Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Matthew Thompson

Male - 1779


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  • Name Matthew Thompson 
    Gender Male 
    Buried 13 Mar 1779  Allendale, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I4697  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Married Bef 1731 
    Children 
     1. William Thompson,   c. 16 Sep 1731, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Margaret Thompson,   c. 12 Apr 1733, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 23 Apr 1773, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 40 years)
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F2146  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Mary Forster,   b. of Allendale, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 23 Jun 1739  Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Ann Thompson,   c. 18 May 1740, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Sarah Thompson,   c. 5 Sep 1742, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. John Thompson,   c. 24 Mar 1745, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     4. George Thompson,   c. 20 Nov 1748, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 17 Sep 1756, Allendale, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 7 years)
     5. Mathew Thompson,   c. 12 Apr 1752, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F2149  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. We know that Margaret Thompson and Michael Muse are our ancestors; however, it is important to explain my thinking in connecting Margaret to her ancestors. In first doing so, I inadvertantly made some errors even though my initial effort appeared very logical. With new information found from the 1730 will of Matthew Thompson in Dilston of Corbridge parish (two parishes apart and 8 miles to the east of Haydon), I have had to rethink and regroup as follows:
      A. First, lets talk about Margaret's potential father:
      We know from Margaret's 1760 marriage record that she was of Haydon Bridge Chapelry (a subservient church in the Warden Parish). There are no other Margarets marrying at that time in Haydon and in searching the entire parish, there is only one Margaret remotely close to a marriageable full age of 21 and that is Margaret, chr. in 1733 in Haydon, with a father Matthew Thompson living in Elrington. This being such a small rural parish, there is a strong possibilty (but not certainty) that we are talking of the same Margaret.
      In the following list, I have grouped children all of the same generation naming Matthew Thompson as father in the Haydon Bridge parish (per records transcript of FHL film 94994).
      -16 Sep 1731, Wm., son of Matth. Thompson of Elrington.
      -12 Apr 1733, Margaret, dau. of Matthew Thompson of Elrington.
      -18 May 1740, Ann, dau. of Matthew Thompson of Staward.
      -5 Sep 1742, Sarah, dau. of Matthew Thompson of High Staward.
      -24 Mar 1745, John, son of Matthew Thompson of High Staward.
      -20 Nov 1748, George, son of Mathew Thompson of Staward. [17 Sep 1756, George, son of Matthew Thompson of High Staward in the Parish of Aydon buried.)
      -12 Apr 1752, Mathew, son of Mathew Thompson of High Staward.
      We don't doubt that William is certainly her brother; however, there is a gap after Margaret and before the next grouping of children of seven years. Unfortunately, I can not yet find a marriage of Matthew to the mother of the first two children even though just about all of Northumberland is on the IGI extraction (which I searched) with the notable absence of neighboring Newbrough (which I searched by film). We see a Matthew Thompson marrying Mary Foster/Forster in the following double recording of the same marriage in Haydon and the adjoining parish of Allendale:
      -FHL film 991796, Haydon Bridge church records: "23 Jun 1739, Matthew Thompson and Mary Ffoster."
      -FHL film 252518 church records: "23 Jun 1739, Matthew Thompson of the Chapelry of Haydon and Parish of Warden and Mary Forster of the Parish of Allendale were married in Allendale Church by publication etc."
      The different location of a Matthew in Staward/High Staward creates some questions. Staward is a little over four miles southwest of Elrington and almost halfway between the Allendale (3 miles) and Haydon (4 miles) church buildings. Is this the same Matthew or not? Are we talking the same Matthew who just simply moved after he married Jane Foster/Forster who was from Allendale parish per the marriage record? Pros and cons:
      Pros:
      -There is no other parish activity involving Matthew in Haydon except the 1740-1752 christenings of the last five children per the list above.
      -There is only one Matthew Thompson burial I can find between the two parishes of Allendale and Haydon. This would lead us to think there was only one Matthew. The burial record: "13 Mar 1779, Matthew Thompson of Staward bur'd."
      -The fact that Matthew was going back and forth to Haydon when he was living in Staward would indicate some ties to the Haydon church perhaps from his earlier residence at Elrington, which is only a mile or less from Haydon. On the other hand, Staward is technically in the Haydon jurisdiction as noted in the burial record of his son George quoted above.
      Cons:
      -There is no burial record for a first wife in Haydon or Allendale after 1733, which we would have hoped to see to confirm a death necessitating the second marriage. The chance remains that we are looking at two separate Matthews and so there never was a death. On the other hand, I find no later burials for either wife in either the Allendale or Haydon records. We would expect to find at least one in Allendale for Jane Foster/Forster, unless she remarried - I do find one marriage record in Allendale for Mary Forster and John Pearson on 25 Mar 1779, but this would only be 12 days after Matthew's death which seems too close to be the same Mary. There is another in Allendale for Mary Forster and Matthew Spotswood on 22 Oct 1785.
      Long and short, we really can't be 100% certain if Margaret's father was even Matthew since this is only from the assumption that the 1733 Margaret is the same as the 1760 married Margaret. We also cannot be certain if the two Matthews in the Haydon records. For now I will keep the father/daughter link and the second marriage and family atttached as if one Matthew Thompson. We are at the very least, however, confident that Margaret's father was a Matthew Thompson and that she had a full brother William.
      B. Second, lets talk about the potential father of Matthew Thompson, father of Margaret. On the surface using the parish records of Haydon, it appears pretty basic to assume the Matthew in the following record is our man: Haydon Bridge parish transcript FHL film 94994: "8 Sep 1706, Math., son of Matthew Thompson of Low Hall." Low Hall is on the south side of the bridge and right almost in town. It is in the same direction Elrington with less than a mile separation. This 1706 Matthew would also be the right age for marriage in about 1730 or earlier to have been the father of our Margaret. There are no other Matthews born in the Haydon parish. Using the same Haydon records we find the following additional siblings to the 1706 Matthew:
