Early Grimshaw Family Lines in England and Ireland

Early Grimshaw families (or individuals for whom descendants have not yet been identified) have been found at Grimsargh, Eccleshill (moved to Clayton-le-Moors), Edisford, Cliviger, Oakenshaw, Pendle Forest, Yorkshire, Audenshaw, and Prestwich.

Contents


Webpage Credits

William Grimshaw of Grimsargh

Walter Grimshaw of Eccleshill

The Grimshaw Family at Clayton-le-Moors

Locations of Early Grimshaws at Grimsargh, Eccleshill, and Edisford

Richard and Adam Grimshaw of Cliviger

The Oakenshaw Line of Grimshaws

The Pendle Forest Line of Grimshaws

The “Irish” Line of Grimshaws

The Yorkshire Grimshaw Family Line

The Audenshaw Family Line of Grimshaws

Anne Grimshaw Married Hugh Shuttleworth and Continued that Family Line

The Prestwich Line of Grimshaws

References

Webpage Credits

Thanks go to Mavis Long for providing most of the information on the earliest Grimshaw family lines at Grimsargh, Edisford, and Eccleshill.

William Grimshaw of Grimsargh

Gilbert Grimshaw has not yet been dated, but Mavis found that William Grimshaw, born 1221 AD and “holding the Manor of Grimsargh in thenage” from 1242 to 1297, was the son of Gilbert Grimshaw.

Click here for the webpage by Mavis Long on Gilbert and William, the earliest Grimshaws found thus far.

Walter Grimshaw of Eccleshill

Walter Grimshaw was living at the Grimshaw location in Eccleshill by about 1250.
The Eccleshill Grimshaws lived at that location until it moved to Clayton-le-Moors because of a fortuitous marriage of Adam Grimshaw (great-great-grandson of Walter Grimshaw) to Cecily Clayton. This line has been well documented by Thomas Dunham Whitaker.

Click here for the webpage by Thomas Dunham Whitaker on Walter Grimshaw of Eccleshill, who was living there in 1250.

Click here for the webpage on Thomas Dunham Whitaker, excellent family historian for the Grimshaw family. 

The Grimshaw Family at Clayton-le-Moors

Walter Grimshaw’s descendants lived at Clayton-le-Moors from the mid 1300s until the late 1700s, when Mary Grimshaw married John Heywood, and their daughter, Rebecca Heywood, subsequently married Richard Lomax at which time the estate passed to the Lomax family.

Click here for the webpage on a summary of Grimshaw history at Eccleshill and Clayton-le-Moors.

Click here for the webpage on Clayton Hall, where the Grimshaw family lived until it died out in the late 1700s.

Click here for the webpage on Richard Trappes-Lomax’s 1926 history of Clayton-le-Moors.

Walter Grimshaw of Edisford

Walter de Grimshaw, who died about 1316-17, is reported to have been the warden of a house for those afflicted with leprosy. The location of the leper house was at Edisford, just across the Ribble River (to the west) from Clitheroe. Thomas Dunham Whitaker provided a summary of the history of Edisford Hall, including the role of Walter de Grimshaw and the presence of an artifact with a griffin on it. No line of descendants has yet been developed for Walter Grimshaw of Edisford.

Click here for the webpage on Walter Grimshaw of Edisford, apparently a contemporary of Walter Grimshaw of Eccleshill.

Click here for the webpage on Thomas Dunham Whitaker, excellent family historian for the Grimshaw family. 

Locations of Grimshaws at Grimsargh, Eccleshill, and Edisford

The earliest Grimshaws apparently lived in an area near the present community of Grimsargh, which is located a few miles northeast of Preston and northwest of Blackburn in Lancashire. Two of the earliest Grimshaws — both with the first name Walter — were apparently contemporaries (mid 1200s) but lived at different locations. One of the Walter Grimshaws was located at Eccleshill southeast of Blackburn, and the other was at Edisford, near Clitheroe (northeast of Blackburn). Many descendants of Walter Grimshaw of Eccleshill have been recorded, but none have yet been found for Walter Grimshaw of Edisford.

Detailed map of area around Preston and Blackburn showing the location of Grimsargh northeast of Preston. Other locations of importance to the family history (Clitheroe, Grimshaw Location, Clayton-le-Moors) are also indicated. Map source: Bing Maps.

PrestonBlackburnBingMapsWithLocations

Richard and Adam Grimshaw of Cliviger in 1310

Two Grimshaws, Richard and Adam, were living in Cliviger in 1310. Mavis Long has hypothesized that they were two of the sons of Walter Grimshaw of Eccleshill. Walter’s other two sons were Henry (the oldest) and William (the youngest). Descendants of Richard or Adam Grimshaw have apparently not yet been identified.

