Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

William Burnhope

Male 1745 -


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  • Name William Burnhope 
    Christened 21 Jul 1745  Shotley, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Person ID I42  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Isaac Burnhope,   b. Abt 1715, of, Northumberland or Durham, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Oct 1781, Wood Hall Mill, Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 66 years) 
    Mother Jane,   b. Abt 1731, of Hexham, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F46  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Jane Jameson 
    Married 22 May 1768  Whitley Chapel, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F45  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. It appears from the LDS IGI extraction program that after William and Jane had their son Isaac, chr. 22 Feb 1769 in Whitley by Hexham, they must have moved to neighboring Allendale parish where they also had the following three children: Thomas chr. 14 Feb 1771 and twins Isabella and Mary chr. 4 Feb 1773. From the same IGI, we can determine that Isaac married Mary Milburn 23 Aug 1790 in Allendale, Northumberland. Again using the same IGI extracted record entries, Isaac and Mary in turn had the following children: Jane chr. 11 Sep 1790; Eliz., Mary, and Sarah all chr. 15 Apr 1798 (probable delayed christenings from earlier births); Isabella b. 5 Sep 1803, chr. 9 Dec 1804; Hannah b. 24 Nov 1804, chr. 9 Dec 1804; William chr. 1 Jul 1808; Ann chr. 26 Nov 1809; and Leah chr. 8 Mar 1812. (With the exception of Jane whose parents are simply Isaac and Mary Burnhope, all of the following entries identify the mother as Mary with various spellings of Milburn.)

      CHRISTENING:
      1. Note that Isaac lived in the Newbiggin/Riddlehamhope area which was centered near Shotley, Hunstantworth, and Hexham parishes all of which he had children christened. From the book of indexed baptisms (1675-1786) transcripts in the Shotley parish church from my 23 Jun 2009 visit to the Society of Genealogists in London, England:
      21 Jul 1745, William Burnhope, son of Isaac of Newggin[sic] hope.

      2. LDS IGI has a related extracted record for William Burnhope, chr. 21 Jul 1745 at Shotley, Northumberland, England with a mother shown as Jane Burnhope. No father is shown. No other Burnhopes (or other name variations) occur in the fully extracted christening record of 1675-1861.

      3. By following the various christening records of his children, we can ascertain Isaac's residence and and the name of his wife Jane. Isaac lived in the Newbiggin/Riddlehamhope area which was centered near Shotley, Hunstantworth, and Hexham parishes all of which he had children christened. Newbiggin/Riddlehamhope do not show on most maps since they are not villages as much as a just a location. Using older maps, I was able to locate them. On modern maps such as Google, locate Hunstanworth in County Durham. Just slightly above Hunstanworth across the field is the River Derwent going from west to east. Slightly to the west of Hunstanworth, the river turns upward northwesterly while a serpentine forested hill turns southwesterly. At this first bow on the north side is Newbiggin Fell. Continue to follow the river as it then immediately turns back west and then you are at Riddlehamhope on the north side of the river. Slightly to the west of that is Riddlehamhope Fell. Note that this river is the boundary between counties Durham on the south and Northumberland on the north thereby making the Burnhopes residents of Northumberland. The meaning of the old English word Fell is from the Old Norse meaning an upland stretch of open country; a moor; or a barren or stony hill. We know that Isaac was a miller because he eventually ends up at Woodhall Mill very near Haydon's Bridge where he dies in 1781. The location of Newbiggin/Riddlehamhope on a river may have been due to work as a miller even though his early profession is not given in the christening records.
      The record of his child William must appear in two separate registers (a local and bishop's transcript?) because my transcription shows the entry below whereas the LDS IGI shows the same entry without the father but with a mother Jane Burnhope listed. This establishes Jane as the wife of Isaac.
      Note that in a separate transcription book for Hexham baptisms (1752-1851) which I reviewed at the Northumberland Records Office at Woodhorn Jun 2009, there were some minor differences as noted above in [brackets].
      The various parish records showing the christening of Isaac's children in chronological order show:
      Shotley, Northumberland:
      William Burnhope, son of Isaac of Newggin(sic) hope chr. 21 Jul 1745.
      Hunstanworth, Durham:
      Kath. Burnhope, d. of Isaac, chr. 27 Jul 1747.
      Isaac Burnhope, s. of Isaac of Ridlehope [sic], chr. 2 Mar 1748/1749 (bur in 1762 in Hexham).
      John Burnhope, s. of Isaac of Newbigginhope, chr. 10 Mar 1750/1751
      Hexham, Northumberland:
      Mary Burnep, dau. of Isaac Burnep chr. 14 Oct 1753. [Mary Burnip, d. of Isaac of Leafield House. I have tried to find a Leafield House using Google and what I can find thus far is in Birtley, a suburb in County Durham of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne just north of Chester-le-Street. This is off the path considering Newbiggin and Whitley Mill are in close proximity to each other south of Hexham and makes one wonder if there is a closer Leafield House.]
      Joseph Burnip, son of Isaac Burnip chr. 7 Mar 1756. [Isaac of Whitley Mill.]
      Ann Burnip, dau. of Isaac Burnip chr. 9 Apr 1758. [Isaac of Whitley Mill.]
      Hannah Burnip, dau. of Isaac Burnip chr. 23 Mar 1760. [Mary Burnip, d. of Isaac - not sure why one transcription would say Hannah and the other Mary.]

