More on John Bolton's parents

John Smurthwaite BOLTON, c.1917





It was rather difficult to find any details about John Bolton's ancestors, though when I knew the details on his 1898 marriage certificate, I could narrow the search down a little.

He and his young wife Louisa are found in the 1901 census return in Darlington, Co. Durham
- John Bolton (23; house Painter, born Barton Yorkshire) with Louisa Bolton (24, born Darlington).

They have also been seen in the 1911 census:- but in this case, John is away seeking his fortune in Canada. So Louisa (born 1877) is the Head of Household, in Darlington, with her children John Soton {Seton} Bolton (1901), Sidney (1903) and Mary Lousia (1909). I include the spelling errors; there are many transcription errors in the 1911 census so far.
I have now been able to see the original document {Thanks to Elliot} and I can see why there are errors in the transcription - the handwriting is rather unclear. Louisa described herself as a Boarding House Keeper. An interesting point raised by the new information required in the 1911 Census is that while the Bolton couple have 3 living children, they have also had another child who has not survived to 1911. It could be that the child Edward Bolton was Louisa & John's first child (born & died in SeptQ 1899, and Louisa married John in SeptQ 1898) - my source here was FreeBMD. If Edward was theirs, he was named after his paternal grandfather. But they could instead have lost a child in between Sidney & Mary. (No other Edwards were born in the period, and no children named David either.)

In 1911, there are two ladies lodging (one young & single, the other a widow) who are travelling Toiletries salespeople. Another lodger may well be a bit longer term - she was a cousin of Louisa's, Mrs Frances Annie Monartain. (That's how it was transcribed, but your guess is as good as theirs - I'll slot in an image here when I get a minute!) The name doesn't jingle any bells - Have you any ideas?




A further hint arrived when I found John S Bolton in the 1891 census return for Aycliffe. I haven't found any other likely candidates, and when I investigated further, all the details seemed to fit correctly.
In 1891, then, John S Bolton is listed in the household of his widowed mother Hannah Bolton. They live in a 2 roomed household at North Terrace, Aycliffe. Hannah is a Laundress (38, born in Moulton, Yorkshire) whilst John is 13, and we are told he was born in Barton.


In 1881, Hannah Bolton (aged 28, born in Moulton) is seen with husband Edward Bolton (33, born in Barton; Stonemason) their 4 children (3 older daughters; Mary E., Margaret, Sophia, and our John S. aged 3), a Darlington-born sister-in-law Miss Lockey, and a niece Miss Lockey. They are living in Barton, near Darlington.

I searched the death records for Edward Bolton (born ~ 1848) - found him in the Darlington district in 1890.
The Darlington marriage records show us that Edward & Hannah married in 1873, and that her maiden name was Smurthwaite. SO that fits nicely!

What happened to John's sisters after 1881?
Well, in the 1891 census they aren't with their mother Hannah. Perhaps they are all in service - I have found the eldest Mary E. Bolton (18) in service in 1891 at the family house of a Lime Merchant/Farmer in High St., Aycliffe. Margaret Bolton is perhaps the 15-year-old girl in service at the house of a Commercial Traveller in Hipperholme (near Halifax) -she was recorded as born in Warton, Yorks - but there isn't such a place, so probably it should've been Barton. Sophia Bolton is also listed as 15 years old in the 1891 Census - living in service with a farmer at Ricknell Mill (or Rickhill Mill?), Woodham, near Aycliffe.

In the 1901 census, I found John's mother Hannah Bolton (48, born Moulton) - maybe it's her? She was living at a house in Ferryhill Station, near Aycliffe. She has 2 Boarders, and also has her middle daughter Maggie Bolton with her (26, born Barton).
Just along the road from her mother, we find Mary - now married to a Railway Signal Fitter from Suffolk, William J. Frost (32) with a daughter Margaret (7) and Emma (5), and a sister-in-law Bessy Bolton (not known yet; aged 14, born Barton.) William Frost married a Mary Elizabeth Bolton in 1893, Darlington district.
Sophia Bolton married in 1899 in Darlington, so in 1901 we see her as Sophia Scrafton (25, born Barton) living at 86, Beaconsfield St., (St. Lukes') Darlington. She is with her husband Frederick Scrafton (24, born Bowes; a Mason) & baby son William A. Scrafton. (Also listed as Scrapton.)

I searched the marriage records for John's sisters in the Durham area (there are others - e.g. in Darlington)

• Margaret Bolton to Frank Wilkinson in 1904.
• Margaret H Bolton to Thomas Ferguson in 1902.

Family of Hannah SMURTHWAITE
I could see Hannah Smurthwaite before she married (aged 18), in the 1871 census. She was a servant in the Trinity area of Darlington, at the Pierremont Crescent house of a Commercial Clerk (Share Broker). Finding her parents has been more tricky, though.

In the 1861 census, I saw a family of Smurthwaites in North Bedburn - Robert Smuthwaite (aged 42, a Colliery Carter; born in Moulton) & his wife Eliza, and son Robert (18, a miner) - but no Hannah aged 8.
Another Smurthwaite in the area is the widow Hannah Smurthwaite (of Middleton Tyas) at the home of her son-in-law in Moulton.
(No definite link found yet, and no other families found.)

In the 1851 census of Moulton , Jhon {sic} (born Kirklington Yorkshire c. 1790; Ag Lab) and Hannah Smurthwaite (born Middleton Tyas c. 1791) with their daughter Mary (21, born Moulton). {So I'm thinking this couple could be our young Hannah's grandparents?}

Latest news - from the newly available 1911 census.
Hannah Bolton (nee Smurthwaite) is seen in the 1911 census in the Sedgefield area, she is Head of the Household and it's shown that she was born in 1853, in Moulton. It's possible that she died in the Auckland district in the year 1918, aged ~58.