Events
Date of Baptism: 17 April 1705.
Place of Baptism: Wigan.
The baptism is recorded in the bishop’s transcripts (“Eliz’th Da: Thos: Wig:n of Hallg:te”).
Date of Burial: 15 January 1755.
Place of Burial: Wigan, Lancashire, England (All Saints).
The burial is recorded in the parish register.
Relationships
Father: Thomas Wigan.
Mother: Ann Mitton.
See the Commentary section.
Spouse: John Laithwait (1703 - 1757). Married 25 August 1724 in Wigan.
The marriage is recorded in the parish register.
Children:
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project. All baptisms and burials are in Wigan.)
Ralph Laithwait (baptized 21 November 1725 - buried 16 October 1731).
Sarah Laithwait (baptized 5 January 1727).
Alice Laithwait (baptized 9 May 1730).
Thomas Laithwait (baptized 20 January 1732).
Ralph Laithwait (baptized 30 January 1734 - buried 14 January 1754).
Elizabeth Laithwait (baptized 14 May 1737 - buried 31 January 1813) married (1) Andrew Livsey 26 September 1756 in Wigan; married (2) Roger Almond 19 December 1779 in Wigan.
John Laithwait (baptized 23 September 1739 - buried 19 June 1754).
Robert Laithwait (baptized 4 April 1743 - buried 22 April 1797). Robert was a weaver.
Ann Laithwait (baptized 22 June 1746).
Esther Laithwait (baptized 30 April 1748).
Evidence
Burial (Wigan, All Saints parish register):
January 1755
17 Elizab:th wife of John Laithwait of Hallgate
Commentary
Elizabeth’s parentage:
Elizabeth was married in 1724 in Wigan and her youngest child was baptized in 1748. Elizabeth must have been born between about 1698 and 1710.
There were three baptisms of an Elizabeth Wigan in Wigan during this time:
30 January 1703 (father John Wigan of Standishgate(?)). This Elizabeth was buried 7 July 1707.
17 April 1705 (father Thomas Wigan de Hallgate).
8 October 1705 (father James Wigan of Hallgate). This Elizabeth was buried 5 November 1709.
It seems that the 1705 baptism is the only viable candidate. (There were no other marriages of an Elizabeth Wigan in Wigan in the 1720s-1740s.) The name of the father, “Thomas”, gives a slight amount of additional support to this, as it was the name of Elizabeth’s second son. (A traditional naming pattern was for a couple to name their second son after the wife’s father, although this was very far from a universal practice.)
Elizabeth’s 1705 baptism was the first of a child of Thomas in Wigan. A Thomas Wigan married Ann Mitton 19 February 1704/5 in Wigan. (Another Thomas Wigan married Ann Topping in 1706.)
References
Elizabeth Wigan baptism, Wigan bishop’s transcripts; digital image Ancestry.com (accessed 30 September 2014) citing Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives.
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J773-JNY : accessed 04 Aug 2014), Elizth Wigan, 17 Apr 1705; citing WIGAN,LANCASHIRE,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 94030.
Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks
Wigan Anglican Parish Registers. Wigan Archives Services, Wigan, England; digital images Ancestry.com (accessed 19 January 2016).