The Whiteside family has been traced back to the 16th century and Robert Quyteside of Peel House, in the area around Marton, between Lytham and Blackpool, but the research on this line, connected with Armour and Lupton families in the late 19th century, has so many unanswered questions and dubious sources that the early history is not included here until further extensive checks have been made, especially on Whiteside wills. One particular difficulty with the surname is that it is very common and widespread throughout Lancashire. The problems are further compounded by the repetition of the same first names and also similar naming patterns among members of the same, prolific, families! Sometimes it is also difficult to draw a line between Thurnham and Lancaster as there was considerable intermarriage and movement between the two congregations. People from places as far away as Dolphinhome, Wyersdale, Scorton and Garstang were also frequently buried at Thurnham.

This present account begins in the 18th century and the start of Catholic records in Lytham and Westby and includes:-

Four Generations of Whitesides

The 'Main' line 1. John Whiteside & Margaret Bickerstaff 2. Thomas Whiteside & Elizabeth Cottam 3. John Whiteside & Barbara Shaw Taylor 4. John Whiteside & Ann Myerscough

Other families 1. John Whiteside & Catherine, of Westby (unknown) 2. -- 3. -- 4. Robert Cuthbert Whiteside (brother) & Isabel Shaw (separate page with family details)

The first generation listed here is of John Whiteside who married Margaret Bickerstaff on 11 Jun 1769. The marriage is listed in the Catholic Record Society transcript of the earliest registers found at St Peter's Lytham. St Peter's church was not built for another century but baptisms and marriages in this area would have taken place in a domestic chapel, probably that of the Clifton family at Lytham Hall. It is assumed from strong circumstantial evidence but not absolute proof, that this couple were parents of Thomas Whiteside of Thurnham (2nd generation above).

John Whiteside may have been the son of the John Whiteside who married Alice Gillow, sister of the founder of the Lancaster furniture firm. The evidence so far is not conclusive. To quote footnotes from Joseph Gillow, the main researcher responsible for the Catholic Records, is insufficient. He rarely quotes sources and seems to have made some mistakes and assumptions based solely on family hearsay. As with other such references these need to be treated with caution and verified, never accepted at face value. On the other hand he deserves acknowledgment for the immense help his research has been to the student of the records themselves, which in all other respects are absolutely invaluable.

Any remaining unsourced doubts in these accounts will be stated clearly.

CRS = Catholic Record Society; sps = godparents (Lat. sponsores)

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The Family of William & Elizabeth Bickerstaff

Margaret Bickerstaff was the daughter of William Bickerstaff and Elizabeth. Theirs is the earliest known family in this line and their children, all baptised in the parish church at Lytham (probably because there was no Catholic chapel available then) were:

1. Mary Bickerstaff chr. 2 Mar 1740; bur.29 May 1746
2. Anne Bickerstaff chr. 16 Jan 1743; bur.20 May 1746
3. Margaret Bickerstaff chr. 23 Mar 1746; m. John Whiteside 11 Jun 1769
4. John Bickerstaff chr. 24 Jul 1748
5. Mary Bickerstaff chr. 11 Nov 1750
6. James Bickerstaff chr. 26 Jan 1752
7. Mary Bickerstaff chr. 6 Apr 1755

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The Family of John Whiteside & Margaret Bickerstaff

John and Margaret had ten children, all baptised in the Catholic chapel in Lytham. Their godparents (sps.) are listed here:

1. Thomas Whiteside chr. 29 Jun 1769 sps. Thomas Wilding, Elizabeth Whiteside
2. Mary Whiteside chr. 17 Jan 1771 sps. Robert Bennet, Clementina Bennet
3. Elizabeth Whiteside chr. 22 Apr 1773 sps. Thomas Bonney, Isabel Jackson
4. William Whiteside chr. 15 Jan 1775 sps. John Varley, Margaret Crampton
5. John Whiteside chr. 25 Mar 1777 sps. Nicholas Benson, Alice Crookall
6. William Whiteside chr. 11 Apr 1779 sps. John Westhead, Ann Fidler
7. Joseph Whiteside (twin) chr. 30 Jan 1781 sps. James Morley, Mary Corney
8. James Whiteside (twin) chr. 30 Jan 1781 sps. Richard Tomlinson, Jane Lupton; d. bef 1785
9. James Whiteside chr. 3 Jun 1785 sps. Will Moxon, Elizabeth Kellet
10. James Whiteside chr. 6 Jun 1787 sps. John Varley, Ann Snape

Note - Elizabeth Whiteside could give a clue to John senior's family but the Jane Lupton is very unlikely to be related to the rest of the Lupton family who came from Over-Wyre. Thomas Bonney later married Clementina (Clemence) Bennet.

