scott william roy lightowlers's Page

Thanks Scott. Any information I receive will be most helpful. Interesting to know your Titanic connection. Amazing the information we come across in family research. Cheers John

Hi Scott While recently researching my family name, Fearnley, at Whirechapel Cemetery, Cleckheaton, Yorkshire in the grave of cousins Richard and Ann is also buried their daughter Sophie Lightowler, died 13th June 1919. I wonder if you have any information. 

Cheers John Fearnley

One or two issues there. Let me take each in turn.

The earliest Lightowler records are for for John, Roger, William and Robert, probably all Norman rather than Saxon names. Taken together with the seal for William de Lightolres circa 1281 I would say yes we are of Norman descent.

There is a chicken and egg situation with the hamlet of Lightowlers near Littlebough. Did people with the name Lightowlers settle there or did a place called Lightowlers give its name to people who came from there ?

The general appearance of Lightowler males is to have dark deep set eyes, my aunt who lives in France assures me this is a French trait. However rumour has it that David Lightowlers the father of Holdsworth, may not have been a Lightowlers at all ! You may need a DNA test to prove or disprove that.

Holdsworth, a very common name in these parts and hard to pin-point an origin there were several places in Yorkshire that could claim to be 'Halda's enclosure' including Shelf, Northowram, Sheffield and Ovenden.

The parents of Sarah Ellen Holdsworth were David c1812 and Betty. David was from Gomersal and was a woolcomber, none of his children aspired to management. I have not researched this branch of your ancestors.

Holdsworth was a widower on the 1911 census and I think whilst he was in England he was a dyers labourer. So no blacksheep. Bertha Brook his 2nd wife was the daughter of George Brook, a stone mason, and his wife Mary Ann Greenwood Bland - which is where I come in.

So I don't know where Horace acquired his engineering skills but I don't think it was from the Holdsworths of Halifax.

Caltraps, yes, quite a sneaky little device, I wonder if we can claim royalties from the police who are using 'our' invention as 'stingers' ? Do you have such things in Canada ?

Best regards

Dave