The Lowmoor Web
IN PROGRESS
A Crosby, Dickinson, Pearson and Robinson entanglement centred around the tenement of Lowmoor in Dean
The problem
Lowmoor near Ullock in Dean was occupied by a Crosby family (probably) back into the early sixteenth century until they surrendered the property in 1669. There are three questions:
- a Matthew Dickinson of Lowmoor died in 1670. Why was he there?;
- a Matthew Dickinson of Dean was prominent in the probate of Dorothy Pearson of Bridgend in Ullock in 1695. Why?;
- a Peter Robinson acquired Lowmoor from Thomas Crosby in 1669. Why?.
These questions suck in so many people and sources, without being fully resolved, that it's best to isolate them here. I'll present the potential solutions, take what I think is the best and use that elsewhere. It's up to you to decide on what interpretation you like.
The base
These elements are certain:
- one set of Matthew of Lowmoor's descendants can be clearly and irrefutably mapped out from two sources - the Journal and probate of James Dickinson, the Quaker travelling minister; and the probate of the Dickinsons of Hay Castle in Distington;
- the Pearsons of Ullock have a well-established tree based on solid sources (the biggest gap is the maiden name of Dorothy Pearson's mother);
The Pivot
The Dickinsons of Hay Castle used the forename 'Abraham'.
Matthew Dickinson of Dean named one of his children 'Abraham'. A Robert Dickinson of Cockermouth was a bondsman with him in Dorothy's probate.
The pivot around which the potential solution lies is this use of the three forenames Matthew, Abraham and Robert. No other distinct Dickinson clan in the area uses Abraham and Robert, though there are a sprinkling of Matthews.
Lowmoor is the place marked 'Moorhouse' on this map. Much has changed over the centuries - particularly the course of the River Marron. This, which marked the boundary between the parishes of Dean and Lamplugh, was straightened in the nineteenth century. Clearly on the map it has been syphoned off to create a reservoir for the corn mill (I would guess this arrangement goes back to the sixteenth century at least).
Its owners shared grazing and other rights on the neighbouring common wasteland with the residents of Ullock, Branthwaite Edge and others.
Lingcroft was owned by a top-level yeoman family, by name Bowman, who also had a branch in Ullock. This family (with a connection to a former Archbishop of Canterbury) had influence over the local probate court.
Whitekeld was then split into three tenements (Walker, Peile and Pearson). In the nineteenth century, these were converted into one and Lowmoor was incorporated into the Whitekeld estate.
Argument 1: Abraham Dickinson of Hay Castle
Matthew Dickinson of Lowmoor (died 1670), most notably, was the father of James Dickinson, the Quaker travelling minister. He is mentioned right at the beginning of James' 'Journal':
My parents' names were Mathew and Jane Dickinson ... When I was about seven years of age, it pleased the Lord to remove my dear mother from the cares and troubles of this life ... My father died when I was ten years old.
This is confirmed by the Pardshaw register.
So this gives us:
James' will mentions two nephews, Daniel and Isaac, both with the surname Dickinson; so he had at least one elder brother (a younger one would have been noted in the Pardshaw register).
Abraham Dickinson of Hay Castle mentions in his 1734 will the potential for his younger brothers, Isaac and Daniel, to receive an inheritance from their uncle James.
All of them (Abraham, Isaac, Daniel) are named as executors in the probate of their father Abraham in 1730. So this was James' elder brother.
Giving us this very solid tree:
Note: Abraham was the forname of the vicar at Arlecdon in the 1580s.
Argument 2: Matthew Dickinson of Dean
The Dean register records a Matthew Dickinson producing children in the 1680s. A Robert Dickinson of Cockermouth was doing the same. Both of these are bonded in the probate of Dorothy Pearson of Ullock in 1695. This strongly suggests that they were brothers,
Matthew Dickinson of Dean as administrator and Robert Dickinson of Cockermouth as bondsman in the probate of Dorothy Pearson of Ullock in 1695.
One of Matthew's children was named Abraham. This Abraham married in 1710 in Harrington, but on the marriage licence (issued the day before the ceremony) was described as of Dean. The bondsman was Robert of Cockermouth, so reinforcing the idea that Matthew and Robert were brothers.
Note also that one of the choices provided by the licence was Brigham, where James Dickinson was resident (at Greentrees).
The use of the forename 'Abraham' clearly connects this family to the Dickinsons of Hay Castle in some way.
“17 July 1710
Abraham DICKINSON, p. Dean, yeoman, & Ann POOL of Morethwat, p. Wigton, spinster
Bondsman: Robert Dickinson, of Cockermouth, yeoman
At church of Cockermouth, Brigham or Harrington
”
Matthew and Robert, even though brothers, were in a very different educational group: Matthew could sign but Robert couldn't.
Their signature and mark in the probate of Dorothy Pearson of Ullock in 1695.
Giving us a potential tree:
Note: Yeomen generally married between 25-35 years of age. This would make their likely birth dates c1650-1660.
BMD events taken from the Dean, Distington and Cockermouth registers
Argument 3: Adding 1 & 2 together
Abraham, Matthew and Robert were Anglican. James was a noted Quaker. This is consistent with James' Journal which implies that he was not brought up in a Quaker family after his parents' death, but made a deliberate choice to take on the Quaker faith.
