William Swift
Events
Date of Birth: 2 January 1775.
Place of Birth: Lancashire.
The date is given in William's baptism record. The 1841 census (taken 6 June) gives his age as 65. Ages were rounded down to the nearest 5 years. The census gives his birth place as Lancashire.
Date of Baptism: unknown.
Place of Baptism: St Helens, Lancashire.
The baptism is given in the parish registers.
Date of Death: 1850.
Place of Death: Prescot registration district.
The GRO index records his death (3rd quarter, age 77).
Relationships
Father: Lionel Swift.
William's baptism record names his father. (See the Commentary section for a more detailed argument.)
Mother: Ellen Crumpton.
Lionel's marriage record names his wife. (See the Commentary section for a more detailed argument.)
Spouse: Elizabeth Jump. Married 28 April 1806 in Prescot, Lancashire (St Mary the Virgin).
This marriage is given in the parish register.
Children:
(Most of these relationships are inferred from censuses.)
Ann Mary Swift (born about 1806 in Eccleston, Lancashire - died 1874) married Rodger Eccleston 12 December 1824 in Rainford, Lancashire.
Ellen Swift (born about 1810 in Eccleston, Lancashire).
Thomas Swift (born about 1815 - 1817 in Lancashire).
Henry Swift (born about 1818 in Eccleston, Lancashire - buried 25 April 1869 St Mary the Virgin, Prescot).
Peter Swift (born about 1820 - 1826 in Lancashire).
Evidence
Baptism (Prescot, St Helens parish register, 1775):
Wm son of Lionel Swift Hardshaw Born Jany 2nd
William Swift - Elizabeth Jump marriage (from the parish register)
Banns of Marriage between William Swift of Eccleston in this Parish and Elizabeth Jump of Eccleston in this Parish were Published in this Church April the 13th the 20th & 27th 1806.
William Swift of Eccleston in this Parish Bachelor. Husbandman and Elizabeth Jump of Eccleston in this Parish Spinster were Married in this Church by Banns this Twenty Eighth Day of April in the Year One Thousand Eight hundred & six by me William Ellam minister.
This marriage was Solemnized between Us William Swift X mark.
Elizabeth Jump -- mark
In the Presence of James Lyon
James Bradshaw
1841 Census (Eccleston)
Henry Swift, 45, Farmer, Y [“Y” means born in Lancashire]
Elizabeth [Swift], 40, Y
James [Swift], 14, Y
William [Swift], 13, Y
Margret [Swift], 11, Y
Henry [Swift], 8, Y
Elizabeth [Swift], 6, Y
Ann [Swift], 4, Y
Samuel Pye, 20, M.S., Y
Barnaby McCay, 45, M.S., Y
(next door)
William Swift, 65, Lab, Y
Elizabeth [Swift], 60, Y
Ellen [Swift], 30, Y
Thomas [Swift], 20, Lab, Y
Henry [Swift], 20, Lab, Y
Peter [Swift], 15, Y
(a few doors down)
William Swift, 25, Ag Lab, Y
Ellen [Swift], 20, Y
Elizabeth [Swift], 11 mons, Y
Commentary
This is the evidence on which I am basing William's relationship with his parents:
The date of baptism for William, the son of Lionel and Ellen Swift, fits the age given for William in the 1841 census.
The names of what appear to be William's sons in the 1841 census (Thomas, Henry, and Peter) are all names of brothers of the William who was son of Lionel and Ellen Swift.
William's second daughter was named Ellen, which was the name of the mother of the William who was son of Lionel and Ellen Swift.
The Henry Swift who was living next to William in the 1841 census was a half-brother of the William Swift born in 1775 to Lionel and Ellen.
"James Lyon" appears as a witness in the marriage records of both William Swift and Elizabeth Jump in 1806 and of Lionel Swift and his second wife, Elizabeth Lyon, in 1785.
In 1851, William's widow and children are living on land ("Kiln Houses") which Lionel occupied in 1798.
References
William Swift - Elizabeth Jump marriage, register of Prescot, Lancashire, marriages 1806; digital image Ancestry.com (accessed 4 August 2014), citing Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives.
William Swift household, 1841 census of England. Lancashire, Prescot, Prescot, Prescot, piece 516, book 5, folio 43, page 11, in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841; digital image Ancestry.com (accessed 7 April 2014).