George BUCKLEY, 1791-1867, Publican; Warmingham, Cheshire, Eng

George BUCKLEY is the 3rd great-grandfather of the current living PERRY brothers, and the 4th great-grandfather of their children.

We believe he was born about 1790-1792 or thereabouts from his stated age on later censuses, in the parish of Warmingham, Cheshire, England. Photo on right is of the Warmingham Parish church: St Leonard's Church [CC copyright by Stephen Craven, photo taken July 20, 2006]

It is not yet clear who his parents are, as several George Buckley babies were baptised in parishes nearby. However, in Warmingham Parish where he lived his whole life, this one appears to be the most likely -  an illegitimate son of an Elizabeth Buckley.
It states that on October 3rd, George Buckley was baptised, illegitimate son of Elizabeth Buckley of Elton, a small village in Warmingham Parish, and that he was actually born the previous month on September 2nd, 1790. There were very few Buckley individuals or families in this parish. After searching over 80 pages of Warmingham Parish from 1744 to 1799, I can be quite clear that there were only five other Buckley individuals plus this Elizabeth, named, during that time and place. One marriage [not of Elizabeth], one burial, 3 baptisms, plus George's baptism. There seems no clue to details of his father, and of course, this line would not show the Y-DNA for Buckley surname.

We need many more UK DNA tests to help tease out answers to such missing ancestor questions. Note there were records of illegitimate children baptised at least one or two children per page of  these parish registers.

The next time I was able to find anything about George BUCKLEY was when he married in Warmingham Parish at St. Leonard's Church, the parish church.

On February 3rd, 1823, when he was approximately 33 years of age, George married Hannah WRIGHT, the 21 year old daughter of  Charles and Anne WRIGHT.  From research I have found she had been born in Audlem, about 20km south of Warmingham Parish. Unfortunately, the register gives no further information on the two, including no details of George's occupation at the time.

I held my breath looking for this couple, George and Hannah BUCKLEY, living perhaps in Warmingham, in the 1841 Census. And there they were, 18 years later. George BUCKLEY, aged 50, occupation "Publican" [inn-keeper], born in the same county [Cheshire], wife Hannah, aged 40, and five children, as well as a teenaged boarder.


A Publican was quite a decent occupation, and George would have had to be licenced - which I have not yet found. In Warmingham, literally just down from St Leonard's church seen at the top of this blog, is an upscale boutique hotel & restaurant, "The Bear's Paw." This is described as a 19thCentury establishment which had a major renovation recently, see photo on left. Perhaps this might have been the area where George had his Inn? Perhaps. After all, Warmingham is a very small village.

Clearly, George did well. On the 1851 Census, he is seen living at the "Crown Inn" as a Publican & Farmer of 27 acres. He and Hannah are living with 5 children, plus two employees.

The list of children of George and Hannah I've been able to find to date, all baptised in Warmingham:,
  1.  Ellen [ancestor], bap. 25 Dec 1824, m. Aug 21, 1853 to Thomas Hepard ATHERTON; 7 children
  2.  Anne, bap 11 Sep 1825; does not show on the 1841/subsequent censuses
  3.  Betsy, bap 19 Oct 1828; does not show on the 1841/subsequent censuses
  4.  Kate, bap 18 Nov 1832; is on 1841 census, possibly married bef 1851 census
  5.  James, bap 1 May 1836; is on 1841, 1851, 1861 censuses
  6.  George jr., bap 24 Jun 1838; m. Eliza, bef 1861 (both living with George & Hannah)
  7.  Sarah, b. est 1840 [from 1851, 1861 Censuses]
  8.  Margret, b. est 1842 [from 1851 Census], does not show on subsequent censuses
  9.  Hannah, bap 20 Dec 1845; is on 1851 Census, does not show on subsequent censuses

I have not researched all of the Buckley siblings, partly due to their common names, and the difficulty in finding details of marriages of all these girls: 7 girls, 2 boys. I have a spreadsheet of all the Buckley names in Warmingham from the Parish Register... but of course the adult children could have moved further away, like up to Liverpool. Sigh. More research.

George BUCKLEY wrote his will October 9th, 1865, and died a year and a half later, March 10, 1867, aged 76 years.

His Will is over 2.5 handwritten pages long (transcribed into Will Book), and I've decided the lawyers charged him by the word; there is so much repetition of long convoluted phrases (not seen in all other nearby wills). In the end, there is a short note that the value of the Will assets was under £100 and that an inventory was not required. I have the entire transcribed will on file, but here on the left you can see the official Will Abstract, p.201, WILLS, 1867, Chester, Cheshire.

He mentions his son George frequently in this Will, plus John Lowe - possibly a son-in-law - who was administrator along with son George. No other children, sibllings or relatives were mentioned in the Will. He did mention his wife Hannah, so we know she would have died after him. I have yet not found a death record for her. Nor could I find her in an 1871 census after her husband's death; likely she was staying with one of her adult children.

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If you have more information or corrections to offer on this BUCKLEY-WRIGHT family, please contact me [at very bottom of page]. I am always happy to hear from other 'cousins' no matter how far away.

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