Person:John Linney (1)

Childhood

John Linney was baptised on 5th March 1815 at Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, son of a washerwoman named Mary Linney, formerly Tring, and her husband Thomas Linney, an agricultural labourer. John appears to have been the second of at least seven children. At least one of John's grandparents was still alive when he was born: his paternal grandfather Thomas Linney senior, who died in 1825, when John was ten.

Adulthood

John was married on 29th May 1836, aged 21, to Eliza Hickinbottom. She was 20 and also from Leighton Buzzard.

Leighton Buzzard was to be one of the first towns in the area with a railway station, when the London and Birmingham Railway opened its Leighton station in April 1838. The station was actually just over the county boundary (at this point the River Ouzel) into the neighbouring parish of Linslade in Buckinghamshire, and a new Linslade started developing around Leighton station, quite some way removed from the original Linslade village. Later in 1838 John and Eliza had a son named George.

The 1841 census finds John, Eliza and young George living at Brickhill Road - probably either the modern Heath Road or Plantation Road, leading from the town to the Heath and northwards towards Great Brickhill. John was working as a labourer. John's elder sister Hannah and her husband James Williams and their three children were living in the same house, as was a Sarah Brandom and her young son - Sarah would go on to marry John's brother Samuel in 1844. John's parents and some of his younger siblings were living on the east side of town at America Place, with Thomas Linney working as a railway labourer.

John and Eliza continued having children: Rachel Ellen in 1841 and twins called Martha and Susannah in 1844. They then moved across the river from Leighton Buzzard to Bossington Lane in Linslade, where they had a son named Samuel in 1850. The 1851 census finds John, Eliza and their children living at Linslade Road in Linslade. John was working as a farm labourer. John's parents were still living at America on the east side of town, but all their children had now left home.

John's father Thomas died in 1854, aged 66. Later that year John and Eliza had a daughter named Jane, born at Linslade. They then moved back across the river into Leighton Buzzard, where their youngest child, William John, was born in 1858. In September 1860 John's mother Mary was admitted to the Three Counties Asylum at Stotfold, over twenty miles from Leighton Buzzard. She spent the last six months of her life there, dying in March 1861.

The 1861 census finds John and Eliza and their family living at Parrotts Piece to the north-west of Leighton Buzzard town centre. Six of their seven children were still at home. The one who wasn't was their daughter Rachel Ellen, who had gone to live in Luton, probably using the branch railway line which had recently opened from Leighton Buzzard to Dunstable and Luton. Rachel was married in Luton shortly after the 1861 census, and John became a grandfather at the age of 46 when Rachel's first child was born later that year.

By 1871 John and Eliza were still living at Parrotts Piece, along with five of their children. They also had two young grandchildren living with them, both of whom appear to have been their daughter Susannah's children. Their daughter Rachel by this time had five children, mostly born in Luton but one, Sarah, born in Leighton Buzzard in 1865, suggesting Rachel had spent some time back with her family in Leighton Buzzard. Their son George had married in 1864 and was still living in Leighton Buzzard with his wife and step-children at the time of the 1871 census, but does not appear to have had any children of his own.

John died at Parrotts Piece on 15th September 1871, aged 56. Eliza outlived him by nearly twenty years, and remarried in 1875.

1. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Leighton Buzzard (All Saints) Parish Registers, 1562-1981. (Bedford: Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Serrvice).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Leighton Buzzard in the County of Bedford in the Year 1815
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   141	March 5th	John Son of	Thomas & Elizabeth	Linney	Leighton	Labourer	J. Wilson, Vicar

   This baptism has been linked to the adult John Linney who married Eliza Hickinbottom in 1836 on the following grounds:
   A. John consistently claimed in the censuses to be born about 1811-14 at Leighton Buzzard - an 1815 baptism could either indicate slight inaccuracies in the age he later claimed to be, or that he was not a newborn baby when baptised.
   B. In the 1841 census he is living in the same house as Hannah Williams formerly Linney, for whom the most plausible baptism is Hannah daughter of Thomas and Mary Linney in 1812.
   C. Also in the 1841 census John is living in the same house as Sarah Brandom, who three years later would marry Samuel Linney son of Thomas Linney - Samuel appears to have been baptised in 1818 at Leighton Buzzard as son of Thomas and Elizabeth. Samuel also appears in the 1841 census living in Leighton Buzzard with a Thomas and Mary Linney and other Linney children, including Caroline who was baptised in 1821 as daughter of Thomas and Mary. Caroline was certainly sister to Hannah, as in the 1851 census Caroline has Hannah's daughter Mary Ann living with her and described as niece.
   
   Taken together these facts suggest that Hannah, John, Samuel and Caroline were all children of a Thomas Linney, but the baptisms found give differing mother's names - Mary or Elizabeth. This could indicate one of three things:
   1. Thomas Linney was married first to a Mary, then an Elizabeth, then another Mary; or
   2. There was more than one Thomas Linney and therefore Hannah was not a sister to John and Samuel.
   3. There is a mistake on the parish records as to the mother's name.
   
