The William Robinsons have puzzled me for years and the tale of my “quest” is told here. I hope I have finally hit upon the truth of the Robinson story!
If I am right, there are at least four William Robinsons in succession in our tree and probably there would be more if I were to go farther back in time.
William IV was born in Calverley and married a woman living about five miles away in Baildon. He settled there, rather than taking her back to Calverley, and would remain in Baildon all his life. He was a clothier, which would mean a cloth-maker rather than a maker of clothes. He would most likely have been a handloom weaver.
He and Martha – know as “Matty” had four children that we know of: Mary (our ancestor), Hannah, Rebecca (who died at the age of six) and Joseph.
In the 1841 census only Joseph is still at home. Joseph does not have a job, which is unusual to say the least. The clerk has clearly made a mistake in recording the occupation of stonemason for the 72-year-old father rather than the 28-year-old son, as is confirmed by later census records.
The Robinsons are looking after two of their grandchildren, Joshua and Jeremiah Bell, aged 10 and 8. These boys have sadly lost both their father and mother. Their 15-year-old brother Thompson, our ancestor, is an apprentice shoemaker living just a few doors away.
Father of Mary Robinson and son of Lydia and William Robinson III
Baptised William Robinson on 25 January 1777 at the Pudsey chapel of Calverley parish, Yorkshire
Married Martha Overend on 18 November 1799 in Baildon
Buried 25 September 1844