The Distaff side: Return to the Home Page
The Family Bloodlines A Mixture from Britain and Finland
Keith Scott’s side:
The male (Worden) line:
William Werden is noted as the father of Margrett, Raphe ( or Ralph) and Richard in the “Lancashire: Brindale - Parish Register, 1558-1714” as a record of Baptism. Also see FHL film # 0844796IT 2 in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975.
What’s Known and Questions left to answer:
The bishop’s transcripts of the parish records show the marriage of Richard to Katharine 28th June 1663. It is likely Richard’s second marriage, given his age. They lived in Penwortham, Lancashire and had three children, Ralph, Margaret and Richard. Ralph married Margaret Taylor of Walton Le Dale 17th April 1692 as recorded in the Bishop’s transcripts. They had three children, Richard, William and Elizabeth. From the records of England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 (FHL #0844802IT 1) Richard was baptized in Walton Le Dale, Lancashire on 5th March 1693 with Ralph noted as the father. From the records of England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 (FHL #0844802IT 1&3) and Bishop’s Transcripts, Ralph Worden was born and baptized (16 Sep 1736), wed Alice Walmsley (27 Jan 1761) and was buried in Walton le Dale (20 Dec 1816). Ralph’s occupation was as a weaver and a Roman Catholic like the rest of the family. They had six children, Richard, William, Thomas, John, Jinny and Margaret. The record of the FHL Film File Number 942 B4C V.23 gives the baptism of Thomas Worden with father Ralph Worden and mother Alice as 10th Jan 1770 at St. Joseph (RC) in Brindle, Lancashire. On 16th Jan 1802 the Bishop’s Transcript gives the marriage of Thomas, a weaver, to Ann Unsworth Of Brindle. The  FHL record also shows John W. Worden, son of Thomas and Ann Worden, born 11th Sep and baptised 14th Sep 1805 in Brindle Lancashire. He was a master currier (skilled crafts- man in leather) in Preston. He married Agnes Farnsworth 24th  Sep 1829 in St John’s. Agnes had two children from her previous marriage to John Winder. John Worden and Agnes had four children of their own, Robert, William, Joseph and Agnes as borne out in the 1841 and 1851 censuses.
Born 23rd Mar 1836, William, a joiner, married Margaret Caton 15th Dec 1857. The two had 10 children; John William 1858, Agnes 1861, Elizabeth Ellen 1866, Mary Jane 1867, Thomas 1869, Ann Alice (Amelia) 1871, Louisa 1871, Charles Henry 1873, George Stanley 1878 and May 1888.
Charles Henry, who was a property manager for a theatre married Hannah (Annie) Hayes, a dancer originally from Iron Bridge, Shropshire, in Jan 1987. When Charles died in 1908, he left Annie to bring up seven children; Charles W. H. 1897, Frances May 1898, Annie 1899, Lily 1901, John William 1903, George Stanley 1904 and Margaret J. 1908. She is noted as an office caretaker in the 1911 census. George Stanley,  1904-1989,  worked as a plumber in Preston. He married Lillian May Swift  (1906-1973) daughter of Herbert Swift, a well respected journalist, owner of a free lance news agency in Preston and a vice president and secretary of the Preston Chamber of Commerce.  They had one son, Eric Stanley,  and three daughters, Joan, Barbara and May.
The earlier spellings of the surname appear to most often be Werden.  This might possibly be derived from Old English wer ‘weir’ + denu ‘valley’. By  the early 18th Century, this alternative spelling, Werden, disappears.  The Wordens of Lancashire appear to have been mainly centred around Preston and Chester based on early records. Place names associated with the family include Penwortham, Leyland (also Clayton in the parish of Leyland),  Chorley, Walton-le-Dale, Brindle (or Brindale), Euxton, Croston and Farington. All these locations are within an easy walk of Preston, Lancashire in England. By Tudor times, the Worden name of our bloodline is associated with Penwortham , a village south of the River Ribble opposite Preston in Lancashire. In the Registers of the Parish Church of Penwortham, in the county of Lancaster, 1608-1755, Raphe s. of Rich: Werden de Middlefforth is  named as baptized  28 Apr 1664. There is also a mention of a will from 1632 in the court of Probate at Chester for a George Worden of Middleworth. Now Middleforth is an area of Pentwortham  so the “de/of” indicates the possibility of minor nobility, country squires or burgesses. There was a Worden Hall in nearby Leyland owned by the Farington family which raises another question or two. By the late 1600’s it appears that principal members of the family line had moved to Walton Le Dale in Lancashire , a couple of miles from Penwortham. From then until the mid 1800’s the family moved to Brindle and Euxton before settling in Preston proper. It is notable that our branch of the family remained faithful to the Roman church during times when that wasn’t an easy choice. So it is not too surprising that the name crops up as supporting the Royaltist cause during the Civil War period. However, like the US civil war, the English one saw families split. Indeed, some Wordens also appeared to support the Parliamentary side (the name Worden appears in the Protestation of 1642 in the Parish of Preston). As my research stands at this time, I have reached a limit with documentation to extending the bloodline back in time. I can find several tantalising possibilities but with no way to confirm the truth or not , they can be nothing but possibilities. As an example consider the chart below….                               the William Werden, father of my ancestor Richard who lived from 1616 to 1668, is but a mention in contempory records without any indication (so far) of his parentage. Now, during the preceding century, as is evident below, there was a proliferation of William Werdens. So considering the particular family tree displayed, there are two intriguing possibilities that one of these is linked to my William. But then again maybe this bloodline has nothing to do with mine or maybe my William is actually a natural son of this bloodline. Genealogy can be so frustrating at times! Since I wrote the above, I have been able to prove by DNA that my bloodline does intersect with (what I wii call) the Leyland Werdens. That’s  the same line that so many who trace their lineage through to Peter I and Peter II (My haplotype is the same J-M172). But I still don’t know where my William fits in exactly, all I can say with any certainty is that is fits somewhere into the tree below.
    Map of places where the name Worden is recorded