It is not known for sure what became of John and Margaret Whiteside who of course had no more than five surviving children. There was also a 'parallel' family of John Whiteside and Catherine Shepherd from Westby. This family is included below as a footnote for comparison as it is important to keep the two as distinct as the records do but they may well have been related.

According to a footnote in the Lancaster records by Joseph Gillow, a John Whiteside drowned in the canal at Dolphinlee, a farm and settlement near Lancaster, on 28 Jan 1811, aged 68 and an unidentified Catherine Whiteside, described as a 'paralytic', died at Dolphinlee on 12 Jan 1814. Family stories circulating in several branches of the family include the detail that the death of a grandchild who fell in the canal preyed on John's mind as he blamed himself for the incident. It was claimed by some that the John from Lytham was the one named, though there is some confusion surrounding the name itself, identifying a James as the family ancestor and John as his brother. No James has yet been found to 'fit' this theory unless there were brothers, James and John, at Marton Moss - not found to date - so the drowning incident could refer to either John the husband of Margaret, from Lytham, or John the husband of Catherine, from Westby. No inquest or newspaper report of the drowning has been found.

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The Family of Thomas Whiteside & Elizabeth Cottam

Thomas Whiteside, married Elizabeth Cotham in St Michael's parish church in Kirkham on 4 Jul 1791. Elizabeth was born in Bryning, a hamlet around a farm, Bryning Hall, on the south side of Kirkham, in about 1768. No more is known of her or her family at present but it is a fairly common name in the area, the village of Cottam (Woodplumpton) being not far away. (The Cottam/Cotham family have not yet been investigated but will be included here later if possible.)

It is known for sure that Thomas's wife was called Elizabeth. There are a couple of other contemporary 'contenders' for this Elizabeth, but Elizabeth Cottam (or Cotham) is by far the most likely. She was the right age - cross-checking with a later census - and in the right place. The children then follow on in regular order. The nearest parish church to Salwick where the eldest child Margaret was baptised and also to the hamlet of Bryning was Kirkham.

St Thomas & St Elizabeth, Thurnham, from 1851, [formerly at Thurnham Hall]

Whether they also had a Catholic marriage ceremony is not known but Catholics had by law to marry in the parish church at that time. (Evidence from the IGI, to be confirmed and quoted later). Their eldest child, Margaret, was born in Clifton, (near Preston) and was baptised at the domestic chapel which preceded the mission at Salwick and Lea on 29 Jun 1791. They then moved about 1792 to Ashton in the parish of Cockerham, on the coast between Glasson and Lancaster where Thomas became a farmer. The rest of their nine children would have been baptised at the Catholic chapel in Thurnham Hall, not the church!

St Michael's Parish Church, Cockerham records from 1595

Children of Thomas and Elizabeth:

1. Margaret Whiteside chr. 12 Nov 1791 at Salwick sps. Richard Simpson, Else Cottam
2. Catherine Whiteside b. 8 Oct 1793, m. Richard Hayes or Kayes, farmer of Ashton (issue)
3. John Whiteside b. 10 Aug 1795, m. Barbara Shaw Taylor
4. Henry Whiteside b. 3 Sep 1797, d. 1834
5. Richard Whiteside b. 20 Aug 1799, d. 1 Sep 1815, 'a young man of promise, Cable St, unmarried, consumption' (from the CRS Lancaster)
6. Mary Margaret Whiteside b. 22 Oct 1803 m. Henry Verity 15 Oct 1832, d. 22 Jan 1853
7. Thomas Whiteside d. 25 Jun 1805, d. 1832
8. Elizabeth Whiteside b. 6 Feb 1807
9. Edward Whiteside chr. 13 May 1810 m. 1) Elizabeth Thompson 13 May 1828 in Preston, 2) Margaret Threlfall 26 Feb 1843 in Lancaster

In the Thurnham chapel records the parents are given as Thomas and Elizabeth, with Thomas described in order as labourer, then husbandman, then farmer.

