03-1794, Mary 13-12-1795, James 18-05-1797, Hannah 15-08-1798
8. on 16-03-1786 Nanny daughter of John of Lowcroset was buried
9. on 25-05-1825 Richard Ainsley 25 years old of Low Crosset was buried
10. William son of John christened 11-12-1785 Highcroset
11. John of High Croset had a son William christened 11/12/1785
12. Mary daughter of Margret was buried 01-05-1760
13. John Ainsley of Cock Flat is buried 09-03-1807
14. Mgt Ainsley, widow of Chop Gate, was buried 16-05-1776

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

Consulted online ²

1. John Ainsley married Margret Leng on 01 May 1730

Bilsdale Surveys, 1637-1851

The county archives at Northallerton, North Yorkshire have produced a publication titled "Bilsdale Surveys, 1637-1851" which has been transcribed from the Duncombe Park estate records. These provide invaluable evidence of which families were living in the various habitations in Bilsdale in the time period. The publication includes:

1. Survey 1637 - a survey of the Helmsley estates of the Earl of Rutland
2. Survey 1642 - a survey of the Helmsley estate of Lord Francis Villiers
3. Survey 1781 - a survey of Bilsdale, the estate of Charles Slingsby Duncombe Esq.
4. Survey 1814 - a survey of Bilsdale made in the early years of the 19th century, probably about 1808, copied into a book of identical format in 1814
5. Survey 1826 - a survey of the several farms &c. situate in Bilsdale in the parishes of Helmsley & Hawnby, the property of the Right Hon. Lord Feversham
6. Census 1851

Having studied the surveys 1-5 to determine who was living in the various properties associated with the Ainsleys, and noting any other Ainsley familes in Bilsdale, the results are shown in the following table, together with information from the 1841 and 1851 census.

Bilsdale Surveys

	Bank House	Cock Fleet/Cock Flatt	Spout House	Low Crosset	High Crosset	Hamlet of Grange
1637	William Wood	William Kilvert	John Kirke	_	_	_
1642	William Wood	William Kilvert	John Kirke	_	_	_
1781	Jonathan Hugil	John Ainsley (2)	Francis Mason / Stephen Hoggard	Joseph Atkinson	Wm Atkinson / John Abbot	no Ainsley
1808/1814	William Hugill	Stephen Ainsley (150)	Stephen Hoggard	John Ainsley (3)	Wm Atkinson / Wm Hugill	James Ainsley (15)
1826	William Hugill	Stephen Ainsley (150)	Wm Ainsley (4)	John Ainsley (3)	Wm Atkinson / Wm Hugill	James Ainsley (15)
1841	William Hugill	Stephen Ainsley (150)	William Ainsley (4)	John Ainsley (5)	not found	James Ainsley (15)
1851	James Ainsley (7)	Stephen Ainsley (153)	William Ainsley (4)	John Ainsley (5)	Christopher Wright / Stephen Atkinson	James Ainsley (15)

Combined with the information from the registers

1. John (1) is almost certainly the John marrying Margret in 1730 - she was cited in the burial of daughter Mary in 1760 - John was dead at this time - she herself dying in 1776
2. John, alive in 1781, is at Cock Flatt and corresponds to John (2). John of Cock Flat dies and is buried 09-03-1807
3. Atkinsons are farming Low Crosset in 1781. John Ainsley (3) marries Hannah Atkinson in 1784. John Ainsley is farming Low Crosset in 1808/1814. Therefore good probability that this is our John (3)
4. At the death of John (2) in 1807 his eldest son John (3) is already farming Low Crosset. His son Stephen takes over at Cock Flatt.
5. No Ainsley is farming High Crosset as far as can be determined yet William ch 11-12-1785 is recorded as son of John of High Croset - believe this to be William, son of John (2) witness at brother John's (3) wedding

Early Family Tree

A version of the early family tree, using all the evidence gathered above, shows how these Ainsleys are related:

