George Dodsworth's Grandparents

Thomas Dodsworth and Bella Dodsworth

Thomas Dodsworth married Bella Dodsworth. Both sets of parents were Christopher and Mary Dodsworth and to add to the confusion both sets of parents named several of their children by the same names! As both fathers were Christopher Dodsworth, they would not be brothers, but it seems very likely that Thomas and Bella were related.

No record has been found of the marriage of Thomas and Bella [[1]]. However, the birth certificate of their son, Thomas, shows his mother as Isabella Dodsworth, formerly Dodsworth. Note that she is now named ‘Isabella’.

It appears that Thomas and Isabella had only three children -  William, Mary and Thomas. Other than Mary’s baptism in 1836, nothing is known of William or Mary. The 1841 Census for Minskip shows William aged 9 years and Mary aged 5 years. Although the age is correct for Mary, the age for William does not tally with the 1851 census where his age is given as 12 years. Mary does not appear on the 1851 Census and as no record of her death has been found, it is probable that being by then aged 15 years she had left Minskip to work.

Figure 3 : Descendants of Thomas and Isabella Dodsworth

Thomas appears on census returns as a boot and shoemaker and Isabella as a shoemaker’s wife and also on one census as an agricultural labourer!

Thomas Dodsworth died in 1880 aged 71 years and was interred in Aldborough churchyard. 

Isabella Dodsworth died in tragic circumstances in 1895 aged 81 years. She died from burns caused when her clothing caught fire. The tragedy was reported in The Knaresborough Post. An inquest was held at The White Swan Inn at Minskip where the coroner recorded a verdict that she had been accidentally burnt. The inquest report no longer survives [[2]]. She was interred with Thomas in the churchyard at Aldborough [[3]].

William Slater and Ellen Harrison

William Slater, son of Thomas and Jane Slater, was baptised at Aldborough in 1821.

Ellen Harrison, daughter of John and Sarah Harrison, was baptised at Skelton in 1820.

William Slater married Ellen Harrison in 1841 [[4]] at Ripon Cathedral. The marriage certificate gives that both were aged 21 years.

William gave his occupation as a labourer, declared his father to be Thomas Slater also a labourer, and his residence as Aberford within the Parish of Sherburn. Ellen gave her occupation as a servant, declared her father to be John Harrison a carpenter, and her residence as Skelton.

The couple had 11 children. The 6^th child was born in 1850 and named Sarah.

Figure  4 : Descendants of William Slater  & Ellen Harrison

John (1) the eldest child died in infancy, as did Ellen (1). There were two children named Henry but no record of the death or burial of Henry (1) has been found. Although no record of her baptism has been found, the birth of Ellen (2) was registered in 1864. She appears on the 1881 Census aged 17 and there is an entry of her burial in the Aldborough Parish registers aged 20. William died aged 15 years and George aged 22 years.

Ellen Slater died in 1866 at the early age of 48 when her youngest child was only two years old. She was found dead in bed and the coroner certified that she had died ‘by the Visitation of God to wit of apoplexy’. She was interred at Aldborough.

William Slater died in 1891 aged 72 years at the Union Workhouse in Great Ouseburn and was interred at Aldborough.