Margaret's parents' names and her godmother's name strongly suggest that she was indeed the eldest of this family.

One interesting name which occurs in the next generation is that Catherine and her husband Richard called one of their children, born 15 Jan 1822, Robert Shepherd Hayes. A Shepherd connection appears in the 'other' family of John Whiteside and Catherine detailed below.

A footnote by Joseph Gillow gives the details of Mary Margaret, saying she was 'known as Margaret'. This is almost certainly correct - and she is listed only as Margaret, not only in the marrige entry but on the 1881 census as well, which means the elder Margaret must have died. It was common practice among Catholics well into the 20th century to add 'Mary' as a first or second name in honour of Christ's mother sometimes several times over for their daughters. (Even boys in Spain received the name, as in 'Jose Maria'!) If they also had another name they were naturally called by that, so 'Mary Margaret' would always be called 'Margaret'.
     Margaret Verity died in 1853. Much more is known about the Verity line than included here, and the family has been researched by direct descendants. A relationship with a branch of the Whiteside line occurred twice over two generations. (See the chart below)
     Henry Verity, 7th of 8 children of Thomas Verity and Elizabeth Cox, was born in 1806. He and Mary Margaret Whiteside were married on 15 Oct 1832 in the chapel which preceded St Peter's, now Lancaster Cathedral, and had five children as far as is known, Thomas (1837), Elizabeth (1838), Henry (1841), Mary (1843), and Helen (1846). Thomas, the eldest, married Mary Ball of Heaton, Lancaster, daughter of William Ball and Margaret Abram and therefore granddaughter of John Ball and Jane Cornthwaite. (See that family, where there is also more about these Veritys).
This produced relationships which can best be explained by a tree (repeated on the Ball page)

There was an unknown but intriguing Mary Whiteside born about 1810 who married a sea captain, Robert Dowthwaite. They had a daughter Elizabeth born on 23 Oct 1832 in Glasson and baptised two days later at Thurnham. It is not known if they had any connection to Thomas's family, but it does seem highly likely. Elizabeth's godparents were John Whiteside (Thomas Gardner standing proxy) and Barbara Whiteside! Mary is listed on the 1851 census at Thurnham (as Mary Dowthwaite). She died in Lancaster in the Dec Q 1866 and her husband died there about a year later.

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The middle name of Shaw occurs in several records and has aroused speculation about whether it refers to a maternal grandmother, but no evidence has yet been found. However the two names make it easier to identify other possible members of this Taylor family. Barbara was born in 1802, probably the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Taylor, in Quernmore, the other side of Lancaster from Thurnham where her husband-to-be was born and grew up. Although her baptism has not yet been found, it seems very likely that a Richard Shaw Taylor, baptised on 8 Dec 1808 in St Mary's, Lancaster (the Priory church) was her brother. Whether or not these Taylors are relevant, Barbara Shaw Taylor was presumably by the time of her marriage in 1825, living at Ashton, across the R.Conder from Glasson. Details about the [Shaw] Taylors are from the IGI

John was born in Ashton on 10 Aug, 1795, as recorded in the Thurnham baptismal records, which unusually only record birth dates, not baptismal dates, his father, Thomas, being listed as a 'husbandman'. John began work as a 'labourer' in Ashton before 1825 . In 1828 he is recorded as a maltster, in 1830 as a clerk, in 1832 as a journeyman maltster and a maltster at Conder Green (between Ashton and Glasson) in 1834 and 1847, but by 1847 he had moved to Damside in Lancaster where he had a warehouse.

