1. Emily B. Smithson: Born 30 November 1898, Rothwell, Yorkshire, England; Baptized in the Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell, Yorkshire, England; Died 6 September 1990, Escondido, San Diego, CA; Married 20 August 1927, St. Bartholemew's Episcopal Church, Chicago, Cook, IL; George Washington Strong Jr.: Born 13 June 1897, Girard, Crawford, KS; Died 25 December 1983, Elmhurst, DuPage, IL. (See Strong) Donald's birth certificate lists Emily as "Emily B. Smithson." I have no idea what the "B" could stand for. Emily's family came to America on the S. S. Cymric, a ship in the White Star Line, in 1907 and was detained on Ellis Island for a week because While on the ship, her sister Belle had apparently poked her sister Leila in the eye with an umbrella and it became infected (or possibly just puffy an red) so she couldn't pass the medical exam. Emily described Ellis Island by saying "it was a madhouse, as it always has been, because so many thousands of people were there." Aunt Leila recalled that the eye poke incident happened a week before they came to America and the shipping company put them up in a beautiful hotel until the next ship sailed, this was the Cymric. She said they thought she had pink eye and that they were wonderful to them.
In a videotaped interview with Emily and her sister, Leila done in 1988 Emily stated: "What I remember most vividly about sailing was the respect that the purser had for Mamma, taking care of seven children, and they were beautifully mannered, he said. He was so kind to Mamma. He used to bring us special food, the only thing was I was deathly ill, my brother Cecil was deathly ill, but our brother Alfred just ate everything in sight, he really made out well. Every child that went on the boat got sixpence, and they said that my mother was trying to take all the money off the boat with all her brood. The money was given to them when they got their inoculation shots."
Emily never wanted to play with her younger sisters because they were too little-- she always wanted to be with her older sister, Amelia. Emily took elocution and drama lessons in England. When she did her elocution in this Country no one could understand her so she said that she had to change the way she talked. Then she belonged to an elocution group here. Emily loved playing with jacks as a child, and although she enjoyed this activity she once admitted to being terrible at it. Emily used to sing in the choir at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church.
The Smithson children were not allowed to play with the others in the neighborhood because many of the others were bad. One family in particular was even "Irish." Since there were so many Smithsons they really did not need to play with the other children. The children were also not allowed to chase after the ice man because Charlotte did not believe that eating ice was good for a person. Nevertheless the children did often chase down the wagon and get the driver to chip off a piece of ice for them to eat. Emily did not participate in this activity because she was worried about the germs she could pick up. Emily was always worried about germs but her father often said "you have to swallow a peck of dirt before you die in order to be healthy."
Where they had lived in England, there were often gypsies staying near by. One day when Joseph and Charlotte had to go out of town for union business, a carriage came and picked them up. The children were left in the care of Mrs. Ward, a lovely lady. She said "Stay close loves, because the gypsies may come." The children were all very careful to stay near the house. However, Emily took the message to heart and hid, with one of her little sisters, in the base of the grandfather clock in the house. When they found her she was all curled up and very disoriented by the swinging of the pendulum.
The schools that the Smithson children attended were very strict. Every one polished their shoes each night before they went to bed. If one was late, or had dirty shoes or guilty of some other infraction of the rules you had to go to the head master and hold out your hands face up and he whacked them with a big cane. Needless to say the Smithson children always had polished shoes. They would all polish their shoes and leave them out in a line for their father to inspect and to polish if necessary. If any of the boy's shoes got dirty they would spit on them and rub them clean on the back of their pant legs while standing at attention. This was apparently a trick they had picked up from their father, who perhaps from his days in the military, seems to have been obsessed with clean shoes.
Emily took the middle name "Victoria" while working at the White Stokes Company as a secretary. She had the same initials at Elsie Smith so Mr. Stokes named her Victoria because she was English. At the age of twenty four, while attending the University of Chicago, Emily was hired as the private secretary to Mr. Burton, the president of the Jersey Ice Cream Company. She received a salary of sixty dollars a week. While Emily was working for the ice cream company the president used to send his Marmon car with a chauffeur to pick her up and take her to work. Emily and her family were very impressed by this treatment. She worked at this job until she got married. When Emily worked for the ice cream company, she would bring home ice cream for the family. After a while they all got tired of eating ice cream every day. So they would give it to their little dog named Patch. She could rarely finished a quart brick when it was put on the floor for her.
