Rowney Family Tree

James was born around 1722. He was christened in the village of Langford, in Bedfordshire, England. There is a possibility that James may have actually been the son of the John ROWNEY who is named as his grandfather. There is some evidence which supports the idea that James' grandfather may have taken a second wife named Sarah which has complicated the Langford records for our family.

James appears to have taken a wife named Elizabeth sometime before 1750. He would have been around 28 years old at that time. They seem to have settled in the village of Northill, in Bedfordshire, and began raising a family there. Elizabeth gave birth to their first known child, James (jr), in 1750, and he was christened at Northill. Two further children followed; Ann in 1752, who died in infancy, and Mary in 1753.

In February 1755, Elizabeth died at the age of just 27. She was buried in Northill. James would have been left to raise his two young children alone; his son, James (jr) was 5 years old, and baby Mary, just 16 months old.

In October 1756, James was married again. His second wife was Ann PEPPERCORN, who hailed from the nearby town of Sandy, in Bedfordshire. They were married in Northill, and appear to have lived out their days there. James was around 34 years old at the time of his second marriage, and Ann was 24 years of age. James (jr) was 6 years old when his father remarried, and Mary was aged 3.

The ROWNEY family appears to have fallen on hard times by the late 1750's as the burials of members of the family over the following years all seem to have been made form the workhouse at Northill. The workhouses were the last refuge of the desperate poor at that time and James and Ann's family seem to have been associated with the workhouse at Northill until their deaths. The Parliamentary report of 1776-77 which investigated the workhouses of Britain indicated that Northill workhouse had places for 30 inmates at that time.

In May 1757, Ann gave birth to their first child together, a daughter who they named Ann. The timing of baby Ann's birth suggests that James and Ann PEPPERCORN may have been living together before they were married. This might indicate that Ann was perhaps a housekeeper, or had moved in with James to help him with his children, and their relationship had developed from there.

Their next child, John, was born in March 1759. Unfortunately, not long after, in April 1759, their young daughter Ann died. She was just a month short of her second birthday. She was buried from the workhouse.

Another son, Patrick, was born in 1761, but he lived for only a month, and then William, who was born the following year, also died when he was just 7 months old, in 1763. They too were both buried from the workhouse.

In 1764, they had a daughter who was named Jane, then another daughter, Sarah, followed in 1767. Another son was born in 1769, who was named William, but the second baby William lived for only a few days. He was also buried from the workhouse. In 1771, they had a son who was named Edward, and their final child, Elizabeth, was born in 1773.

Their son, James (jr), is known to have been married to Elizabeth COOPER in 1777, in her hometown of Sandy.

James (sr) lost his second wife in 1780, when Ann died at the age of 47. She was buried at Northill from the workhouse. Assuming all the children indicated were still living, the family at that time would have consisted of; James (aged 57) and his children; John (aged 21), Jane (aged 16), Sarah (aged 13), Edward (aged 9), and Elizabeth (aged 7). Young Elizabeth died the following month and was also buried from the workhouse.

James himself died six years later, in 1786, at the age of 63. He was buried at Northill from the workhouse.