Talk:Richard Arkwright

Is it possible to identify the mother of William Arkwright Hodgkinson, the illegitimate son of Richard Arkwright?

William Arkwright Hodgkinson was the illegitimate son of Mr Arkwright and -presumably- a Ms Hodgkinson. William was born in October 1775 and christened on 8 January 1786 at Darley, Derbyshire. Richard Arkwright arranged for an Isaac Travis and a George Wall to take care of his illegitimate son. The Will of Isaac Travis, which Isaac signed on 17th October 1803, has two references to William. He is referred to by Travis as being “William Arkwright otherwise Hodgkinson”. Isaac bequeathed to William the same amount of money, “three guineas”, as his own family members are being granted, and on the same basis, too. Are there any hypotheses to consider regarding the identity of this William's mother?

In her biographical novel, “Cotton Arkwright: Master Spinner”, which was published in 1971, Margaret Arkwright included a chapter 7 entitled, “Ada”, which acknowledges her ancestor's extra-marital affair. In this somewhat fictionalised account, Ada is a married woman living in Bakewell. No family name is revealed in this book. There is no mention of the name ‘Hodgkinson’.

My own research and analysis offers up the following pointers. Three important clues to the identity of William Hodgkinson Arkwright’s mother are available from the outset. Firstly, her family name is almost certainly ‘Hodgkinson’ or similar; secondly, William’s baptism record points towards a date in October 1775 for his birth; and lastly, his birthplace is listed as being the small settlement of Darley in Derbyshire. If his mother was living with her family in Darley at the time of his birth, we are fishing for a result in an extremely small pond. Reinforcing the impression that his birth was likely to have taken place within or close by Darley are the strong associations which his ‘sponsors’ held to that village. Furthermore, Rebecca Nuttall nee Arkwright Hodgkinson’s birthplace is listed in the above Census record as being ‘Darley’, too. On this ‘Darley-oriented’ basis, we can search for a female Hodgkinson born in the vicinity of this village around 20-25 years before William’s birth date. This search on Findmypast.co.uk provides one striking result. It is a burial record for a Mary Hodgkinson who was interred in Darley on 26th January 1841. Mary had died in Upper Hackney; a hamlet situated a couple of miles away to the south-east of Darley. Her age upon passing was registered as being 88, indicating that she was born in c. 1753. So, on that basis, she would have been aged around 22 when our William was born in Darley in October 1785. Moreover, there is a baptism record dated 7th March 1753 for a Mary Hodgkinson in Shirland, 12 miles to the east of Darley. Her parents’ names, William and Mary, appear in the bottom line of this record. Did she name a son after her father? William Hodgkinson Arkwright’s eldest daughter, (and Henry Taylor’s bride-to-be), Mary, was born on 10th March 1800. Could she have been named after her grandmother, perhaps? She was baptised by her parents in the small settlement of Darley on 18th May 1800 as ‘Mary Hodgkinson or Arkwright’ . William and Mary had baptised their own son William Junior on 6th December 1751, only 15 months prior to this Mary’s own christening at the same church. A William Hodgkinson had married a Mary Low in Ashover, Derbyshire on 26th December 1747. Ashover is situated a little over 5 miles to the north-west of Shirland. And Shirland is located only about 6 miles south of Tupton, where William Hodgkinson Arkwright would be farming in 1841.

This William Hodgkinson and his wife, Mary nee Low, had twelve children, including this daughter Mary. Mary’s sisters were named Ann, Elizabeth, Sarah -twice, and Martha. Mary’s brothers were named Joseph, William, Samuel, John, Robert, and Thomas. Of these eleven names, William and Ann Hodgkinson Arkwright would apply five of them to their own children. The husband of Mary nee Low, William Hodgkinson, was buried in Shirland on 12th January 1798. Admittedly, the circumstantial evidence presented above for this Mary Hodgkinson being the mother of the illegitimate William Hodgkinson Arkwright isn't conclusive. But is it persuasive? The host of the website “Landed families of Britain and Ireland”, Nicholas Kingsley, may be privy to some inside information. Within his biographical details section for Sir Richard Arkwright, he notes that Sir Richard accommodated his mistress in Derwent House, situated within the grounds of Willersley Castle: “…He also had a long-term affair with Ada/Ellen Hodgkinson, whom he installed in Derwent House in the grounds of Willersley Castle, and by whom he had: William Arkwright alias Hodgkinson (1775-1856), born 1st October 1775 and baptised 8th January 1786 at the age of 10; married, 29th August 1797 at Darley (Derbyshire), Ann Pidcock and had issue; died at Derby, 12 March 1856…” - https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/07/175-arkwright-of-willersley-castle-and.html 2A02:C7C:BE3A:B00:490E:3D79:48CF:29BA 21:15, 22 July 2024 (UTC)