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I was looking at old newspapers recently and as a diversion looked for Janet Stanworth nee Nichol of Briercliffe.

Janet Stanworth died aged 94 on 16 July 1892, as reported in the Burnley Express of 23 July 1892. Given her longevity I used to wonder whether she might have merited more than a simple death announcement in the local paper - but apparently not.

Janet Stanworth turned out not to be 'one of mine' (I am descended from Colne and Trawden Whitakers not Whitakers and then Stanworths from Briercliffe) but it occurred to me that other forum readers might find this of interest.

I endeavoured to add a screenshot of the announcement but the file was too big. I accessed the newspaper using Findmypast but am no longer sure how I found it. Looking again at the column of text beside the BMD announcements in my screenshot, it is clear that times were tough in the local area, with mention of wage cuts and short time at the mills.

Ruth

Joseph Stanworth married Jennet Nicholl Sept 1819. Joseph was the son of Benjamin Stanworth and Mally Stansfield, these were my 5x gt grandparents. I am presuming this is the same family.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

Yes they are the same family - I used to think Janet Stanworth nee Nichol was my 3x great grandmother (based on research in the early 1990s, when finding the right line was much more difficult and long before the Briercliffe Forum helped me get on the right track). Foolishly I hadn't realised that there might be more than one Alice Whitaker- John Bannister marriage in the area at around the right time!

Ruth

Ha ha I've been down the long route of the wrong family before, very annoying when a lot of hard work has been done, but, this is meant to be fun

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

There is a longer obituary of Jeannette Stanworth, titled "Death of a Nonogenarian," under Local News in the Burnley Express of 20 July 1892. Unfortunately I don't know how to send it to this site, but it states she was born in Dumfries-shire, daughter of Adam Nicol, who came to England as head keeper for Col. Hargreaves. That last item I didn't know before, although I knew he was a gamekeeper as he's listed on the Gamekeepers' Register. It sounds as though he had a job to come to in Lancashire, and a friend who has a lot of local knowledge suggested that the landowners from the Briercliffe area could have travelled to Dumfries-shire for shooting, and Adam Nicol became known to them. I believe there's a connection with the Duke of Buccleuch estates in Dumfries-shire but I need to do more research on that. Jeannette Nicol and Joseph Stanworth were my 5x great grandparents.

Ruth, I found this article only this afternoon (serendipity?) on the British Newspaper Archive. I'm three weeks into one of their sales of £1 for one month, which they offer periodically. I find it much easier to search than the newspapers on Find My Past. I searched under "Mustyhalgh" as that is the farm where they lived, and it popped up. I was actually looking for someone else who lived there earlier.

Joan

Thank you very much indeed Joan for following up my post. Armed with the correct date and the tip to search on Mustyhalgh, I also have now succeeded in getting the news item on Jeannette Stanworth to turn up using Newspapers on Findmypast!

As I am a speedy typist, I'll type the entry in here (with my paragraphing inserted to make it easier to read online).

DEATH OF A NONOGENARIAN. – A very interesting and respected personage has just passed away. Jeannette Stanworth, of Mustyhalgh, near Haggate, died at the close of last week at the venerable age of 94. The deceased lady was born in Dunfriesshire, and was the daughter of Adam Nicol, who came to England as head-keeper for the late Colonel Hargreaves.

The deceased lady was born in 1798, the year of the great Irish rebellion, and she often spoke of coming to Burnley at the age of 17 to witness the rejoicings at the succeess of Wellington and Blucher at the Battle of Waterloo.

She married Mr Joseph Stanworth, and lived at Wall Nook – an out farm bordering on Extwistle. She brought up a family of eight children, and lived to see a fourth generation. The old lady had a wonderful memory; she was, to use a provincialism, "very cant," and was a regular worshipper at Haggate Baptist Chapel.

