Grewelthorpe

Bolton family details

Bolton family from Grewelthorpe area.

Information taken from census and parish records records.

Last update Jan 2021.


Thanks to David Sawyer for information about Boltons in West Tanfield. [March 2019]

Many branches of the Bolton family would appear to originate in the Parish of West Tanfield. The earliest Tanfield records relate to the children of Benjamin Boulton who was buried 1723 Tanfield. His children include William b 1685, Benjamin b 1687, Elizabeth b 1690, John b 1695 and George b 1698.

Of interest is the presence of Bolton records in the neighbouring Parish of Wath and Kirklington. I would suggest that the Christopher Bolton mentioned in the Rolls patent was buried Kirklington Jan 1579. The only child of Christopher recorded is George born appx 1558, died and buried Wath 1633. George’s children Christopher b 1580, Henry b 1583, Anna b 1586 and Elinor b 1588 were all Baptized in Wath. Henry b 1583 had two sons who had children Baptized in Wath, Henry b 1624 and Peter b 1634. Henry’s children were all born at Hewick Bridge and Baptized in Ripon. Peter has one registered son Christopher b 1663. After that there are no more Wath baptisms for members of the Bolton family. The only potential connections I can see between the records in the two parishes are that Henry 1624 was buried in West Tanfield 1683. Whether that represents a drift into the Parish of Tanfield is debatable. The recurrence of George as a Christian name would suggest a connection.
If you would like to contact David please contact the site first.


Letter from Elaine Gifford in June 2013.

I enjoyed finding your Grewelthorpe website yesterday when I searched for Thomas Ambler Bolton, of whom there are two that I know of ‘ the first was born in about 1816, son of Thomas Bolton of West Tanfield, and died aged 52 on 15 Dec 1868 in Basford NTT where he was Vicar. I don’t know how these two fit in with my known Bolton forebears, but the naming of a second Thomas Ambler Bolton suggests there is a connection somewhere.
The other Thomas Ambler Bolton was the brother of my great-grandfather, born in the June quarter of 1858, son of another Thomas Bolton, the one you have correctly listed as marrying Elizabeth Gatenby.
I was born Elaine Bolton and from my Bolton research would like to affirm most of the entries you have for ‘my’ Boltons.

I shall add a little information and make one correction.

Thomas Bolton, born c 1826 at North Stainley (father was George Bolton, farmer) and Elizabeth Gatenby, born c 1821 (parents John Gatenby, farmer, & Hannah Croft daughter of Robert Croft, blacksmith of Kirkby Malzeard) were married on 13 Feb 1850 at Kirkby Malzeard.
Their children were all born in Kirkby Malzeard:
John Gatenby Bolton, born 9 Oct 1852, married Annie Elizabeth Andrew
Ada Bolton, born March quarter 1855
Zilla(h) Bolton, born December quarter 1856. Have not verified her death in 1880 at Bedale, unmarried.
Thomas Ambler Bolton, born June quarter 1858. Possibly died in Halifax aged 72 in 1930.
Gatenby Robert Bolton, born 3 October 1859.

G R Bolton was my great-grandfather. At Huddersfield on 1 August 1882 he married Florence Lucy Presto, born London, 1861, daughter of Thomas Presto & Lucy Parker.

Gatenby and Florence then sailed to South Australia where the first of their four children was born in Adelaide on 14 July 1883.

G R Bolton died on 20 July 1933 and Florence Lucy Bolton died on 26 August 1944, both in Tailem Bend, South Australia.

Your entry for ‘Robert Gatenby Bolton’ should be Gatenby Robert Bolton, who was visiting England in 1911 with his wife and daughter.

If anyone is interested, I can tell of their life in Adelaide, Broken Hill and Tailem Bend, and their numerous descendants.

John Gatenby Bolton, brother of G R Bolton, had, among others, a son John Gatenby Bolton in 1894 who in turn had a son John Gatenby Bolton in 1922 who became the astronomer in Australia who developed the radio telescope which tracked the Apollo 11 Moonwalk. He was awarded a CBE in 1982. A book is being written about him.

I hope this information is helpful to you or to others with whom you have contact.

Elaine Gifford.