      MARRIAGE:
      1. The following entries are from a transcription book of the church records for Whitley Chapel, which is part of the Hexham Parish, which I copied at the Society of Genealogists during my visit of Jun 2009. I also saw a similar transcription book at Northumberland Records Office at Woodhorn which had an additional entry below which I note with an (*). The records begin in 1764 and the following transcription is for all Burnhopes for bapt., mar., and burials until 1851. Note that with Whitley only being a subservient chapel, as was the new law at about that time, the marriages ceased from Jul 1781 until Nov 1844 at which time they were in Hexham. Note that there were no Burnhopes in the burial registers for this time period. Whitley is halfway from Newbiggin where the Isaac Burnhope lived to Hexham where some of Isaac's children were christened. "The Newcastle Diocesan Gazetteer, A Guide to the Anglican Churches in Newcastle Upon Tyne and Northumberland" states: "St. Helen's Church, Whitley Chapel, Consecrated in 1764. The church building is of uncertain date. Prior to 1764, it was a Chapel of ease served by Hexham Abbey, but in that year it became a Parish Church of the district known as Hexhamshire, lying between Hexham and Blanchland. It is thought to have been consecrated in 1764 by the Archbishop of York. The church is a simple building of stone, without aisles, with a a later vestry built on to the west end..."
      We can be reasonably certain that these entries deal with the children of Isaac even though it is not specifically proven except by circumstantial evidence such as the marriable ages of Isaac's children, the consistent spelling of Burnhope rather than Burnop/Burnip, the fact that William and John follow the Burnhope family trade of millers and that they are at Whitley Mill where we can place their father Isaac in the Hexham confirmation records for Isaac's children Joseph and Ann, the proximity of the location of Whitley Chapel to Newbiggin, and that the surrounding churches do not have probable entries which I determined from my "encircling" research. The following are the entries and my comments are in [brackets]:
      *Bapt. 22 Jan 1769, Isaac Burnhope, son of William, Whitley Mill. [Same mill as where Isaac was in 1756 and 1758.]
      Bapt. 21 Oct 1773, George Burnhope, son of John, Ordley. [The John in this entry, and the next two for Isaac and Elizabeth, is most likely the son of Isaac who apparently married before 1773 probably in different church - the church of his bride.]
      Bapt. 14 Aug 1774, Isaac Burnhope, son of John, Mollerstead. [Moller is a term for mill. In the (*) transcription, it says 7Aug 1774 and Mollestead. Note that LDS IGI extracted records show this individual as John and it shows as well the other three baptisms noted herein including Isaac in 1769.]
      Bapt. 1 Apr 1781, Elizabeth, d. of John, Whitley Mill. [Same mill as where Isaac was in 1756 and 1758.]
      Marr. 7 Jul 1765, Chris Winter, batchelor, and Cath Burnhope, both of the church. Wit: Ralph Dixon and William Burnhope. [Cath is most likely Kathrine, d. of Isaac, and William is her older brother.]
      Marr. 22 May 1768, William Burnhope and Jane Jameson, both of the church. Wit: John Burnhope and Chris Winter. [Chris Winter is most likely the husband to Kathrine Burnhope per the entry above and the brother-in-law to this William. John is most likely the younger brother to William, but he would only be 17 at the time. Isaac, the next brother under William was deceased in 1762 leaving John as the next brother in line.]
      Marr. 17 May 1778, Thomas Surtees, batchelor, and Ann Burnhope, both of the church. Wit: John Surtees and Christ. Winters. [Chris Winters is most likely the brother-in-law to Ann who married her sister Kathrine per the entry above in 1765.]
      It should also be noted that the nearby Slaley Church directly to the east, whose baptism records began 1703 (1722 for marriages and 1720 for burials), has no entries whatsoever for any Burnhopes until 1851 when I quit checking. The next parish to the west, Allendale does have several Burnhopes.