Pickering is a market town in the Vale of Pickering in North
Yorkshire, England. The Vale runs from York in the west to
Scarborough in the east, with the North York Moors to the north
and the Yorkshire Wolds to the south.
The parishes of Ugglebarnby, Whitby and Fylingdales are grouped
together, just to the north of Scarborough, on the east coast of
Yorkshire, and to the north
of them is the coastal parish of Lythe. It has several small
hamlets within its borders, but is centred around Mulgrave
Castle, the home of the Earl of Normanby.
Loftus lies about 10 miles north of Lythe and was an important
market town on the road to Whitby. Since the 17th century it has
been a mining town, initially potash, laterly ironstone.
The earliest records for this family are in Pickering dated about 1620. Exactly where they lived in Pickering, or what their occupations were is not known. About 1710 the family moved to Ugglebarnby/Whitby/Fylingdales area. The main town of Fylingdales is Robin Hoods Bay, usually just called Bay, which was one of the main fishing centres along this north east coast. Fish was landed at Bay and transported along a sailors trod to Pickering, and it is likely that the family moved along this trod. It is clear that they were a poor family, for at least two members were buried from the Poor House. Towards the end of the 1700s they were on the move once again, this time to the parish of Lythe, just to the north of Whitby. The farms at Hutton Mulgrave and Moorgate where the children were born are still standing. In about 1822 another move was made to Lofthouse (Loftus). The Tithe map of 1838 shows that George Conn was renting three small cottages immediately to the rear of the parish church of St Leonards. He was also renting a small strip of land just outside of Loftus from Lord Dundas. This was the same Dundas family that features in the Conn family of Upleatham.
Of George's eight children the descendants of only three have been traced. John and William still have descendants in this part of England, whilst George's descendants are to be found in America. William's son ,John, married Mary Jane Hansell of Staithes and had four children. Shortly after the birth of the last child, Grace, John was killed on the Railway at Sandsend, near Whitby. Mary Jane subsequently married John Bennison, the local carrier in Staithes, where they lived in Poplar House. In the 1930s this became a guest house, where I spent many happy holidays.
It seems probable that the Conn family had been living in the Pickering area from at least 1301, because the Yorkshire Lay Subsidy of that year showed that Alicia Conn paid 5 pence. This was a tax of one fifteenth raised by Edward the 1st. on the temporal assets of each person. That meant that Alicia had assets of 75 pence, and because the cut-off point was so low - possibly set at 2 pence - this was almost equivalent to a poll tax. Alicia was the only Conn mentioned in the whole of Yorkshire, although at this early date only about half the population had recognisable surnames.
7 Feb 1432. Probate of the will of John Conn of Thornton in the parish of Foston. This is just to the west of Pickering.
Robert Conne married Easter, dates unknown.
Their children were:-
John Conne (senior) married Alicia, dates unknown.
The records of only one son has been found, although it should be noted that Pickering lies on the boundary of North and East Yorkshire, and the parish records of East Yorkshire have not been searched.
John Conn (sen). was buried 21 Oct 1679 and Alicia Conn, widow, was buried 12 Jun 1681.
John Conne (junior, 1647-1683) married Dorothy Harding (bur 1682), 20 Jun 1665, Pickering.
Their children were:-
Dorothy Conn was buried 23 Feb 1682. John married Jane Wilson later in the same year (20 Jun 1682). They had one daughter called Jane who, along with her mother was buried on 15 Feb 1683. John was then buried on 15 Jun 1683.
Robert Conn married Rebecca Hardwicke, 18 Nov 1685, Pickering.
Their children were:-
- 27 Apr 1725 burial of Timothy son of Robert Conn of Whitby.
- 5 Apr 1727 baptism of Robert son of Robert Conn of Whitby.
- 8 Jul 1838 burial of Rachel the wife of Robert Conn, Sunderland Holy Trinity.
- 15 Sep 1740 burial of Robert the son of Robert Conn, Sunderland Holy Trinity.
Thomas Conn migrated to the parish of Ugglebarnby in about 1710, but whether he went alone is not known. Ugglebarnby registers prior to 1720 have been lost, and these records have been taken from the Bishops Transcripts.
Thomas Conn (1692-1776), shoemaker, married Jane Chapman (1683-), 1711 Ugglebarnby.
Their children were:-
Robert, the first son, must have formed some association with
the sea, for the next record we have of him is in Fylingdales,
where he married Jane Storm in 1738, one of the daughters of
perhaps the largest maritime family in the North East of England.
They then move to Sunderland where they had four children.
Thomas, the second child, born in 1715, cannot be found in any
other records.
It is through the third child, Rebecca, that the family line
continues.
Jane Chapman, the wife of Thomas (born 1692), must have died in
the early 1720s, for in 1728 we find Thomas marrying a Barbary
Richmond in Whitby. They had one son called Robert, who was
buried in 1731. At some time after this date, Thomas and Barbary
must have moved to Fylingdales, where both died.
St Stephens Church
The returns of the Overseer of the Poor show that Rebecca Conn was receiving sums of money each year between 1776, when the records begin, and 1783, presumably to maintain her in her own home. It is assumed that after this date she moved into the poorhouse, where she eventually died.
Robert, the illegitimate son of Rebecca Conn, married Mary Garbut about 1779, although no record has as yet been found. There follows a 20 year period of moving from one farm to another. The records are incomplete, so a certain amount of speculation is neccessary.
Their children were:-
Mary is called the seventh child of Robert Conn, but only six can be accounted for.The family line continues through George: what happened to the other children is not known.
George Conn (1788-1856) married Eliza Duck (bur 1864) on 21 Dec 1812 in Fylingdales.
Their children were:-
20 Jan 1856. Burial of George Conn at St Leonards, Loftus.
3 Jul 1864. Burial of Elizabeth Conn at St Leonards, Loftus.
Hollin Tree House, Hutton Mulgrave and Moorgate are all farms in the parish of Lythe, whilst Handale is a farm just south of Loftus, originally the site of a Franciscan priory. About 1826 George and his family moved into the township of Loftus, living in the group of old cottages immediately to the rear of St Leonards Church. The Tithe map of 1838 shows George occupying three of the four cottages, along with a strip of land, probably of about half an acre, along the road to Handale.
The marrages of four of the children can be traced, although it should be noted that in several cases the name has changed to Cown. In the 1881 census George Conn is called George Cown, and on his gravestone he is also called Cown, even though his brother William is in the next grave, still called Conn.
Their children were:-
William Conn died at Scarborough 7 Sep 1893
John Conn (1849-1879) married Mary Jane Hansell 17 Aug 1871.
John and Mary Jane lived at Staithes, probably in Poplar House, where Mary Jane's father was the farrier and vetinary surgeon
Their children were :-
John Conn died 2 Aug 1879, age 30. and was buried in Grave 4b,
East Loftus cemetery. He was killed on the railway at Sandsend;
details of the accident was reported in the Whitby Chronicle,
dated 4 Aug 1879. Mary Jane subsequently married John Bennison,
the carrier and coal merchant in Staithes.
Thid family is called COWN in the 1891 and 1901 census.
Their children were:-
This family is called COWN in the 1891 census.
Their children were:-
Of these children, only Margaret can be followed up. She married John Tansley in 1871 and they emigrated to America at the turn of the century.
Grace Conn (1823-) married John Porrit, 14 Aug 1854 at St Leonards, Loftus
For 20th century family connections, contact the author.