According to Emily, she and George met at a sorority dance held in the spring of 1926 at the Belden Hotel in Chicago. Soon after, George visited Emily at work, when she was working as the secretary to the president of the Jersey Ice Cream Company. They talked about how much ice cream he could eat and he went down to the line to prove to her his prowess. He ate a prodigious quantity of ice cream and she was very impressed. George asked Joe Smithson for his daughter's hand in marriage and he approved. They were engaged for a year before they got married.
When George and Emily got married they had a small ceremony and had dinner at home and then left on their honeymoon. George's family was not there and it was not until their honeymoon that the family first met Emily. They went on a circle tour starting in Chicago going down to the Ozarks and then back home via Girard Kansas. When they got to the Strong farm each of the nine Strong girls went to a different window upstairs in the farmhouse to look out and see if they could get a glimpse of their new sister-in-law. The whole of the honeymoon lasted for a month. When they returned from their honeymoon they moved into their new apartment at the Kimbark Shores Apartment Hotel. This small one-bedroom apartment was near the apartment George had shared with his sister when he moved to Chicago. This residence was on the north side of Chicago and the rest of the family lived on the far south side. This had the effect of isolating them to some degree from the rest of the Smithson clan and Emily once expressed the feeling that she had always felt separated from them.
Emily headed the personnel department at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital for many years. She was a life member of the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Guild and served as a Grey Lady at Cook County Hospital during World War II. She was a member of the Wesleyan Circle at the First United Methodist Church in Elmhurst. Emily donated her Hammond Organ to this church when she moved to California.
Emily loved to enter contests. She would frequently enter recipe contests with "old family recipes." These were, in fact, recipes that she simply concocted herself, often without trying them first. She would make them interesting by writing stories about the role that this recipe played in family traditions and other colorful fabrications. She was quite successful in her endeavors. She was so successful in fact that she claimed to have been able to supply her son and new daughter in law with "a houseful of small appliances." She won blenders, and toasters, and mixers and other miscellaneous gadgets.
Emily's Parents--
2. Joseph Hutchinson Smithson: Born 18 September 1865, Hunslet, Yorkshire, England; Died 13 July 1946, Chicago, Cook, IL; Married Jan/February 1889; Charlotte Jagger: Born 30 March 1868, Ouzlewell Green, Yorkshire, England; Died 8 June 1952, Chicago, Cook, IL. Joe was born to very wealthy parents and as a child Joe lived with his grandmother. Before they were married Joseph and Charlotte worshipped at Wakefield Cathedral. There has been quite a bit of discussion about Joe's military service. Aunt Leila and Grandma Em provided an important missing piece to the puzzle in 1988 in a video taped interview about their lives. They stated that Joseph was in the Yorkshire Militia, in the Medical Corps during the Boer War. His grandmother bought him out of the service. Donald Strong remembers Joseph taking out a pistol and talking about his own experiences in the Boer War. Rich Smithson owns the Webly Mark III pistol owned by Joseph. Rich remembers that he was told that one of Joseph's friends who fought in the Boer War gave it to him when he came to America, "to fight off Indians."
Joe studied to be a doctor, and he was apparently very good at it but when he got married, so many children came along that he had to give up his doctoral studies. Then he got a job, in an official capacity, with the union for the coal mines. He is listed doing this in the 1891 Census of Rothwell when he had only one child, Amelia, so his studies may have been going simultaneously with his work with the mines. Because of his job Joe frequently had to leave town overnight to do his union work. When he went he would be picked up at his house by a horse drawn carriage and chauffeured directly to his meeting. Charlotte frequently went with him when he went out of town for business. Joe was a sort of "union buster." He did not believe in what the unions were doing and he opposed them. Unfortunately for Joe the unions were successful and after a while it was difficult for him to find the type of work he wanted. He had effectively been blackballed by the mine workers in that region of England.
Joseph came to America slightly before his family. While he certainly spent most of his working life at the railroad he is listed in the 1910 census as working for the telephone company. According to Aunt Leila, when Joe came to America he first got a job with the telephone company putting up those big poles, this she said, was something really special. He sent all the money he could back to his wife in England so she could have enough money for the passage. He probably came in 1905 or 1906. He was given a job as an investigator with the (Pennsylvania?) railroad by his brother-in-law William Jagger. Willie Jagger had already been living in America for several years and it was Willie who encouraged Joe to come to Chicago when he got into trouble with the union. It was also Willie who helped Joe get his life set up when he arrived here. Willie lived with the family for most of the later years of his life. Rich Smithson has a Watchman's badge from the Erie Railroad that belonged to him. This indicates that Joe might also have worked for the Erie railroad for some time.