Click here for the webpage on early Grimshaws at Cliviger, hypothesized by Mavis Long to be the sons of Walter Grimshaw of Eccleshill.

The Oakenshaw Line of Grimshaws

One of the earliest Grimshaw lines to emerge from the main stem of Eccleshill and Clayton-le-Moors Grimshaw was the Oakenshaw line, which was started by John Grimshaw and Elizabeth Aspden. John Grimshaw was the son of Adam Grimshaw who married Cecily Clayton and initiated the move from Eccleshill to Clayton-le-Moors.

Click here for the webpage on the Oakenshaw Grimshaw family line.

Click here for an excellent description of the Oakenshaw line by Richard Trappes-Lomax.

The Pendle Forest Line of Grimshaws

Thomas Dunham Whitaker prepared a large and complete descendant chart for Nicholas Grimshaw, who lived in Sabden and initiated the extensive Pendle Forest Line of Grimshaws. Research for this website has established a clear connection of the Pendle Forest line to the more senior Clayton-le-Moors line.

Click here for the webpage on the Pendle Forest line of Grimshaws.

Click here for the connection of Pendle Forest line to the more senior Clayton-le-Moors family.

Click here for the webpage on extensive history of the Pendle Forest Grimshaws published in the Preston Guardian in 1877. 

Click here for the webpage on Nicholas Grimshaw of Sabden.

The “Irish” Line of Grimshaws

Nicholas Grimshaw was from Blackburn and apparently emigrated to Ireland in about 1776. He started the cotton textile industry in that country when he built the first cotton twist mill in 1784. Nicholas and Mary Wrigley were married in Manchester in 1768. Nicholas was the son of Nicholas and Susan (Briercliffe) Grimshaw (who can be seen on the right side of the Pendle Forest descendant chart on a companion webpage) and the grandson of Nicholas Grimshaw and Anne Grimshaw (of Oakenshaw), who are described in the Pendle Forest line of Grimshaws.

Click here for the webpage on the “Irish” line of Grimshaws.

The Yorkshire Grimshaw Family Line

An important Grimshaw family, in terms of descendant family lines, was the family of Edward Grimshaw and Dorytye (Dorothy) Raner, who were married in 1602. They started a line of Grimshaws in Yorkshire that is one of the largest, and best documented, in the world. Several descendants of Edward and Dorothy Grimshaw line emigrated to America.

Click here for the webpage on the Yorkshire line of Grimshaws.

The Audenshaw Family Line of Grimshaws

The earliest known progenitor of this Grimshaw family line was George Grimshaw who was born in 1600 and married Emme Telier or Taylor. This line was described in John Angus Skeet’s “A History of the Families of Skeet, Widdrington, Wilby, Murray, Blake, Grimshaw, and Others”. It is referred to as the “Audenshaw” line because that was how it was referenced by Skeet. Skeet did not show a connection of the Audenshaw Grimshaw line to the earliest recorded Grimshaw line of Walter de Grimshaw (see companion webpage), and the connection has apparently not been made since his publication.

Click here for the webpage on the Audenshaw line of Grimshaws.

Anne Grimshaw Married Hugh Shuttleworth and Continued that Family Line

Anne Grimshaw was the fifth child of Thomas and Margaret (Harrington) Grimshaw of the Clayton-le-Moors line of Grimshaws. In 1540 she married Hugh Shuttleworth of Gawthorpe, located about four miles northeast of Clayton Hall. The descendants of Hugh and Anne (Grimshaw) Shuttleworth comprise one of the more distinguished family lines of Lancashire. Gawthorpe Hall, a significant historical landmark in the region, was built by the sons of Hugh and Anne between 1600 and 1604.

Click here for the webpage on Anne Grimshaw who married Hugh Shuttleworth in the 1520-1530 timeframe.

The Prestwich Line of Grimshaws

A major line of Grimshaws in Lancashire was established in Prestwich, northwest of Manchester, apparently in the 1600s or earlier. Readily available records indicate that the earliest Grimshaw recorded in Prestwich was a John Grimshaw, who died in 1671. Three Grimshaws — John, James and George — were likely the sons of John and started families in Prestwich in about the same timeframe around 1680. All three are recorded as living on Rooden Lane. John Grimshaw married Alice Crompton, and James Grimshaw married Maria Crompton.

Click here for the webpage on the Prestwich Line of Grimshaw.

Webpage History

Webpage posted April 2011. Finalized in February 2013 with addition of introductory paragraphs for each family line.

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