The first known member of this family is James Kirkham who was born, perhaps in Carleton, in or near Poulton-le-Fylde, on 2 Dec 1784. For this information we are indebted to his great-grandson. See James Armour's day-book
On 5 Nov 1811 James married Elizabeth Ball at St Chad's, Poulton, a date obtained through the IGI. James and Elizabeth were both Catholics but Hardwick's Marriage Act of 1754 had not yet repealed and by law they had to marry first in the parish church.
Elizabeth Ball was the daughter of John and Jane Ball of Rossall Grange Farm which is between Thornton and Fleetwood. At that time Fleetwood did not exist, being then no more than a rabbit warren and the occasional cottage, and was technically part of Thornton-le-Fylde. John Ball and his wife, Jane, nee Cornthwaite, came from the Lune Valley and Lancaster and their lines have been traced back several generations further. They arrived in the Fylde with their eight children about the turn of the century. It must have been quite a shock for them coming from the more sheltered dales to experience the fierce westerly winds sweeping across the sand hills.
The plans for the 'new town' of Fleetwood were not even drawn up until some forty years later. The name of the farm is perpetuated in Rossall Grange Road. It was at that time only sandy farmland and rabbit warrens, subject to flooding. Jane died in 1829 and John remarried in old age, dying in 1847 at the age of 84. By then a William Ball had taken over and William's son Richard is listed as the farmer in 1851.
The godparents of the first Elizabeth Kirkham (who died in infancy), daughter of James Kirkham and Elizabeth (nee Ball) were Richard and Jane Ball, this earlier Richard presumably being John and Jane Ball's 5th child and the baby's uncle, aged 26. It appears from the censuses that they were living in Carleton, James being a farmer there in 1841, with Mary the last to be born there in 1829. Ellen born in 1831 was born at Whitesides in Thornton, presumably a larger farm - or at least a larger farmhouse for their growing family.
James and Elizabeth Kirkham had eleven children and were living at Whitesides, a farm in Thornton by 1841, Elizabeth was not at home at the time and died on 30 Nov 1842. Their children, Jane, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, John, Ellen, George, Thomas, William, Mary, Ellen and Agnes. Three did not survive infancy and are not listed on the 1841 Census, the first Elizabeth and Ellen, and also Jane who died in 1839. The 2nd Elizabeth was the ancestor of the Armour family. * James Kirkham died at Whitesides on 30 Aug 1851, and Thomas died on 24 Sep. aged 26. All that remains now of the farm is the name of the road - and this pond, which is marked on the old maps. Most of the farmland is now covered by houses. |
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* On the next page of the 1841 census to Whitesides is another farm, this time occupied by a Thomas Whiteside, and his wife Rebecca, both in their sixties and not identified. Also living on the farm were (with ages rounded down to the nearest 5) James Gill, 20, blacksmith, Anne Gill, 20, and.Thomas Waddington, 15, blacksmith's apprentice. The three names show that the Gills were the James b.1817 who married Elizabeth Kirkham on 20 Nov the same year, and Anne Gill, James's sister. b.1818. As James and Anne's father had married Jane Waddington, Thomas was presumably a cousin, not at present otherwise traced.
The nearest church for both families, Kirkhams and Balls, was the Catholic church of St John's at Poulton, frequently a very difficult journey along muddy lanes, being several miles away. John and Jane's grave can be seen and the inscription is still quite clear though it lies flat, half covered with ivy, in a corner next to the old chapel which is now used as the parish centre. It is possibly the oldest grave there.
As the Armour family descended through three generations with a son called James they have been numbered on the Armour pages, from the earliest known as I, II or III. James Armour III recorded the births of the children and most of them are also entered in the baptismal records for the Catholic church of St John the Evangelist. The two shown here are James I and II.
The following tree shows the relationship of the Swarbrick family. (Numbers refer to their position in the family, which helps to explain the leap across one generation with the Taylor/Swarbrick marriage, first cousins once removed)
The children were of James Kirkham and Elizabeth [Ball] were::