John Whiteside married Barbara Shaw Taylor on 10 Apr 1825 in St Mary's. (Lancaster, IGI Batch no.7904531)

They had the following children:

1. Thomas Whiteside chr. 8 Oct 1825, sps John Rogerson, Margaret Whiteside (his aunt) m. Alice Carter, d. 1904 - issue
2. Richard Whiteside b. 16 Feb 1828, chr. 17 Feb 1828, sps Henry & Mary Whiteside, proxies for Helen Whiteside, d.1903 m. Jane (b.1834) - issue
3. Robert Cuthbert Whiteside, b. 20 Mar 1830, chr. 21 Mar 1830, sps Thomas Rogerson, proxy for Henry Verity & Elizabeth Whiteside, m. Isabel Shaw d. 14 Aug 1898 in Lancaster - parents of the Archbishop of Liverpool
4. John Whiteside b. 6 Apr 1832 Ashton, chr. 8 Apr 1832, sps Edward Hayse and Mary Whiteside, d. 1836, bur. Thurnham
5. William Whiteside b. 31 Jul 1834 in Ashton, chr. 2 Aug 1834, sps Thomas Gardner, Elizabeth Lupton, proxies for James Whiteside and Margaret Wilson, d. Aug 1842, in Lancaster, bur. Thurham.
6.. Henry Whiteside b. 5 Jan 1837
7.. John Whiteside b. 1842 chr. 8 Apr 1842, sps Thomas Gardner, Anne Rogerson, proxy for Margaret Leeming, m. Ann Myerscough 19 Nov 1866 Issue
8. George Whiteside b.1843, d. aged six months, bur. Thurnham
9. Edward Whiteside b. 1845

All the children were born in Ashton, across the R. Conder from Glasson, and were all baptised at St Thomas's Catholic church, Thurnham, the details being recorded in the Thurnham records. Those up to 1837 have been published by the CRS but the records of the last two can only be obtained from the originals in the Lancs Record Office.

John lived at 1 Ann St, where he was recorded as a communicant of St Peter's in 1845, but then moved to 2 Adlcliffe St, probably after Barbara's death in 1846. He died on 9 May 1847 and was buried at Thurnham.

The Whitesides seem to have bought their own corner of the graveyard for John was buried in Plot 99 and William and George were buried in Plot 100. Another child, James Whiteside, who died on 5 Mar 1846 aged 10 months is also buried there in Plot 225. [Perhaps he was a grandson - not all decendants have been traced, but many of the family retained an affection for Thurnham and were buried there] Barbara [formerly Shaw Taylor] who died on 13 Aug 1846 was buried in Plot 235 three days later. She had been ill for some months with a diseased liver. John died, apparently in Lancaster the following year on 9 May 1847, having had bronchitis for three weeks, and was buried at Thurnham on 11th May in Plot 256.

John Whiteside was described firstly as a ship's carpenter and then as a shipwright. A new dock had been built at Glasson, the principle trade being in coal, but there were also boatyards where for a time there was plenty of work. The dockyard (left) is still in use although a large part (right) is now a popular marina.

Several of the Whiteside sons of this generation brought up their families, some of them large, in 'two up two down' houses in the four or five streets in Glasson, one of which is shown here, conveniently just a few minutes walk from the dock.

Thomas Whiteside, shipwright, the eldest son of John and Barbara, and his wife Alice (Carter) had seven children, Alice, George (b.1852), Barbara (1857-1930), Isabel (b.1859), Thomas W-, (b.1862), Richard H. (b.1864), John (b. 1869). Barbara m. Thomas Ball of Bulk (adding to the Whiteside family's complicated relationships!) Richard, the 2nd son, a 'ship ... smith' and his wife Jane (from Sunderland, Lancs, surname unknown) were living 'just round the corner' with 2 children still at home, James (1859) and Mary (1864), so there were probably more who had left already. John, a ship carpenter, and Ann had moved with the first three of their seven children to Fleetwood a year or two before. They also had previously lived in a similar house here.

Edward Hayes was perhaps related. John's aunt Catherine Whiteside (see previous generation) married Richard Kaye (or Hayes or Hayse). Both spellings are used in the Thurnham records at different times. Whether this was common or was actually a mistakethen or in transcription is not known but does make it rather confusing!. They had 4 known children, Elizabeth (1819), John (1820), Robert Shepherd Kaye (1822) and Dorothy (1823). The first three were given as Ashton and Dorothy as Ellel, which a little further south, but all were baptised at Thurnham. Possibly the Kaye family didn't move but lived on the border between the two areas.

