I'm looking for information on the birth of Joshua Bruck. I have found a baptism in Ecclesfield Parish Church in January 1799, states mother only as Lydia Bruck. There is thoughts that he may have been born in Ecclesfield Workhouse but I can't find any records to search online. Anyone able to shed any light on this? Thank you.
Hi Karen,
There is a baptism on Family Search website for a Lydia Bruck..Bapt: 11th Feb/1781 St Mary's Church, Ecclesfield, father Joseph Bruck.
If this is Joshua's mother she would have been about 18 (or older) when she gave birth.
Here on Sheffield Indexers website under Parish Records/Marriages there is a marriage between:
John Bruck (of Bright Street age 22 (c.1832) married May 22/1854 to Hannah Smales age 19 (c.1835) res: Grimesthorpe. Father of John is Joshua Bruck...father of Hannah is William Smales occ:Miner.
As to whether Joshua was a workhouse birth is a mystery, there was a workhouse at Ecclesfield built in the 1730's called Feoffees House or Hall situated on St.Mary's Lane West. It was formerly an Almshouse.
HAPPY HUNTING:sleuth_or_spy:
Thank you for your reply and the information. I already had the info for John & Hannah but have hit a brick wall with descendants of Joshua. To make matters worse, I have found 2 Lydias - one with father Joseph and another with father Samuel - the question is: which way should I jump? Samuel is a name which appears further down the family chain whereas Joseph doesn’t. Decisions, decisions!
The original copy of the 13th January 1799 baptism for Joshua states that he was "Bd" ie illegitimate, and was from the Workhouse. The workhouse could well have been the Bradfield workhouse, rather than the smaller Ecclesfield workhouse. The local records are searchable at https://bradfieldarchives.co.uk/ and the Bruck/Brook surname can be found in various categories for example the b*stardy bond orders. There would likely be records at the workhouse through childhood until the inmate was released/removed.
Hi Dave,
When looking for parents of Joshua Bruck, and finding Lydia, I then looked at the Ecclesfield baptisms for Lydia and found two which I felt perhaps fitted the age Lydia may have been.
Lydia Bruck 11 FEB 1781 daughter of Joseph (18 at Joshua’s birth)
Lidia Brook 29 OCT 1775 daughter of Samuel (25 at Joshua’s birth)
Surname keeps changing between Bruck/ Brook/ Brooke so either could be correct. Hence my dilemma.
I have also found a marriage between Joseph and Martha Butterfield and possibly their graves in Ecclesfield churchyard. Martha died in 1797, so if this is the mother of Lydia she would not have had a mum around when she gave birth to Joshua perhaps resulting in her being in workhouse? I’ve no firm proof about anything though! Any help gratefully received. Thank you.
Joshua Bruck was baptised St Mary Ecclesfield in February 1799. No indication of birth date.
The two possible mothers called Lydia were born 1875 d of Samuel of Wardsend and born 1881 d of Joseph of WHITLEY
On 22 April 1799 at St Mary Ecclesfield there is a marriage of Lydia Brook (sp) to George Hargrave (bat) and ON THE SAME DAY IN THE SAME CHURCH Joel Hargrave, son of George, is baptised.
Joel is on the 1871 Census where it says he was born in WHITLEY.
Coincidence?
Dave
What I do know, is that Joshua lived in Thorpe Hesley and was an iron minor married to Sarah (Parkin) with 6 children, one being Alfred who we know to be a direct descendant. Source: 1841 census.
Because of this, I don’t think the Hargreaves link is connected - but I thought exactly as you do when I found it!
Been trying to solve the conundrum for more years than I care to mention!