Ruth

The comment about her witnessing the rejoicings of the Battle of Waterloo is a bit of a wow moment. When trundling backwards through family history I sometimes forget to look what was going on at the time, the Battle of Waterloo being cause of rejoicing by my ancestors.....wow.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

Thank you for typing this up, Ruth. It's strange that it didn't appear when I typed in Jeannette Stanworth's name and I found it quite by accident by searching on Mustyhalgh.

Gloria, I have the Joseph Stanworth who married Jennet Nichol as the son of Henry and Mary Stanworth, baptized on 14 Sep 1800 at St. Peter's in Burnley. There is an obituary for him in the Burnley Express 22 March 1879:

There died a few days ago in Briercliffe, an old man, Joseph Stanworth, at the advanced age of 80, I am told, that previously to a day or two before his death he had never known a day's sickness. He was the head of a family numbering some fifty children and grandchildren, and about the same number of great grandchildren. He is the first of this host of descendants to depart this life, and those who remain speak of his death regretfully as a "breaking into the hundred."

In the same edition of the Burnley Express there is also a notice:

STANWORTH March 11th Joseph Stanworth, Mustyhalgh, aged 80.

Joan

Looks like I may have two Joseph Stanworths mixed up. The Joseph in my tree comes from Benjamin and Mally, I follow down from one of their other sons James. I saw Joseph Stanworth on this thread, right age, and thought possibly wrongly, it must be mine. I haven't researched him at all until this cropped up. Benjamin definitely had a son named Joseph at about that time, so perhaps I wrongly ....just presumed!!!!
I have one note for Joseph in 1851 census
Living at Wall Nook, Extwistle
Joseph Stanworths 52
Jennet 52
Ellen 15
Joseph 13
William 10
Ann 7
The rest of my Stanworths lived in Extwistle area.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

The Stanworth family used the same first names, particularly Henry, Joseph and Benjamin constantly, sometimes more than once in each generation with cousins so it's very difficult to sort them out. Craig Thornber has done a lot of work on them and if you're interested, entering his name in Google brings up his sites. He isn't a member of the forum but I think his name came up a few years ago.

The obituary for Joseph says he had eight children, but he had eleven in total, unless I've got them confused somewhere.

I agree, it was certainly a special moment when Jeannette's obituary mentioned her going into Burnley for the celebrations after the Battle of Waterloo. It really places our ancestors in the context of the times.

Joan

I've seen Craig Thornbers site and very interesting it is. I shall have another read through it now my interest in the Stanworths has been nudged.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

I have also found Craig Thornber's website of interest in the past. (I also remember Craig Thornber at Colne Grammar School in the late 1950s - though he was a few years older than me so I didn't know him.)

I wonder if anyone has come across the apparently local usage of the word cant, as in the Burnley Express item on Jeannette Stanworth?

'The old lady had a wonderful memory; she was, to use a provincialism, "very cant," and was a regular worshipper at Haggate Baptist Chapel.'

Up until now I had only come across cant as a derogatory noun, defined online as:
hypocritical and sanctimonious talk, typically of a moral, religious, or political nature.

My first thought was perhaps that Jeannette was well-versed in the scriptures as a member of the Haggate Baptist congregation (which was probably true) and liked to cite chapter and verse (which might not have been).

However, a look at the Shorter OED (in which there are five columns on the word cant!) also produced another meaning, which seems nearer the mark:

Cant, adjective, Scot and North dialect:
common in early times (13-14 century) in the alliterative phrase 'kant and keen'. Apparently the same word as modern Dutch: kant 'neat and clever'.

So it seems that Jeannette, even in old age, was clever and 'sharp' (or 'canny')!

Ruth

I had only heard the word "cant" used for referring to sanctimonious talk, as you described, Ruth. The Scottish definition might well fit in with Jeannette.

I'm familiar with the word "canny." My mother, from Burnley, used it a lot to mean someone sharp-witted.

If Jeannette had such a good memory, her account of being 17 when the Battle of Waterloo took place could well be accurate, which helps to pinpoint her birthdate as 1798/9. So far I've been unable to find it but it's some time since I searched and more records may be available now.

Joan