Argument 4: Robert Dickinson of Wilton in Haile
Just as things are beginning to look nice and tidy, Robert Dickinson of Haile comes in to muddy the waters. He died in 1677. He had a son Matthew, who is described in the probate as 'Matthew Dickinson of Dean'.
This is unlikely to be the Matthew above, as this one couldn't sign and there is no mention of a brother Robert.
Matthew Dickinson of Dean as bondsman for his father, Robert Dickinson of Haile in 1677.
The mark of Matthew Dickinson of Dean on the probate bond of his father, Robert Dickinson of Haile in 1677. His name is written in the handwriting of the official who drew up the document, as is that of Anne his mother above.
The good news is that we can probably place his birth.
A Robert, son of Elizabeth, was baptised in Dean in 1614.
Kidburngill is a hamlet at the intersection of the parishes of Arlecdon, Dean and Lamplugh - actually being sited in Arlecdon. A Dickinson family occupied one of the tenements then and up to modern times; but the early history is very patchy because no register has survived.
“1614
Robert s. of Elizabeth Dickinson late of Kirberingill baptized the 21 of May 1614
”
The wording of the baptism entry is slightly strange: 'lately of Kidburngill'.
We could see this birth as the illegitinate son of an Elizabeth with the maiden name Dickinson. This is slightly unlikely - the register would have read simply 'of Kidburngill'.
Or, we could see this as a first child, born in the mother's parish. Again unlikely - the register would have read simply 'of Kidburngill'.
Or we could see this as the posthumous child of a deceased Dickinson. Elizabeth, a widow, has returned home for the birth. Her husband, presumably, wasn't the owner or heir of Kodburngill to entitle her to any widow's rights. This would explain the 'lately'.
As a widow with young children, she would seek out a husband to provide material stability. Any success would depend on her capabilities and charms or on the pressing needs of a widower with a young family of his own. Or she would simply live with the community on the family farm.
The name 'Robert' does not appear at any other time in this family's history, so would appear to come from Elizabeth's family.
Argument 5: Adding 3 & 4 together
I would be very surprised if future research shows that this doesn't work. The generations in each section work perfectly together, as do the names (the repetition of Abraham, Isaac, Matthew, Robert and James/Jacob).
Note: Since writing this, I have come across a marriage in Boyd's index to an Abraham Dickinson marrying an Ann Crosthwaite in 1668 in Distington.
The Abraham who married in 1710 was baptised in 1684 in Dean, so we're looking one generation earlier. This makes sense, as the 1710 marriage was to someone from Wigton, who would have been unlikely to provide a Distington inheritance; and the 1710 Abraham would have been unlikely to be able to afford the purchase.
This suggests the original inheritance of the Hay Castle tenement was through the 1668 Crosthwaite marriage by dowry. Presumably there was an Abraham, brother of Matthew and Robert, who died childless, leaving the inheritance of the tenement to the 1710 Abraham.
Argument 6: Crosby and Dickinson
One of the basic questions that started this web was: why was Matthew Dickinson at Lowmoor?
The obvious answer is that either his mother (Elizabeth) or his wife (Jane) were associated with the property - or, to put it another way, one of them was born a Crosby.
The Crosby tree looks like this:
This is not a secure tree. It cobbles together the Crosby surname in Dean. However, the lack of names would suggest only one tenement. Younger sons look to have gone off to Distington or Harrington.
I'm plumping that Matthew's mother was a Crosby. My reasons for thinking so are that:
- the forename Robert was used at Lowmoor (Crosby and Dickinson) but not at Kidburngill;
- the forename Abraham used at Lowmoor in Dean has an Arlecdon origin;
- it provides a future cousinship with the Pearsons.
This may be too small to be readable, even as a lightbox. However, a full tree imay become available later at the bottom of the page.
Argument 7: Crosby and Pearson
Another of the basic questions asked at the beginning was: why was Matthew Dickinson of Dean so prominent in the probate of Dorothy Pearson of Ullock?
This needs a more explicit relationship than the one described above, especially as Matthew was Anglican and Dorothy a very confirmed Quaker.
The Pearson tree (very basic, a more detailed one is available on this site) is:
A likely answer is that the Pearsons, not only next to Lowmoor by geography, had an existing marriage connection with the Crosbys.
This would fit very nicely (though there is no further evidence for it).
This would make Dorothy and Matthew into second cousins, not quite sufficient to explain why Matthew was executor to Dorothy's will.
But they would also have grown up together - possibly even a romance, prevented by religion. Dorothy appears to have invested £10 in Matthew, a sum he owed to her at her death.
It is possible to make the relationship closer. It could be that Matthew Dickinson, senior, married Dorothy's aunt Janet. They would then have been first cousins. James Dickinson described his mother as 'Jane' in his Journal, close enough. But, if so, Jane/Janet would have been having children in her late 40s.
Argument 8: The Robinson Connection
The final piece in the puzzle is: why did Peter Robinson buy Lowmoor in 1669?
I can't answer this at the moment. It needs a lot more research. There are various intriguing elements:
- Peter Robinson mentioned that 'Matthew Dickinson' was his 'prentice'. This probably refers to Matthew of Dean, son of Matthew of Lowmoor. An apprenticeship with such a wealthy master (with books in his probate inventory) would explain why he was literate;
- Matthew's brother Abraham Dickinson was a dyer at Hay Castle. A Matthew Robinson was there also, who mentions his brother Peter in his will (but not the same Peter);
- Matthew's brother Robert married a Robinson.
