Daniel Dickinson (1637-1699):  Children

IN PROGRESS

This is a very light account at the moment. It will gradually be filled in.

Daniel had ten children by his wife Ellen (as she was called in Daniel's will): Faith, John, Eleanor, Abigail, Daniel, Joseph, David, Deborah, Isaac and William.

We're now into a period where the Lamplugh parish register doesn't exist. Either it wasn't kept at all, or it survived for a time and then disappeared. At any rate, only some the BMD events are recorded, the other dates come from the Red How family tree. It is likely that this, or the next generation, was the point at which the family started to keep its own genealogical records.

The first eight children were born while the register is missing or seemingly incomplete - but the births are marked on the tree as: Faith (1671), John (1672), Eleanor (nothing). Abigail (1674), Daniel (1676), Joseph (1680), David (1682), and Deborah (1683).

Of the total ten, the last definitely died young. William was baptised 06-07-1688 and was buried 15-03-1690/1 according to the Lamplugh register. Daniel, according to the tree, died in 1683. David, according to the tree, died in infancy. Abigail, Joseph, Deborah and Isaac were minors (in the 1700 probate) when Daniel died (suggesting that the birth date for Abigail is incorrect).

Faith Hamilton (1671-)

Faith has the largest documentation. She was the oldest daughter. She was educated with her brother, and then positioned as a maid with Mrs Lamplugh, a finishing school.

Daniel's diary covers the time when her marriage contract to John Hamilton of Whitehaven was being negotiated. This was prolonged, with John feeling that he had got the worst of the deal. So far as Faith was concerned, she did very well out it. John had to refurbish his Whitehaven property (she stayed at Streetgate in the early part of marriage) as a dower for her. Such a dower was an absolute necessity for anyone genteel marrying a mariner (he died at sea without a will). The £100 of her dowry presumably went towards the building of the 'Union', which her husband ran between Whitehaven, Dublin and Virginia for the next twenty years.

The history of their progeny was a great success from a social point of view. Her daughter Faith married Daniel Fleming, a grandson of the Flemings of Rydal, an ancient Cumberland family. Her younger son Isaac married into Caswell How. His son John was High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1799, more than 100 years before the Dickinsons managed a similar accolade (though they bought Caswell How, and thereby control over Ennerdale Water, in the 1820s).

John Dickinson (1672-1755)

John inherited Streetgate. His marriage took place after Daniel's death. He married Jane Pearson of High Cross in Loweswater on the 4th November 1703 - a healthy marriage in that the Pearsons had two properties (the other being Branthwaite Gate in Dean). No doubt the marriage settlement (not researched) was appealing to both parties.

As it happens, this leads into a rather fun genealogical knot in the next generation.

Abigail [Dixon?]

Abigail's birth is given in the Red How tree as 1674 - however, she is named in Daniel's 1699/1700 probate as a minor under the age of 21. It's possible that I may have mistranscribed the original record, reading 1674 for 1679 - if so, that would make sense, and it's something that I need to check up on.

It is also stated that she married John Dixon of Beckbank in Millom, or Mireside in Ennerdale (depending on the tree version), and died in Dublin without children.  John Dixon of Beckbank married Ann Elletson in 1656. He died in 1713 (she a few years later). He appointed his son John in his will as executor, who may have been Abigail's husband. However, this John appears to have died in 1740, and his widow Elizabeth in 1768. So the match seems unlikely.

The death in Dublin does sound likely, as her brother Isaac lived there.

Joseph Dickinson (1680-1718)

Joseph was apprenticed to his brother-in-law, John Hamilton, to learn the 'Art of Navigation', sailing with him on the 'Union' to Virginia. The apprenticeship agreement gave him a healthy share of profits.

Whitehaven port records for 1717 show his ship the 'Westmorland' departing for Virginia under his command in January. He was carrying a cargo for George Noble that included linen cloth, flax, woollens, rugs, blankets, leadshot, wrought iron, pewter, brass, looking glasses, wigs and gunpowder. On another voyage he imported from Dublin, among other things, 31 'cowhides in the hair'.

The Red How tree gives his wife as Ann Wilson of Whitehaven and his son as Daniel Dickinson of Dublin. His 1718 probate gives his widow as Mary with a son named Daniel as a minor, so it looks as though the tree is in error about the wife's name. The probate also includes the (distinctive) signature of his elder brother John as a bondsman, and a share in the 'Union', so there can't be any doubt that this is the right Joseph.

The Red How tree states that he was 'lost at sea'. There is no reason to doubt this, as there is no record of his burial and such events were all too common. Moreover, he made a lot of money in his very short lifetime, which might suggest something of a risk-taker; or, to put it more generously, someone who worked his life to the full.

His probate inventory was valued at around £388. The inventory is fairly short on household luxuries, which confirms his youthful (and perhaps recently married status) status, but he had a lot of cash in hand and valuable shares in ships. His ship shares were in the 'Westmorland', 'Union, 'Hopewell' and 'Friendship'. That said, John Hamilton (his brother-in-law and master of the 'Union') was prizer - and I've noticed that his valuations elsewhere look on the optimistic side.

There is a complication. The Whitehaven port books for 1717 also show a Joseph Dickinson, master of the 'Love's Increase', as doing a series of short runs between Whitehaven and Dublin.  Port records can be difficult to decipher. This may be the 'Westmorland' Joseph, or it may be another one. As this Joseph is using the same merchants as John Hamilton, the likelihood is that he is of the Streetgate family.

To clarify this, I need to look at the Whitehaven Port Books again (at TNA). They continue beyond 1718 - if the Joseph of the 'Love's Increase' continues sailing, then that's proof that there are two Josephs; if not, then that suggests that there was only one.

TREE TO COME

Eleanor Tiffin

This is a Red How family tree entry. Unlike other such entries, there is no date given for her birth. Her husband is given as John Tiffin of Cockermouth. I have not researched this, and it is entirely possible that the information could be wrong.

There certainly was a John Tiffin of Cockermouth, deriving from the Tiffins of Mockerkin. He was described variously as grocer, merchant and gentleman; and was involved in a number of property transactions, including the purchase of Calder Hall. The Staffordshire Record Office has a copy of his 1751 will, which I haven't yet seen. The genealogy looks complicated.

If she did marry him, she did well from a social/comfort point of view.

TREE, MAYBE, TO COME

Deborah Dickinson

Deborah was born in 1683, and married John Dickinson of Woodend on 27th May 1703 in Lamplugh. She was buried 20th February 1710/11. They had four children together (Anne, Thomas, Abigail, Mary). The last died a month after birth, and her mother a month later.

The Dickinson of Woodend occupied a geographical space between the Dickinsons of Kidburngill and the Dickinsons of Streetgate. Although probably coming from a common ancestor, there is no other known marriage between Woodend and Streetgate until this one.

John Dickinson did well for himself, becoming Steward to the Lamplughs after his brother-in-law John Dickinson of Streetgate. He was able to purchase Redhow (a farm immediately north of Woodend) in 1752, which his son then occupied. Although having two further daughters by two separate wives, the inheritance went entirely to his eldest daughter Abigail Wilson. The Wilsons sold up to Joseph Dickinson (a younger son of the Streetgate family) in 1817 for £3700. Joseph built the current Red How mansion and created the Red How estate.

Isaac Dickinson (1686-1756)

Isaac was baptised 7th July 1686 in Lamplugh. He married, on 26th May 1717, Mary Boyse at S. Werburgh in Dublin. They had 11 children, of whom only two survived into adulthood. His wife and children were buried at St James in Dublin, where there is a monument dedicated to their memory.

TREE TO COME