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9. The Mordaunt Family in Lancashire

   
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This page is regularly added to or corrected as I discover or am given more information. Any information you can provide about your family members, past or present, would be very welcome. Please forward to henry@mordaunt.me.uk.
This page was last amended in July, 2022.

Contents


Introductory notes

The registration of birth, marriages and deaths was introduced in Britain in 1837 but was not made complusory until 1872. Complete censuses began in 1841

Indexes and summaries of these record have been transcribed onto several website of which I have used www.ancestry.co.uk. Transcribed by hand, there are numerous and inevitable transcription errors but they are still good starting points before visiting or contacting the National Archives to see the originals

The 1841 census lists only 70 Mordaunts in England. It soon becomes clear that many are missing and that the real number could be even double that figure but, even so, by any standards it was not a common surname. Lancashire was one of the three main clusters of Mordaunt families in the British Isles in the mid 19th Century; the others were the London area, inevitably, and County Wexford in Ireland.

The 1841 census shows 5 Mordaunt Family Households in Lancashire, the 1881 census, seven, the 1891 census, eight. It is a reasonable supposition that there was a relationship between several of them, especially those living in close proximity in the Ormskirk, Aughton and Bickerstaffe area.


Earliest references

    In 1543 John Mordaunt, Knight, Lord Mordaunt, Robert Mordaunt and others were plaintiffs in a case of deforciant (Law : A person who deforces another or keeps him wrongfully out of possession of an estate. From "deforce" (verb, transistive) - Law : To keep (something) by force or violence (from the person who has a right to it); to withhold wrongfully - O.E.D.) against Henry Farington, Knight, over the manor of Farington and a sizeable area of other land, messuages, mills, cottages and rent in Farington, Preston, Leyland and Ulnes Walton. While "Lord Mordaunt" is self-explanatory, I am not entirely certain as to John Mordaunt, Kt, or Robert Mordaunt
    William Mordaunt "of Oakley" (in Bedfordshire) and his wife Agnes clearly had interests in the manors/estates in Preesall with Hackinsall in the period 1540s - 1570/80s.
    It was William and Agnes's daughter Jane Mordaunt who married Richard Bold and was in possession of Bold Manor when, as a widow, she later married John Edwards of Chirk although two thirds of estate where sequestered in fines for recusancy in 1612.


Ormskirk registration district

    At the start of the period for which I have found record, the Mordaunts were living in the Ormskirk area, including Aughton, Bickerstaffe, Dalton, Lathom and Skelmersdale. Over the following period some of them inevitably drifted towards the growing port of Liverpool. The evidence is that most of the Mordaunt's of Lancashire were Catholic, perhaps a remnant of the "notorious recusant" family of the 16th/17th centuries or perhaps suggesting they were returnees from Ireland. Notwithstanding, they were obliged to use the Anglican churches for marriages and burials and occasional baptisms. Especially helpful are the many Lancashire parish records that volunteers have put on-line. Unfortunately, the records are not always complete. The earliest record I have found to date is:

  • George Mordaunt is recorded as marrying Jenet Latham on 19th May 1756 in the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the parish of Ormskirk. "Jenet" seems to have been a family name among the Lathams around that time. Both were past the age of requiring parental consent and were therefore over 21 years.

    The Lancashire parish records then show a number of Mordaunts born very soon after this wedding. It is possible they were brothers and sisters, George and Jenet's children. It is also possible they were cousins. Either way, they were clearly the "next generation" from George and Jenet. They in turn were followed by the "third" generation, born in the 1780s and 1790s, and then a "fourth," born in the 1810s and 1820s".

    • Mary Mordaunt (b. before 1758 - ?) married James Radcliffe on 15th February 1779, old enough not to require parental consent, and therefore, unfortunately, her father's name is not recorded. They had eight known children, their baptism's all recorded at the Anglican parish church of St Peter and St Paul, Ormskirk: William Radcliffe, baptised 31st May, 1779; Thomas Radcliffe, baptised 17th September, 1780; John Radcliffe, baptised 3rd March, 1782; Jenet Radcliffe, baptised on 18th January, 1784; George Radcliffe, baptised 18th September, 1785; Elizabeth Radcliffe, baptised 8th July, 1787; Nancy Radcliffe, baptised 19th July, 1789; Sarah Radcliffe, baptised 28th December, 1789.
      I am very grateful to Sylvia Rowe in Australia who kindly wrote and provided additional information on this family

    • John Mordaunt (abt 1759 - 1813), was buried in the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 18th August 1813.

    • William Mordaunt (abt 1760 - abt 1823).
      • John Mordaunt, son of a William Mordaunt, was buried at the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 30th April 1794. There may have been another William but, if this is the same one he must have named his next son John as well.
      Probate records held by Lancashire County Council Records Office dated 1833 for William Mordaunt (abt 1760? - 1823), a labourer of Lathom, husband of Margaret (abt 1750 - ?), exist in which she declined administration of the meagre estate in favour of her son, John. A William Mordaunt was buried in the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 22nd September 1823, aged 63 years. The probate records are a little confusing to someone not used to them, but it seems their son was most likely:
      • John Mordaunt (abt 1794 - 19th May 1839), born in Aughton, married 1. Catherine Baldwin (abt 1791 in Ormskirk - 4th November 1831) on 28th September 1820 in the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Ormskirk. At the baptism of Edward he was described in the parish record as a gardener, but by the birth of William he was an innkeeper. He appears as the innkeeper of the Swan Inn, Burscough Street, Ormskirk (see page 14, para. 4.6), in Baine's 1824 directory and Pigot's in 1834. A monumental inscription in St. Mary's Catholic church, Aughton, lists John, Catherine, and children Sarah and William, although their burials were at the Ormskirk Anglican parish church of St Peter and St Paul.
        Only two months after the death of Catherine, John had married 2. Alice Pye (abt 1801 in Aughton - before 1881), on 9th January 1832, but they do not appear to have had any children. John having died in 1839, Alice is shown in the 1841 census as the innkeeper at the Swan Inn in the West Derby district, living with her step children, William, aged 15, and Margaret, aged 13, and her own daughter from a previous marriage, Elizabeth Pye. Alice, in turn, married a farmer, James Valentine, at St. Peter and St. Paul, Ormskirk, on 13th February, 1844, and he is shown as the licensee in the 1846 Slater's directory.
        John and Catherine had children:
        • Edward Mordaunt. (25th May 1822 - 19th December 1863). He was baptised in Lathom Chapel, Ormskirk, on 16th June 1822. In the 1841 census he was living in Liverpool, working as a bookkeeper. He is listed in the 1851 census as being born in Latham and living in Liverpool with his first wife, 1. Catherine née Croft (abt 1823 - 1858). whom he married in 1844 at St. Bride with St. Saviour in Liverpool, their three elder children and his sister Margaret. In the 1861 census he is described as a commercial traveller. He seems to have married 2. Eliza Garner or Hartley (? - 1874?) in St. Anne's, Stanley, in 1862. He died the following year at 57 Church Road, Stanley, described as a cashier, and his children from his first marriage seem to have been scattered. His effects were valued at under £600, not a bad sum then, probate granted to his widow. Was she the Eliza Mordaunt, widow, who died 20th April, 1874, at Arrow Street, Liverpool? If so, she looked after her money, her effects were valued at under £800!
          • Catherine (Margaret?) Mordaunt (1845 - ?) was born in Toxteth Park district. In 1870, at St. Helen's, Sefton, she married Griffith Edwards from Anglesey, described in the 1871 census as a grocer's salesman living in Walton, Lancs. They could afford a general servant to live in. In the 1881 census he was described as a builder.
          • William Mordaunt (abt 1848 - 1886/1901?). He was baptised on 15th March, 1848 in St. Simon's, Liverpool.
          • Edward Albert Mordaunt (1850 - 1876/7) was born in Stanley, Liverpool district. He is not mentioned after the 1861 census but he moved to New York where he married Jesse Hermiston, a Scottish Canadian. Their son was born in New York but they seem to have returned to Liverpool for his baptism in 1875, the record of which describes him as a grocer living in Everton. He died shortly after, back in New York. In the 1900 US census, Jesse and their son were living in their own house in Manhattan, but they seem to have moved to the UK soon after.
            • Edward Albert Baldwin Mordaunt (6th January, 1875 - ?) was born in New York but was baptised in St. Peter's, Liverpool, on 4th July, 1875. He became a publisher. He and his mother were recorded living in their own house in Manhattan, in the 1900 US census. Soon after they moved to the UK, perhaps to pursue his claim the the title of Earl of Peterborough.
              I am grateful to my correspondant, Simon Radcliffe, Edward Albert Baldwin's 4th cousin, 3 times removed, who wrote to me in June, 2022, with extracts from the British Newspaper Archive, one and two which tell of a claim Edward was making to succeed to the title of Earl of Peterborough through George Mordaunt, son of Rev George Mordaunt, youngest brother of Charles, 3rd Earl of Peterborough (See the Earls of Peterborough webpage). As Edward's family came from Ormskirk, the claim also involved the Rev Henry Mordaunt, Rector of St. Cuthbert's, Halsall, Ormskirk, another grandnephew of Charles Mordaunt, 3rd earl. There appears to be no newpaper articles about the result to the claim, which was presumably refused.
              A web search under Edward A B Mordaunt will bring up his work "Index to Obituary and Biographical Notices: In Jackson's Journal Newspaper, 1753 - 1853," from which I obtained useful information about the children of Charles, 4th Earl of Peterborough and his first wife, Mary Cox. All else I have so far been able to find out about him was that he married Mabel Fruin (abt. 1889 - ?) on 5th July, 1910, at St. George the Martyr, Queen Square. They are recorded in the 1911 census living 12 Hamilton Road, Dudding Hill, Willesden. I presume Mabel is the Mrs Edward Mordaunt listed in the Willesden phone book at 4c Sidmouth Parade, Sidmouth Road, Willesden, in 1933.
          • Arthur Mordaunt (1852 - 1888). was born in Stanley. In the 1881 census he was boarding in Everton, working as a pawnbroker's assistant. Living in Islington, Liverpool at the time of his death he actually died in Bath Street, Southport. Perhaps he had given his name to the pawnbrokers Parr and Mordaunt of Islington mentioned in an 1889 criminal court case.
          • Florence Alice Mordaunt (1855 - ?). She is not mentioned in a census after 1861 but there a record in the National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) of a Florence Alice Mordaunt, spinster, of 24 Branksome Avenue, Bournemouth, probate of whose sizable effects of £9,360 19s. 6d. was granted in Liverpool. I have not found another likely candidate but, if so, what had she been doing and where did she get that money?
          • Amy Maud(e) Mordaunt (1857 - ?) was registered in the West Derby district. Presumably because her father had been a commercial traveller and she was now orphaned, although she did have a step-mother, she gained admittance to the Commercial Travellers' School for Orphans and Necessitous Children in Pinner, Middlesex, where she was listed in the 1871 census in Pinner, Middlesex, a very long way from home. She became governess to a family in Toxteth (1881 census) and married William Richard Blackburn in West Derby district in 1888.
        • Sarah Mordaunt (abt 1823 in Aughton - 1826) was buried at the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 31st December 1826
        • William Mordaunt (19th January 1824 in Latham - 13th February 1848). He was baptised in the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 15th February 1824. In the 1841 census he is described as a cabinet maker living with his step-mother Alice and sister Margaret. He then disappears from the Internet records.
        • Margaret Mordaunt (b. abt 1828). There were two unmarried Margarets born about 1828 (see daughter of George Mordaunt below) and they are easy to confuse. This one, aged 13, was living with her step-mother Alice and brother William in the 1841 census. She was living with her brother Edward and his family in the 1851 census and was still there for the 1861 census, after the death of Edward's wife, caring for his family. She is mentioned in the 1871 census as staying or living with her niece Catherine in Walton, Lancs, described as a dressmaker. Perhaps Catherine was pregnant with her eldest son, John? She married John Spragg (abt 1833 - ?) on 11th May 1873 and they both then disappear form the records.

