William Bridge (1815-1871)

William Bridge was born about 1815 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. His father was Richard Bridge, a weaver. Bolton was a large city whose principle industry was the manufacture of cotton. William probably worked with his father in the cotton mills as a young man. He married Jane Aspinall, the daughter of Thomas Aspinall and Ellen Crook, about 1840. Jane's father was also a weaver. The two were living on Shaw Street, Great Bolton, in June of 1841 when the census was taken. Their oldest child, Joseph William, our direct ancestor, was only 7 weeks old at the time. William is listed as a tailor on the census. William and Jane had two other children after 1841; Thomas Richard was born in 1843, and Emma was born in 1845. At some point prior to 1846, the family moved to Derby Street and William set up his tailoring shop. In 1846 and 1848, Slater's directory for Lancashire lists William Bridge as a tailor and woollen draper with a shop on Derby Street in Bolton. I imagine the children playing on the floor and getting underfoot while their father worked. Jane Bridge died of inflamation from childbed fever on September 22, 1848, at the age of 32. At present I do not know if she died after giving birth to a fourth child, of whom there is no record, or if she became ill after Emma's birth and was chronically ill for three years before dying.


William must have been devastated at the death of his wife, but he must also have been concerned that he could not care for his children alone, because less than three months after Jane died, on December 5, 1848, he married Ann Smedley, 26, spinster daughter of James Smedley, a weaver. The couple were married in the Bank Street Chapel, a Unitarian Church, by minister Franklin Baker, with Henry and Elizabeth Higson as witnesses. Ann became an instant mother to Joseph, Thomas, and Emma, who were ages 7, 5, and 3 respectively.

In the 1855 Slater's directory, and in the Lancashire Post Office Directory of 1858, William's tailoring business is still located at 32 Derby Street. Some time between 1858 and 1861, the Bridge family moved down the street to 113 Derby Street. William is listed as a tailor and woollen draper on the 1861 census, and his children are all still living at home. Joseph William is 19 and working with his father as a tailor. Thomas Richard, 17, is also a tailor, and Emma, 15, is listed as a house servant. Some time before 1869, Joseph William took over his father's tailoring business. Slater's directory lists Joseph William Bridge as a tailor and woollen draper with his business at 113 Derby Street, the family home.

William is not listed on the 1871 census. There is a death record for a William Bridge, age 57, in the first quarter of 1871, and I found an Ann Bridge, widow, age 50, living with daughter Emma, age 25, in the coastal town of Birkdale in that year. Possibly they went to the ocean to mourn their loss. Ann later moved to be near her stepson, Thomas Richard, on the Chorley Old Road in Halliwell, on the outskirts of Bolton.

Joseph William Bridge, oldest son of William Bridge, married Henrietta Lousia Jackson in 1863. They had three children in Bolton - Louisa, William, and Frank. Louisa married John McCullough in Carman, Manitoba in 1889. Thomas Richard Bridge married Maria Lowe. They had three children - Thomas, Mary Emma, and Harry. Mary Emma died as a baby. Thomas and Maria emigrated to New Zealand, where descendants of their son, Harry, still reside. Emma, the only daughter of William Bridge, married John Bramwell, but did not have any children. After John died, Emma went to live with her stepmother, Ann, in Halliwell.

Note: In the above post, my direct ancestors are in bold.

Here is a map of Bolton. You can see Derby Street and the Chorley Old Road.