When the family came to America Joe had already rented an apartment at 5402 S. Shields Avenue and they are still listed there in the 1910 census. It was a one-flat with seven rooms-- four bedrooms, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen. It was a big place and there was plenty of room for everyone since all of the rooms were so big. The apartment was in a beautiful area back then and the neighborhood was one of the most exclusive in Chicago. By 1920 they had moved to a big brownstone at 7627 Stewart Avenue. After the kids had grown up and moved away Joseph and Charlotte then moved to 71st and Wabash and lived in a lovely bungalow where they lived for the rest of their lives.
Joe worked hard to become an American citizen. He went to classes every day and took enormous pride in what he was becoming. Joseph was naturalized, in Chicago, on 14 October 1916. When Joe came back from passing his citizenship tests, after taking many classes, he gathered the family together and told them to "thank God we are in this Country where we are all going to be very happy and are going to have a good life together."
The whole family got together at their house in the city on Christmas Eve. It was a huge gathering, and was lots of fun. At Christmas Joe always drank rum or gin. As the boys in the family got older, he would offer them watered down drinks. Charlotte used to yell at him for this because she came from a teetotaller family. Joseph also made dandelion wine and he used to serve it to all the family at Christmas. Charlotte used to accuse him of spiking it with hard alcohol though Joseph denied it. Everyone always enjoyed his dandelion wine. One memorable Christmas tradition, brought with the family from England, was that of letting the old year out the front door and bring the new year in with good luck through the back door. Joe and the girls would go out onto the front porch. He would take the yule log with him. At the stroke of midnight the girls would each grab a limb or other part of his body and carry him around the house and back inside over the threshold of the back door, bringing Christmas with them. Joe used to squirm and kick and struggle to make it difficult for the girls to carry him. They would then put the yule log in the fire place and start a fire if there wasn't already one going.
Charlotte Jagger at about age 16
One day, while the family was living in Rothwell, all of the children were in the kitchen and Charlotte was cooking. Someone knocked on the door and it was this man named "Gypsy Smith" who was an evangelist. He prayed a little bit and then he asked them all to pray. The seven youngsters all knelt in the kitchen and prayed. They were all praying and crying because he was telling them of the things that awaited them if they were bad. When he finished Charlotte purchased from "Gipsy Smith" a picture of Jesus being taken in the temple. This picture hung in Emily's bedroom until she moved to California. Unfortunately it does not seem to have survived.
Charlotte used to enjoy weaving rugs. All the children would help her do the weaving. Most of the rugs they wove were about nine by twelve. Charlotte would set up a big weaving frame that everyone could gather around and help, they would use awls and all sorts of other tools to do this. So when one got out of bed in their house you would immediately put your feet on a luxurious rug you had made. The designs featured roses and other flowers.
Charlotte was a wonderful provider and a great mother in the years that she was alone without her husband in England. She could sew beautifully and could cook. According to Aunt Leila, she could make delicious things out of practically nothing that would taste so good. Charlotte acted as a midwife for her sisters and friends in England.
In America Charlotte had a washing machine that was quite high tech. You would pour the water in and turn a crank handle to agitate the clothes. When you were done you would pull a plug out of the bottom and the water would drain. All of the family helped with all of the chores and the children took turns turning the crank. They did everything together. At Christmas the family never purchased ornaments. They always made their own. It was a wonderful life.
Charlotte was quite adept at making clothes last. Evidently she would buy clothes for Emily who was among the oldest girls and then re use the pieces of the clothes when Emily had out grown them to make clothes for the younger children. She would use newspaper patterns and remake the outfits to fit the smaller girls. They were a very close family.
Joe was five foot six inches tall. He had coal black hair even up till the time he died. Joe loved gardening and flowers. He would always keep his boots and shoes shined and he would not even go out to garden in his shoes if they were not meticulously polished. Joe would inspect every shoe in the house every Sunday morning to see if they were polished.
Joe was a Freemason and Charlotte was very active in the Eastern Star. Charlotte was very short, probably no more than about five feet tall. She died from a coronary occlusion caused by arteriosclosis. Arteriosclosis was also the cause of death for Joseph. Charlotte and Joseph are both buried in section four of Oak Hill Cemetery, 119th St. and Kedzie in Blue Island.
