the ainscough family - origins and background
The origin of the name
The Ainscoughs have their origins in the north of England, although whether the name comes from the borders, from Yorkshire or from Lancashire itself is uncertain. It may be a variation of the Yorkshire name Askew, from the place name Aiskew in what is now North Yorkshire. Other variants on Askew include Haskew, Hascough, Ascough, Haskow, Ayscough, Askey and Haskey. Names that crossed from Yorkshire to Lancashire often picked up a letter "n" in the process – Ayscough becoming Aynscough, for example. Another source describes it as deriving from the Saxon aiks keogh – an oak wood. There are many variations on the spelling in early documents such as parish registers, census returns and the registers of births, marriages and deaths, but the most common early form is Ainscow. Perhaps this is a clue to its original pronunciation - people spelled as they spoke in the days before spelling was standardised - although Ralph, my grandfather, used to say that it was pronounced Ainsker by older Lancashire folk. One Ainscough - the Charles born in 1818 to Ralph Ainscough and Nanny - actually changed his name to Insker on moving to the Midlands as a young man. Whatever the variations in spelling might be -–and I've read every variant under the sun–- the form most commonly used here is Ainscough.
The Lancashire mining and mill villages and towns
Blackrod, Arley, Haigh and Aspull are all villages in central Lancashire. From the 15th and 16th centuries up to the mid-20th century, coal was mined in this area, with the town of Wigan as the main focus. Horwich, where my father and grandfather were born, was a mill town rather than a mining town and contained bleach, paper, ceramic and printing works, as well as a large locomotive works. Up until the mid-18th century, coal was carried from the pithead to its destination in foundries and maritime ports by wagon. This was slow, expensive and damaging to the public roads on which the wagons were travelling. In the middle of the 18th century, the canal system came into being, with the Leeds to Liverpool canal passing north close to the village of Red Rock, near Arley. The railway systems followed in the early 19th century, making the transportation of coal cheaper and faster. The first formal map of the area–- drawn in 1849 - shows a mass of disused and working coal pits scattered in large and small clusters around the villages. As well as the usual coal that we know today, the area was also rich in a very clean-burning, high quality type of coal known as cannel coal. High in quality it was, but also high in risk, as this type of coal seam produced large quantities of flammable coal gas.
Other families on the male line
The Winward side of the family, together with related families such as the Coops, Mangnalls, were mainly weavers - silk weavers in the earlier years and cotton weavers in later years - and flourished in the mill town of Westhoughton.. Early weaving was done on hand looms until the machinery kicked in, and this is reflected in the occupations listed in the census returns: frametenters, winders, etc. My branch of the Ainscough family moved to Westhoughton from Aspull in the late 19th century and continued there as miners. They married into the Hurst family, the male members of one family of this name being killed in the tragic Pretoria Pit explosion in 1910. The name Mangnall comes from the word "mangonel", a kind of medieval catapult or siege engine.
Families on the female line - Scottish and Irish connections
On the distaff side, Ralph Ainscough (1899) married Alice Waite (1898) who was born in Gorton in Manchester. Her father, John Waite (1860) was illegitimate. His mother, Mary Ann Bellingall (1828) had married draper Benjamin Waite in 1847 and had two daughters by him, but Benjamin died in 1856 and John was born in 1860. The Bellingalls were of Scottish origin - Ballinghall is an earlier form of the surname - from Edinburgh and, before that, from Kinross. John Waite married twice - the first time to Mary Sykes and then to Alice Boland (1859). Her parents, Thomas Boland and Ann Gilligan came from Naas in Kildare to Nottinghamshire in the 1850s, perhaps as a result of the potato famine. Thomas worked as a labourer and bricklayer, probably on the underground workings in the Welbeck Abbey estate of the 5th Duke of Portland, the eccentric William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck. The eventual melting pot for all these families - Bolands, Bellingalls and Waites - was Manchester.
The Ainscoughs have their origins in the north of England, although whether the name comes from the borders, from Yorkshire or from Lancashire itself is uncertain. It may be a variation of the Yorkshire name Askew, from the place name Aiskew in what is now North Yorkshire. Other variants on Askew include Haskew, Hascough, Ascough, Haskow, Ayscough, Askey and Haskey. Names that crossed from Yorkshire to Lancashire often picked up a letter "n" in the process – Ayscough becoming Aynscough, for example. Another source describes it as deriving from the Saxon aiks keogh – an oak wood. There are many variations on the spelling in early documents such as parish registers, census returns and the registers of births, marriages and deaths, but the most common early form is Ainscow. Perhaps this is a clue to its original pronunciation - people spelled as they spoke in the days before spelling was standardised - although Ralph, my grandfather, used to say that it was pronounced Ainsker by older Lancashire folk. One Ainscough - the Charles born in 1818 to Ralph Ainscough and Nanny - actually changed his name to Insker on moving to the Midlands as a young man. Whatever the variations in spelling might be -–and I've read every variant under the sun–- the form most commonly used here is Ainscough.
The Lancashire mining and mill villages and towns
Blackrod, Arley, Haigh and Aspull are all villages in central Lancashire. From the 15th and 16th centuries up to the mid-20th century, coal was mined in this area, with the town of Wigan as the main focus. Horwich, where my father and grandfather were born, was a mill town rather than a mining town and contained bleach, paper, ceramic and printing works, as well as a large locomotive works. Up until the mid-18th century, coal was carried from the pithead to its destination in foundries and maritime ports by wagon. This was slow, expensive and damaging to the public roads on which the wagons were travelling. In the middle of the 18th century, the canal system came into being, with the Leeds to Liverpool canal passing north close to the village of Red Rock, near Arley. The railway systems followed in the early 19th century, making the transportation of coal cheaper and faster. The first formal map of the area–- drawn in 1849 - shows a mass of disused and working coal pits scattered in large and small clusters around the villages. As well as the usual coal that we know today, the area was also rich in a very clean-burning, high quality type of coal known as cannel coal. High in quality it was, but also high in risk, as this type of coal seam produced large quantities of flammable coal gas.
Other families on the male line
The Winward side of the family, together with related families such as the Coops, Mangnalls, were mainly weavers - silk weavers in the earlier years and cotton weavers in later years - and flourished in the mill town of Westhoughton.. Early weaving was done on hand looms until the machinery kicked in, and this is reflected in the occupations listed in the census returns: frametenters, winders, etc. My branch of the Ainscough family moved to Westhoughton from Aspull in the late 19th century and continued there as miners. They married into the Hurst family, the male members of one family of this name being killed in the tragic Pretoria Pit explosion in 1910. The name Mangnall comes from the word "mangonel", a kind of medieval catapult or siege engine.
Families on the female line - Scottish and Irish connections
On the distaff side, Ralph Ainscough (1899) married Alice Waite (1898) who was born in Gorton in Manchester. Her father, John Waite (1860) was illegitimate. His mother, Mary Ann Bellingall (1828) had married draper Benjamin Waite in 1847 and had two daughters by him, but Benjamin died in 1856 and John was born in 1860. The Bellingalls were of Scottish origin - Ballinghall is an earlier form of the surname - from Edinburgh and, before that, from Kinross. John Waite married twice - the first time to Mary Sykes and then to Alice Boland (1859). Her parents, Thomas Boland and Ann Gilligan came from Naas in Kildare to Nottinghamshire in the 1850s, perhaps as a result of the potato famine. Thomas worked as a labourer and bricklayer, probably on the underground workings in the Welbeck Abbey estate of the 5th Duke of Portland, the eccentric William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck. The eventual melting pot for all these families - Bolands, Bellingalls and Waites - was Manchester.