      Children of Matthew Thompson christened in Haydon Bridge per parish transcript found on FHL film 94994:
      -24 Sep 1702, Tho's, son of Matth. Thompson of Low Hall.
      -6 Jul 1704, James, son of Matt. Thompson of Low Hall.
      -8 Sep 1706, Math., son of Matthew Thompson of Low Hall.
      -2 Feb 1708/1709, John, son of Matth. Thompson of Low Hall.
      We also find the perfect marriage for this group of children from the marriage records for Haydon Bridge church (FHL film 991796): "25 Nov 1701, Matthew Thompson and Margaret Coats."
      A problem in working with this early family was that I could not really find any further records of the family except for a Matthew Thompson (the one discussed above as the father of Margaret) before or afterwards in christenings, marriages, and burials in Haydon, Allendale, Newbrough, or Warden. The 1600s parish records of Northumberland start late or have major gaps as is the case in Haydon - so there wasn't much too work from earlier.
      Since this was such a small rural parish, it was assumed by me that the 1706 Matthew and his parents were the next generation back. This changed after I found the following will. My summation of registered will with the Durham Consistory Court who had jurisdiction of all of Northumberland except Hexham and Hexhamshire. Copy found on FHL film 90896, page 790. Dilston is a hamlet within Corbridge Parish south of the river. The will summary:
      Will dated 25 Nov 1729 of Mathew Thompson of Dilston in County of Northumberland, yeoman. Bequeaths: to wife Margaret a yearly sum of five pounds to be paid quarterly at four named feast days; to son John 30 pounds when he turns 23; to son Thomas and daughters Jane, Margarett, Ann, and Mary 25 pounds when they turn 23; to sons James and Mathew equal portions of the household goods, real and personal property, etc. Appoints sons James and Mathew as joint executors. Witnessed by Robert Hoggert, Wm. Brown, and Richard Ellis. Court swears in James and Mathew Thompson 25 Apr 1733.
      By using the Corbridge parish records (FHL film 962713), I was able to find the following:
      Children of Matthew Thompson christened in Corbridge per parish records found on:
      -29 Apr 1711, Jane, dau. of Matthew Thomson, Dilston.
      -29 Oct 1713, Margaret, dau. of Matthew Thompson, Dilston.
      -5 Jul 1716, Thomas, son of Matthew Thomson, Dilston.
      -14 May 1719, Anne, dau. of Matthew Thomson, Dilston.
      -6 Feb 1722/1723, Mary, dau. of Matthew Thompson, Dilston.
      Burials in Corbridge associated with our Matthew Thompson:
      -14 May 1714, Thomas, son of Matthew Thomson, Dilston. [Matthew's first son born in Haydon.]
      -28 Nov 1732, Mathew Thompson, Dilston. [Matthew himself; date ties to will probate.]
      -25 Mar 1736, Margaret Thompson, Dilston. [Probably Matthew's wife.]
      An analysis of the records above when tied in to the four children christened in Haydon Bridge between 1702 and 1709 accounts for every single individual by name and relative ages including the wife in Matthew Thompson's 1730 will (probated 1733). We cannot argue that we are talking the same family who evidently lived in Haydon until 1710 after which they moved to Dilston where they remained the rest of their lives. The Corbridge records do provide also for the next generation of Thompsons remaining in Dilston as well.
      This alone would not be such a problem because we could argue that Matthew, the 1706 son simply returned to Haydon Bridge to live his life starting with the birth of our Margaret in 1731. It was not unusual in this time and place to reside in several parishes during a lifetime because families moved to where there was work. Unfortunately, the following extraction shows that Matthew, the son, also remained in Dilston. The following are all children of Matthew Thompson of Dilston christened in Corbridge:
      -28 Sep 1737, Isabel
      -29 Aug 1739, Matthew
      -25 Aug 1741, Matthew
      -12 Aug 1744, John
      -16 Oct 1746, John
      -10 Jul 1748, Jane
      We could plausibly argue that perhaps the 1706 Matthew returned to Haydon (Elrington), had William (1731) and Margaret (1733), and moved back to Dilston in 1733 for his inheritance due to his father's death in Dilston in 1732. This would also explain why we don't find a death of our ancestor Margaret (chr. 1733) since she would never have died, but simply moved to Dilston. If this were the case, we would have to discard the Matthew md. to Jane Foster/Forster residing at High Staward and buried near Allendale. We are hindered in further resolving this by the current lack of finding marriage and burial records for Matthew (chr. 1706) or Matthew, the father of our Margaret (chr. 1732) (in spite of my looking in Corbridge, Haydon, Warden, Newbrough, and Allendale). We would still need to explain why Margaret married Michael Muse in Haydon and why the minister said they were both of the Chapelry of Haydon Bridge.
      I did find the following entry for James Thompson, who is surely the James chr. 1704 in Haydon son of Matthew, then living in Corbridge. From FHL film 252518, Allendale church records: "31 Mar 1730, James Thompson of ye parish of Corbridge and Elizabeth Hornsby of ye Parish of Allendale were married in Hexham church by virtue of a license from the Court of Durham." This means that James, even though then living in Corbridge, md. clear back in Allendale which is where we have one of our proposed Matthews.
      C. Lastly, we need to look at other possibilities:
      a. In reviewing the burials of Haydon Bridge, there is a family that has some interest but which I cannot yet connect to ours since the parish records have no christening or marriage entries for them at such an early date; however, the name Matthew Thompson is intriguing. Langley/Laing Lee is a hamlet within the Haydon Bridge chapelry. I only transcribed the year of the burial entries, which are:
      -1697, Jane, dau. of Matthew Thompson of Langley.
      -1700, James, son of Matthew Thompson of Laing Lee.
      -1718, Jane, widow of Mattew Thompson of Langley.
      b. The IGI name extractions provides us with other Matthew Thompsons chr. as follows using a filter of five years either side of 1705 and at parishes within 10 miles or less. More research would need to be done to study their families. Christening dates, father, and parish:
      -18 Dec 1700, Edward, Bellingham.
      -26 May 1702, Arthro, Hartburn.
      -2 Nov 1704, John, Haltwhistle. [This parish is immediately east and touching Haydon.]
      c. The IGI name extractions project provides us with other Margaret Thompsons chr. as follows using a filter of five years either side of 1705 and at parishes within 10 miles or less. More research would need to be done to study their families. There is not a lot of them and so the one christened in 1733 in Haydon makes the most logical choice. Christening dates, father, and parish:
      -10 Oct 1731, James, Corbridge. [I believe this is James, the son chr. 1704 to Matthew in Haydon.]
      -7 Aug 1737, William, Simonburn.
      -25 Mar 1738, Robert, Birtley.


