Hi everyone.
My name is John Shaw, and I am originally from Chorley in Lancashire. I am currently helping my uncle (Bob Shaw) research our family tree. My uncle has done a splendid job to date and has the Shaw family going back to the 1841 census, which documents a John Shaw (aged 45) and his family near Chorley. Living with this family is a man called James Shaw who is 90 years old. We think James Shaw is probably the father or grandfather of John Shaw.
To date we have not been able to find anything out about James Shaw other than his death certificate for 1842 and he is down as 90 years old. My line of the Shaw family we (my uncle and I) have always believed to be Roman Catholic. Searching the Births, Marriages and Deaths website I came across an entry in the Register of Baptisms for the Catholic Chapel in Richmond for a James Shaw of Gonnerset baptised in 1841.
Given:
1) Gonnerset is perhaps a possible alternative spelling for Gunnerside.
2) the Catholic population was 1% of the overall English population in 1751,
the chances are that James Shaw of Gonnerset is a possible good match for my ancestor James Shaw of Lancashire.
I was wondering if anyone in Gunnerside might have any knowledge of the Shaw family in the 1700s that they would be willing to share with me in the hope I can find a match, or disprove a link.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers