My 6X great grandmother Jennet Danson was baptised 14 September 1724 at St Mary's Church Ulverston, but: The combination of an adult baptism and proximity to Swarthmoor Hall raises the possibility of her being born to Quaker parents. FMP hold 60+ Lancashire Quaker Danson birth records from around 1700, but none for a Jennet or anything similar.
Could this be her? Lancashire OPC Jennat Danson daughter of Matthew Danson. Abode Staynall Baptised 17th March 1699/700 St James Stalmine Lancashire Also Ellin Danson father Matthew 1704 Julianus 1709
Marriage of Matthew Danson to Ann Croan 1698/9 St James Stalmine Perhaps Jennat later became a Quaker.
Perhaps this baptism is relevant? 17 March 1700 at Stalmine, Lancashire Jennat DANSON daughter of Matthew DANSON. Source Ancestry's Select Births & Christenings. I had never heard of Stalmine but according to Google maps it is not too far distant from Ulverstone. Janet Snap, Sue - you obviously type faster than me!
Oooh I don't think so..... Also Mary Danson 1701 Marriage of Jenett Danson to Edward Hawthornthwaite 23/7/1725 St James Stalmine
Both surnames, Danson and Hathorthwaite are mentioned in the index of ‘Full text of household accounts of Sarah Fell of Swarthmoor Hall’ archive.org
Surely Jennet would not undergo adult baptism had she been already been baptised as an infant. This step would only apply if her parents were Quaker, or possibly Anabaptist, neither of whom practice infant baptism.
A very good friend of mine was not sure if she had been baptised as a baby and so was baptised again as an adult. Perhaps if her marriage was imminent but she was living away from her home church, she wanted to make sure. Another thought was, if she was a servant, it might have been a request from her employer if she was not sure. Random thoughts again...
Had you noticed that there were two other DANSON baptisms at Ulverston on the same day? Elizabeth DANSON & Thomas DANSON were also baptised on 14 September 1724 - could they also be adults & possibly relatives? FreeReg have a Quaker marriage record for a John DANSON of Ulverston, Shoemaker & Mary WAITHMAN of Warton, abode Lindeth, on 6 September 1700 at the Meeting House in Yelland. Could be about the correct date to perhaps be Jennet's parents. Several DANSON witnesses to the marriage plus a Jennet BACKHOUSE - wonder if she could be related. John & Mary did have a daughter Elizabeth born 24 July 1701 (Swarthmoor Quaker records on FreeReg) plus a couple of others that you probably already know about, but I think I am clutching at straws a bit here. Janet
Thank you Janet. The marriage at Yelland (possibly a misreading of Yealand) Monthly Meeting is, to say the least, interesting, while Elizabeth and Thomas were indeed baptised as adults, as the Lancs OPC records show: The big hope now is that Monthly Meeting birth records yet to be put on line will include one for Jennet, daughter of John and Mary. Now that really is clutching at straws.
If John and Mary are indeed my several times great grandparents, this will be a document to treasure:
I did a high level search on Code: https://bmdregisters.co.uk/ , which has non-conformists records, with no luck. Advanced searches require the purchase of credits.
Fingers crossed that John & Mary do turn out to be related to your Jennet, BD. The actual Quaker records of Swarthmoor are available to view on Ancestry and I can only find 4 records for children of John & Mary: Elizabeth in 1701, Sarah in 1702, Joseph in 1708 and Benjamin in 1711. John DANSON's death and burial record is there as is widow Mary's in 1737. There is a burial record on FMP for Jennet PRESTON on 6 November 1758 at Over Wyresdale Christchurch, but that is also a fair way south of Ulverston. Janet
The Swarthmoor images are also on FMP and are not the easiest to browse as they are not in chronological order, and some pages carry "orphan" entries, dated several years later. The absence of a birth record for Thomas makes me think he and Jennet are brother and sister while Elizabeth is possibly their cousin. The Lancashire Quakers site has masses of information about the Yealand Monthly Meeting but no clues as to where their early birth records might be.
