Frankish family history

About this page

This page covers my paternal ancestry: the families from which my father Arthur Thompson Frankish (1928–2014) descended, and the families they married into.

Sources

Census records 1841–1921; civil registration (GRO); parish registers; Commonwealth War Graves Commission; National Archives medal index cards; AncestryDNA; GEDmatch kit GZ3914281; Ancestry member trees. Dates from census records may be one or two years out. Where a certificate or parish register entry exists, that date takes precedence.

Conventions

“Unknown” in the father column of a birth record means the column was left blank at registration — the standard way of recording illegitimacy in Victorian England. Items marked “Unverified” are uncertain or not yet confirmed from documentary sources.

DNA evidence

I have an AncestryDNA test linked to my Frankish/Brown Family Tree, and a GEDmatch kit (GZ3914281). Shared DNA is measured in centimorgans (cM). Ancestry assigns Parent 1 as my maternal side and Parent 2 as my paternal side. Ancestry’s Common Ancestor algorithm cannot identify matches through my great-grandfather Alfred Wilson Frankish’s unknown father — any such matches must be found by manual cluster analysis.

Part 1: The direct paternal line

My great-grandfather Alfred Wilson Frankish was born illegitimate; the father column on his baptism record is blank. His middle name Wilson almost certainly follows the Victorian convention of giving an illegitimate child the father’s surname as a middle name. A DNA cluster among my paternal matches is consistent with this, suggesting Alfred’s father may have been surnamed Wilson, though this has not been conclusively proved. The research is in Part 8.

Part 2: The Frankish family of York

Early Frankish ancestry

The Frankish family was established in York by at least the mid-eighteenth century. The earliest identified ancestor is John Frankish (born 1764, York), who married Mary Blacker on 7 August 1788 at St Margaret’s Church, York.

William Frankish (1788–1874) married Ann Chaplin on 24 February 1812 at St Sampson’s, York. Ann was the daughter of Nathan Chaplin and Mary Littlewood. The 1841 census places the family at Holy Trinity Goodramgate, York.

Unverified: Death place recorded as Linthorpe, Stockton-on-Tees, Durham — source unknown. His son Frederick Frankish (1843–1896) also died in County Durham (Sedgefield), suggesting a possible later family connection to that area.

William Frankish (1818–1865) and Harriet Scruton

William Frankish was born on 27 December 1818 at St Sampson’s, York, and baptised the same day. He married Harriet Scruton on 8 April 1839 at St Maurice’s Church, York. The family lived in St Maurice parish throughout this period.

William and Harriet had nine children. One son named Alfred (born 13 February 1840) died in infancy in 1846; William’s own brother, also named Alfred (born ~1830, son of William Frankish 1788), died in the same year.

William died in April 1865, aged 46. His widow Harriet Scruton continued to live at St Maurice with the children.

Harriet Caroline Frankish (1847–1914)

Harriet was born on 7 November 1847 in York. By 1861 she was a house servant to George Acomb, a butcher, at Bishophill Junior, York — approximately one mile from St Maurice. Her father died in April 1865. Around December 1865, aged 18, she conceived Alfred Wilson Frankish.

Alfred Wilson Frankish was born on 11 September 1866 and baptised the same day at St Maurice’s (register No. 1663, page 208). The baptism record names Harriet as “Single Woman” and leaves the father column blank. Alfred was raised at No. 2 Vicars Row, St Maurice, initially by Harriet and then by her mother Harriet Scruton after Harriet’s marriage in 1868.

On 10 May 1868 Harriet married James England (1845–1914), a bricklayer’s labourer. They had five children: William (1871), Emma (1872–1874), Thomas (1875–1937), Henry (1884–1957), and Ernest James (born 22 August 1885, Malton). Harriet died in June 1914.

Unverified: James England’s birthplace: recorded as York in the 1871 census; the 1881 census gives a different reading, possibly Startforth near Barnard Castle, but the entry is unclear.

DNA matches on what I call the “England line” (Olivia Smith 27cM; louisa doyle 22cM) connect through Harriet’s children with James England, specifically Henry England (1884–1957) — not through any maternal Frankish or Scruton connection.

Alfred Wilson Frankish (1866–1927)

Alfred’s middle name Wilson almost certainly records his father’s surname. He married Hannah Laverack in January 1888 and had seven children with her. Hannah died in March 1905. Alfred married Mary Jane Metcalfe in July 1919 and died in October 1927.

Alfred Frankish (1889–1918)

Alfred married Lily Benson (~1891) and had one daughter, Lily Frankish (born July 1912, York). He served as Private 12866, 1st Battalion Irish Guards, in France and died of pneumonia on 7 July 1918, aged 28. His wife’s address at the time: 48 Bilton St., Layerthorpe, York. Burial reference: Q.III.E.4.

Alfred died of pneumonia in France in July 1918, during the period when influenza was moving through Allied forces.

Lily Frankish (widow) and their daughter Lily (aged 6 at Alfred’s death) have not been traced beyond 1918. The 1939 Register would be the starting point.

William Frankish (1890–1934)

William married Agnes Ethel Toland (born 3 March 1888, Bradford; died March 1965, York) in July 1920. Agnes was the daughter of William Toland (born ~1857, Ayr, Ayrshire) and Annie Spencer. Their son Anthony William Frankish was born 11 April 1922 in Portsmouth and died December 1987 in York. Anthony married Ivy Catherine Everard in April 1950.

Matthew Frankish (1902–1952)

Matthew married Doris Lilian Watson (born 3 November 1898). He died January 1952, Thanet, Kent. Their children: Peter A. Frankish (4 October 1926, Salisbury – 1 January 2012, Devon), Eileen Catherine Frankish (21 March 1928, Salisbury – 24 May 2007, Rochester, Kent), Barry L. Frankish (1930, Kent – 1973, Southampton).

