© 2016 David E. Spencer
I have managed, with the help of many other Paley descendants, to accumulate more information about the Paleys than for any other of my lines of descent with the possible exception of Calverley family. As a consequence of this I have not gone back to my most distant known Paley ancestor to start my review of the family history. I have instead chosen my 4 gt grandparents John Paley and Annas Lodge as my starting point.This starting point was chosen because the great "diaspora" of the Paley family out of the Northern Dales started with their children and grandchildren. There are linked web pages devoted to earlier Paley ancestors and to other Paley branches and related families.
John Paley (1747-1807) and his wife Annas Lodge (1742-1804) farmed at Walden - a remote settlement on the fells above West Burton near Aysgarth in Wensleydale. John's ancestors had been farmers and innkeepers near Linton-in-Craven, some miles to the South. John had been born in Threshfield within the Parish of Linton-in-Craven. He and Annas married in 1769 at Hubberholme, a small village near Buckden.
Hubberholme Church today
Walden today
The eldest child of John and Annas was Roger who lived from 1771 to 1815. "Roger" was a recurrent Christian name within the Paley family
The second son of John and Annas was also called John (1772 - 1849), my 3 great grandad. He was described both as a "farmer" and as a "farm labourer" for most of his life but in the 1841 Census he is described as a "rag collector". Whether his lowly occupation is the result of advancing years in a society with no social security "safety net" or whether it indicates a general downturn in the fortunes of those farming in remote places like Walden is still unknown to me.
West Witton Church today
John junior married Mary Wilson in West Witton, between Aysgarth and Wensley in 1808. Their children moved out of the Aysgarth area into the neighbouring counties of Durham and Lancashire, presumably because work was abundant in these places although some of their descendants stayed locally.
Annis, born in 1809 was the elder daughter of John junior and Mary. She married Nathaniel Scott in 1831. Their children were largely born in the Aysgarth area but their youngest was born in Lancashire and all references to Nathaniel after about 1840 are in Lancashire where he was a grocer and farmer in the Higher and Lower Booths areas of the county.Some of their offspring either never left the Wensleydale area or returned there. Others stayed to farm near Accrington in East Lancashire.
The younger daughter of John junior and Mary was Jane, my great great grandmother. She moved to the Burnley area of East Lancashire and married William Spencer, a local blacksmith.Although she was a long way from Wensleydale, the Paley family and others of her family are remembered in the names of her children. These included William Paley Spencer, Charles Paley Spencer, Wilson Spencer and Roger Spencer.
For further information about the descendants of William and Jane Spencer please go to my Spencer interests page.
The two sons of John Junior and Mary Paley were John (1815-99) and Roger (1818-55). They both moved in the opposite direction to their sisters - they found work in the Auckland area of South Durham.
John married Charlotte Crags in 1837 and ended up as a drocer and draper in Middlestone near Spennymoor.He left a will, leaving his business to his son. John and Charlotte's descendants include the Hutchinson, Brass and Waggett families of the Merrington area of Durham. There are living descendants of this branch. Mary, daughter of John and Charlotte married Thomas Dixon Hutchinson. They still have living descendants in Durham County.
Roger was killed in an accident at Witton Ironworks near Bishop Auckland in 1855.He was married with children who received help in their upbringing from their uncle John. One of Roger's daughters, Margaret, married a man called Joseph Maddison. They still have descendants alive today including one of my fellow "Paley searchers".
We now need to return to the children of John and Annas Paley (our "starting individuals"). The next son of John and Annas was Roger (1773-1815) who married Anne ("Nanny") Foster in 1798. Roger , like his father and brother farmed at Walden.They had two children who survived to adulthood - Ellen (born 1799) and Henry (1804-80).
Ellen married Anthony Willis, a farmer and lead miner of Carperley, Yorkshire in 1822. His elder son stayed unmarried and farmed with his mother after Anthony's death. Their younger son became a butcher in Manchester.
Ellen's brother Henry was a farmer near Ripon. Some of their children moved to Lancashire. They have living descendants.
The next son of John and Annas Paley was called Robert, a name given to many Paleys. Robert lived from 1774 to 1800 and married twice - his first wife was called Sarah and his second was called Hannah Robinson.
Robert and Sarah had several children including John, born 1800 who married Margaret Wetherald. They had two sons - Robert (1827-1904) who was born in Yorkshire and William (born 1831 in Liverpool).
John became a wholesale grocerin Sunderland, Co. Durham then in Harrogate in Yorkshire. He married Jane Joplin in 1851. In Sunderland there is a large department store called Joplin's - whether Jane was connected in any way is not known.
The descendants of Robert and Jane include som well documented figures including a Shakespearean actor and (by marriage) a landscape artist. At least one part of this branch of the family later moved to Ormskirk in Lancashire.
Robert's brother William, although born in Liverpool spent his adult life in Sunderland where he married and had children.
The second marriage of the elder Robert, to Hannah Robinson, produced at least two children who reached adulthood - their son George and their daughter Margaret.
George (1809-87) was a farmer at Countersett, above Wensleydale. He married Ann Smith (1811-84). From their sons and daughters emerged several well documented families including:
George's sister Margaret married a man called George Turnbull. I have unearthed nothing further here!.
The final two children of John and Annas Paley were Margaret (1779-1804) and William Lodge Paley.
William Lodge Paley was born in 1785. He was the schoolmaster at the National National School in Giggleswick near Settle. He was also a bookseller and, probably most interesting for us, the local diarist for the Settle area - a lot of his writings have survived.