Edmondson Genealogy

b 1621 at Dent, parents James Sidgsweeke and Agnes Burton
bp 13 Jul 1623 at Dent as "An", FHL 1472792/1 #024

m 15 Sep 1642 at Dent to John Burton,jpl dent p82, FHL 1472792/1 #065
children:

• Agnes bp 17 Dec 1648 of Nunhouse, Deepdale, Dent;
• James bp 13 Nov 1650;
• Anna probably born between 1643 and 1647, but not in Dent. Perhaps after marriage her parents lived somewhere else before Nunhouse, Deepdale? I checked registers in Thornton-in-Lonsdale, Ingleton, Clapham, Sedbergh, but found nothing. An alternative would be for her birth to be between 1653 and 1660, when records were missing.

d 27 May 1663 at Dent, FHL 1472792/1 #112

other Jane Sidgsweeke:
b 13 Aug 1615 at Horton in Ribblesdale, father Thomas, FHL PR 100611241 #44/82

other Jane Sidgsweeke:
bp 8 Jan 1615 (Gregorian) at Dent, father James, jpl dent p8, FHL 1472792/1 #008
d 13 Jan 1615 at Dent, FHL 1472792/1 #009

This note looks at the parentage and life of Jane Sidgsweeke, wife of John Burton.

Jane Sidgsweeke has led us a merry chase. Originally I thought she was born 8 Jan 1615 at Dent to father James, and that she was the Jane who married John Burton 15 Sep 1642 at Dent. Unfortunately, that Jane died 13 Jan 1615, aged just 5 days. Searches of Dent and 20 miles around including Garsdale, Sedbergh and Horton, looking for another Jane Sidgsweeke born before 1624 (which would have made her 18 when marrying in 1642), were not 100% successful.

The nearest possible candidates were:

1. "Jeanne Sidgsweeke" born 13 Aug 1615 at Horton in Ribblesdale (16m S Dent), father Thomas;
2. "Anne Sidgewicke" born 9 May 1617 at Sedbergh, father Richard;
3. "An Sidgsweeke" born about 1621, baptised 13 July 1623 at Dent, father James (most likely born in 1621 or at the latest January 1622, because her father James Sidgsweeke himself died on 17 Jun 1621).

The names "Jane" and "Anne" do seem to be mixed and confused at that time, so these three are considered possibilities.

Although "Jeanne" is perhaps the nearest to "Jane", I discount it because it is 16 miles away, and because she would be 3 years younger than her husband, born in 1618. There is also the marriage of a Jane Sidgsweeke in 1660 at Horton (she would have been 42, so perhaps not her).

The Sedbergh "Anne" is a possibility, but I think it more probable that she was the Jane Sidgsweeke who married Richard Mason at Dent 2 Feb 1634. She would have been 17, just about old enough.

That leaves the Dent "An" as the most likely, it is easy for "An" to become "Jan", and this "Jane" would have been younger than her husband and aged over 19 when she married.

Then we need to take a look at the various Sidgsweeke families that were living in Dent at that time. There were about 12 Sidgsweeke males who married at Dent between 1612 and 1630, including 3 different James Sidgsweekes. There were also two Sidgsweekes who married wives called Jane, so it seems incredible to me that there weren't more Jane Sidgsweekes born in Dent. Just the one who died aged 5 days seeems strange.

Let's look at the marriages and children born to those named James Sidgsweekes:
There was a James Sidgsweekes married to a Margaret before records started in 1611, and who had (probably) 3 children between 1611 and 1615 before he died on 1 Sep 1615:

• Ralph b 31 May 1612, d 23 Aug 1612;
• Jane b 8 Jan 1615, d 13 Jan 1615;
• Margaret b 24 Sep 1615
  His wife Margaret died 26 Apr 1619.