   Number 1 seems unlikely; the only Thomas Linney marriage found locally is that of Thomas Linney and Mary Tring in 1810. There is no sign of the death of a Mary wife of Thomas Linney between 1812 and 1815, nor a remarriage of Thomas to Elizabeth, nor the death of an Elizabeth wife of Thomas Linney between 1818 and 1821, nor the remarriage of Thomas to a different Mary.
   Number 2 would need there to be two Thomas Linneys living locally and having children in the 1810s and 1820s, one married to a Mary and one married to an Elizabeth. There was another Thomas Linney, who was buried at Leighton Buzzard in 1825, aged 72. It is possible he was still having children right up to the time of his death, albeit less likely given his age. There was a Thomas Linney marrying Elizabeth Franklin in 1778, but she would have been too old to still be having children by the 1810s and 1820s, and moreover "Elizabeth wife of Thomas Linney" died in 1803. More fundamentally there is no sign of the Elizabeth wife of Thomas Linney anywhere other than three baptisms between 1815 and 1818. If there was a second couple, what happened to the mother Elizabeth?
   Number 3 is therefore considered most likely. There was one couple, and they were Thomas Linney and Mary Tring, who married in 1810 and had:
   Hannah in 1812
   John in 1815
   Samuel & Eliza in 1818
   Caroline in 1821
   Baptisms for other children after 1821 have not been located, but the 1841 census coupled with later marriage certificates also shows that there was also a James in about 1824 and William in about 1829.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 5; Book 21 part 2; Folio 15; Page 25, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Brickhill Road, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   James Williams, male, 35 [1801-6], Labourer, not born in county
   Hannah Williams, female, 30 [1806-11], born in county
   Sarah Williams, female, 7 [1833/4], born in county
   John Williams, male, 4 [1836/7], born in county
   Mary Ann Williams, female, 11 months [1840], born in county
   ~ [second household in same house] ~
   John Linney, male, 25 [1811-16], Labourer, born in county
   Eliza Linney, female, 25 [1811-16], born in county
   Geo[rge] Linney, male, 2.75 [1838], born in county
   Sarah Brandon, female, 20 [1816-21], Platter, born in county
   W[illia]m Brandon, male, 4m [1841], born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1756; Folio 235; Page 15, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Linslade Road, Linslade, Buckinghamshire
   John Linney, head, married, male, 37 [1813/4], Farm Labourer, b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Eliza Linney, wife, married, female, 35 [1815/6], b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   George Linney, son, male, 12 [1838/9], Farm Boy, b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Rachel Linney, daughter, female, 9 [1841/2], Plaitter, b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Martha Linney, daughter, female, 5 [1845/6], b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Susan Linney, daughter, female, 5 [1845/6], b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Samuel Linney, son, male, 8 months [1850], b. Bossington Lane, Linslade, Buckinghamshire

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1005; Folio 83; Page 2, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Parrotts Piece, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   John Linney, head, married, male, 47 [1813/4], Ag Lab, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Eliza Linney, wife, married, female, 45 [1815/6], Plaiter, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   George Linney, son, unmarried, male, 22 [1838/9], Rail[wa]y Lab, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Martha Linney, daughter, unmarried, female, 16 [1844/5], Plaiter, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Susan Linney, daughter, unmarried, female, 16 [1844/5], Plaiter, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Samuel Linney, son, male, 10 [1850/1], Ag Lab, b. Linslade, Buckinghamshire
   Jane Linney, daughter, female, 5 [1855/6], b. Linslade, Buckinghamshire
   William Linney, son, male, 2 [1858/9], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

5. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1561; Folio 60; Page 2, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Parrotts Piece, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   John Linney, head, married, male, 59 [1811/12], Agricultural Labourer, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Eliza Linney, wife, married, female, 55 [1815/6], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Susan Linney, daughter, unmarried, female, 26 [1844/5], Plaiter, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Martha Linney, daughter, unmarried, female, 26 [1844/5], Plaiter, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Samuel Linney, son, unmarried, male, 20 [1850/1], Agricultural Labourer, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Jane Linney, daughter, unmarried, female, 16 [1854/5], Plaiter, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   William Linney, son, unmarried, male, 12 [1858/9], Agricultural Labourer, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Jane Linney, granddaughter, female, 3 [1867/8], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Ada Linney, granddaughter, female, 3mo [1870/1], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

6. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Leighton Buzzard
   1871 Death in the Sub-district of Leighton Buzzard in the Counties of Bedford and Buckingham
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   22	Fifteenth September 1871, Parrotts Piece, Leighton Buzzard	John Linney	male	63 years	Farm Labourer	Pneumonia, Certified	X the mark of Rebecca Chamberlain, Present at the Death, Parrotts Piece, Leighton Buzzard	Fifteenth September 1871	James Mead, Registrar

7. ↑ Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette
   19 Sep 1871.

   DEATHS.
   LINNEY.-On the 15th inst., at Parrott's Piece, Leighton Buzzard, John Linney.