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The Family of John Whiteside & Ann Myerscough

John, 7th child and 7th son of John Whiteside and Barbara Taylor was born ten years almost to the day after his namesake, the 4th son, who had died at the age of 4. He was baptised, like his brother John on 8th April. He married Ann Myerscough, (who was not born a Catholic) on 9 Nov 1866 at St Thomas's in Thurnham, the church having been built there, replacing the chapel in Thurnham Hall, home of the Dalton family, in the years between. They had seven children:

1. Alice Whiteside 1865-1941 m. William Boardman. Both d. Aug 1941
2. Barbara Whiteside 1868- m. John Rawlinson, 4 children Ann Ellen (?), Thomas, Joseph Henry (known as Henry), and Simeon, d. in Liverpool
3. Ellen Whiteside 1869 died under one year old
4. Richard Whiteside 1870-1954 m. Alice Ann Robinson, had 3 children, John, Thomas Ervin and Winifride
5. Catherine Whiteside 1877-1964 m. James Armour 3, the boat-builder. They had 14 children.
6. John Whiteside 1882- m. Ruth and emigrated to Canada
7. Henry Whiteside 1884- emigrated to Canada, wife unknown, but they had four children, Muriel, Margaret, Roy and Geral

John and Ann moved with their first four (surviving) children to Fleetwood about 1880. For a ship carpenter there was no shortage of work there, a new town in 1840 but by the 80s becoming a major port for deep sea fishing. By 1881 Ann's mother Alice Myerscough (formerly Bramwell) was living with them in Fleetwood, now aged 77, while her husband James Myerscough, 79, was living with another daughter and son-in-law in Pilling, on the other side of the R.Wyre, not the most convenient arrangement for old people to visit each other very often! Alice and her husband James were unable to afford a house themselves so this was a sad necessity, living space being a problem with the large younger families..John and Ann's eldest daughter, also Alice, was no longer living at home but at the age of 15 was working in Fleetwood as a 'general domestic' for Mary Ann Cowell, a master mariner's wife who ran a boarding house. (Her husband was presumably away at sea for long periods). Alice Whiteside later became matron at Lancaster Royal Infirmary.

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John and Catherine Whiteside of Westby
An 18th c. family, not the main line - connection probable but unknown

There were eleven children of this marriage, all baptised in the Catholic chapel in Westby which preceded St Anne's. Theirs was the only Catholic Whiteside family recorded in that mission. Of crucial importance is the fact that they had no son called Thomas born in 1769 or at any other time! They lived at Plumpton (always spelt Plunton), Great Plumpton or Little Plumpton or Moss Side. These were all probably in the same area and perhaps even basically the same place. There is no evidence here that John came from Marton as is sometimes suggested, as the name 'Moss Side' (a marshy place) is very common in all parts of the Fylde and may simply refer to a farm.

1. Margaret Whiteside chr. 3 Jun 1767 sps. John Whiteside, Peggy Barrow
2. Richard Whiteside chr. 16 Mar 1769 sps. Richard & Mary Gillow
3. John Whiteside chr. 8 Nov 1770 sps. John Fair, Mary Whiteside
4. Mary Whiteside chr. 12 Feb 1772 sps. Henry Blacoe, Grace Shepherd
5. George Whiteside chr. 5 Apr 1774 sps. Thomas Whiteside, Ann Parkinson
6. Henry Whiteside chr. 1 Sep 1775 sps. Thomas Marginson, Molly Shepherd
7. Helen Whiteside chr. 12 Oct 1777 sps. Thomas Whiteside, Mary Richardson
8. Jane Whiteside chr. 22 Aug 1779 sps. John Rigby, Betty Plumb
9. Lawrence Edward Whiteside chr. 10 Aug 1781 sps. John Rigby, Grace Shepherd
10. William Whiteside chr. 21 Oct 1783 sps. Thomas Hall, Ellen Swarbrick
11. Joseph Whiteside chr. 5 Sep 1785 sps. John Charles, Batty Barrow

The names of Grace and Molly Shepherd among the godparents suggest that John's wife was indeed Catherine Shepherd. In this case also the Shepherd family could be related to the family from Salwick who were Lupton ancestors via the Hull family on the paternal side. The name also appears as a middle name among the Hayes grandchildren of Thomas Whiteside and Elizabeth Cottam

Joseph Whiteside can almost certainly be identified with the schoolmaster at Thurnham who married Elizabeth Carey (Creary). Elizabeth was born about 1890 in Dalton-in-Furness and they had four children in Thurnham.