If you would like to contact Elaine please email Barbara Bradley on this site.

ADA ANNIE BOLTON Married 10.9.1898 to Frank Kitchingman in Ripon Cathedral. Had 2 children Hilda Maria [1902] William [1911]. Frank was in the Royal Army Medical Corps in WW1 enlisting at age 45. Regt No. 154124.
ADA BOLTON. Born C1855 Kirkby Malzeard. Dau of Thomas of North Stainley. & Elizabeth Gatenby.
ADA BOLTON. Born 24.4.1883 Grewelthorpe. Dau of Robert & Elizabeth. Started Grewelthorpe school 1.6.1888 left in 1889.
ADA BOLTON. Born C1906 Grewelthorpe. Grand daughter of Emma Bolton.
ALFRED NEESOM BOLTON. Born Sept 1869 West Tanfield. Died Dec 1941. Son of William & Margaret Neesom. Married Frances Ann Handley. of Markington in Dec 1899. He was a joiner.
ANN BOLTON. Born C1819 West Tanfield. Dau of William & Dinah.
ANNIE BOLTON. Born C.1864 West Tanfield. Dau of Thomas [Invalid] & Eliza. Sister of John Thomas [b.1866].
ARTHUR BOLTON. Son of Emma. married Sarah Emma. he was a farmer and ganger. His sons William & Christopher were living with grandmother Emma in 1911.
CHARLES BOLTON. Born C. 1829 North Stainley. Farmer Azerley in 1881. Married to Susanna Foster. born Burton Parks in 1837.
CHARLOTTE BOLTON. Born C.1825 North Stainley. Wife of George of Azerley.
CHRISTOPHER JOHN ASCOUGH BOLTON. Born 25.1.1911.Bap. 12.3.1911 Grewelthorpe. Son of Arthur & Sarah Emma. Started Grewelthorpe school 8.4.1918 left in 1925. Married Emma Coates. in January 1936 in Ripon Cathedral. Mr. F.Leathley. was best man.
CLARENCE BOLTON. Born C. 1895 Masham. Son of John Thomas & Rhoda Baul.
EDITH JANE BOLTON. Born 13.9.1881 Grewelthorpe. Dau of Robert & Elizabeth. Started Grewelthorpe school 16.1.1888 left to be a servant girl in 1895.
ELIZABETH BOLTON. Born 1805 Died 1855. dau of George & Margaret. married Thomas Todd. of Nosterfield. on 7.3.1825. Had 11 children. Lived West Tanfield.
ELIZABETH BOLTON Wife of Thomas of West Tanfield. Died 1837 aged 94. [Ref Leeds Mercury 1837].
ELIZABETH BOLTON. Born C. 1844 North Stainley. Dau of George & Charlotte.
ELIZABETH BOLTON. Born C.1856 Masham. Wife of Robert of North Stainley.
ELIZABETH BOLTON. Born C. 1888 Salford Lancs. Grand daughter of Mary C. Bolton. Could be dau of Henry, Emily or Georgina.
EMILY BOLTON. Born C. 1858 Grewelthorpe. Dau of George & Charlotte.
EMILY BOLTON. Born C.1865 Grewelthorpe. Dau of Mary C. Bolton.
EMMA E. BOLTON. Born C.1868 Laverton. Dau of Charles & Susanna Foster.
EMMA BOLTON [nee Ascough]. Born C. 1877 Grewelthorpe. Died Jan 1940 in Hull. Had dau. Ada Bolton and 2 sons William & John. Sister of C.J.Ascough. Emma married in 1905. In 1911 she was helping on farm with Emma Pennington. Grewelthorpe.
EMMA BOLTON [ nee COATES]. Dau of Joseph Coates. of Sunderland. Wife of Christopher J.A.Bolton. Married Jan 1936.
GATENBY ROBERT BOLTON. Born 3.10.1859 Kirkby Malzeard. Died 20.7.1933. Son of Thomas of N.Stainley & Elizabeth Gatenby. Married Florence Lucy Presto. of Huddersfield. on 1.8.1882. Emigrated to Australia. in 1883. Ref letter at top of page.
GEORGE BOLTON. Born C1698 West Tanfield. Married Thomasina Bourne.
GEORGE BOLTON. Born C1767 West Tanfield. Died 1856. Son of Marmaduke & Margaret Burn. Married Elizabeth Auton. in 1793 West Tanfield.
GEORGE BOLTON. Born 1773 West Tanfield. Died 7.4.1862 Grewelthorpe. Son of Thomas & Elizabeth Burn. Married Margaret of W.Tanfield.[1773-1862].
David Sawyer sent a correction to this entry.
I would suggest that George was Baptised Tanfield 10 Mar 1776 and was married in Kirkby Malzeard 1 Mar 1806 by licence to Mary Gill of KM. I can see no evidence of a second marriage and they were buried together at West Tanfield. Their monumental inscription bears out their respective birth dates. It would appear that George farmed at Azerley before moving to North Stainley and spending his later life in Grewelthorpe. The inscription reads “Mary wife of George Bolton of North Stainley who died June 22 1848 aged 60 also the above George Bolton who died at Grewelthorpe April 7 1862 aged 86. The children’s birth records that I am aware of are, Elizabeth 1807, George 1808, Mary 1810, Jane 1812, Ann 1814, all Baptised at Kirkby Malzeard, and William 1817, Isabella 1819, John 1821, Thomas 1825, Charles 1827, all Baptised at Ripon.

