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I'd be very interested to know if anyone knows (that sounds clumsy, but I'm sure you understand) anything of an ex-miner who lived in Burnley, possibly not in the Briercliffe area, called William Leigh, born towards the end of the 19th C, possibly 1880s or 1890s,who did a lot of Crown Green bowling, winning prizes for it, possibly in the lower house area of Burnley, in the 1920s / 1930s? He certainly died early 1950s, and his wife was a Tabitha Burrows, married in 1913,almost certainly from the Briercliffe area. Is it possible to learn if he himself was from a Burnley family, ( or did he, like so many other miners, it seems, migrate around the country to wherever work was!) Would it have been the kind of sport with clubs set up, where team photographs might exist, with identifiable names, or would it be quite hopeless to try to trace such records?
Any suggestions concerning where it might be a good idea to start enquiring will be very welcome.

Try Burnley and Colne libraries for pictures - send them an email, they are quite good and would probably also be better able to advise you about news cuttings. Burnley library does have a newspaper index but I don't think it's complete and I'm not sure that it covers all events but worth asking about. You never know!

With regards to the marriage - do you have the marriage certificate? I wondered who the witnesses are. I have found a coal mining William Leigh on a census who is from Higher Ince in Wigan but living in Burnley. You'd need the marriage certificate to hopefully confirm age (unless they annoyingly put 'age'), father and hopefully that the witnesses were related to him.

I can't add the details here as there is small print in the census subscription that dissallows the sharing of info.

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!

Thank you very much for the prompt response. I'll certainly try to get in touch with the libraries and give them a try. I was thinking more of associations and team pictures, etc, you know, the formal sort of thing, than news reports. I suppose I'd assumed that newspapers wouldn't put as many photographs in in the 1930s...
We do think that he came from the Wigan area, but we have not yet managed the marriage certificate - and it'd be typical, when we do, if the witnesses proved to be random people!! We do know who he married, and when she died, so hadn't worried too much yet about her, - after all there are many Burrows lines to follow in this area.
Again, thank you for the interest. We understand about the census access restraints.

The census I saw listed him as brother in law, hence the curiosity over the witnesses.

You'd be surprised at how many images were published in the papers back then. News also tended to be more local and less 'tabloid'. When I have made trips to view the newspapers, there does tend to be a lot of village info. No TV so sports were a big feature back then.

Some organisations donated photos etc. to the libraries. I'd certainly make it a first port of call for almost anything. If they don't have...they could possibly advise on who does. Let's hope that these photos haven't ended up someone's attic to eventually land in a skip following a house clearance.

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!

Thank you again. I believe his wife's sister Ellen married a Bardsley - could that be the situation he was brother-in-law in? That would fit, and I haven't traced any siblings of his own yet, so that seems the likeliest way to be a brother-in-law in a census. I assume it to be Burnley area, and so I'll try to get hold of 1901 and / or 1911, to close in on where.
He is indeed proving to be a man of mystery, and we've not yet pinned down a birth date closer than about 1880, and we thought in the Wigan area, so until we get a bit closer in on him it's needles in haystacks time with all the William Leighs born in Lancs in a close time frame.
We'll keep plugging away. I'll try to get in touch with libraries next week. thanks again for your generpous guidance.

The name Tabitha Burrows has been niggling away at me since I read this - I was sure I had one on my tree.
Well I do and I don't. I have a Tabitha Lever (b1840) who married Henry Burrows in 1860. Knowing what Briercliffe was like for carrying on family names, it's always remotely possible she was a descendant.
But that doesn't help your case at all really does it?

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

We think that Tabitha Lever ( or Leaver) may have been our Tabitha's grandmother. "Our" Tabitha Burrows was born either 1886 or 1887, and in 1900 is apparently living somewhere round a Williams Road in Burnley, possibly with that very grndmother?? Tabitha b 1880s married a William Leigh, in Burnley in 1913, but we know even less about him. We assume it was a non-conformist chapel, but haven't much idea yet where to go from there. It's a mega-long shot, but does that relate to anything you know?