Joseph and Charlotte had eight children: Amelia "Millie" Smithson who married William L. Shimer and had Leland W. and Charlotte M., James Alfred, "Al" Smithson who married Madeline (Smithson), Cecil Smithson, Emily Smithson who married George Washington Strong Jr., Leila Smithson who married Norman Thran, Isabella Darlene "Belle" Smithson who married Jack? Studebaker and later married Mr. Kreigs, William Jagger "Willie" Smithson married Helen Louise Hansen, and Ivy Lillian Smithson. Sources: interview with Emily Strong and Leila Thran; interview with Belle Kriegs; notes of Rich Smithson; Recollections of Donald Strong; Joe's Naturalization record; Joseph Smithson's Death Certificate; 1881 and 1891 census records of Leeds and Rothwell, Yorkshire; 1910 & 1920 census records of Chicago, IL.
The 1881 Census of Lofthouse Cum Carlton lists Joseph living on Leadwell Lane:
| Name | relationship | age | occupation | born |
| Amelia Thompson | Head | 77 | Annutant | Lofthouse |
| Joe H. Smithson | Nephew | 15 | Coal Pit Laborer | Rothwell |
| Sarah A. Smithson | Niece | 13 | Scholar | Middleton |
The 1881 Census of Lofthouse Cum Carlton lists Charlotte living at Ashfield Villa with her sister:
| Name | relationship | age | occupation | born |
| William Plows | Head | 21 | Colliery Carpenter | Lofthouse |
| Sarah Elizabeth (Jagger) Plows | Wife | 21 | Ouzlewell Green | |
| Isabella Plows | Daughter | 1 Month | Lofthouse | |
| Charlotte Jagger | Sister-in-Law | 13 | Ouzlewell Green |
The 1891 Census of Rothwell lists Joseph living at 6 Hallbrook St.:
| Name | relationship | age | occupation | born |
| Joe Smithson | Head | 25 | Coal Miner | Hunslet |
| Charlotte Smithson | Wife | 23 | Lofthouse | |
| Amelia Smithson | Daughter | 9 months | Rothwell |
Joseph's Parents and Grandparents--
3. James Smithson: Born about 1844, Middleton Leeds, Yorkshire, England Married Amelia Baldwin: Born about 1845, Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It is possible that his or Amelia's mother's maiden name may have been Hutchinson. Her parents were most likely the J. and M. Hutchinson who presented Joe Hutchinson Smithson with his copy of Pilgrim's Progress in his first year of life and for whom Joseph Hutchinson Smithson was named. They could have been his great-grandparents. Though a James and Milcah Hutchinson were living near the James' father at the time of the 1851 Census. They may merely have been close be friends. Aunt Belle recalls that Joseph's grandfather was a very rich man who had large estates and servants who lived and worked there. She recalls his father saying that there were fruit trees around the area and that Joseph's brothers and sisters used to go and steal fruit to take to school with them from the orchard. She also recalled that Joseph had been named after his grandfather and that because of this, he was raised by his wealthy grandfather. She also stated that his grandfather had a house built for his daughter on the estate so that she could be near to him. This presumably refers to Amelia though her maiden name is listed on Joseph's death certificate as Baldwin rather than Hutchinson. The book The History of Rothwell supports the notion that the Smithson family was wealthy and large landowners. Census records may be contradictory to the previously stated information. In 1881 Joe is listed living with an aunt, Amelia Thomson, in Lofthouse Cum Rothwell. He was 15 years old and working as a laborer in the coal pits. James may have a sister Amelia Smithson who married a Mr. Thompson and may they have had two brothers Peter and William who were iving in the Rothwell area at the time of the 1881 census. James and Amelia had at least five children: Joseph Hutchinson Smithson, born in 1865, who married Charlotte Jagger; Sarah A. Smithson, born in about 1868; John William Smithson, born in about 1871; Ruth E. Smithson, born in about 1873 and Hanna N. Smithson, born in about 1879. Four other children may have been Joshua? Smithson, Peter? Smithson, Isabella? Smithson, and Amelia? Smithson. Sources: Joseph Smithson's Death Certificate; interview with Belle Kreigs; 1881 of all Yorkshire; 1891 census of Rothwell, Yorkshire.