Grave of George & Mary Bolton. West Tanfield churchyard.

GEORGE BOLTON. Born C1794 West Tanfield. Died 1868. Son of George & Elizabeth Auton. Married [1]*Ann Gaunt* of Leeds in 1819. [2] Harriet Dufton. of Leeds in 1849.
GEORGE BOLTON. Born C.1810. Azerley. Husband of Charlotte of North Stainley. Living West Tanfield in 1861.
GEORGE WILLIAM BOLTON. Born C. 1845 Tailor Kirkby Malzeard. Son of George. Married on 31.12.1866 at Kirkby Malzeard church to Mabel Gill. [b.1846] dau of William Gill. Stonemason. Witness at wedding. George Thirkill.
GEORGE BOLTON. Born C. 1847 North Stainley. Son of George & Charlotte.
GEORGE HENRY BOLTON. Born 1883 West Tanfield. Died March 1913 Bedale. Son of William & Margaret Neesom. Married Mary Elizabeth.
GEORGINA A.BOLTON. Born 18 May 1864. Grewelthorpe. Died 23 March 1954 age 90. Buried Ripon cemetery.[Ref Yks Post newspaper]. Dau of Mary C. Bolton. A school teacher Living Salford Lancs 1891. In 1939 she lived Ashlea Grewelthorpe. Unmarried. old aged pensioner.
HENRY BOLTON. Born C.1860 West Tanfield. Son of George & Charlotte.
HENRY BOLTON. Born C.1862. Grewelthorpe. Son of Mary C.Bolton. widower in 1891. Clerk. Living Salford Lancs.
JANE BOLTON. Born 1817. Buried 26.9.1879. Grewelthorpe.

Report of death of Jane Bolton. 1879.


JANE THACKRAY BOLTON. Born 1851. Buried 13.9.1876. Grewelthorpe.
JANE ANNIE BOLTON Born 1863 West Tanfield. Died 1943. Dau of Wm. Henry & Margaret Neesom. Married in 1885 to George Bray. a Brick yard worker from Dacre Banks.
JOHN GATENBY BOLTON. Born 9.10.1852. Died 1923 Guisborough. Son of Thomas of North Stainley. & Elizabeth Gatenby. Married Annie Elizabeth Andrew. in 1875.
JOHN GATENBY BOLTON. Born 1894. Son of John Gatenby Bolton [b1852.]
JOHN BOLTON. Born C.1853 Langthorne. Son of George & Charlotte.
JOHN THOMAS BOLTON. Born C1866 Tanfield. Carter. Married in 1894 to Rhoda Baul. [b.1871] of Grewelthorpe. In 1911 living in Masham with wife & 4 children.
JOHN HENRY BOLTON. Born C. 1899 Masham. Son of John Thomas [the Carter] & Rhoda Baul.
JULIA BOLTON. Born 1.2.1851. Died 3.5.1935 Canada. Dau of Thomas of North Stainley & Elizabeth Gatenby. Married John Benson. of Bedale in 1873.