    • Thomas Mordaunt (abt 1761 - abt 1826), a labourer of Lathom is probably the Thomas Mordaunt who married Ellen. Probate records held by Lancashire County Counil Records Office dated 1833 (see pages 1, 2, 3 and 4) show Thomas Mordaunt, a labourer of Lathom, husband of Ellen (described as aged 70 and therefore b. abt 1763 - ?) who declined administration of his meagre estate in favour of her son, John Mordaunt, a farmer. Thomas Mordaunt, age given as 65, was buried at the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 29th January 1826
      • Nancy Mordaunt, named as a daughter of Thomas and Ellen Mordaunt was baptised in the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 23rd October 1785.
      • Alice Mordaunt, named as a daughter of Thomas Mordaunt and
      • William Mordaunt, named as a son of Thomas Mordaunt were both buried on the same day, 5th April 1794, in an apparent double tragedy at the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul. Unfortunately their age was not recorded.
      • John Mordaunt, named in the will. I have not been able to sort out to my satisfaction from a surfeit of Johns and Ellens at the time which one was he.

    • Ann Mordaunt (? - 1781) is named as the daughter of a George Mordaunt of Lathom. She was buried in the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul 21st February 1781. Unfortunately her age was not given.

    • An Ellen Mordaunt (abt 1776 - ?) is listed in the 1841 census living with children, 35 yr-old agricultural labourer John Mordaunt and 35 year old Jane Mordaunt. Remember, ages in the 1841 census were often rounded down to the nearest five years. Also living with them was a 10 year-old George Dickinson, a grandson. Ellen disappears from the records after 1841. The question mark is whether this Ellen is the same widow of Thomas. The age disrepancy between the 1833 probate record and the 1841 census record is 13 years and daughter Nancy would have been born when this Ellen was 9 years old. Also, the son of the Ellen in the will was described as a farmer. This Ellen's son, John, is described as an agricultural labourer - a marked distinction at the time.
      • Alice Mordaunt (abt 1797 - ?) born in Aughton, Lancs, whom I am guessing is a daughter of Ellen and who married Thomas Dickinson and is presumably the mother of 10 year-old George. She is listed in the 1861 census being visited by her sister, Jane.
      • John Mordaunt (abt 1799 - ?), described as an agricultural labourer in the 1841 census. I presume he is the John Mordaunt, agricultural labourer, born in and lodging in Lathom in the 1861 census. The death of a John Mordaunt in the Ormskirk district, born about 1805, is recorded in 1894. The death of a Jane Mordaunt, born about 1805, is recorded in 1879 in the Ormskirk district.
      • Jane Mordaunt (abt 1805 - ?), After the 1841 census she is listed the 1861 census, visiting her sister or sister-in-law, Alice Dickinson.

    • Jane Mordaunt, (abt 1771 - ?) is listed in the 1841 census as living independently in Ormskirk district with a living-in servant, Alice Fazackerley. The will of a Jane Mordaunt (née Taylor) who died 6th June 1843 had no children and left everything to her brothers, sisters and their children and £10 each to Rev. Dennett and his two sisters. Maybe she was the widow of John (abt 1759 - 1813) above? Otherwise it is difficult to see where she fits in.

      Very much the third generation but I have found no hint as to whose son he may have been was:

      • George Mordaunt (abt 1792 - 1873), born in Latham, who is listed in the 1841 census, working as a wheelwright in Bickerstaffe. His wife was Ellen (or Helen), née Watkinson, (abt. 1795 - 1850s). With them was daughter, Mary. They had a number of other children, not all of whom are found simply in the Internet records; they were very efficient at pushing their children out to make their own way in the world. Who was George's father? Unless he was very much out of favour, he was not the eldest son of William or Thomas, as his calculated birthdate precedes the two Johns who inherited their fathers' chattels. But, people in those days seemed very uncertain on dates and ages and so the dates may be wrong and he is a younger son of William. Then there is the older John Mordaunt, whose only reference I have found so far is his death in 1813. Could he have been the father?
        The appear again in the 1851 census when son Thomas and daughter Ellen (not recorded at home in the 1841 census) were with them and grandsons Robert and James. That creates a mystery, who were the parents of Robert and James? By the 1861 census, George was a widower and only Thomas was with his at home, which was the case also in the 1871 census.
        • John Mordaunt (abt 1814 - 16th September, 1879). He was baptised at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Aughton on 1st April, 1814). In the 1841 census he was working at the house/farm of his mother's father, James Watkinson, in Bickerstaffe with his sister Ann. By the 1851 census his sister Margaret had replaced his sister Ann. They were still together at the 1861 census but had moved into their own home. They seem to have moved again for the 1871 census. He died in Bickerstaffe, aged 66 years, probate on his Will granted to his sister, Margaret and another..
        • Thomas Mordaunt, (abt 1815 - 1893). In the 1841 census he was lodging separately in Bickerstaffe, age given as 25 years, servant to the Catholic priest. He was back home with his parents for the 1851 census, described as an agricultural labourer. Thomas and his father George were living alone in the house in the 1861 census. After his fathers death he lives alone for a while (1881 census) and then lived with his sister Margaret (1891 census) in Liverpool Road, Ormskirk. On his death, probate was granted to his two unmarried sisters, Mary and Margaret, effects valued at just under £62.
        • Ann(e) Mordaunt was baptised 9th December 1819. She seems to have been employed with her brother in the house/farm of her grandfather, James Watkinson, in the 1841 census. This is her only mention in the census records. An Ann Mordaunt married Robert Bell in 1845 with the attendance of the Ormskirk registrar which suggests, to me, a Catholic marriage service.
        • Ellen Mordaunt (abt 1825 - 1900?) was absent at the time of the 1841 census but appears at home with her parents in the 1851 census. An Ellen Mordaunt of Bickerstaffe had been recorded as the mother of illegitimate Mary Hannah Mordaunt, baptised at St Paul's church, Skelmersdale, on 20 July 1845. This Ellen could possibly have been the mother. I have found no further mention of the child except that a Whittaker family tree on www.ancestry.co.uk. states that a Mary Mordaunt, born in Lancashire in abt. 1845, married Richard Mayo of Staffordshire before 1868, when their first child was born. I have not yet found another suitable candidate.
        • Margaret Mordaunt (abt 1828 - 1900?). There were two unmarried Margarets born about 1828 (see the daughter of John Mordaunt above) and they are easy to confuse. Where this one was at the time of the 1841 census, only 13 years-old, is not recorded, but she first appears in the Internet records in the 1851 census, living with and working for her maternal grandfather, James Watkinson. In the 1861 census and the 1871 census she was sharing houses with her brother, John. After his death death in 1879? she lived on her own and in the 1881 census was listed as an agricultural labourer but by the 1891 census she had been joined by her brother Thomas. She outlasted him 7 years, dying perhaps in 1900.
        • Mary Mordaunt (abt 1833 - ?). Aged 8 years, she was the only child listed at home in the 1841 census. By the 1851 census only 18 years-old, Mary is servant to a Catholic priest, Fr. Dowding, in Little Crosby, West Derby. At the 1861 census it was Fr. Thomas Hill. In the 1881 census she was recorded as being housekeeper to a priest in Monks Kirby, Warwickshire. In the 1891 census, still described as a 'housekeeper', and in the 1901 census, now 68 years-old and described as a "retired housekeeper", she was recorded in Chester at the home of George (described as a car driver) and Ellen Hellier, on both occasions described as a visitor. Visiting the same couple exactly ten years apart - what a coincidence! She died 8th January 1906 in the Hellier's house, 21, Brook Street, Chester. Probate of her effects, valued at £80, was given to Ellen Hillier, now a widow, and a John Pope, farmer.

