Her's hoping that a troublesome brickwall can be demolished....

I have a William Russell born abt 1806 - 1808, whereabouts uncertain.

The 1841 census shows him in Blackburn, Lancashire with son, Jonathan born abt 1831 and daughter, Ellen born abt 1837. No Wife shown, states born in County.

HOWEVER...

1851 census has him in Blackburn, birthplace could be either Appley B, Westmorland or Appleby, Westmorland.

1861 still in Blackburn, birthplace reads Borough Bridge, Westmorland.

William dies in 1868. His second marriage to a Julia Murphy stated his father was William Russell, Farmer.

Have checked for presence of the surname Russell in the Appley Bridge/Burscough Bridge area of Lancashire, and the name pops up infrequently. It appears to be more prevalent in the Westmorland area, and I'm interested with any connections to the Russell name to see if I can pin the Russell roots down to Westmorland as opposed to Lancashire.

Regards,
Sally (Buckinghamshire, UK

Hi Sally,

Could Borough Bridge (as per 1861 census) be Borrow Bridge?

Borrow Beck starts at Fawcett Forest in the chapelry of Selside in the Parish of Kendal. It flows through Borrowdale and joins the River Lune at Borrow Bridge, about 2 miles south of Tebay (M6 J38).

It may be worth checking the PRs of Selside, Grayrigg, Kendal and Orton if you have not already done so.

Regards

Chris