William Maw was a blacksmith who had two smithies in Thornton Dale in 1785.
Events
Date of Birth: 25 December 1734.
The date is given in the bishop’s transcripts for Ellerburne. It is consistent with the age at death, 76, given in William's burial record.
Date of Baptism: 23 January 1734/5.
Place of Baptism: Ellerburn, Yorkshire.
The date and place are recorded in the bishop’s transcripts for Ellerburne.
Date of Burial: 18 January 1811.
Place of Burial: Thornton Dale, Yorkshire.
The burial is recorded in the parish register.
Relationships
Father: William Maw.
Mother: Ann Clarke.
See the Commentary section.
Spouse: Ann Maw (1744 - 1806). Married 5 February 1765 in Thornton Dale, Yorkshire.
The marriage is given in the parish registers.
Children:
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project. Baptisms come from the Thornton Dale bishop’s transcripts. Most of the children are mentioned in the will of Ann Maw’s brother, William.)
Robert Maw (baptized 2 March 1766 - buried 29 December 1777 in Thornton Dale)
Elizabeth Maw (baptized 10 April 1768)
Ann Maw (baptized 26 August 1770 - buried 26 January 1773 in Thornton Dale)
Mary Maw (baptized 30 April 1773 - buried 17 March 1829 in Thornton Dale) married Wilfrid Sadler 15 August 1793 in Thornton Dale, Yorkshire.
Ann Maw (baptized 3 September 1775 - buried 1 May 1800 in Thornton Dale)
James Maw (baptized 3 May 1778 - buried 5 February 1779 in Thornton Dale)
Adah Maw (baptized 16 January 1780 - buried 12 July 1803 in Thornton Dale)
Zillah Maw (baptized 9 April 1782 - buried 5 February 1794 in Thornton Dale)
John Maw (baptized 29 June 1783)
James Maw (baptized 10 April 1787 - buried 14 September 1787 in Thornton Dale)
Hannah Maw (baptized 11 September 1791)
Evidence
William’s baptism from the bishop’s transcripts:
William son of William Maw of Wilton born Dec.r 25 & bapt Jany. 23 [1734]
Marriage (Thornton Dale parish register).
Banns of Marriage between William Maw the Younger & Ann Maw both of This Parish were published Jan: 20th 27.th & Feb:.3.d 1765 By Oswald Langwith Rector The said William Maw of this Parish Batchelor. Blacksmith and Ann Maw of the Parish of Thornton aforesaid Spinster were Married in this Church by Banns this Fifth Day of February in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Five by me Oswald Langwith Rector
This Marriage was solemnized between Us Willliam Maw Ann Maw
In the Presence of James Addamson John Adamson
Baptisms of children (Thornton Dale parish register):
[baptisms]
[1766] March 2.d Robert Son of William Maw Blacksmith
[1768] May 8.th Elizabeth Daughter of Wm Maw Blacksmith
[1770] Aug:t 26th Ann Daughter of William Maw.
[1773] April 30:th Mary Daughter of W:m Maw
[1775 Sep:r] 3d Ann Daughter of William Maw.
[1778] May 3.d James Son of William Maw
[1780] Jan:y 16:th Adah Daughter of William Maw
[1782] April 9.th Zillah Maw
[1783 June 29] John Maw
[1787 April] 10. James son of W.m Maw.
[1791] Sep.r 11 Hannah Daug.r of W.m Maw.
Burials of children (Thornton Dale parish register):
[1773 June] 26th Ann Maw an Infant.
[1777] Dec:r 29:th Robert Maw aged 11.
[1779] Feby 5th James Maw an Infant
[1787 Sep.r 14] James son of Wm Maw
[1790] Nov: 12 William son of Wm Maw
[1794] Feb: 5th Zilla Dr of William Maw
[1800] May 1. Ann Maw aged 24 years
[1803 July] 12. Adah D.r of Wm & Ann Maw aged 23 yrs.
Land tax redemption, 1798:
In the township of Farmanby, William Maw is occupying land assessed at £1 7s 7d.
Burial record (Thornton Dale parish register):
[1811]
Janry 19 Wm Maw aged 76
Commentary
William’s parentage
The burial entry for William’s 1811 burial in the Thornton Dale register records William’s age at death as 76. The entry for William’s marriage records William’s name as “William Maw the Younger”, suggesting that William’s father was probably also named William.
The Ellerburn register records the birth 25 December 1734 of “William son of William Maw of Wilton”. (Ellerburn and Wilton are villages near Thornton Dale.)
A daughter was born to the elder William in 1732 and baptized in Ellerburn. The Ellerburn register records the marriage in 1729 of William Maw and Anne Clarke at Wilton.
There is additional evidence supporting the relationships: both the elder and younger William were blacksmiths. The younger William’s occupation was given as blacksmith in his 1765 marriage record and the baptism records of his children Robert and Elizabeth. Jeffery in Thornton-le-Dale (p. 118, citing documents in the possession of George F. G. Hill) refers to the William Maw, blacksmith, who died in 1766 as being the father of the William Maw who had two smithies in 1785.
There is no other Wiliam Maw who is recorded as the son of a William Maw in the Thornton Dale area in the relevant period.
DNA provides some support for the parentage of William given on this page. A paper trail 6th cousin of mine, descended from William’s brother John Maw, shares 9 cM of DNA with me over one segment. (The suggested pathway given in Ancestry’s Thrulines is incorrect. The relationship is not through James Maw.)
Errors
Jeffery seems to imply that the blacksmith William Maw of 1785 was still alive in 1836, calling himself a veterinary surgeon, but this is either an ambiguity in Jeffery’s writing or an outright error, as William Maw the veterinary surgeon was born after 1800, as can be seen from censuses.
References
“AncestryDNA ThruLines for James Maw” database report, AncestryDNA. Accessed 18 February 2025.
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JQXD-7VF : accessed 23 Mar 2014), William Maw, 23 Jan 1734; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 0990917, 0990922.
Thornton Dale, Yorkshire (Bishop’s Transcripts); FHL microfilm 990864, item 2 (Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah).
Yorkshire bishops transcripts[available for a fee on Findmypast.co.uk.]
Thornton Dale, Yorkshire parish register transcripts; FHL microfilm 1850192 item 2 (Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah).
Thornton Dale, Yorkshire, parish registers. Digital images on Findmypast.co.uk accessed 24 February 2018.
Jeffery, Reginald W. Thornton-le-Dale: Being the History of the People of Thornton, Ellerburn-cum-Farmanby, Roxby, Dalby, and Thornton Marishes from the earliest times to the present day. (Wakefield:The West Yorkshire Printing Co. Limited, 1931)
UK, Land Tax Redemption, 1798. Digital images on Ancestry.com, accessed 5 January 2018.