© 2016 David E. Spencer
Author's note:The Scragg line was one of the first that I investigated. I had "found" my great great grandfather's baptism (and the names of his parents) at Colne, Lancs. within a few days of starting to research my family history. Although I was able to find my gt gt grandfather's siblings and descendants I was unable to find out anything more about his ancestry. I had searched all over Lancashire for my gt gt gt grandfather without any success.Then the Internet came to the rescue!.I found him not far away near Clitheroe, Lancashire but just across the the river Ribble (and the county boundary with the old West Riding of Yorkshire) at Browsholme Hall. I then found that his birthplace was not in Lancashire but in Meriden in Warwickshire. I was able then to track down another searcher of Warwickshire Scraggs and found out a great deal more about the our Scragg family. The "gap" between my reaching a "brick wall" early in my research and the discovery enabling me to progress was 19 years. There is at least one moral here!.
The earliest Scragg ancestor that I have been able to trace is John Scragg (abt.1750 - 1828) who married Mary Orton in 1775 at Meriden in Warwickshire, a village famous as the centre of England.They had at least 6 children - one daughter and five sons.
Their eldest son, William, was born about 1776 and baptised at Meriden.He became a gardener in East Lancashire in three local halls - Wycoller Hall, near Colne, Crawshaw Hall in Rossendale and at Browsholme Hall, near Clitheroe. Wycoller Hall can now best be described as a "romantic ruin", Crawshaw Hall is used by the National Health Service whilst Browsholme Hall is still the family seat of the Parker family.
William married three times and had at least nine children with his different wives. William died at Browsholme Hall in 1853.
Click here to read about William Scragg and his family.
The second son of John and Mary Scragg was Joseph, born in Meriden about 1780. Other than that he married Susannah Green in Mancetter, Warwickshire in 1802, I have yet to find out what happened to him.
The third son of John and Mary Scragg was Anthony, born in 1782 in Meriden. He married Ann Stanton in 1814 in Meriden. He became a butcher in Birmingham. He and his wife had three children - William , born about 1815, Catherine born about 1820 and Janet, born about 1822.
Martha was the duaghter of John and Mary Scragg. She was born about 1789 in Meriden. She married Joseph Lewis Stanton in 1817 in Meriden.
John was the fourth son of John and Mary Scragg. He was born in Meriden about 1791. He married Elizabeth Swann at Foleshill, Warwickshire.
James, born about 1792 in Meriden became a carpenter in Birmingham. He married Ann Rider in 1816 in Meriden. They had seven children whose descendants spread across the west Midlands and beyond, to Manchester and Sheffield.