I'm sorry I can't help with the Leigh side of things but I do have some bits about Tabitha.
Henry Burrows (b Briercliffe c1876) and his wife Betty had 8 children that I know of. Their son Henry (b Briercliffe c1831) married Tabitha Lever/ Leaver (b Briercliffe 1840) in 1860. The bmd ref is Burnley 8e 303.
On the 1871 census they're living at Haggate with 2 children - Nancy b 1859 and John b 1863.
1881 Census - RG11; Piece: 4152; Folio: 137; Page: 4
37 Bread Street, Habergham Eaves
Nancy Burrell, Daughter, 21yrs, Weaver, b. Burnley
John Burrell, Son, 18yrs, Twister, b. Burnley
Henry Burrell, Head, 51yrs, Labourer, b. Burnley
Tabatha Burrell, Wife, 42yrs, Labourer Wife, b. Burnley

In 1882 Nancy married James Foulds a Holy Trinity, Burnley.
In 1883 John married Isabella Whalley at Holy Trinity, Burnley

The 1891 census shows John & Isabella living at 19 Keith St Lowerhouse with 4 children:
Tabitha, b1887
Ada b 1888
Mary 1889
Alice Emmott b1890
Also his widowed mother, Tabitha

Ada died in 1897
by 1901 the family is living at 76 Cleaver St Burnley. They have another daughter, Sarah Ann, b1899 and John's mother is still living with them. She died in 1922 in Burnley. The bmd index ref is 8e 199 - 4th qr.

Tabitha (1887) married William Leigh in 1913. The bmd index ref is Burnley 8e 493 (4th qr). I really do recommend getting the marriage cert. It's surprising what you sometimes find and once you have William's father's name it does make census searches easier.

Hope this helps

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

Thank you very much, Portia. We had some of the info. you so kindly supplied, and I'd spent a happy while in Burnley Library finding out more in general about the textile industry and its various jobs recently! Really helpful people there. I knew of some of the burial plots related to some of these Burrows at Hag gate/ Lane Head - C29 and F41, including the Foulds. We have the original Tabitha Lever/Leaver as daughter of Mary Lever/Leaver. Are we right in that Tabitha Lever was Henry's second wife, his first, Nancy, having died in 1859? We were not sure if the Nancy Burrows b 1859 was Henry + Nancy, or Henry + Tabitha, despite the 1860 marriage date. The only other child we have down is of course, John, of the Henry + Tabitha marriage, again, does that seem correct to you? Thank you for your help and interest.

First of all apologies for the howler -Henry Burrows snr was born 1796, not 1876!
I don't know too much about this family - my interest is the Leaver side. I picked up Tabitha along with every other Leaver/ Lever I could find on the 1841 census with the aim of joining them up to my tree. She is one of the few remaining that I haven't yet managed to join up.
I agree that Henry only likely had the 2 children you name, I haven't ever come across any others.
I wasn't aware Henry had been married before though as I say I'm researching Leavers rather than Burrows.
It would seem more than likely that Nancy was Nancy's daughter, not Tabitha's. Nancy (daur)'s birth was registered in the 3rd qr of 1859. Nancy (wife)'s death was registered in the 1st qr of 1860 and Henry's remarriage was registered in the 3rd qr of 1860. Obviously the birth cert would confirm the parentage.
Incidentally, I mentioned earlier that Tabitha was the daughter of Mary Leaver. This might not strictly be true - Leaver may have been the mother's married name. The earliest I can find of Mary is 1841 as a single parent. She may have been a widow but I never managed to find a death for a suitable candidate for husband.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

I'd got Mary Leaver as a single mother, too, it's always happened. With reference to Henry B b.1796, have we any idea who the Betty he married may have been? It's fascinating quite how much one can find out without having enherited vast vaults of family documents, isn't it?

Quite a few unmarried mothers in the Leaver line. No knowing what I'd be called otherwise
Sorry - I don't know what Betty's maiden name was - I never tried to find out.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at