Telford Family of Ellinbank
Westmorland Families
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​Docker, Betham, Henderson, Wright, Bland, Workman, Kilburn, Scourfield
The story of these families in the 18th and 19th centuries centres on the northern part of the County of Westmorland of which Appleby was the county town. The map below is taken from the Genuki website and referenced as the Mackenzie map. Places of interest which are shown include Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, Soulby, Orton, Asby, Morland, Newby, Little Strickland and Thrimby. Not shown is Towcett which is a hamlet between Newby and Little Strickland.
Newby is a small village in Westmorland county ( now Cumbria) with the nearest church being St Lawrence's about 1 km away at Morland. It is here that a number of Dockers and Bethams are buried. Newby was originally known as Newby Stones.
Our story centres around the marriage of Jane Betham to William Docker at Morland church in March 1775 and their 2 youngest children in particular - William and Joseph.
Below is a family tree showing the immediate connections to this couple.
The extensive genealogy supplied to me by Merilyn Pedrick ( based I think on the 1830 writings of Sir William Betham) shows the Docker family in possession of Newby Head farm as far back as 1605 when Peter Docker married Mabel Fallowfield. Previous generations came from further west around Shap.
The Betham family have an even longer association with the area around Morland, John Betham was born at Thrimby in 1405.
In essence both the Dockers and the Bethams as well as most of the families that they intermarried with during the period 1500 to 1800, were farmers or husbandmen. In Lissant's book the Dockers are referred to as Statesmen which simply means that they owned the freehold on their land, of whatever size.
They may have had sufficiently large properties at some stage that they could employ labourers to do the hard work but note should be taken of the description on the 1911 census when the 74 year old Mary Docker, widow of Joseph and William's nephew William ( 1811 - 1883) gave her occupation as "Hard working farmer, retired" .
During the period 1700 to 1800 they didn't stray too far from home. This explains Joseph's affinity with farming which he put into practice in Australia but also makes it all the more remarkable that he made the decision to travel to the other side of the world to do it.
Earlier Bethams settled further west, where the ruins of Betham Hall, a fortified manor house can be seen at Beetham near Mllnthorpe ( south of Kendal). The ancestry of John Betham of Thrimby can be traced back with some certainty to a common ancestor Ralph de Betham who was born at Beetham about 1165. Beyond that the lineage may be a little less certain but it is claimed that his forbears include Roger de Poictu, Earl of Lancaster whose family came over from France with William the Conqueror and Baldwyn de Betham who fought at the Battle of Hastings.
There does not appear to be anything in the history of Appleby and its immediate vicinity that is particularly dramatic or of national significance although apparently in much earlier times it was far enough north to suffer raids from the Scots - before the building of Hadrians Wall in 128 AD . The lives of our ancestors would have revolved around their crops and farm animals and family occasions, with visits to the market town of Appleby as necessary and perhaps to the other urban centres of Kirkby Stephen and Penrith. In the southwest of Westmorland, Kendal served as the main market town.
Appleby Castle dates from the 12th century and Appleby Grammar School which William and Joseph Docker attended was founded in 1453. St Nicholas’ leper hospital was founded on the outskirts of the town before 1235. Almshouses for single elderly ladies, known as St Anne’s Hospital, were founded in 1653 by Lady Anne Clifford and endowed with estate at Brougham and lands formerly belonging to St Nicholas’ hospital. Moot Hall overlooking market place was built in 1596 (the upper storey is still used as the council chamber). The cloister at the foot of Boroughgate was built 1811 and used as a market house in the 19th century;
Appleby and Kirkby Stephen are in the fertile Eden Valley and a tributary, the Morland Beck flows past Newby.
Appleby in 2017 Almshouse and Boroughgate
Towcett farmland
William Docker was born on 1st December 1790 at Newby, Westmorland ( now Cumbria) where the Dockers had farmed since about 1600. He was baptised at the parish church of St Lawrence, Morland in January 1791.
His father was William Docker and mother Jane Betham.
Rev. William's younger brother Joseph Docker was likewise born at Newby in December 1793 and baptised at Morland October 1794. Joseph also trained for the ministry and was assistant curate to William at Southport for a few years prior to taking up a government chaplaincy in the new colony of New South Wales in 1828. More on Rev Joseph below.
Jane Betham was born 15th March 1750 at Towcett, ( pictured above), near Newby, Westmorland to Matthew Betham and Sarah Bland. Mathew Betham was land steward to Lord Nevinson of Newby Hall.
