William Finch (Born abt 1774) - A weaver of Lancaster

To be frank: the search for remote ancestors can be a little bit of a gamble and some people take what the British call ‘a punt’ on the likely ancestors, that is, they randomly choose from a range of likely options. I am sure that some ‘punts’ or ‘guesses’ are likely to succeed and some choices are far more convincing than others. Less satisfactory are the choices made from a range of ancestors likely to provide a link to a famous person or a ‘desirable’ relative. This can be seen as ‘family tree surgery’ where we unintentionally remove, or add, branches that are desirable

When researching from the digital record and with no immediate ability to check the paper record, I came across the problem of John Finch and the parentage of John Finch (1804-1846). There are a number of people called John Finch in both Wigan and Standish in the period and this brings the research to a halt in many ways. Just how do we decide on the most likely option from the digital sources available? Which is the correct Finch and in what period?

The issue of the correct Finch and how to take the research backwards in time is amplified by the rendering of the name for the wife of William Finch married on June 2 1794 at St Mary’s Church in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. William Finch as a name is easy enough and he is identified as a weaver of Lancaster and he marries Jane Kissack a spinster of Lancaster. However, a problem occurs with Jane’s maiden name which is variously rendered as ‘Gueswick’, ‘Keswick’, ‘Heswick’ and possibly even ‘Keathwick’ for the birth of her children although if we search and cross compare against different digital records we can make a ‘choice’ of Jane Kissack as the most likely mother for John and the wife of William. Have a look at the IGI and other records to see the many options and possibilities for the spellings.

At this point we are somewhat left lacking further information as the online record goes cold and we cannot further refine our knowledge of William Finch. However, William Finch is a weaver and the idea of a weaver from Lancaster coming to Standish in the early 19th Century seems quite reasonable. In effect, William was leaving what may have been a quiet rural backwater and heading for a centre of hand weaving that was increasingly to turn into a centre of power looms and mechanisation. Wiliam was taking his new wife to a centre where their skills could benefit them most. This is speculation although perhaps not unreasonable

Try this page for a debate on weaving and Wigan/Standish(http://www.wiganman.co.uk/Content/history/hand_weavers-1.html)

It does mean that this part of the Finch family present in Standish and Wigan may not always be seen as Wigan/Standish family and perhaps should be seen as a Lancaster family. The link with William and Jane also opens up the possibility for a link to the Isle of Man as ‘Kissack’ is a name that originates on the island. Place ‘Kissack’ into Google and see what happens. Unfortuantely, I cannot see a way of taking this forward and we may have to accept this link as speculative although possible.

In essence, the link to William Finch and Lancaster is speculative at the moment and we need to confirm or refute the link.