          The 1851 census lists two grandchildren staying/living with George and Ellen in Bickerstaffe. There is no indication whose children they were.

          • Robert Mordaunt, (1844 - 1893) was born in Bickerstaffe. He is presumably the Robert Mordant (sic), aged 20, a carter, lodging in Walton in the 1861 census. In the 1871 census, there is a confusion of Roberts and their wifes Ann. There is Robert Mordaunt, aged 26, (therefore born abt. 1844-5), a carter, and his wife Ann, also aged 26, at 17 Ben Jonson Street, Liverpool, living in a house with a number of lodgers. Then there is Robert Mordaunt, aged 30, (therefore born abt. 1840-1), also a carter, and his wife, Ann, aged 27 (therefore born abt. 1843-4), living just down the road, at 26 Ben Jonson Street, again with a number of lodgers. Both were recorded as born in Liverpool. The easiest explanation is that they were the same couple. There was clearly good money in carting! Robert Mordaunt had married a widowed Ann Melia, née Molloy at St. Joseph RC Church in Liverpool on 17th March 1867. Robert is described as from Bickerstaffe but it is recorded, curiously, he did not know his parent's names (If he did nor know, how are we supposed to?). Ann is recorded as born in Castelbar, Hibernia(!). By the 1881 census, only one Robert Mordaunt, (now recorded as born abt. 1839 in Bickerstaffe), with his wife Ann (now recorded as born abt 1838 in Ireland), was recorded at no. 26 only, with a niece, Elizabeth Cochrane and assorted lodgers. No. 17 was then occupied by John and Margaret Cochrane (Anne Mordaunt's sister), a son, two daughters and a number of lodgers. In the 1891 census, Robert, age given as 50 years old, and a widower, was living at 9 Gerard Street, Liverpol, (www.ancestry.co.uk transcription error Morhardt) with a "house help," 49 year-old widow from Quebec, Margt. Benson(!), a 19 year old servant and, described as a boarder, 11 year -old Robert Cochrane, a nephew. He was still working as a carter and was back to being born in Liverpool!
            I am grateful to Joan ( aka AJ) Cochrane, who made contact through my Guestbook and kindly provided details of the 1891 census and Robert's marriage and death. She is 11 year old (in 1891) Robert Cochrane's granddaughter. Understanding the area better than me, she explains that Ben Johnson Street was rather a grim area and that, by moving to Gerard Street, Robert had moved to a marginally better area in Liverpool's "Little Italy." His old property in Ben Johnson Street was occupied by a several lodgers including Mary Cochrane, elder sister to little Robert.
          • James Mordaunt (1847 - ?), born in Bickerstaffe, appears out of the blue in the 1881 census (page 1 continued on page 2), an agricultural labourer living in Aughton with his wife, Elizabeth (abt 1855) and their children. By the 1891 census they had moved to Melling where they were still to be found in the 1901 census. In the 1911 census they were living in Prescott Road, Melling, with four of their children. The census records they had had a total of nine children (three died) so I have missed one somewhere.
            • Robert Mordaunt (1876 - ?) In the 1901 and 1911 censuses he was living at home, described first as teamster and in 1911 as a farm labourer.
            • William Mordaunt (1878 - ?). By the 1901 census he was a stoker in the Royal Navy, spending census night as a patient in the RN Hospital in Alverstoke, Hants.
            • Thomas Mordaunt (1880 - 1881) died in Aughton aged 1 year.
            • Ellen Mordaunt (1882 - 1882)
            • John Mordaunt (1887 - ?). In the 1901 and 1911 censuses he was living at home, descibed in the first as a general labourer but in 1911 as a bricklayer's labourer.
            • Mary Ellen Mordaunt (1891 - ?)
            • James Mordaunt (1896 - ?). In the 1911 census he was living at home working as a non-domestic gardener.
            • Joseph Mordaunt (1896 - ?). In the 1911 census he was a blacksmith's apprentice.
            In the 1901 census he was a minder of a threshing machine,living at Melling Mount, Melling

        Two more Mordaunts with clear associations with Bickerstaffe were James Mordaunt and a Robert Mordaunt who, in the 1841 census were apprentice blacksmiths in Bickerstaffe, living with their apprentice master. They may have been brothers but if not, James was possibly a son of George and Ellen above, while Robert was definitely the son of William and Hannah below.

        • James Mordaunt (abt 1822 - 1910). In the 1841 census he is working and lodging in Lower End, Bickerstaffe, as an apprentice blacksmith under a Francis Billington. He then appears in the 1851 census as a journeyman blacksmith still under Francis Billington but now at 68, Higher End. Bickerstaffe. Was that going up in the world? He married 1. Margaret Harrocks or maybe Horrocks, (abt. 1825 - before 1891), in 1852 in a ceremony attended by the Ormskirk registrar which suggests, to me, a Catholic marriage service, and continued to live in Bickerstaffe, working as a blacksmith and eventually taking on apprentices of his own. In the 1861 census (page 1 and page 2) he was described as a master blacksmith employing two men and three boys. They appeared again in the 1871 census and the 1881 census. He was a widower in the 1891 census, looked after by his two unmarried daughters.
          • Ann(e) Mordaunt (1853 - 13th December 1936). She was, presumably, the Ann Mordaunt who was working as a housemade at a school in Southport at the 1881 census. She was back at home for the 1891 census. In the 1911 census, Ann and her sister Ellen, both unmarried, were living together at 8, Hardacre Street, off Station Road, Ormskirk. She was still at the address when she died in 1937.
          • Ellen Mordaunt (1855 - ?)
          • George Mordaunt (1859 -?) He disappears from later census records but the death of a 9 year-old George Mordaunt was recorded in Bickerstaffe in 1868.
          Margaret seems to have died in 1864. In 1865, James married 2. Elizabeth Spencer or Watkinson (abt 1821 - 1882) also in a ceremony attended by the Ormskirk registrar which suggests, to me, a Catholic marriage service. She appears with him in the 1871 census but died in Bickerstaffe in 1882.
          In the 1901 census, widower James, now about 79 years-old with his daughters Ann (47 years) and Ellen (45 years). Also with them is a niece of unknown parentage, Margaret Mary Mordaunt see below.

          Another stray member of this family is

            • Margaret Mary Mordaunt, (abt. 1875 - ?), born in Eccleston. In the 1881 census she was described as the niece of John and Elizabeth Horrocks, possibly therefore the brother/sister-in-law of Margaret, wife of James, just above. Then in the 1891 census she is possibly the Margaret Mordaunt (sic), aged 16 years, living and working in a large confectionary factory in Southport. The age is right and I have not found another likely candidate. In the 1901 census she was with James, then a widower, again described as a niece. Mysterious.

        Some more unattached "third" generation Mordaunts are:

      • William Mordaunt married Hannah Howard on 12th June 1815, requiring parental consent. A William Mordaunt, (abt 1796 - 1825) aged 29 years from Skelmersdale, near Bickerstaffe, was buried at the Ormskirk parish church of St Peter and St Paul on 1st January 1826. A Hannah Mordaunt died in Liverpool district in 1847 and, described as living in Dalton and born abt. 1787, was buried at the church of St. Paul's, Skelmersdale, on 3rd September 1846.
        • Thomas Mordaunt (abt 1819 - 1887). A Thomas Mordaunt, aged 20, was listed in the 1841 census working as a servant to farmer John Fazackerley, in Lathom. Was it he? In the 1851 census he is listed in Liverpool, working as a brewer. He married Sarah Ann Richardson (abt 1823 - 1867) at St. John's, Liverpool, on 2nd June, 1850. Her place of birth was given as born in Dalton in the 1851 census but Ireland in the 1861 census! Both from the Bickerstaffe, Skelmersdale, Dalton area, they presumably had both been working in Liverpool. Sarah Ann died in 1867 and Thomas, apparently skipping the 1871 census, appeared in the 1881 census still in Liverpool, working as a general labourer. His place of birth was given as Dalton, just outside Skelmersdale. His death appears to be recorded in 1887.
        • Robert Mordaunt, (b. 1820s - ?). In the 1841 census, he was a trainee blacksmith in Bickerstaffe with James above. He then seems to disappear from the census records but, as already seen, a Robert Mordant (sic), blacksmith, married Martha Tasker at St. Nicholas's Church, Liverpool, on 13th June, 1847. Both were given as living in Burlington Street, Liverpool, clearly now much transformed since those days. While his brother Thomas signed his name in the register at his wedding with a neat hand, Robert appears to have been illiterate and had to make his "mark" in the register for his marriage. St Michael's church, Aughton, records Robert Mordaunt, a blacksmith, and his wife Martha Tasker at the baptism of their daughter, Elizabeth, on 13 August 1848. Martha does appears in the 1851 census with her two children, listed as married, the wife of a joiner, but with no mention of her husband, living in Kirkdale, West Derby district.
          • William Mordaunt (about 1845 - 1904?).
          • Elizabeth (Eliza) Mordaunt (1848 - ?), baptised on 13th August 1848. She appears to have married in 1872.
          A Robert Mordaunt was found not guilty of burglary at Liverpool Assizes on 11th August 1852. There were simply not that many Robert Mordaunts about at this time, so the suspicion has to be that these are one and the same Robert.
          Then, after apparently disappearing from the English records, a Robert Mordaunt, a blacksmith born in England abt. 1827, appears in the 1861 Canadian census living in Ontario with an entirely different family which started in 1857. Was it the same Robert? Had he abandoned his family? His descendents can be found on the Mordaunt Family in Canada and the Mordaunt Family in America webpages.
          His wife, Martha, too disappears from the records after the 1861 census by which time she had had another daughter,Phoeby (sic) Mordaunt (b. 1857), with still no mention of her husband.

