MY LEATHERLAND ANCESTRY
My Leatherland ancestry may have been traced back ten generations to mid-17th century Northamptonshire. Here is a brief summary of my direct line :
CHARLES EDWARD LEATHERLAND (1898-1992) – My grandfather who was a journalist, county councillor and Life Peer in the House of Lords.
JOHN EDWARD LEATHERLAND (1870-1945) – Charles’s father, born in Churchover, Warwickshire. He served as a Private in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment for twelve years in England, Ireland, India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He later worked as valet and then as a packing case maker for Cadbury in Bournville.
SAMUEL LEATHERLAND (c.1836–1910) – Samuel was John’s father. He was a farm labourer who grew up in Pailton, Warwickshire, and later moved to the neighbouring village of Churchover. He married Susanna Foster just before her 17th birthday. They had thirteen children, although several predeceased them. In his sixties he became a county council road maintenance worker.
The former Andrews Church, Clay Coton where my earliest ancestors were baptised - it is now a private residence (Photo © David Richards)
SAMUEL LEATHERLAND (1790 – 1880) – Samuel’s father who was baptised as Samuel Lealon in Kilsby, Northants. Despite this shortened form of the surname in the parish register, I am confident this was the correct baptism for various reasons. Samuel became an agricultural labourer who settled in Pailton and the neighbouring village of Monks Kirby for most of his adult life. When he was twenty eight, he married Elizabeth Langton. They had nine children although four predeceased them. In old age his wife was admitted to an asylum with dementia where she died a year later. Samuel lived for another year and died aged 90.
The next ancestor is where problems begin. Samuel’s baptism shows his parents as William and Ann Leatherland. The following William is possibly his father.
WILLIAM LEATHERLAND (1764 – 1830) – William was the illegitimate son of William Leatherland and Eliza Clark. He was baptised in Crick, Northants as “William son of Wm. Leatherland & Eliz Clark”. William married twice. His first wife Ann died after an 18 year marriage, they had at least three children. Two years later he married Jane Daniel, with whom he had nine more children. He died aged 66 in Kilsby.
PROBLEMS. At this stage the family tree encounters problems. It is possible that the illegitimate boy William was brought up as William Clark rather than Leatherland. It also possible that he died aged five because there is a burial of a William Leatherland in 1769 in Crick which I can’t match to anyone else. In either case our direct ancestor may be a different William Leatherland. There are four other William Leatherlands baptised in Northamptonshire between 1757 and 1765 one of whom might be the ancestor.
The churchyard of All Saints Church, Yelvertoft (photo ©David Richards)
WILLIAM LEATHERLAND (1737 – 1820) – Baptised in Crick, he was the father of the illegitimate boy born to Eliza Clark. Crick Overseers accounts show that he was obliged (probably under a “bastardy bond”) to financially support the child and mother for several years. I have found no evidence that he ever married (which is unusual). A militia list of 1769 says that he worked as a weaver.
EDWARD LEATHERLAND (1700 – 1763) – Edward was the father of William above. Baptised in Crick, he married Esther Watts in 1726. Their marriage licence described him as servant man of Jeremiah Bullock, a schoolmaster. Shortly before he died, he made a will in which he left property and land in Crick to Esther. The will described him as a yeoman (landowner or better off farmer) so it seems that he was quite prosperous.
CHRISTOPHER LEATHERLAND (1654 – 1731) – Christopher was the father of Edward. Baptised in Clay Coton, Northants (as “Christifor Leithorland”) he married Sarah Walton on Easter Day 1686. They had ten children, the first baptised five weeks after marriage. The evidence suggests he lived in Yelvertoft for most of his married life. Tithe records in the parish register show that he was a sheep farmer.
Thatched roofed house in Crick (photo ©David Richards)
EDWARD LITHORLAND / LYTHERLAND (c 1624 – 1686) – Edward was the father of Christopher. Edward had eight children with Elizabeth, all baptised in Clay Coton between 1652 and 1668. No marriage has been found in the area or anywhere elsewhere, despite extensive searches. Hearth Tax (1674) records for Clay Coton show him with one hearth making him exempt from the tax and suggesting that he was poor. When his wife was buried she was described as a “poor widow”. His baptism has not been found, although one possibility is Eadmund Lytherland, son of John Lytherland, baptised 1624 in Clifton upon Dunsmore, two miles east of Rugby. It is also possible that he came from another county, perhaps moving to Northamptonshire during the Civil War.
SUMMARY
The ancestral line from Charles Leatherland to his great grandfather Samuel Leatherland (1790-1880) is certain. The ancestral line from William Leatherland (1737 – 1820) back to his great grandfather Edward Lithorland (1620s – 1686) is also clear. But the eighteenth century line of descent is unproven, and may never be known for certain, although it is quite likely that my ancestors descend from Edward of Clay Coton.
Samuel Leatherland’s baptism as Lealon in 1790 is also problematic, although I have concluded that he was the son of William and Ann Leatherland. Another potential problem with this is that, when his father remarried, one of the nine children of that marriage was another Samuel. It is unusual for parents to name two children with the same name.
Although the father of Samuel (1790-1880) may not be the illegitimate son of William Leatherland, two of the three other William Leatherlands who lived in this area of Northants are descended from the 17th century ancestor Edward, so it is still quite possible that he is my earliest ancestor.
For detailed family trees please see my tribal pages site
www.tribalpages.com/tribes/david4u
Mailto: davidr4u@btinternet.com