The 1881 Census of Rothwell lists James living on New Lane:
| Name | relationship | age | occupation | born |
| James Smithson | Head | 37 | Blacksmith | Middleton Leeds |
| Amelia Smithson | Wife | 36 | Leeds | |
| John William Smithson | Son | 10 | Scholar | Middleton Leeds |
| Ruth Elizabeth Smithson | Daughter | 8 | Scholar | Middleton Leeds |
| Hannah N. Smithson | Daughter | 18 months | Middleton Leeds |
James Parents and Grandparents--
I. William Smithson: Born about 1809, Whatley Bridge, Cheshire; Died after 1881 census when living in Rothwell, Yorkshire; Married 5 November 1832, Rothwell, Yorkshire; Ruth Drewery: Born 29 Nay 1814, Rothwell, Yorkshire; Died after 1881 census when living in Rothwell, Yorkshire. William and Ruth had six children: Richard Smithson, born in about 1835; Mary Smithson, born in 1837; James Smithson, born in about 1844; Sarah Smithson, born in about 1847; George Smithson, born in about 1849; and William Smithson, born in about September 1850. There may also have been as second Mary Smithson born in about 1840. Sources: 1881 of all Yorkshire; 1851 census of Rothwell, Yorkshire.
The 1851 Census of Lofthouse Cum Carlton lists
William living in the Middleton area:
The 1881 Census of Lofthouse Cum Carlton lists William living at New Inn:
|
Ruth's Parents--
Charlotte Jagger's Parents--
4. Joshua Jagger: Born 1 May 1818, Criggleston, Yorkshire, England; Christened 7 June 1818, West Parade Wesleyan, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Died about 1877; Married 25 December 1840, Rothwell Church, Rothwell, Yorkshire, England; Isabella Thacker (or Tacker): Born December 1820, Carlton, Yorkshire, England; Died about 1877. Joshua was a time keeper for the same coal mines that Joe Smithson worked for. Charlotte was largely raised by her elder sister Hannah. Of all of their children, only the youngest two came over to America.
Isabella and Joshua had ten children: Henry Jagger, Mary Ann Jagger, Jane Jagger, John Jagger, Charles Jagger, Hannah Jagger, Elizabeth Jagger, Sarah Elizabeth Jagger, William Jagger, and Charlotte Jagger who married Joseph H. Smithson. Sources: Notes of Rich Smithson; Death certificates of Charlotte Jagger Smithson and William Jagger; LDS records.
The 1851 Census of Lofthouse Cum Carlton lists Joshua:
| Name | age | occupation | born |
| Joshua Jagger | 33 | Coal Miner | Criggleston |
| Isabella Jagger | 30 | Carlton | |
| Mary A. Jagger | 7 | Scholar | Carlton |
| Jane Jagger | 6 | Scholar | Carlton |
| John Jagger | 2 | Scholar | Carlton |
| Charles Jagger | 1 Month | Carlton |
Henry, Mary Ann, Jane, John, Charles, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Sarah Elizabeth Jagger,
5. John Jaggar: Born Before 1795; Married 21 August 1815 Rothwell, Yorkshire, England; Hannah Hawksworth: Born 18 March 1789; Rothwell, Yorkshire, England; Christened 12 April 1789, Rothwell Yorkshire, England. John and some of his children spelled their surname Jaggar rather than Jagger. John and Hanna had at least four children. Joshua was the second born. He had an older brother named Joseph Jaggar, Christened 17 March 1816. He had two younger brothers Thomas Jagger, Christened 16 December 1821; and Henry Jaggar Christened 19 March 1824. All the boys were christened at West Parade Wesleyan, in Wakefield. Sources: LDS records.
6. Thomas Jagger: Christened 22 February 1725, Worsborough, Yorkshire, England; Married 31 May 1748, Worsborough, Yorkshire, England; Mary Thornhill: Christened 18 December 1729, Whitgift, Yorkshire, England. Sources: LDS records.
Thomas' Father--
Mary's Parents--
7. William Thornhill (or Thornil): Christened, 21 May 1699, Hinderwell, Yorkshire, England; William had at least five children, all of whom were baptized in Whitgift, Yorkshire, England. Their births range between 1727 and 1735. They were: Catherine Thornhill, Mary Thornhill who married Thomas Jagger, William Thornhill, Sarah Thornhill and Frances Thornhill. Sources: LDS records.