      • Ann Mordaunt married John Lovelady on 12th February 1821, not requiring parental consent.

      • A John Mordaunt (abt 1799 - ?) is shown in the 1861 census records, described as an agricultural labourer lodging alone in Lathom Row, Lathom. The death records have a John Mordaunt, born about 1800 dying in the Ormskirk district in 1887, but with effects at probate valued at £128, it does not seem it was this one unless he was a miser/skinlint.

          Very much a "fourth" generation entry out of nowhere comes:

        • John Mordaunt (abt. 1824 - 1904) was born and farmed in Aughton. His wife Jane Rimmer (abt 1819 - 1893) was also born in Aughton. At the christening of their son, John, in 1853, he was described as a labourer. By the christening of their daughter Jane in 1856, he was described as a farmer. I have first found them in the census in 1871 when they are farming 17 acres in Aughton. As well as five children at home they had with them their 4 year-old granddaughter, Ellen Gardner. By the 1881 census they had been joined by another grandchild, Mary Alice Hodge, and by yet another for the 1891 census. A widower and perhaps 80 years-old by the 1901 census, he had collected yet another grandchild. At his death in 1904 the probate records him as a market gardener. They had children:
          • Ellen Mordaunt (1844 - 1878) married a Laurance or a James Gardner from Aughton and had (at least) one daughter:
            • Ellen Gardner (abt 1867 - ?). From the 1871 census she was living with her grandfather.
          • William Mordaunt (abt 1852 - 1902) married Jane Woods (abt 1857 in Aughton - ?) on 18th November 1879 in Aughton. In the 1881 census they are described as farming 10 acres of land, perhaps his father-in-law's, but in 1901 census he was working as a highway labourer living in Lydiate, described towards the end of this passage. In the 1911 census, Jane, as a widow, was living at Holly House Green, Aughton with her children John, Rebecca and Margaret.
            • John Mordaunt (1883 - ?). In the 1901 census he is living with his grandfather, working as a carter. In the 1911 census he was living with his widowed mother, working as a horseman on a farm.
            • Ellen Mordaunt (1886 - ?). In the 1911 census she was a live-in housemaid to the Moorby family at The Cottage, Granville Road, Aughton. (Hardly a cottage, it held a family of four with four servants!)
            • Jane Mordaunt (1888 - ?) married James Webster in 1910 in Christ Church, Aughton.
              • William Webster (1910 - ?)
              • Elizabeth Webster (1915 - ?)
              • Thomas Webster (1919 - 1996)
            • Rebecca Mordaunt (1890 - ?). In the 1911 census she was living with her widowed mother, working as a general domestic servant
            • Elizabeth Mordaunt (1893 - ?) was born in Lydiate. In the 1911 census she was a live-in servant to the Marshall family in Aughton.
            • Alice Mordaunt (1895 - ?) was born in Lydiate. In the 1911 census she was a live-in domestic servant to the Lawden family in Aughton.
            • Margaret Mordaunt (1897 - ?). She was still living at home in the 1911 census.
          • John Mordaunt (1853 - ?) was baptised in St Michael's Anglican church in Aughton, 16th October 1853. He married, in 1892, Mary Elizabeth (Mary Ellen in the 1911 census) Prescott (b. 1870 in Aughton) in 1892 at the church of Our Lady & St Nicholas with St Anne, Liverpool. In the 1901 census, further down the same page as his father, John, he was described as a yardman on a farm and in the 1911 census as a farm labourer. In 1901 and 1911 they were living in Swan Lane, Aughton. The 1911 census records they had had twelve children but three had died. I have only found records of ten childen. Perhaps they included a child his wife Mary had before her marriage, living with them in the 1901 census:
            • James Mordaunt (1893 - September 1970?) born in Aughton. At the 1911 census he was working as a labourer in his Aunt Alice (Mary Alice, below)'s market garden. Was he the James Mordaunt whose marriage to Amy Elizabeth Proudlove (abt. 1899? - 1949?) was recorded in Wheelock, Cheshire, on 14th October 1918? Was he the James Mordaunt, born May 1893, whose death was recorded in Ormskirk in September 1970? The death of an Amy E. Mordaunt was listed in Ormskirk in December 1949
            • John Mordaunt (1895 - ?) born in Aughton. In the 1911 census he was described as a domestic gardener.
            • Nancy Mordaunt (1897 - ?) born in Aughton.
            • William Mordaunt (1900 - ?) born in Aughton.
            • Thomas Roger Mordaunt (1902 - ?) born in Aughton
            • Robert Edward Mordaunt (1904 - 1904). Two children whose birth and death were recorded in the Ormskirk district fit a gap in the children of this otherwise fertile couple.
            • Josiah Mordaunt (1905 - 1905). I am guessing they were John and his wife Mary's.
            • Alice Ellen Mordaunt (1908 - ?) born in Aughton
            • Frederick Mordaunt (1909 - ?) born in Aughton
            • Rebecca E. Mordaunt (1911 - ?) born in Aughton. She married John Ashton in Ormskirk in 1939
              • Raymond M. Ashton (1942 - ?) was born in Ormskirk
              • Joyce Ashton (1944 - ?) was born in Ormskirk
          • Jane Mordaunt (1856 - ?) was baptised in St Michael's Anglican church in Aughton, 13th April 1856. She was the first of the children to be properly, officially registered. She married Edwin Tipping on 5th December 1879.
            • Jane Tipping (26th October 1879 - 1st July 1957)
            • Ellen Tipping
            • Alfred Tipping
            • Emily Tipping
          • Rebecca Mordaunt (b. 1858), married on 5th December 1878, James Hodge
            • Mary Alice Hodge (b. abt 1880). In the 1881 census she was living/staying with her grandparents.
            • Jane Hodge (b. abt 1883). From the 1891 census she was living with her grandfather.
          • Mary Alice Mordaunt (b. 1861). She was registered simply as Alice. In the 1901 census she was unmarried and still living with her father, John, together with a nephew, John (son of William, above), working as a carter, nieces Ellen Gardner and Jane Hodge and a grand nephew, John Gardner. In the 1911 census she is described as a market gardener, living in Victoria Cottage, Swan Lane, Aughton, with her 17 year-old nephew, James.
          In the 1901 census, father John, then 80 years old, is still described as a farmer. His daughter Mary Alice is listed as his housekeeper, grandson John (17 years) as a carter, granddaughters Ellen Gardner (34 years) and Jane Hodge (19 years) as domestic servants and 12 year-old great grandson, John Gardner was a scholar.

A curious incident

    One of the above must have been involved in a curious incident reported in The Times on 15th September 1863
    "EXTRAORDINARY PROCEEDINGS.-On Friday after noon, Mr. W.S.C.Standish, of Duxbury Hall, near Wigan, one of the magistrates for the petty sessional division of Chorley, Lancashire, formerly in the regular army, and at present holding the position of lieutenant in the D (Lord Skelmersdale's) troop of Yeomanry Hussars, came forward to answer the charges of having shot at a man named Michael Burke, and of having wounded another named Thomas Hesketh, on the highway in Lathom, near Ormskirk. It appeared that for some days Mr. Standish had been drinking rather freely, and on Tuesday last, about noon, obtained from a shoemaker in Tarleton, near Ormskirk, about an ounce and a half of No.3 shot. With this he loaded a cavalry pistol, and rode away. In the evening he came up to four harvestmen near Mathom-house. He presented his pistol at three of them in succession, firing at the third man, and hitting him on the shoulder. He then galloped off to Lathom-house, where he was met by Sergeant-Major Nunnerley, of Lord Skelmersdale's troop, to whom he delivered two pistols, one empty and the other charged, and began to talk incoherently about there being a riot at Ormskirk, and the troop being called out. After a short stay, Mr. Standish again took the road to Ormskirk. Presently they were met by Inspector Jervis, of the Ormskirk police, and Mr. Standish was called upon to surrender, but he declined to do so, turned his horse round, and galloped off furiously, brandishing his sword. While thus engaged, he came up to Hesketh and another man named Mordaunt. The latter threw himself down and escaped, but Hesketh received a cut on the chin and fell to the ground, where he was subsequently found bleeding. The police inspector obtained a horse and went in pursuit of Mr.Standish, but after riding about two miles all trace of him was lost, and the chase was abandoned. Mr.Standish eluded capture till Wednesday, at noon, when he was apprehended at Newburgh, a few miles from Ormskirk. He then said he was very sorry for what had occured; that it was a mad freak, and that he did not intend to hurt any of the men. The wounds were described as not in any way serious, Burke's being nothing more than an abrasion, and Hesketh's an incised wound about two inches long, but not deep. The pistol with which Burke had been shot appeared to have been loaded with blank cartridge only, and the charged pistol which Nunnerley received was found to contain a piece of paper, a thimbleful of powder, and a wad. Burke identified Mr.Standish, but Hesketh and his companion would not swear to him as he rode at them quickly, and was out of sight before they recovered themselves. For the defence it was contended that there had been no wounding within the statute. There was a total absence of malice on the part of Mr.Strandish, who had never seen Burke before, and as regarded the wounding with the sword, the wounded man had not identified Mr. Standish. The magistrate, however, held that prima facie cases had been established. It was his painful duty to commit Mr.Standish for trial at the next Liverpool assizes. Mr.Standish was accordingly committed, but admitted to bail."
    On 23rd December William Standish Carr Standish stood trial at the Crown Court and was sentenced to be imprisoned for one month and fined £300.

