James Riley and Hannah Bairstow

James Riley (1785 – 1853) and Hannah Bairstow (1775 – 1853)

The earliest confirmed ancestors of this branch of the Rileys are James Riley and Hannah Bairstow. Their marriage was recorded at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Illingworth, a village just north of Halifax, on 2nd November 1807.

The marriage register indicates that James Riley, a tailor from Ovenden in the Parish of Illingworth St. Mary, married Hannah Bairstow, a spinster from the village of Northowram, by licence. Ovenden and Northowram were neighbouring villages to the north of Halifax. At the time of James and Hannah's marriage, Ovenden had a population of around 5,000 people, and the main industries were farming, wool production, and cloth manufacture.

Based on later records to calculate ages, James Riley was around 22 years old, while Hannah was 32, ten years his senior. Unfortunately, the marriage register does not provide information about the parents of James Riley and Hannah Bairstow. Given the prevalence of those surnames in the area, it is currently challenging to confidently identify their relatives. One of the witnesses to the marriage was a John Bairstow, who most certainly was related to Hannah, but establishing a connection is not possible with the available evidence.

Non-conformist marriage

Despite their marriage record being at the Church of Illingworth St Mary, it is likely that James and Hannah did not have an Anglican wedding ceremony. Before 1837, all marriages in England had to be recorded within the Church of England. Non-conformist individuals who attended Methodist or Congregational chapels often opted for marriage by licence to validate marriages that may have taken place elsewhere.

Following their marriage, James and Hannah resided in the village of Ovenden, predominantly around Shay Lane. James Riley's occupation as a tailor suggests that he enjoyed relative prosperity and held a lower middle-class status. Tailors of the time typically operated their own workshops and employed a small number of workers.

The records from the first UK census in 1841 indicate that James and Hannah Riley lived at Little Moor, a public house on Shay Lane in Ovenden. Although the census does not include occupation details, it was common during that period for innkeepers to combine their trade with tailoring and cloth merchandising. They were still residing on Shay Lane in 1851, accompanied by a servant, and James Riley's occupation was listed as a tailor and draper.

James Riley and Hannah Bairstow had three sons: Edward (1808), John (1809), and Matthew Riley (1811). All three branches of the Riley family largely remained in the Halifax area and formed connections through marriage with other local families. Edward Riley pursued a career as a cloth merchant, tailor, and eventually became the landlord of the Black Swan Inn in Halifax. He passed away in 1847. Matthew Riley also engaged in wool trading and worked as a grocer. He died in 1846. Both Edward and Matthew predeceased their parents.

James Riley and Hannah Bairstow died within three months of each other in 1853. Hannah died on 27th April 1853, and James followed on 14th July 1853. They were laid to rest in the churchyard of Illingworth St Mary. John, their sole surviving son, published death notices in the local newspaper.

In a rather distressing continuation, there was a further mention in the Halifax Courier the week following James Riley's death.

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