					JOHN (1) bd 12-05-1737	= 01-05-1730		Margret bd 16-05-1776
JOHN (2) = Alice ch 02-02-1730 bd 09-03-1807				Mary ch 08-02-1732 bd 01-05-1760				Elizabeth ch 02-06-1735
JOHN (3) ch 21/09/1760 = 24-02-1784 Hannah Atkinson	William ch 07-02-1762	Thomas ch 08-05-1764	Alice ch 28-09-1766 bd 08-09-1768	Richard ch 26-06-1768	STEPHEN (150) ch 09-09-1770 STEPHEN (153)	Mary ch 25-05-1773	Peggy ch 06-06-1775	JAMES (15) ch 20-07-1777

Nanny ch 22-08-1786 bd 16-03-1786	WILLIAM (4) ch 11-12-1785	JOHN (5) ch 24-03-1788	Joseph ch 21-07-1790	Thomas ch 01-07-1792	Stephen ch 02-03-1794	Mary ch 13-12-1795	James ch 18-05-1797	Hannah ch 15-08-1798	Richard b c. 1800 bd 25-05-1825

 

IGI revisited

Broad analysis of IGI records can be interesting, though I offer the following information without drawing any firm conclusions.

Searches for AINSLEY births, including variantsof the name, for 40 year blocks from 1720 back to 1520 reveal trends in the places of residence. The following tables list numbers born for residency in York, Yorkshire, East (ERY), North (NRY) and West (WRY) Riding of Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, Roxburghshire and Midlothian and any other county with more than 50 births.

Filtering:

1. Collections: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; Residence Place: England
2. Collections: Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950; Residence Place: Scotland

AINSLEY births in England

england	total	York	Yorkshire	ERY	NRY	WRY	Durham	Northumberland	Other
1520-1560	22	7	1	_	_	1	7	_	NB records begin 1538
1560-1600	134	25	9	_	_	_	16	_
1600-1640	216	31	12	_	_	3	22	13
1640-1680	325	53	22	2	_	2	33	134
1680-1720	755	72	47	14	_	15	56	387	Kent 57 London 55
1720-1760	935	174	118	9	4	23	89	374	Kent 64 London 56 Staffordshire 50
1760-1800	1493	415	443	16	6	120	124	422	London 66 Shropshire 52 Staffordshire 118

AINSLEY births in Scotland

scotland	total	Roxburghshire	Midlothian
1520-1560	no IGI records for this period
1560-1600	11	7	4
1600-1640	117	22	95
1640-1680	298	252	38
1680-1720	430	291	62
1720-1760	485	235	182
1760-1800	507	189	182

Factors to consider in interpreting the data:

1. total population of the countries/counties
   1. the Genuki website³ lists very approximate population figures for Scotland as
      1600: 800,000
      1707: 1,000,000,
      1755: 1,265,380
   2. for England various sources on the web suggest that the population in the 16th century was around 2.5 to 3 million, in the 17th century 4-5 million and just over 5 million in the early decades of the 18th century.
   So very approximately the population of England in this period is 3-4 times that of Scotland.
   
2. record-keeping of the period
   1. familysearch.org states that most parish registers in Scotland did not begin until after 1650⁴
3. IGI transcripts of records: how complete
   1. familysearch.org has Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 with 9,396,518 records
   2. familysearch.org has England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 with 67,754,937 records

Ainsleys are concentrated in the north, in south east Scotland, north east England and Yorkshire.

The 1689 Jacobite uprising of loyalists to James (VII of Scotland and II of England) almost annhilated the English army of William and Mary - she was the Protestant daughter of Catholic James who had been deposed and fled to France. The uprising was ultimately unsuccessful. In the 1690s many Scots emigrated, either to Ulster or much further afield, not necessarily to England - the old enemy. Emigration was forced by the very poor economic situation of the 1690s caused by bad harvests. The Jacobite Rebellions of 1708-1746 were led by James, son of James VII/II - all three attempts were unsuccessful. Scotland then enjoyed a period of rapid economic growth and prosperity.⁵

References

1. W.C. Ainsley private correspondence
2. The International Genealogical Index can be consulted at www.familysearch.org
3. Genuki website www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/population.html
4. Scotland Church Records
5. Wikipedia History of Scotland

Last updated November 2011

Images and information content subject to copyright - please do not use or reproduce anything from this website without permission, (which isn't usually a problem), acknowledgement and link - email for more information.

Website created and updated by Alyson Jackson (launched 2002).