8. Gulieumust (William) Thornhill: Christened, 12 April 1683, Elland, Yorkshire, England; Married 24 November 1696; Anne Audas: William and Anne had at least five children, all of whom were baptized in Hinderwell, Yorkshire, England. Their births range between 1699 and 1708. They were: William Thornhill, Christopher Thornhill, Anne Thornhill, Edward Thornhill, and Elizabeth Thornhill. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
9. Georgij (George) Thornhill, Esq., J.P.: Born 16 August 1655; Fixby, Yorkshire, England; Christened 16 August 1655, Hartshead, Yorkshire, England; Died 19 August 1687; Buried Elland, Yorkshire, England; Married 1677; Mary Wyvell: Buried 9 December 1726, York Minster. George and Mary had at least eleven children, all of whom were baptized or born in Elland, Yorkshire, England. Their births range between 1676 and 1688. They were: Brian Thornhill, Thomas Thornhill, Johannes (John) Thornhill, Everilda Thornhill, Georgius Thornhill, Gulieulmust (William) Thornhill who married Anne Audas, Michael Thornhill, Marmaduke Thornhill, Askelphus Thornhill, Mary Thornhill, and Annie Thornhill. I find the fact that George and Mary named one of their children Askelphus, which is the Latin form of Essulf, the progenitor of the Thornhill line. Essulf was born 550 years earlier and there this seems to be the first child of that name since 1099. The fact that there is no clear trail of Essulfs means that these people most probably knew whom they were descended from. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Mary's Father--
Georgij's Parents--
10. Major John Thornhill, Esq., J.P., W.R.: Born about 1615-1628, Fixby, Yorkshire, England; Died 1669; Married 7 September 1650; Everild (or Aviril, or Everidaie) Wentworth: (See Wentworth, 89) Born about 1619, Kirkby, Yorkshire, England; Christened 18 February 1627, Woolley, Yorkshire, England Died 8 May 1708. John was a Major of a regiment of Foot, in the Regiment of Sir George Savile, Bart. John married once before. His first wife was Dorothy, daughter of George Collombell. John and Everild had six children. They were all born in Fixby, Yorkshire, England, but baptized in Hartshed, Yorkshire, England. Their births range between 1651 and 1658. They were: Averilda Thornhill, Elizabeth Thornhill, John Thornhill, Georgij (George) Thornhill, Frances Thornhill, and Thomas Thornhill. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
11. Thomas Thornhill, Esq., J.P.: Born 6 June 1585, Fixby, Yorkshire, England; Christened 6 June 1585, Elland, Yorkshire, England; Died 1661; Married 12 October 1614, Fixby, Yorkshire, England; Anne Trigot: Born about 1593 of South Kirkby, Yorkshire, England. Thomas was appointed treasurer for lame soldiers in the 11th year of King Charles I's reign. Thomas and Anne's children were: John Thornhill, Bryan Thornhill, Margaret Thornhill and Frances Thornhill. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Anne's Father--
Thomas Thornhill's Parents--
12. John (or Johis, or Johes) Thornhill (or Thornel): Christened 8 August 1563, Elland, Yorkshire, England; Died 1607; Married 17 December 1577, Elland, Yorkshire, England; Jeneta Marshe: Born about 1556, of the Knoles, Elland, Yorkshire, England. John later Married 30 June 1579, Elland, Yorkshire, England; Jeneta Rawnslaw. Jenetta Marshe is however, the father of Thomas. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Jeneta Marshe's Father--
John's Father--
13. Brian Thornhill (or Thornel): Born about 1528, Fixby, Yorkshire, England. Brian's children were: Jeneta Thornell and Johes Thornel who married Jeneta Marshe. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
14. John Thornhill, Esq.: Born about 1502, Fixby, Yorkshire, England; Married Elizabeth Grice: Born about 1506, Sandal In Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Died 1583. Most of John and Elizabeth's children were born between 1528 and 1548. However, Parish records in Fixby indicate that John Thornhill and Elizabeth Grice had a daughter, Cecily, in about 1593. It is entirely possible that John's first wife may have died, possibly even in childbirth since there is another daughter named Cecily born later. He may have re-married a younger cousin of his first wife who had the same name as his previous wife. It is substantiated by the first Elizabeth's death in 1583. This is only conjecture but it would explain everything. John was over the age of 16 at his father's death. He was a collector of the tenths and fifteenths in the wapentakes estates of Staincliffe and Ewecross, in the 37th year of the reign of King Henry VIII. Their eleven children were: Cecily I Thornhill, Bryan Thornhill, John Thornhill, Nicholas Thornhill, Richard Thornhill, William Thornhill, Elizabeth Thornhill, Cecily II Thornhill, Isabella Thornhill, Anne Thornhill and Catherine Thornhill. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Elizabeth's Parents and Maternal Grandparents and Great-Grandparents--
John's Parents--
15. John Thornhill: of Fixby and Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Died 3 April 1529; Buried within the Chapel of our Blessed Lady St. Mary of Elland, in St. Nicholas Quire, or in the Chancel thereto adjoining; Married Jennet Savile: of New Hall; Died 1569. John will was proved on 2 May 1529.