MABEL BOLTON [Nee Gill]. Born C. 1846 Dau of William Gill. Stonemason. Married on 31.12.1866 to George William.
MABEL BOLTON. Born C. 1886 Masham. Dau of *Mary Fishpool [Nee ?].*of Tanfield. In 1911 living Masham with her Mother & StepFather.
MARMADUKE BOLTON. Born C1730 West Tanfield. Son of George & Thomasina Bourne. Married Margaret Burn. in 1763 in West Tanfield.
MARTHA ANNIE BOLTON. Born C. 1901 Masham. Dau of John Thomas [Carter] & Rhoda Baul.
MARY C. BOLTON. Born C.1831 West Tanfield. Widow in 1891 living Salford Lancashire.
OLIVE BOLTON. Born C. 1904 Masham. Dau of John Thomas [The Carter] & Rhoda Baul.
RHODA BOLTON [Nee Baul]. Born C1871. Grewelthorpe. Married in 1894 to John Thomas [The Carter]. Living Masham 1911.
RHODA BOLTON. Born 12.4.1889 Grewelthorpe. Dau of Robert & Elizabeth. Started Grewelthorpe school 28.4.1892 left the village in 1892. She returned to school in 1897 after having attended Holy Trinity school. She left finally in 1898. later went to California.
ROBERT BOLTON. Born C.1847. North Stainley. Buried 13.5.1893. Grewelthorpe. Husband of Elizabeth of Masham. Classed as blind in 1861. Living Grewelthorpe in 1891.
SUSANNA BOLTON [Nee Foster]. Born C.1837 Burton Parks. Dau of Mariannie Foster. [b. 1802 Buckinghamshire.] Married to Charles of North Stainley. Living Azerley 1881.
THOMAS BOLTON. 1601 Vicar of Kirkby cum Masham. Yorkshire.
THOMAS BOLTON. Born C1744 West Tanfield. Son of George & Thomasina Bourne. Married to Elizabeth Burn. in 1768 West Tanfield.
THOMAS BOLTON. Born C1781 West Tanfield.Died 1868. Son of Thomas & Elizabeth Burn. Married to Hannah Ambler. of Wakefield. 1861 He was the Secretary of Savings Bank in Wakefield. He was a widower.
THOMAS BOLTON. Born C. 1826 North Stainley. Son of George. Married Elizabeth Gatenby. in 1850.
THOMAS BOLTON. Born C1840 Nosterfield. Married to Eliza of Nosterfield. He was an invalid living in Masham in 1891.
THOMAS AMBLER BOLTON. Born 1858 Kirkby Malzeard. Possibly died in Halifax in 1930. [see letter at top of page]. Son of Thomas of N. Stainley & Elizabeth Gatenby. In 1901 he was a House Painter in Blackpool.
WILLIAM BOLTON. Born 1836 West Tanfield. Died 13.2.1913 W.Tanfield. Son of George [the Butcher] & Ann. Married Margaret Neesom. in 1862.
WILLIAM ALFRED FARR BOLTON. Born 11.9.1909. Bap. 8.11.1909. Son of Arthur & Sarah Emma. Arthur was a farmer & a Ganger. In 1911 William was living with grandmother Emma Bolton. William started Grewelthorpe school 3.4.1916 left in 1923.
ZILLA BOLTON. Born 1857. Died 1880 Bedale. Dau of Thomas of N.Stainley & Elizabeth Gatenby.

Message from Dennis Bolton June 2012.
My family originated in West Tanfield. I have a great deal of information on the Bolton family from the West Tanfield area, my problem is working out the relationships between the different individuals. At the moment, the only ones I can be positive about are,
&gt, 1 william and Dinah
&gt, 2 their daughter ann , born about 1819
&gt, 3 her son james who moved to leeds about 1880
&gt, 4 his son Charles william, my grandfather, born 1888
&gt, 5 his son denis charles, my father
&gt, 6 his son denis william, myself
&gt, I am sure there will be connections with your Bolton names, also some of the other names that I recognise, I congratulate you on the website and appreciate the information,thank you.Denis Bolton
&gt,