  • Too many John Mordaunts - In the transcribed records on www.ancestry.co.uk there are weddings of three John Mordaunts in fairly quick succession in Ormskirk and I have not yet been able to find out which is which.

            • In 1914 a John Mordaunt married Elizabeth A. Gregson at Holy Trinity, Bickerstaffe
              • Phyllis Mordaunt (1918 - ?). She married Thomas Esp in Ormskirk in 1942

            • In 1923 a John Mordaunt married Lily Hodge at St. Thomas, Lydiate.
              • Lily Mordaunt (1923 - ?) was born in the Ormskirk district
              • Frank Mordaunt (1924 - ?). He married Margaret McAdam in Ormskirk in 1950
                • Brian Mordaunt (b. 1958) was born in Ormskirk.
                • Colin Mordaunt (b. 1959) was born in Ormskirk. A Colin Mordaunt married Lorraine M. Griffiths in Sefton in 1982
                  • Victoria Mordaunt (b. 1982) was born in Sefton
                  • Sarah Mordaunt (b. 1984) was born in Sefton
                  • Kimberley Mordaunt (b. 1985) was born in Sefton
                  • Philip Mordaunt (b. 1988) was born in Liverpool
              • George Mordaunt (1926 - ?) was born in Ormskirk. He married June M. Smith in Liverpool in 1956
                • Jeffrey G. Mordaunt (b. 1961) was born in Ormskirk. He married Wang J. Lian in West Lancashire district in September 1999
                • John C. Mordaunt (b. 1965) was born in Ormskirk.
              • Douglas Mordaunt (1928 - ?) was born in Ormskirk. He married Irene Widdup in Liverpool in 1962.
              • Vera Mordaunt (1932 - ?). She married Edmund Pinnington in Ormskirk in 1957.
                • Linda Pinnington (b. 1961) was born in Ormskirk
              • Alan Mordaunt (1934 - ?). He married Sheila A. O'Brien in Ormskirk in 1968
                • Ian Mordaunt (b. 1970) was born in Ormskirk. He married Janet Fell in Sefton in 1993
                  • Emily Jane Mordaunt (b. 1993) was born in Liverpool
                  • Jessica Katherine Mordaunt (b. 1997) was born in Liverpool
                  • Joseph Christopher R. Mordaunt (b. 2003) was born in West Lancashire district

            • In 1927 a John Mordaunt married Lilian A. Prescott, registered in Liverpool. Was it just coincidence that a John Mordaunt (above) married a Mary Elizabeth Prescott in Aughton in 1892? Anyway, this appears to be a bit of a shotgun marriage. In the same quarter of the year they married they registered the birth of a daughter
              • Gladys Mordaunt (b. 1927) in Ormskirk. A Gladys Mordaunt married Donald G. Jenkins in Ormskirk in 1951.
                • Ian Jenkins (b. 1952) was registered in Liverpool North.
                • Susan Jenkins (b. 1953) was registered in Prescott.
                • Anthony D.Jenkins (b. 1956) was registered in Ormskirk.
              • Elsie Mordaunt (b. 1934) in Ormskirk. An Elsie Mordaunt married Kenneth G Ellis in Ormskirk in 1958.
                • Linda V. Ellis (b. 1959) was registered in Ormskirk.
                • Colin D Ellis (b. 1962) was registered in Ormskirk.

  • James Mordaunt (b. 1939) was born in County Wexford, Ireland. He moved to Lancashire and with his partner, Joy Smith, he had a number of children born in Leigh, within the Ormskirk registration district, and Wigan
    • James Anthony Mordaunt (b. 1970) was born in Ormskirk. He married Michelle Green in Salford in September 2003. Today he lives in New Zealand, where he is better known as Tony Mordaunt.
      • James Mordaunt (b. 2009 )
    • Martin Francis Mordaunt (b. 1971) was born in Leigh. He is now living in San Francisco. He married Anju Pansari in 2015
    • Maria Louisa Mordaunt (b. 1973) was born in Leigh. She married in Wigan in April 1992 but has since divorced.
      • Shaun Mordaunt (b. 1993) was born in Wigan. He reverted to the name to Mordaunt by deed poll.
    • Tara Sarah Mordaunt (b. 1981) was born in Wigan and now lives in Leigh. She married Mark Grimes in 2012.
      • Ollie Michael Grimes (b. 2006)
      • Oscar Mark Grimes (b. 2010)
    James married Ann M. Bennett in Leigh in May 1985 but sadly they divorced a few years later.
    I am very grateful to Shaun Mordaunt for finding my website and spotting gross errors and also bringing me up to date, and I am very grateful to his mother, Maria Mordaunt, for writing to me and correcting them as well as providing much additional information about her family.

  • "Criminal Records" references in Lancashire in this period show two Robert Mordaunts at a time when, so far, I have only discovered the name Robert among the Ormskirk district Mordaunts:
    • Robert Mordaunt 1 on 11th August 1852 was found not guilty of burglary at Liverpool Assizes. It is tempting to think it may have been blacksmith Robert, born 1820s above.
    • Robert Mordaunt 2 on 19th October 1876 was found guilty of "Larceny from a Quay" at Liverpool Assizes and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. It is tempting to think it may have been Robert, born 1844, son of Thomas, above who was living in Liverpool at this time.

  • "Unattached" references in the Internet records in the Ormskirk district are:
    • Jane Mordaunt was born about 1805 and died in Aughton in 1879 aged 74 years. I do not know if she was married or a spinster.
    • Margaret Mordaunt of Dalton is recorded as the mother of illegitimate William Mordaunt, baptised at St. Paul's church, Skelmersdale, on 24th October 1841. She was, possibly the daughter of William and Hannah Mordaunt who seem to have lived in Dalton.
    • Alice Mordaunt married James Valentine at St. Peter's, Ormskirk, in 1844
    • Ellen Mordaunt of Bickerstaffe is recorded as the mother of illegitimate Mary Hannah Mordaunt, baptised at St Paul's church, Skelmersdale, on 20 July 1845.
    • John Mordaunt, a labourer from Ormskirk, and his wife Julia were recorded as the parents of
      • William Mordaunt (1846 - ?), baptised at St. Peter and St. Paul, Ormskirk, on 10th May 1846.
    • Ellen Mordaunt married John Pope in 1848 in the presence of the Ormskirk registrar which suggests, to me, a Catholic marriage service.
    • Jane Mordaunt died 1838 aged 7 years in Bickerstaffe
    • Elizabeth Mordaunt born 1861 in the Ormskirk district. The only family having children at about this time were Edward, son of the innkeeper, John, and his wife Catherine. An Elizabeth Mordaunt died in 1879 in Bickerstaffe aged 17 years.
    • Alice Mordaunt was born and died in Bickerstaffe in 1864
    • Ellen Mordaunt was born and died in Aughton in 1882
    • James Mordaunt (1883 - 1888) in the Ormskirk district
    • Josiah Mordaunt (1906 - 1907) in the Ormskirk district
    • Robert Edward Mordaunt (1904 - 1904) in the Ormskirk district
    • James Mordaunt (1892 - 1892) in the Ormskirk district
    • Joseph Mordaunt born 1895 in the the Ormskirk district
    • Mary Ellen Mordaunt born 1891 in the Ormskirk district
    • Rebecca Mordaunt born 1890 in the Ormskirk district
    • Robert Edward Mordaunt born 1904 in the Ormskirk district

Liverpool

    In the early records, West Derby was a different registration district from Liverpool, although the expansion of the city of Liverpool has long since overtaken and absorbed West Derby. And, as the city expanded, it attracted a number of Mordaunts from other districts, such as Ireland and modern Cumbria as well as from Ormskirk.