On the death of William and Joseph’s father in 1798 when they were aged 7 and 5, their eldest brother Matthew ( just turning 17) took over the running of the property at Newby Head and his mother Jane (nee Betham) together with the rest of the family took up residence in the County Town of Appleby; as such the boys were entitled to free tuition at Appleby Grammar School where they received a good education fitting them to eventually be ordained into the Church of England.
As preparation for his future vocation, William received further tuition from the rector of Sulhampstead, Berkshire; in 1814 he was ordained deacon and subsequently priest at Bassenthwaite, Cumberland where the first of his children was born in 1816.
In September 1817 he was licensed to the curacy of North Meols until formally taking up the incumbency at Southport when the new church was consecrated in 1821.
Memorial inscriptions at St Lawrence's, Morland include the following ( transcribed by Sarah Reveley of Rootsweb):
E. wall of s. transept. 2 brasses:
In m. Matthew Betham of Towcet, Agent to the Earl & Countess of Suffolk for the Manor of Newby in this Parish who d. xxviii. Aug: MDCCXCV ( 1795). Aged 70 y. Also Sarah his Wife who d, iv. September MDCCXCIX ( 1799). Aged 83 y. The Toils of Life, the Pangs of Death are o'er, And Care, & Pain, & Sickness are no more.
Also of John Betham Son of the above Matthew who d. April 25th 1811 Aged 50.
Also of Elizabeth Da. of the above named Matthew Betham who d. May 17th 1825 aged 73.
( these two are of course the siblings of Jane Docker nee Betham and uncles of Rev William and Rev Joseph)
Also of John Betham Son of the above John who d. Sept.23rd 1830 aged 30 y.
Also Elizabeth Wife of the above John Betham who d.March 27th 1864 aged 94 y.
Much has been made of the difficulties faced by Jane Docker in bringing up her children in Appleby after the death of William and Joseph's father in 1798. No doubt it was challenging but at least she still had family living nearby, in particular her sister Elizabeth and brother John at Towcett. At the 1851 census the Towcett property was occupied by Jane's nephew Matthew, wife Alice and children Sarah, John and Matthew. At the 1911 census there were no Bethams recorded at Towcett but Sarah ( born 1849) was living at Newby.
Below is a view of the farming country around Newby, Westmorland ( now Cumbria) and the doorway from 1671 which was relocated from the original Appleby Grammar School building which William and Joseph attended, to the new school which was built in 1887.
William Docker ( father of Rev William and Rev Joseph) died intestate - by English law the eldest son (Matthew ) would automatically be the principal heir to the property but the widow would have the right to the income from one third of the estate for her lifetime. A figure of 28 pounds a year has been quoted by Lissant - this would be barely enough to support a mother and five children but no doubt either Jane or her eldest daughter Sarah ( aged 20) would have found some work in Appleby to supplement this income.
When William died in 1798 the eldest daughter Margaret was already married to Nicholas Temple, London gin merchant. Of the other girls, Jane married George Workman of Cliburn at Morland in 1805 ( aged 21), Elizabeth ( Betty), aged 25, married Thomas Kilburn at St Bride, Fleet St, London in 1813; in 1841 Betty and daughter Ann (about 20 ) took the voyage to Australia and settled in Geelong (see more below). Sarah remained unmarried until her death in 1828, he same year her mother Jane died, both at the home of Jane and George Workman in Cliburn, Westmorland.
For much of this detail we are indebted to Clement George Lissant, known as George.
George Lissant wrote “Notes on the Docker Family, Westmorland”, an approximately 180 page booklet detailing the genealogy of the Dockers in England and Australlia. Several bound copies of the typewritten document signed Geo. Lissant 1917, were made—one of these was subsequently given to grandmother Lottie by 'Uncle John' - John Bristow Docker and 'Aunt Lilly' of Myrhee at Christmas time 1919. John was the 5th and youngest son of Rev Joseph; this is now in the possession of Lottie's grandson John Telford.
Another copy is apparently with a descendant of Charlotte, third daughter of Rev. Joseph (information from Amanda Wallace nee Fisher) and Merilyn Pedrick of Adelaide, a descendant of Rev. Joseph’s eldest daughter Mary, has another.
George Lissant was an inveterate amateur genealogist, born in London in 1853 to John Hiram Lissant and Mary Green, worked as a civil servant in Simla, India and retired to London where he died in 1925.
Matthew Docker (brother of Rev. William and Joseph) died in 1812 aged 31 (probably from appendicitis) leaving his infant son William as the heir to the Newby Head property. Matthew had married Jane Scourfield in 1809 and they had 2 children - Margaret (1810 - 1874, unmarried) and William in 1811. This youngest William eventually married in 1859 to Mary Bewsher and they had 6 children.
