Don’t worry about the fact that both Robert and Ellen’s surnames seemed to change during their life. They couldn’t read and write, so their names were spelt differently by each person who had to write them.

According to Robert’s entry in the 1841 census, he was born about 1801. Unfortunately, this census doesn’t give towns of birth, so it’s going to be difficult to find out which parish he comes from to see if he has a birth/baptism entry. We do know though that he was born in Lancashire, as was Ellen.

On 14 October 1822 Robert DEARDEN, of this parish and chapelry, weaver and bachelor, married Ellen HALSTED, of this parish and chapelry, spinster, at St Peter’s Church, Burnley. Both made a mark X. The witnesses were James Hey and James Hargreaves who, as far as we know, were not family members - maybe we’ll find out with more research.

On 15 February 1827, several of their children were baptized at the York Street Sion Baptist Chapel. Apparently, Baptists didn’t normally baptize their children soon after birth, but waited a while. These are the details:

Sarah daughter Robert and Ellen DUREDEN Cop Row Whalley [Cop Row is in Briercliffe, Burnley, not Whalley] born 21 Jan 1825;
John son ditto born 29 August 1827;
Mary daughter ditto daughter 23 September 1833;
Jonathan son ditto born 6 August 1836.

1841 census for Cop Row, Briercliffe, Burnley

Robert Dearden     40 Weaver Y (yes - born in Lancs.)
Ellen Dearden      36 Y
Sarah Dearden      15 Y
John Dearden       13 Y
Mary Dearden        6 Y
Jonathan Dearden    4 Y
Bernard Dearden     1 Y

A few doors down, still in the CopRow, was another family of Deardens, with similarly named children, which makes us wonder if the two fathers, Robert and William, might have been brothers. (It was normal at this time for families to repeat the same first names through several generations.) They both called their oldest boy John, which could indicate that their father’s name is John. This is the other family’s details:

William Dearden    39 Weaver Y
Mary Dearden       39 Y
Sarah Dearden      18 Y
Mary Dearden       17 Y
Jane Dearden       15 Y
John Dearden       13 Y
Jonathan Dearden   11 Y
Joshua Dearden      7 Y
Nanny Dearden       5 Y
William Dearden     3 Y
James Dearden       1 Y
Levi Dearden 3 months Y

(On the IGI, I’ve found a marriage between William Duerden and Mary Kippax on 8 April 1822, which I think is probably this couple.)

1843

We’ve been very lucky that in 1843 somebody visited the Cop Row and described the tremendous hardship that was taking place then. In 1974, Roger Frost took these series of essays and put them into a book called "A Lancashire Township". Even luckier is that the author mentioned our ancestor Robert Duerden by name. Here are some of the details.

The Cop Row was 40 cottages, mostly in three rows, then on one side of the road between Lanehead and Haggate. (They are still there, I understand on Burnley Road, Briercliffe). Despite the hardships experienced by the people living there, the author describes the idyllic surroundings:

"They had fine views looking across the fields of Best Pasture to Walshaw and the wooded banks of the Don...hedges of hawthorn and elder, white with flowers in the Spring and heavy with berries in the Autumn; farm animals grazing in the fields; lichen studded walls and rustic, overgrown wooden fences near the farm."

The Cop Row was also a community. It had four shops and two beer shops. After talking about the hardship in general terms, he mentions that six heads of household were in receipt of dole, including:

"Robert DUERDEN was in receipt of dole with a total income of twelve shillings for a family of eight. He and his wife have no flannels to change in....they have worn those they have on eleven weeks without washing.... The family only had two beds, they were in need of another blanket for one of these and, according to the visitor, the family need another bed very much, but owe a deal of rent, they all need stockings very much."

Our family was not as badly off as some, as others only had rags to go on their beds, and their clothes were in rags.

Further down the Cop Row was:

"William DUERDEN, also a weaver, had a family of ten, but only two beds and was in need of blankets." (This is the same William Duerden mentioned in the 1841 census, who might be a relative.)

The reason for all this poverty is that the country was said to be in the grip of an economic recession. Apparently, conditions were at their worse in 1843. After that, things began to slowly improve.

3 June 1845

A boy, James, was born to Robert and Ellen DUERDEN at Cop Row, Burnley. James was our ancestor.

And this is the last official mention we’ve been able to find about Robert and Ellen. We’ve searched the indexes for the 1851 and ‘61 censuses for Robert Duerden, but haven’t been able to find him. He’s certainly not in the Cop Row. Perhaps he had died, or moved out of the Burnley area. At the moment we just don’t know.