Appearing in the West Derby registration district was

  • Patrick Joseph Mordaunt (abt 1814 - ?) from Dublin, listed in the 1851 census. A widowed cordwainer (pronounced "cordiner" - a skilled shoemaker) with a 13 year old son., his record really belongs on the Irish Mordaunts page.
    • Gerald Mordaunt (abt 1838 - 1868). Married Elizabeth Rogers (abt 1837 - ?) in Our Lady & St Nicholas and St Anne, Liverpool, on 12th May 1856, while working as a "boot closer"(?) and lived with his in-laws in Toxteth Park, Liverpool. Starting early, they already had a number of children by the 1861 census. A shotgun marriage? In the 1871 census, then a widow, and again in the 1881 census, she was working as a "monthly nurse" (who attended women in the first month after childbirth). In the 1891 census she was one of 900-odd patients at an asylum in Eccleston. She probably died in 1897, recorded in the Prescot district.
      • Mary Mordaunt (abt. 1857 - ?). She disappears from the record after 1871
      • Gerald Mordaunt (29th July 1858 - ?) was christened at St. Peter's, Liverpool on 9th August 1858. He is not mentioned after the 1861 census and perhaps went off to sea at a young age; he was described as a seaman when he married widow Bertha Scott (abt. 1861 - ?) at St. James's, Walton on the Hill, (which no longer seems to exist) on 9th December, 1896. A Gerald Francis Mordaunt was born and died in the Toxteth district in 1898. Was it their child? The death of a Bertha Mordaunt, born about 1862, was recorded in the Toxteth district in 1900. Was it his wife? He was at last recorded in the 1911 census, a widower, living or staying with his widowed sister, Elizabeth.
      • Margaret Ann Mordaunt (abt. 1860 -?). She was baptised in St. Peter's, Liverpool on 12th March, 1860. In 1881 she was living with her mother, working as a children's maid. She possibly married in 1892.
      • Elizabeth Mordaunt (22nd May 1862 - ?) was christened at St. Peter's, Liverpool on 9th June, 1862. In the 1881 census she was working as a "under nurse domestic servant" in a large household in Great Crosby. She did marry, perhaps in Liverpool in 1892, a ? Flanagan but was widowed after eight years and three children. At the 1911 census she was working a charwoman. As well as her three daughters, her brother Gerald was also in the house and a 19 year-old nephew, so far unidentified by me, William Butler.
        • Mary Flanagan (abt 1894 - ?) was born in Liverpool
        • Ivy Flanagan (abt 1895 - ?) was born in Liverpool
        • Florence Flanagan (abt 1898 - ?) was born in Liverpool
      • Rebecca Mordaunt (14th July, 1864 - 1870s) was christened at St. Peter's, Liverpool, on 15th August, 1864. She is not mentioned after the 1861 census.
      • William John Mordaunt (22nd August 1867 - 1892) was christened at St. Peter's, Liverpool on 3rd March 1868.
      • Frances Mordaunt (abt 1869 - ?). In 1891 census, described as born in Ireland, she was servant to a family in Upper Pitt Street in Liverpool. She married in the West Derby district in 1896
    Patrick then married Caroline Gunnell (? - 1852/53) in Liverpool in 1851. She died soon after the death of their son.
    • Elijah Mordaunt (1852 - 1938) is listed in the birth records born in the West Derby district. Elijah's mother died shortly afterwards. His father remarried and, leaving Gerald behind in Liverpool, disappears from the records, probably returning to Ireland with his third wife new family. Elijah eventually joined the Navy. He appears in the marriage list, marrying Elizabeth "Betsey" (1859 - 1946) in the Naval port town of Medway in 1876. He appears as a stoker on HMS Defence in the 1881 census. After leaving ther Thereafter, he succesfully evaded any official recorder but his offspring appear in the birth lists and 1901 census in Caistor and Grimsby.
      Details of all his numerous children and grandchildren are given on the Lincolnshire page but a number of his sons did return to Liverpool to work and settle.
      • Joseph Robert Elijah Mordaunt (abt 1881 - 1943) is described in the 1911 census as a cashier, living at 203, Roberts Street, Grimsby.
        He married 1. Jane Williams (1878 - 1977) in 1901.
        • Joseph Samuel Elijah Mordaunt (1902 - ?). He married Caroline C. Nicholson in Liverpool in 1928
          • Kenneth Mordaunt (b. 1929) was born in Liverpool
          • Donald Kendal Mordaunt (b. 1931) was born in Liverpool. He married Margaret Hampton in Liverpool in 1956
            • Alan Mordaunt (b. 1956) was born in Liverpool. He married Jill Osbourne in Sefton in 1985
              • Louise Mordaunt (b. 1992)
            • Brian Mordaunt (b. 1964) was born in Liverpool. He married Catherine Cronin in Knowsley in 1990.
              • Michael Mordaunt (b. 1990) was born in Liverpool
              • Sally Mordaunt (b. 1992) was born in Liverpool
              • Rachel Mordaunt (b. 1996) was born in Liverpool
          • Joseph Robert Mordaunt (b. 1936) was born in Liverpool. He married Dorothy A. Morrow in Liverpool in 1958. I am grateful to Joseph and Dorothy's son Michael for contacting me and explaining that they emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, in 1971. Their further details can be found on the Mordaunts in Australia and New Zealand page. With thanks also to Brian Mordaunt, (just above), who also also contacted me with similar information.
            • Michael J. Mordaunt (b. 1959) was born in Liverpool.
            • Mark R. Mordaunt (b. 1961) was born in Liverpool. He obviously returned to England to marry Alison Reid in Nottingham in 1994
            • Kimberley Mordaunt (b. 1962) was born in Liverpool
            • Anthony T. Mordaunt (b. 1964) was born in Liverpool
          • Doris Mordaunt (b. 1944) was born in Prescot. She married Francis Wood in Liverpool in 1964
        • Leonard Mordaunt (1906 - ?). He married Elizabeth Jordan in Liverpool in 1929
          • Leonard P. Mordaunt (b. 1930) was born in Liverpool
          • Colin W. Mordaunt (b. 1931) was born in Liverpool
        • George Edward Mordaunt (1912 - 2001). He married Muriel Smith in Grimsby in 1936
          • George R. Mordaunt (b. 1943) was born in Liverpool. He married Josephine M. Elaine Dixon in Abingdon, Berkshire, in 1966
            • Julia Elaine Mordaunt (b. 1969) was born in Windsor
            • Sarah Christine Mordaunt (b. 1971) was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire. She married Robin W. Clarke in Chiltern, Buckinghamshire, in 2003.
            • Patricia Jane Mordaunt (b. 1976) was born in Windsor
          • Susan M. Mordaunt (b. 1945) was born in Liverpool. She married Gordon W. Morrey in Widnes, Lancashire, in 1969
            • Pauline Sandra Morrey (b. 1972) was born in Liverpool
            • Brian William G. Morrey (b. 1974) was born in Liverpool
        He married 2. Frances Rehill (1905 - ?)
        • Eugene (Gene) David Mordaunt (1929 - 2005). He married Doris Williams and they moved to Toronto, Canada, where his children and grandchildren still live.
        He married 3. Bertha Elizabeth Rehill (1902 - 1994)
        • Paul Mordaunt (b. 1940)
        • Maria Mordaunt Mordaunt (b. 1940)
    Patrick tried a third time, marrying Mary Ann Malone/Maloney in 1853
    • Rachel Mordaunt (1857 - ?) was christened at St. Peter's, Liverpool, on 9th April, 1857
    Patrick, Mary Ann, Elijah and Rachel then disappear from the UK records and it is assumed they all moved back to Dublin, until Elijah re-emerges in the English 1876 marriage index

  • "Unattached" references in the Internet records in West Derby registration district are:
    • Elizabeth Mordant (sic) (abt. 1816 - ?) and her brother John Mordant (abt. 1819 - ?), described as an upholsterer, both unmarried, born in Liverpool, were listed living together in Toxteth in the 1891 census.
    • Alfred Mordaunt (1887 - 1888) in Toxteth Park
    • Bertha Mordaunt (abt 1862 - 1900) died in Toxteth Park.
    • Caroline Mordaunt (died 1853) in West Derby
    • Dorothy Mordaunt (died 1840) in West Derby
    • Edward Mordaunt (died 1863) in West Derby, age 41 years
    • Eliza Mordaunt (abt 1825 - 1874) died in West Derby
    • Elizabeth Mordaunt (died 1837) in West Derby
    • Ernest H. Mordaunt (abt. 1869), described as a Professor of Music born in Middlesex, appears for one time only in the records in the 1891 census, lodging at the home of a Police Sergeant Wier at 72, Upper Warwick Street, Toxteth Park.
    • Gerald Francis Mordaunt (1898 - 1898) in Toxteth Park
    • John Mordaunt born 1866 in the West Derby district
    • Rachel Mordaunt born 1858 in the West Derby district
    • Robert Mordaunt born 1855 in the West Derby district

    In the Liverpool registration district were

    • John Mordaunt (abt 1816 - 1877), born in County Wicklow, Ireland, was possibly the John Mordant (sic) (abt. 1821 - ?) listed in the 1841 census aged 20 years (in the 1841 census, adult ages were often rounded up or down to a number divisible by 5) and a general labourer. He married Eliza/Elizabeth Looney (abt 1818 - 1863) from the Isle of Man in Liverpool in 1843. The Registrar was in attendance, suggesting to me a Catholic marriage ceremony. In the in the 1851 census he was described as a Warehouseman. They had a house not only big enough for themselves but to take three lodgers. At the 1861 census he was a "forwarding clerk". In the 1871 census they were in Upper Beau Street, Everton. He was described as a Shipping Clerk. They had children:
      • Elizabeth Mordaunt (1844 - 1879). She did not marry. On her death, administration of her personal estate, (named as Eliza) was granted to her brother, Joseph.
      • Edward Mordaunt (11th July 1846 - 1848). His baptism was recorded at St. Anthony's Catholic church, Scotland Road, Liverpool, on 16th July 1846. The burial service for an Edward Mordaunt was held at St Anthony's on 25th November 1848.
      • Catherine Mordaunt (1848 - 1904). She did not marry. In the 1871 census, living at her parent's home, she was working as a dressmaker. After her parent's and elder sister's deaths, she is listed in the 1881 census as living with her brother Peter. In the 1891 census she was with her sister Agnes and her family and working as a dressmaker.
      • Joseph Mordaunt (1850 - 1884). In the 1871 census, living at his parent's home, he was working as a customs Clerk. On 18th June 1871 he married Ann M.(Main?) Smith (abt 1849 - ?) at St. Joseph's, Liverpool. His sister Mary was a witness. At the time of the 1881 census he was employed as a shipping clerk. After his death, his widow is recorded as Annie in the 1891 census when her daughters Hannah and Agnes and 12 year-old niece, Eliza McMahon, were staying with her. Agnes and Eliza were still with her at the 1901 census, although they had moved house.
      • Mary Mordaunt (1850 - before 1891?). In the 1871 census, living at her parent's home, she was working as a milliner. She was a witness at her brother Joseph's wedding in June 1871. She married James McMahon at St. Francis Xavier's church, Everton, on 28th September 1875. Her brother Peter and sister Catherine were witnesses.The family address was given as Lloyd Street. She had at least one baby daughter in the 1881 census when she was already a widow and living with her brother Peter and sister Catherine.
        • Eliza A. McMahon (abt 1879- ?). She was living with her grandmother and aunt in 1891 and in 1901 when she was recorded as being a dressmaker.
      • Peter Edward Mordaunt (23rd November 1855 - 1883). He was baptised on 25th November 1855 in St Anthony's Catholic church. He was at home for the 1871 census, working as an office boy. After his parent's and elder sister's deaths, in the 1881 census he was in Bootle, described as the head of a family consisting of his sisters Catherine and Mary and May's daughter, Eliza. Like his brother Joseph, above, he was a shipping clerk.
      • Agnes Mordaunt (1858 - ?). Agnes married Hubert Lyons in 1881. In the 1891 census her sister Catherine was staying with her.