At the 1911 census the following were listed as living at Newby Head:
Mary Docker, widow aged 74 gave her occupation as "hardworking farmer, retired"
Matthew Joseph Docker aged 45 joint farmer
John Anderson Docker aged 44 joint farmer
Charlotte Docker aged 42, single.
Margaret Docker aged 48, single - this Margaret is the "Maggie" who was in correspondence with Betty Kilburn's granddaughter Julia Gavin in Australia. Maggie lived until 1928.
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Presumably the property was sold when all of this family died out.
These 3 photos are taken from the book "The Two Lives of Joseph Docker"
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above, the Docker house at Newby Stones
above right, Maggie Docker
at right, Betty Kilburn
Elizabeth Docker was born in 1788 to William Docker and Jane Betham, baptised at Morland in July. She was the sister of William and Joseph. She also came out to Australia with her daughter Ann in 1841 and after a brief time at Bontharambo, settled in Geelong.
Her son William Docker Kilburn born 1818 at Witton le Wear, Durham, died aged 17 from Typhus near the start of the 1846-9 typhus epidemic which had crossed the water from Ireland. Incidentally Rev William Docker in a letter to his brother Joseph in December 1847 mentions the prevalence of typhus fever in Ormskirk and Southport where son William had recently started practising as a surgeon, particularly among the Irish.
Elizabeth ( Betty) had married Thomas ( “Wild Tom” ) Kilburn in London in 1813 shortly before Thomas was granted the “Freedom of the City” so that he could practise his trade of “Pattenmaker”. Thomas was the son of Nicholas and Ann, born Witton le Wear in 1790. Thomas did not accompany Betty and Ann to Australia.
Marsha Watts of Melbourne is the great great great granddaughter of Betty Kilburn and has a number of letters which were written to Betty by her nephew, Matt Docker and to Betty’s granddaughter Juliana Gavin ( nee Thacker) by Matt’s wife Helen and daughter Lottie.
One of these dated May 1878 is from Matt complimenting his aunt on reaching the good age of 90 years - he says “I think you must be the oldest lady living in Victoria - I will check and let you know.” She died the next year aged 91. Julia died in 1948 aged 90.
MATTHEW BETHAM DOCKER emigrated to Australia on the “Pakenham”, a 660 ton sailing ship, departed Liverpool 13th December 1849 and arrived Melbourne 24th March 1850, with 9 cabin passengers and about 50 steerage passengers. Matthew was 20 years old. This was shortly after father Rev. William Docker's death at Southport, Lancashire.
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Two years earlier, In 1847, Matthew's father William wrote to his brother Joseph in Australia,
"Dear Joe, I think it probable I might send Matt to you - if you think he would do well. He is now nearly 18 - but he is a very poor scholar, he could never learn anything except music for which he has a capital ear - he is now learning the piano under our blind organist - Matt is a fine lad - as straight as an arrow and threatens to be as tall as yourself"
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We know from a letter written to Rev. Joseph in Australia by Matthew's brother William, that immediately before his departure Matthew spent some time around Newby visiting his relatives - Betham, Docker and Henderson families - according to the letter, "all his relations were exceedingly kind to him.” Matthew probably would not have had the opportunity to visit Newby frequently while growing up but it is clear that his father kept in touch with the relatives at Newby.
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In a letter dated 7 December 1847 at Southport, Rev. William wrote to his brother Joseph in Australia, in part saying
“ In the beginning of September I paid Mr Betham a visit for a fortnight and he returned with me to Southport for a week. He is now a stout big fellow about 17 stone weight, and looks remarkably well but his nose is rather too red. I also stayed a few days with George who is a smart dapper little fellow. George has got a pretty wife and two nice little girls. When at Newby I called on Robert Wilson who is looking almost as well as ever. He has built a new house in the middle of the town. ... I went from Preston to Shap in under 3 hours. The line from Lancaster to Shap for the most part skirts along the sides of the mountains from which you have the finest view imaginable upon the hilltops and towns lying beneath you. ... (at Southport) Mr Longton has just recovered from the Typhus fever which has been prevalent here. At Ormskirk the guardians were obliged to build a Fever Hospital - at one time there were 50 patients in it. I should think Wm has had 40 cases in Meols almost all Irish. If you received my last you would see that Wm has commenced practice as a surgeon in Southport and lives with one. I think he will do well for he is very steady. Louisa is on a visit with her friend Mrs Talbot of Wrightington. Matt is a great favourite with his godfather Mr Betham. rather (?) Mr B’s sister Jane married a farmer; Mr B was so much offended that he made his will & left Matt all his property, so I was told by Mr B’s friend Tinkler of Bampton, but it will all end in nothing for Mr B has got a very pretty woman as a housekeeper - he is almost certain to marry her.
