THOMLINSON OF DALSTON
Donald Dean Parker stated that Marion Tomlinson, wife of Edward Rowland, was a daughter of Nicholas Tomlinson of Hawksdale.[1] If this was correct then it could lead to considerable traceable ancestry through the Denton family.[2] However, it seems to not be the case. The will of William Thomlinson of Hollin in Hawksdale shows that Marion Rowland was the testator’s sister. The will also allows some other sisters to be identified, but these siblings do not correspond with what is known of the children of Nicholas.[3] William’s residence of Hollin and the naming of one of his sisters as Sybil indicates that their father was actually John Tomlinson of Hollin whose daughter Sybil was baptised at Dalston in 1574.
Although Marion was not a daughter of Nicholas Thomlinson, a connection of some kind with Nicholas is likely. Marion’s brother seems to be the William Thomlinson of Hawksdale who was aged about fifty-six in 1612 when he was a witness in a lawsuit which also involved Nicholas Thomlinson (then aged sixty-eight or thereabouts) and examined whether the lands of John Denton at Cardew and Cumdevock were part of the barony of Dalston.[4]
An earlier court case of 1541 concerned whether a supposed will of John Denton of Cardew was genuine or forged. The will included a legacy to a John Thomlynson and has a John Thomlynson as a witness.[5]
The possibility of Marion Thomlinson’s father John Thomlinson being a brother of Nicholas appears to be ruled out by the 1568 will of William Thomlinson of Dalston. The testator mentions “John Thomlynson my brother yongar son”, “nycolas Thomlynson my brother eldest son” and “Maryon Thomlynson my brother dowghter”.[6] If Nicholas (born about 1544) was an eldest son, then he would not have had a brother old enough to be the father of William Thomlinson (born about 1556). The John mentioned in William’s will might be John Thomlinson of Cardew who was born about 1560.[7]
John Thomlinson of Hollin may have been a brother of Hugh Thomlinson of Brackenhow in Dalston whose 1573 will names his brother John. One of the men taking the inventory was John Thomlinson of Hollin, but another was John Thomlinson of Buckabank, either of which might have been the brother in question.[8]
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THOMLINSON
JOHN THOMLINSON of Hollin, Dalston, Cumberland.
Children of John
Thomlinson:[9]
i WILLIAM THOMLINSON of Hollin,
Dalston, yeoman, b ca 1556,[10]
bur 11 Apr 1623, Dalston;[11] m
JANET.[12]
ii MARION THOMLINSON;[13] m
3 Dec 1592, Dalston, EDWARD ROWLAND[14]
(see here).
iii THOMLINSON; m ROBERT BROWN.[15]
iv SYBIL THOMLINSON, bap 24 Jun 1574,
Dalston;[16]
m 10 Dec 1596, Dalston, JOHN LADYMAN.[17]
[2] C.M. Lowther Bouch, “The Descendants of William Lowther of the Rose”, Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archæological Society, n.s. 39(1939):109-35, at 119-20; Frederick Walter Dendy, “The Heton-Fenwick-Denton Line of Descent”, Archaeologia Aeliana, 3rd series, 14(1917):173-190.
[3] Cumbria Archive Service, PROB/1623/WINVX14; James Wilson, ed., The Parish Registers of Dalston, 2 vols (Dalston, 1893-95), 1:170; C.M. Lowther Bouch, “The Pedigree of Thomlinson of Blencogo”, Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archæological Society, n.s. 44(1944):119-25.
[4] National Archives, E 134/10Jas1/Mich17; C.M. Lowther Bouch, “The Descendants of William Lowther of the Rose”, Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archæological Society, n.s. 39(1939):109-35, at 119-20.
[6] Cumbria Archive Service, PROB/1568/WINVX103.
[7] National Archives, E 134/10Jas1/Mich17.
[8] Cumbria Archive Service, PROB/1573/WINVX117.
[9] The will of William Thomlinson includes a legacy to “Jane Thomlinson of Buckabank my sister daughter” (Cumbria Archive Service, PROB/1623/WINVX14). The identity of this sister is not certain but she may be the Mabel Thomlinson who married Robert Thomlinson at Dalston on 7 Dec 1592.
[10] National Archives, E 134/10Jas1/Mich17.
[11] James Wilson, ed., The Parish Registers of Dalston, 2 vols (Dalston, 1893-95), 1:170; Cumbria Archive Service, PROB/1623/WINVX14.
[12] Cumbria Archive Service, PROB/1623/WINVX14.
[13] She was still living when her brother William made his will (Cumbria Archive Service, PROB/1623/WINVX14).