After a further push on my Whitakers, I now feel ready to respond to replies and share my updated research and thoughts!
First, Sylvia, yes, it seems we do indeed share the same Whitaker line. My Alice Whitaker (15/3/1866, birth certificate) was a daughter of John and Margaret (nee Stanworth) Whitaker and therefore a younger sister of your Elizabeth (8/11/1849). John (14/11/16) was a child of Thomas and MaryAs yet, I haven't researched all the siblings, having been concentrating on going back rather than forward.
Hannah, I have now spent more time trying to sort out the children of Thomas and Mary. My list now more closely resembles yours but still with some questions/ comments re Grace, Joseph and Joshua. Some of my problems, like yours, arose from the 1841 census, which I had attempted to transcribe myself 20 years ago. At that time I did not have the very useful Haggate chapel records to consult for clarification!
My best shot is:
William 5 Apr 1812, Purse House, Briercliffe
Ellin 22 Oct 1813, Reedley
Richard 23 Mar 1815, Herd House, Briercliffe
John 14 Nov 1816, Monk Hall, Extwistle
Thomas 3 Nov 1818, Monk Hall, Extwistle
James 10 Dec 1820, Monk Hall, Extwistle
Elisabeth 17 May 1822, Monk Hall, Extwistle
Samuel 28 Nov 1823, Monk Hall, Extwistle
Joshua 25 Mar 1828, Monk Hall, Extwistle
Grace 14 Apr 1836*, Monk Hall, Extwistle
Joseph 17 Oct 1837, Sweetwell House, Extwistle
My information for all but Grace and Joseph (for whom see below) comes from Briercliffe Soc. Haggate Baptist records.
Differences between my revised list and yours are:
Ellin - added, found in Haggate records, and present at Sweetwell House for 1841 and 1851 censuses
Grace - I note that you have two of them. One born in 1826 (as per the Haggate records) and another born in 1835 (which matches census information). I currently favour the view that there has been a transcription error and that one Grace was born on 14 April in 1836 and not 1826. My reasons for this thinking (which could change with new evidence) are: I have not found an infant death for a Grace born in 1826 to precede a later Grace; a Grace of an age to have been born in 1836 is present at Sweetwell House for the 1841 and 1851 censuses; I then tried the 1861 census and found Grace listed at Green Hill as sister, aged 66 (surely wrong!) to Joshua, head, aged 32.
Compared to my original list, I now agree with you that Joshua was born in 1828 (25 March at Monk Hall). Here I blame the 1841 census, which is difficult to read and definitely inaccurate in some respects (for example, I had John and James aged 25, where other evidence shows James should have been 20).
From my reading of the 1841 census, I originally had Joshua and Joseph in each other's position: with Joseph aged 13 and Joshua aged 3. I now have definite evidence that they should be transposed. After an unsuccessful online search in the Lancashire BMD records for a birth for Joshua in 1837-38, I tried for Joseph, and bingo! I now have Joseph's birth certificate:
17 October 1837 at Sweetwell House, Extwistle, Joseph, to Thomas Whitaker (labourer) and Mary Whitaker (formerly Thomas).
This birth certificate had the added advantage of giving me Mary's maiden name, which I did not know before.
A swift online search (IGI) has given me a possible marriage for Mary's parents (which I'll go back to later, unless someone else has already checked this out!).
Richard Tomis, 12 Dec 1790, Burnley, Lancashire, spouse Nelly Sutcliffe.
I'd be interested in any comments. I'm going to post this now and will look later today at whether my line can be linked to Hannah's Whitakers in Colne in around 1600.
Ruth
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I said there were a lot and it gets very confusing.