God bless you and yours, your affectionate brother Wm Docker."
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note: “Mr Betham” is clearly Matthew Betham of Towcett, cousin of Rev William Docker; the records show that Matthew Betham married Alice Capstick at Morland , Westmorland on 10 February 1848 ( just 2 months after Wm Docker’s prediction) and on 11 April 1846, Jane Betham (Matthew’s sister) married George Dobson at Newbiggan-by-Appleby, her father given as John Betham.
He also mentions staying “a few days with George who is a smart dapper little fellow.. and a pretty wife with two nice little girls” at Westmorland. This would be George Workman of Cliburn who married William’s sister Jane and which Rev William mentions in another letter ( November 1848) is about to visit Southport and makes this observation about George “I’m afraid he is not quite as steady as he ought to be”.
In his 1848 letter William makes comment on the state of politics in Britain and was clearly not impressed with the quality of the politicians ( what’s new ?? ); re the Whigs party “the Whigs remain in office because there is no person to replace them.... the Whigs we always knew to be rascals and were not astonished at anything they did”. The Whigs had replaced the Conservatives in 1846. William reserves his fiercest criticism for Sir Robert Peel - “I think Sir Robert’s duplicity is even worse....” Sir Robert Peel led the Conservative party in government from 1841 to 1846; the Irish famine began in 1845 and Peel’s government initiated the repeal of the “Corn Laws” in 1846, the effect of which was to substantially reduce tariffs on imported corn and other grains into Britain and Ireland; he also introduced income tax at a rate of 3% partly to fund his new metropolitan police force - the “Bobbys”.
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Matthew Betham of Towcett 1798-1863
This is the Mr. Betham referred to in the letters quoted above. He was the godfather of Matthew Betham Docker who was clearly named after him. Matthew Betham was the son of John Betham and Betty Walker and cousin of Matthew Docker’s father William. In 1848 he married Alice Capstick. At the 1851 census he is listed as a farmer of 100 acres in the Hamlet of Towcett. By the 1861 census they have 7 children recorded with residence “Towcett”, occupation “Gentleman, (Commissioner of Ass.Taxes)”. On his memorial in the Morland church he is listed as “Gentleman”.
There is reference on line to a “Matthew Betham Tune Book 1815” which suggests that he was interested in music and likely played an instrument, possibly a fiddle or a flute. In one of Rev William Docker’s letters to brother Joseph he remarks: “Matt is now nearly 18 - but he is a poor scholar, he could never learn anything except music for which he has a capital ear - he is now learning piano under our blind organist - Matt is a fine lad - as straight as an arrow.” It is interesting to note that Matthew Betham likely shared his musical interests with his godson.
The Tune Book has several inscriptions including “Matthew Betham Towcett” , Matthew Betham’s Book 1815”, Jane Betham Towcett Hall” and “William Docker Newby Head”. It is a manuscript book in which some 100 tunes are hand written on 50 pages. The book is now in the Cecil Sharp House, a folk music museum in London. A transcription of the entire book can be downloaded from the website www.village-music-project.org.uk All the tunes are 16 bars long and designed for dancing to.
For a sample of the tunes, click here:
Henderson Family
William Docker (later Rev. and father of Matthew Betham Docker), married Charlotte Henderson at "Asby" ( presumably at St Cuthberts, Little Asby) in 1812. Asby is about 5 km from Soulby.
Charlotte was most probably the daughter of George Henderson, husbandman (farmer) of Soulby and Mary Wright.
At the 1841 census the following were living at Soulby:
George Henderson 75, husbandman; Mary 71;
George 34, blacksmith and
James Wright 62, husbandman.
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In 1851 at the same address -
Mary Henderson 81, head;
George Henderson 44, son, blacksmith;
James Wright 71, brother ( of Mary) retired farmer;
Sarah Wright 78, sister, widow, annuitant.
The 1851 census gives the extra detail of where they were born - in this case all were born at Soulby.
Thus George Henderson and Mary Wright are both from farming families based at Soulby Westmorland.
Baptism records show a son James 1796, George 1806 ( consistent with the 1851 census) and John 1812.
Charlotte's birth in 1797 is not recorded but is most likely to this family.
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George Henderson and Mary Wright were married in 1795 at Kirkby Stephen (pictured below) which is a somewhat larger village and similarly 5 km from Soulby. There was another family of Hendersons at Soulby in 1851 headed by Joseph Henderson, veterinary surgeon.
For more on the Docker family go to the the following pages: