Samuel porritt (fffmf)

[kiterunner]

1871 census for the Claytons:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interacti...=successSource

[ElizabethHerts]

Ooh, thanks Kate. I have been concentrating on Alice for my new contact, so I hadn't looked any further.

[ElizabethHerts]

Ann was in her late 30s when she married and her sister Mary (my 2x-great-grandmother) had already died.

[ElizabethHerts]

My memory must have gone because Ann's records have already been saved to the Ancestry tree! My daughter might have put them on there.

[ElizabethHerts]

I have finally solved my Porritt heritage puzzle, partly by good old-fashioned research and partly by DNA matches.

For years I have been intrigued by the Porritt family at Bury, who were woollen manufacturers, especially as the names Joseph and Samuel were widely used. My 3x-great-grandfather Samuel Porritt of this thread features one of the names and then my 2x-great-grandparents Charles Alexander and Mary Porritt named their two sons Joseph and Samuel respectively.

Last week I came across an article on page 5 of this publication:
https://ramsbottomheritage.org.uk/mags/34.pdf

"PORRITTS, Stubbins Vale Mill Notes on Company Background:

When the PORRITT family established mills in the Ramsbottom area, they already had a long tradition of involvement in woollen manufacturing. During the 19 (sic) Century they carried on woollen manufacture in Norfolk and soon afterwards they moved to the West Riding of Yorkshire and settled at Easington. Early in the 17th Century one Thomas PORRITT migrated from there to Birstall, also in the West Riding, where he earned his living as a maker of broadcloth. Thomas prospered and became a master clothier. The business was handed down in the main line of the family until the 18th Century when Joseph PORRITT (1746 – 1802) transferred his business – first to Rochdale and then to Bury."

This led to the loud ringing of bells in my brain. I hadn't been able to find a certain baptism for my Samuel but one candidate was Samuel Porritt son of Joseph baptised on 30th July 1785 at Birstall, Yorkshire. From the above I learnt that the Porritt family in Bury came from Birstall. Joseph was Samuel's father. Samuel had an older brother, Joseph, baptised in 1782. He took over the business on Joseph senior's death. He in turn died in 1825, with his three sons Joseph, Samuel and John carrying on after him. I have his will.

My theory is that my Samuel became a millwright and travelled around for his job. His daughters from his first marriage were born at Church Kirk, where he had married.

One problem is that I have no death or burial record for him, so no confirmation of his age. However, the evidence seems to stack up.

My 2x-great-grandmother married Charles Alexander at Bury, where they lived. Her wider family was nearby.

From Thrulines I have four distant matches, who all have traceable lineage from Joseph Porritt senior. There is a plethora of information about the Porritt family at Bury and indeed they were local benefactors.

I discovered that Samuel had siblings born at Rochdale and at Bury after they moved from Birstall.

[Phoenix]

Interesting to hear they were originally from Norfolk as that was my first thought. I knew a Susan Porritt who was researching her family from the Holt area of North Norfolk. Lost touch long ago but she was an actress who appeared in several TV dramas.