The next James Sidgsweeke married 9 Jan 1612 to Agnes Burton at Dent. Children:

• Edward bp 29 Nov 1612;
• Geffray bp 20 Oct 1614, d 30 May 1622;
• Elizabeth bp 3 Dec 1615, d 5 Dec 1615;
• Ralph bp 9 Feb 1617;
• Margaret bp 3 Oct 1617;
• Lawrence bp 23 Jan 1620 (I suspect he was born in the first few months of 1619, and was baptised late)
• Mabel bp 9 Apr 1620;
• An (Jane) bp 13 Jul 1623 (She was most likely born in 1621 or at the latest January 1622, because her father James Sidgsweeke himself died on 17 Jun 1621).
  James's widow Agnes Burton remarried to (John possibly) Hewer 20 Jul 1625. Children:
• Susanna bp 23 Dec 1625;
• Christopher bp 20 Jan 1628;
• Illegible bp 5 Nov 1630;

The final James Sidgsweeke married 21 May 1627 to Emma Dawson, they had 10 children and lived long lives, James dying 31 Mar 1675 and Emma 21 Feb 1677.

First conclusion: I believe it is probable that the Jane Sidgsweeke who married John Burton 15 Sep 1642 at Dent was born in Dent in 1621 to parents James and Agnes, and was baptised as "An" 13 July 1623.

The next problem to sort out is their children, being as there were various John Burtons having children at that time. I believe they had the following children:

• Agnes bp 17 Dec 1648 of Nunhouse, Deepdale, Dent;
• James bp 13 Nov 1650, Dent;
• Anna probably born between 1643 and 1647, but not in Dent. Perhaps after marriage her parents lived somewhere else before Nunhouse, Deepdale? I checked registers in Thornton-in-Lonsdale, Ingleton, Clapham, Sedbergh, but found nothing. An alternative would be for her birth to be between 1653 and 1660, when records were missing.

Other potential childen:

• an infant child who died 23 Jul 1643. Probably child of a different John and Jane Burton of Deepdale, because the mother Jane died in childbirth the previous day. Very strange that a Jane wife of John Burton of Deepdale died in 1643, as there are no more marriages of Johns and Janes, and we definitely need a Jane Burton of Outrake Foot, Deepdale dying as a widow in 1679;
• Margaret bp 24 Dec 1648 of Hakergill;
• Isabell bp 19 Jan 1651 of Nunhouse, d 28 Dec 1672 (birth date too close to James b1650)
• William bp 2 Jan 1652, d 22 Feb 1652 of Hakergill;
• Isabell bp 16 Feb 1652 of Deepdale, father John son of Geffrey Burton (don't know him)
• William bp 31 Jan 1653 of Hakergill;
• Martin bp 12 Jun 1653 of Nunhouse in Deepdale. Probably another branch of the Burtons. No trace of any death before 1679, so most likely "not ours"
• Thomas bp 2 Mar 1662 (20 years after start of marriage, probably too late)
• Mary bp 19 Jul 1663 (21 years after start of marriage, probably too late)
• John bp 12 Nov 1663 (21 years after start of marriage, probably too late)
• Elizabeth bp 28 Mar 1664 (22 years after start of marriage, probably too late)

Many ancestry trees have claimed that Jane's husband John Burton died 29 May 1651. I believe though that they have selected James principally because in 1651 there was the death of a John Burton, whose father was James. They have then retroactively selected the John Burton born in 1619 whose father was James. Normally, however, the names of parents are included in death registrations only for children and spinsters. I believe in fact that the 1651 death is in reality that of John Burton born in 1643. The original entry says "John the sonne of James Burton of Highgill Hall buryed the 30th of May and died the twenty ninth of May in Anno Doni 1651". Highgill Hall is 22 miles east of Dent (54.2904, -2.02469), but we know that our John Burton lived in Deepdale, Dent.

In the records there is a gap of 7 years for deaths between 1653 and 1660. Being as there are no deaths registered of John Burtons between 1660 and 1679, it seems likely that he died between 1653 and 1660.

See a separate note about the "Parentage of John Burton".

Looking at the burial registrations for his wife, Jane Sidgsweeke, there are two possibilities at Dent, one in 1663 and the other in 1679. The 1679 entry has been shown by Paula Healey to be Jane Thistlethwaite, who married James Burton in 1618.
This leaves our Jane dying in 1663.

Conclusion: John Burton died between 1653 and 1660, and Jane Sidgsweeke was buried 27 May 1663 at Dent.

John Lomas
updated: 19 October 2023