    Still in the Liverpool district:

    • Edward Mordaunt, a mariner, is listed in a Liverpool Poll Book of 1832 in Stanhope Street, Toxteth Park. The 'S' after the entry denotes he voted for the candidate, Lord Viscount Sandon. The Election was held on Wednesday, 12th & Thursday, 13th June 1832 and the result was as follows:-
        Votes
        Mr. EWART 4,931
        Lord SANDON 4,260
        Mr. THORNELY 4,096
        Sir Howard DOUGLAS 3,249
      Mr. Ewart & Lord Sandon being elected. The fact that Lord Sandon was elected caused considerable unrest! "Strong excitement" is the way it is described!

    • Isaac Mordaunt is listed in the parish records of St. Michael's, Workington, marrying Mary Melvin on 2nd December 1751. Petra Mitchinson notes that an Isaac, a French Huguenot, was born 15th February 1728, baptised 15 February 1728 in Threadneedle Street, London, the son of Pierre & Marie Elizabeth Mordant (née Laune). This seems confirmed by a descendent through their daughter Elizabeth, Margaret Greer, who kindly wrote to me with additional information. In 1721 - 1723 they were resident at Brick Lane, Spitalfields and in receipt of the King's Bounty. (French Refugees in Great Britain in the early 1700s). Margaret believes Pierre's father was an Isaac Mordant whose Will was dated 1738 and probated 1747. "My grandmother told me that our family had Huguenot ancestors and I'm almost 100% certain that this is my family. I think they came to England via Rotterdam and originated in Lintot in the Haute-Normandie region of France ( Temoignages passed to me by a member of the Huguenot Society)".
      This Isaac was described in the parish record as a mariner, which would explain how he would have gone to Workington, then a busy port. Isaac and Mary seem to have big gaps between their children but, either some are missing or he could have been away at sea for long periods. Details of other the members of the family are shown in greater detail on the Mordaunts in the Rest of Britain webpage.
      • Sarah Mordaunt
      • Elizabeth Mordaunt
      • Isaac Mordaunt was baptised 1st August 1765. The marriage of an Isaac Mordaunt to Frances Lowe is recorded at St. Michael's, Workington, on 13th December 1787. Then another apparent long wait for children!
        • Eldred Mordaunt (baptised 3rd April 1791, but birth given from 6 to 11 years later in 1841/51/61 census records - died 1863), presumably named after his uncle, born in Workington, is listed in the Cumberland Parish Registers as a master mariner, marrying Margaret Cannon (1805 - 1898) on 11th October 1828. They are listed in the 1841 census (page 1 and page 2), by which time he had become a shipowner and then again in the 1851 census when they were living at brow Top, Workington. Probate of his estate was awarded to his widow, Margaret.
          • Dorothy Mordaunt (1829 - ?) was baptised in St. Peter's, Liverpool, on 1st September 1829. I have found no further reference to her and suspect she died young, certaily before the 1841 census.
          • Mary Frances Mordaunt (abt 1832 - ?). She married in Cockermouth in 1855. This was presumably to a Mr Wilson; a Mary B. Wilson (b. abt. 1861) was staying with her grandmother Margaret in Liverpool in the 1881 census.
          • Margaret Cannon Mordaunt (abt 1835 - ?). Another source transcription gives her second name as Cameron. She married Edward Ogden on 6th June, 1866 at St. John's, Blackpool.
          • Jane Lowe Mordaunt ( abt 1837 - ?). She married George L. Anderton at St. Bride with St. Saviour, Liverpool, in 1865.
          Soon after, by the time of the 1861 census, they had moved to 61 Bedford Road, Abercromby, Liverpool. Described as a "landed proprietor", Eldred and his wife Margaret (abt 1805 - 1898?) took with them their two, then still unmarried, youngest daughters, who both found husbands in Liverpool. After Eldred's death Margaret continued to live in Liverpool in some comfort. I have not found her in the 1871 census but in the 1881 census she was listed in Botanic Street, Liverpool. Staying/living with her was a 20 year granddaughter, Mary Wilson, born in Cockermouth. . She was listed in the 1891 census in Bedford Street where she died in 1898. Probate of her effects was valued at £22,220 and granted to her widowed daughters, Margaret and Jane.
      • Eldred Mordaunt

    • John Mordaunt (abt. 1817 - 1845), described as born in Lancashire appears in the 1841 census as a police officer in Carnforth in the civil parish of Wharton, near Lancaster. Shortly after he married Esther Parker and they had a daughter
      • Mary Hannah Mordaunt who was baptised at St. Oswald's church, Warton, on 24th September 1843.
      Tragedy was to strike. All in the space of 12 months: John died and was buried at the church of St. Michael and All Angels, Hawkshead on 25th February 1845; Esther had been pregnant and gave birth to their son
      • John Mordaunt (1845 - 1917) who was baptised in St. Michael and All Angels Church on 31st August 1845;
      the widow Esther then quickly married another policeman, Joseph Jackson, at the same church on 22nd November 1845; then, baby Mary Hannah died and was buried at the church on 25th January 1846.
      I am grateful to Kate Kirk from Tasmania, who wrote to me to take up the story from here. The Jackson family, with little John Mordaunt, emigrated to Australia. They arrived at Port Phillip, Melbourne, on 29th September, 1852, on the ship Tippoo Saib as unassisted passengers. John Mordaunt, jnr, married Jennettah McLaren in Melbourne, in 1874. According to Kate the children were registered under the spelling, Mordant.
        • Esther Mordant (1875 - 1948)
        • Lily Mordant (1877 - 1936)
        • John Mordant (1880 - 1926)
        • Colina Mordant (1880 - 1980)
        • Colin McLaren Mordant (1883 - 1933)
        • Rober Parker Mordant (1885 - 1923)

    • William Mordant (sic) (? - before 1871), a blacksmith, was named as the father of