Jennet's Father--
John's Parents--
16. William Thornhill: Born about 1468; Died 9 April 1500; Married Elizabeth (Thornhill): Died after 1500. Inq. p. m. 12 June, 15 Hen. 7. William was 16 when his grandfather died Sources:; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees .
17. John Thornhill: Born about 1444, Fixby, Yorkshire, England; Married Elizabeth Mirfield: Born about 1448. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Elizabeth's Father--
William's Parents--
18. Bryan Thornhill: Born about 1418, Fixby, Yorkshire, England; Married Barbara Hopton: Born about 1422, Swillington, Yorkshire, England. Bryan and Barbara's children were: William Thornhill who married Elizabeth Mirfield and Diones Thornhill. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Barbara's Father--
Bryan's Parents--
19. William Thornhill: Born about 1386, Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Married Jennet Decatton: Born about 1390, of Flocton, Yorkshire, England. Sources: LDS record; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees indicates this and the previous generation have the opposite spouses.
Jennet's Father--
William's Parents--
20. Richard Thornhill: Born about 1360, Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Married Margaret Toothill: Born about 1364, of Toothill, Yorkshire, England. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Margaret's Parents and Grandparents--
Richard's Parents--
21. Thomas Thornhill: Born about 1338, Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Died after 1374; Married Margaret Lacy: of Cromwelbotham. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
22. Sir Bryan Thornhill: Born about 1298, Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Died 3 October 1369; Married Joan Fitz William: Born about 1313, Spratborough, Yorkshire, England. (See Fitz William, 67) Sir Bryan was one of the knights of the shire of Yorkshire, in the 29th and 31st years of the reign of King Edward III. He held lands in East Keswick, in the wapentake of Skyrak, in the 9th year of Edward II's reign, and was a witness to a charter by which Adam de Copley founded a chantry in the couth choir of Bateley Church, dated at Bateley, 13 Oct., 1334. Bryan and Joan's children were: Thomas Thornhill, Elizabeth Thornhill and Miss Thornhill. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
23. John Thornhill: Born about 1283, in Fixby or Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Died 1322 (dead in 15 Edw. II); Married Beatrice Talboner: Born about 1286, of Thornhill, Yorkshire, England. John, in the 35th year of the reign of Edward I, held lands in Thornhill, Ocenden, Hendesworth, and Bierly. He granted to the prior and convent of Lewes, in Sussex, and their successors, to attach their mill dam of Heptonstall. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Beatrice's Father--
John's Parents--
24. Sir Richard Thornhill: Born about 1254, in Fixby or Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Died about 1286/7; Married Matilda De Fixby: Born about 1258, of Thornhill, Yorkshire, England. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
Matilda's Father--
Richard's Parents--
25. Sir John Thornhill: Born about 1180, Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Died about 1249 Married circa the 4th year of the reign of King John; Olivia De Maie: Born about 1180. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
26. Richard (or Jordan) Thornhill: Born about 1150-4 of Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Married Alice (Thornhill): Born about 1154, of Thornhill, Yorkshire, England; Died after 1204. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
27. Jordan Thornhill: Born about 1124, of Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. Married Mrs. Jordan Thornhill: Born 1125, of Thornhill, Yorkshire, England. He is said in Collins' Baronetage to have had great possessions in Ovenden, Skircoat, Rishworth, Norland, Barkisland, &c., as by evidence sans date, and that Hameline Plantagenet, Earl Warren, owner of the manor of Wakefield, confirmed to him his inheritance in Sowerbyshire about 1169. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.
28. Essulf (Askolphus) of Thornhill: Born about 1099, of Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. Sources: LDS records; Foster's Yorkshire Pedigrees.