      CHRISTENING:
      1. Haydon Bridge parish transcript FHL film 94994: 8 Sep 1706, Math., son of Matthew Thompson of Low Hall.

      MARRIAGE:
      1. I cannot find a burial record for the first wife of Matthew who died between 1733 and 1739.

      2. We see a Matthew Thompson marrying Mary Foster/Forster in the following double recording of the same marriage in Haydon and the adjoining parish of Allendale:
      -FHL film 991796, Haydon Bridge church records: "23 Jun 1739, Matthew Thompson and Mary Ffoster."
      -FHL film 252518 church records: "23 Jun 1739, Matthew Thompson of the Chapelry of Haydon and Parish of Warden and Mary Forster of the Parish of Allendale were married in Allendale Church by publication etc."

      BURIAL:
      1. The following Thompson burials were extracted by me from the burial records 1731-1805 of Allendale Parish (FHL film 252518) adjoining Haydon Bridge (I did not extract children not specifically from a known Thompson name in our database):
      -*17 Sep 1756, George, son of Matthew Thompson of High Staward in the Parish of Aydon buried.
      -22 Jan 1775, John Thompson of Oak Pool buried.
      -*13 Mar 1779, Matthew Thompson of Staward bur'd.
      -27 Sep 1781, Mary, wife of John Thompson of Finnyhill.
      -8 Jul 1782, Ann Thompson of Millbridge in the Parish of Haltwhistle.
      I was surprised to not have found more considering that we don't find burials for the principal Thompsons in Haydon Bridge. Of those above, it appears that only the two with (*) are linkable for now. It appears from the location of Staward, that we connect George to Matthew. Also "Aydon" parish is Haydon. We have Matthew Thompson with a son George chr. 1748 in Staward in Haydon.