    • "Unattached" references in the Internet records for Liverpool and the rest of Lancashire are:
      • George Mordaunt is recorded as marrying Anne Fravis at St. John's, Preston, on 23rd August 1824, according to the Latter Day Saint's transcript of the parish register
      • Sarah Mordaunt married John Hewet in Sephton (sic), on 12 February, 1830, according to a www.ancestry.co.uk parish record transcription.
      • John Mordant (sic) (abt. 1821 - ?) was listed in the 1841 census aged 20 years and a general labourer. He was not Lancashire born and was possibly from Ireland.
      • Henry Mordant (sic) (abt. 1827 - ?) was born in Manchester according to 1851 census. He was a cordwainer and seemed to be attending a cordwainer convention, staying there with several others from all over. Glossop was a booming cottton mill town but maybe there was also a shoe factory.
      • Ellen Mordaunt married William Aspinall at St. Annes's, Liverpool, in 1848.
      • Edward Mordaunt (died 1848) in Liverpool
      • Margaret Mordaunt married John Conin at Our Lady and St. Nicholas and St. Anne in Liverpool in 1855.
      • Charles Mordaunt (abt 1834 - 1899) died in Prestwich
      • Lewis Mordaunt (sic) (abt 1848 - ?) was a French sailor, born in Bordeaux, serving a term of imprisonment in Walton Gaol in the 1881 census.
      • Frank Mordaunt (abt 1851 - ?) is listed in the 1871 census, a 20 year-old ventriloquist, having been born in Liverpool but lodging at the time in Great Bolton. He was born, in fact, Thomas Sweeney on 15th July 1850, son of Edward and Sophia Sweeney. Frank Mordaunt was his stage name. I am grateful to a correspondent, Rowan Gibbs, who kindly contacted me to provide this information in June 2016).
      • Charles Mordant (sic) (abt. 1853 - ?), aged 18 years, born in Liverpool, was working as a carter at the Stag Inn, Pentre Bagillt, Flintshire, now part of Clwyd, at the 1871 census.
      • Gladys Hope Mordaunt (1892 - 1892) in the Chorlton district
      • 6 year old Margaret Mary A. Mordaunt (1875 ?) was living/staying with an uncle/aunt in Skelmersdale. Born in Prescot, it is difficult to work out whose daughter she was.
      • William Mordaunt (abt 1848 - ?), age given as 33 years and born in Liverpool, he was listed in the 1881 census working as a clerk in Broughton, Salford.
      • Fr. Wilfred Mordaunt (abt 1848 - 1895), was one of four curates at the Holy Name Presbytry, Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester, in the 1891 census. Originally from Middx, although I have found no record of him there, he was previously recorded as a curate in Wakefield, Yorks, in the 1881 census. He was to die in Preston in 1895.
      • A George Mordaunt, who I have not yet identified in any other part of this website, was described on his son George's marriage certificate as a horse dealer but where I have not yet discovered. His son George was born in Prescot, Lancashire, but I have not been able to identify a suitable George the father among the Lancashire Mordaunts. If it were not for the Lancashire connection I would guess he was from County Wexford in Ireland. He married ? Bradshaw sometime before 1913 and Bradshaw is a name particularly centred on Lancashire. I can find no record of such a marriage. The death of a George Mordaunt, age given as 83 years (born 1872/3) was registered in Prescott in 1956; a tenuous connection but it may be the same. Among any other possible children George and his wife had were
        • George Wilfred Mordaunt (1913 - 1978) was born in Prescot, Lancashire. He joined the army, in the Prince of Wales Volunteers(South Lancashire Regiment) and it was probably while serving at Catterick Barracks in Yorshire that he met and married 1. Ellen Hird (abt. 1913 - ?)in Reeth, North Yorkshire, in October 1932. According to his daughter, Germaine, making an enquiry for more information on the www.ancestry.com website, George died in Hervey Bay, Queensland.
          • Margaret J. Mordaunt (b. 1934) was born in Devonport, Cornwall. She stayed in the UK and married Ryszard Janczarek in Nottingham in 1955
          • Janet Mordaunt (b. 1936) was born in Richmond, Yorkshire. She stayed in the UK and married Dennis Dilks in Notttingham in 1956
          • Shirley M. Mordaunt (b. 1937) was born in Richmond, Yorkshire
          • Kathleen Mordaunt (b. 1940) was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire
          • Josephine. Mordaunt (b. 1942) was born in Richmond, Yorkshire
          He married 2. Florence Dawson in Bootle, Lancashire, in 1949. This was sometime after the birth of four of their children recorded in the Birth List for England and Wales.
          • Peter G. Mordaunt (b. 1942) was born in Bootle, Lancashire. He now lives in Perth
          • Richard Mordaunt (b. 1943) was born in Bootle, Lancashire. He now lives in Queensland. I am grateful to his former wife, Jacqueline, who kindly contacted me with additional information about the family.
            • Amber Melanie Mordaunt (b. 1977)
            • Nigel Richard Mordaunt (b. 1980)
          • George D. Mordaunt (b. 1944) was born in Bootle, Lancashire. He now lives in Sydney
          • Walter F. Mordaunt (b. 1946) was born in Bootle, Lancashire. He now lives in Queensland
          They emigrated to Queensland in 1950. A 1950 passenger list from Southampton to Sydney includes Mordaunts with initials G., F., S., K., J., P., R., G. and W. They had further children
          • Dorothy Mordaunt (b. ?). She now lives in Melbourne
          • Anne Mordaunt (b. ?). She now lives in Queensland
          • Violet Mordaunt (b. ?). She now lives in Queensland
          • Lloyd Mordaunt (b. ?). He now lives in Newcastle, NSW.
          • David Mordaunt (b. ?) He now lives in Newcastle, NSW.
          • Germaine Mordaunt (b. ?). She now lives in Queensland
          • Bruce Mordaunt (b. ?) who died aged 5 years of leukemia
        • Frederick W. Mordaunt (1916 - 1942) was born in Prescot, Lancashire. and married Lean Elliott in Sheffield in 1935. In WWII he enlisted in the East Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of York's Own). He died 8th July 1942.
          • Barbara Mordaunt (b. 1935) was born in Sheffield. She married David A. Clarke in Sheffield in 1955
            • Steven Clarke (b. 1956) born in Sheffield
            • Paul R. Clarke (b. 1960) born in Sheffield
            • Andrew Clarke (b. 1961) born in Rotherham
            • Christine Clarke (b. 1963) born in Sheffield
            • Debbie Clarke (b. 1964) born in Sheffield
          • Jeanette Mordaunt (b. 1937) was born in Sheffield. She married Derek M. Shaw in Sheffield in 1958
            • Gail Shaw (b. 1960) born in Sheffield
            • Glenn F. Shaw (b. 1960) born in Sheffield
            • Garry Dean Shaw (b. 1961) born in Rotherham
          • Doris Mordaunt (b. 1939) was born in Sheffield.
          • Roy F. Mordaunt (b. 1941) was born in Sheffield. He married Jean Wilkinson in Sheffield in 1964
            • David John Mordaunt (b. 1966) born in Sheffield. He married Maxine P. Fenton in Sheffield in 1987
              • Samantha Aistling Mordaunt (b. 1989) born in Sheffield.
              • Kellie Louise Mordaunt (b. 1991) born in Sheffield.
              • Ben Lewis Mordaunt (b. 1994) born in Barnsley.
            • Diane Michelle Mordaunt (b. 1969) born in Sheffield
        • Mary Mordaunt (b. 1918) was born in Prescot, Lancashire.
        • Violet Mordaunt (b. 1916) was born in Prescot, Lancashire. She married Edward Bramhall in Warrington in 1947.
      • Mary Mordant (sic) born 1845 in the Wigan district
      • William Mordant (sic) born 1841 in the Wigan district
      • Frances Mordaunt (abt. 1869 - ), aged 22 from Ireland was working as a general domestic servant to a joiner and builder in Liverpool in the 1891 census.
      • Charles C. Mordaunt born 1960 in Liverpool. His mother's name was Butler. Was he the Charles C Mordaunt who married Karen P. Cox in Greenwich in 1963? Did they have a daughter Natasha Jane Mordaunt, born in Lincoln in June 1991 or is the mother's name Cox simply coincidence?
      • Sisters Chloe Charlotte Mordaunt born 1996 and Erin Jane Mordaunt born 2002 were both born in Liverpool. Their mothers' (maiden?) name was Conroy

      The Mordaunts of Halsall Hall

      • Charles Mordaunt was a nephew of Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, and the son of Lewis Mordaunt, the third son of John Mordaunt, Viscount Avalon, and his wife, Elizabeth Carey. He acquired Halsall Hall, near Ormskirk through marriage
          "Two sisters were co-heirs of the properties: Elizabeth, who married a distant cousin, Digby, fifth Lord Gerard of Bromley, and died in 1700, leaving a daughter and heiress Elizabeth, who married James duke of Hamilton; and Charlotte, wife of Thomas Mainwaring, who left a daughter and heiress Charlotte, who married Lord Mohun, and died in or before 1709. Lord Mohun, by the will of the second Lord Macclesfield, became owner of his wife's share of the Gerard estates, and the duel between him and the Duke of Hamilton, in which both were killed (15 November, 1712), originated in a dispute about the division. His widow was made the heir to his part of the estates, which included Halsall, and carried them to her third husband, Colonel Charles Mordaunt. Though Colonel Mordaunt had no issue by her, he remained in possession of the Gerard and Fitton properties, and Halsall descended to his son by a second wife, Charles Lewis Mordaunt, who at one time resided in the hall at Halsall. Eventually he sold the manor to Thomas Eccleston, lord of the adjoining manor of Scarisbrick, and the advowson of the rectory to Jonathan Blundell of Liverpool. He died at Ormskirk on 15 January, 1808, aged seventy eight."
          From: 'Townships: Halsall', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3 (1907), pp. 191-197.
        So, his first wife, Elizabeth, Lady Mahon brought him the estate but no children. His second wife was Ann Scroope, daughter of Viscount Howe by his second wife.
        This Charles Mordaunt and his son Charles Louis Mordaunt have numerous Internet references, many of which are, at best, contradictory and confusing and, at worst, simply wrong. More details of the elder Charles and his family can be found on the Earls of Peterborough page of this site.
        He had three sons, none of whom married.
        • Charles Louis Mordaunt (8th September 1729 - 15th January 1808). The family bible spells his name Louis although many sources spell it Lewis. He too is often given the title Colonel in some Internet references. He sold Halsall Hall before his death.
        • Thomas Osbert Mordaunt (30th January 1730 (old calendar?) - 13th February 1809) is listed in most anthologies of English Verse and books of quotations for his lines written in the Seven Year War (1756 - 1763)
        • Henry Mordaunt (20th October 1732 - 1778). He was appointed Rector of St Cuthbert's Church, Halsall

        There is some confusion among Internet sources about the painting "Colonel Mordaunt and the Cockfight" held by the Tate Gallery in London. Some Lancashire sources say that the Colonel Mordaunt of the picture was Charles Lewis Mordaunt, above, describing him as such a wealthy cock fighting enthusiast who took his prize birds on an international tour to India, such as Online Encyclopedia. However, the eponymous Colonel in the picture is John Mordaunt, illegitimate son of an Earl of Peterborough and therefore most probably of Charles, the 4th Earl.

        There appears to be no close relationship between the Mordaunts of Halsall Hall and the Mordaunt families that were already living in the Ormskirk district, detailed above


      Acknowledgements:

      With grateful thanks for additional information from:
      Michael Lonsdale who passed me the findings of research he did on probate and church records for John Mordaunt of Ormskirk. His valuable contribution filled in a few holes, confirmed some of my guesses and corrected some of my errors.
      Tim Wheeler for information on Elijah Mordaunt

      References:

      1841 Census Records - 1851 Census Records - 1861 Census Records - 1871 Census Records
      1881 Census Records - 1891 Census Records - 1901 Census Records
      Birth Index 1837 - 1915 - Marriage Index 1837 - 1915 - Death Index 1837 - 1915

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