Harry Frankish (1894–1936)

Harry served in the Royal Field Artillery from September 1915 through at least the Armistice in November 1918. While in France, his half-brother Alfred (1st Bn. Irish Guards) died there on 7 July 1918. Harry survived the war and returned to York.

After the war Harry married Dora Thompson and worked as a platelayer on the Great Central Railway — the same trade that had killed Dora’s father George Thompson in a railway accident in December 1894. Harry died on 20 May 1936 in Doncaster, aged about 41.

Arthur Thompson Frankish (1928–2014)

My father Arthur Thompson Frankish was born on 26 October 1928 in Doncaster, the youngest child of Harry Frankish and Dora Thompson. He worked as a fitter at Rockware Glass. He married Eileen Brown on 15 September 1956 at Don Valley, Yorkshire. I was born on 7 November 1962 in Doncaster. Arthur died on 10 December 2014.

Keith Frankish (born 1962)

I was born on 7 November 1962 in Doncaster. I married Maria Kasmirli on 29 December 2002 in Heraklion, Greece, and am based in Greece. I have taken an AncestryDNA test (GEDmatch kit GZ3914281) which is the basis of the DNA research in this document.

Part 3: The Scruton family

Harriet Scruton (1819–1882) was the wife of William Frankish (1818–1865) and grandmother of Alfred Wilson Frankish. She lived at No. 2 Vicars Row, St Maurice, York, and raised Alfred there.

Harriet’s father William Scruton (~1772) married Ann Bainbridge on 30 April 1815 at St Saviour’s, York. Their children included Harriet (1819), John, William Bainbridge Scruton (1822), and Ann (1824). Ann Bainbridge (born 11 May 1790) was the daughter of Charles Bainbridge (~1755) and Ann Jackson (~1760), who married on 3 December 1782 at St Mary’s, Masham, Yorkshire.

Part 4: The Laverack and Vause families

Hannah Laverack (1870–1905), my great-grandfather Alfred Wilson Frankish’s first wife, was the daughter of George Laverack (1820–1884) and Hannah Vause (born 1832, Melbourne, Yorkshire). She died in March 1905 having had seven children with Alfred.

George Laverack (1820–1884) and Hannah Vause

Laverack ancestry — further generations

The Vause family

John Vause (1804–1869) married Mary Penrose (1811–1876) in 1834 at Bubwith, East Yorkshire. They had ten children. John Vause’s father was Richard Vause (~1777–1824), who married Martha Lofthouse (born 6 January 1778), daughter of Mark Lofthouse (1746–1796) and Charlotte Sunyard (born 4 September 1749). Richard Vause’s father was Richard Vause (born February 1737).

DNA matches on the Laverack/Vause line include: Francis Coffin (47cM), Diane Foley (46cM), Anthony Ward (41cM), shirleybeanlands (37cM), Shirley Jones (25cM), kathybangs71 (22cM), Barbara Hilton (22cM).

Part 5: The Thompson family of Kirk Sandall

George Thompson (1857–1894) was the father of Dora Thompson, who became my grandmother by marrying Harry Frankish. He was born illegitimate in Kirk Sandall, a village near Doncaster. His mother was Sarah Thompson, unmarried. His father is unknown.

George Thompson (1857–1894)

George was killed in a railway accident on 8 December 1894. His daughter Dora was born on 3 August 1895 — eight months after his death. A second daughter, Leecy Thompson (~1894), married Henry Reed on 27 April 1914 at Barnby Dun.

George Thompson and my grandfather Harry Frankish both worked as platelayers. George was killed in a railway accident in 1894; Harry worked the same trade on the Great Central Railway after the First World War.

1881 census household, Barnby Don (RG11/4694/70/16, Schedule 93)

Martha, Sam and Emer E Thompson were born in Barnby Don rather than Kirk Sandall, suggesting either a different parent or that Sarah had moved between births. John Thompson (~24, Kirk Sandall) may be George’s brother, also apparently illegitimate.

George Thompson’s birth certificate (GRO: Doncaster district, Vol. 9c, Page 419) has not been ordered. This is the first step for documentary research on this line.

Dora Thompson (1895–1981)

Dora was born on 3 August 1895 in Barnby Dun, eight months after her father’s death. She married my grandfather Harry Frankish on 29 October 1919 at Barnby Dun, St Peter and St Paul. She died in April 1981, having outlived Harry by 45 years.

Part 6: The Rowley family of Barnby Dun

Mary Ann Rowley (1857–1926) was the wife of George Thompson and mother of my grandmother Dora Thompson. She was the daughter of Thomas Jenkinson Rowley (1822–1896) and Mary Ann Jaques (1820–1878). The Rowley family was in the Doncaster/Barnby Dun area for several generations and is the best-represented family in my DNA match database.

Thomas Jenkinson Rowley (1822–1896) and Mary Ann Jaques

Thomas Rowley (1795–1869) and Mary Jenkinson

Thomas was born on 7 May 1795 at Hatfield, near Doncaster, and died 12 July 1869. He married Mary Jenkinson (born 25 January 1800, Hatfield Woodhouse) on 29 January 1821 at Hatfield. Mary was the daughter of Thomas Jenkinson (1773–1840) and Ann Allen (1773–1833).

Earlier Rowley ancestry

Thomas Rowley (1795) was the son of Thomas Rowley (12 March 1753 – October 1832, buried Doncaster) and his wife Nancy (born 21 January 1755). Their nine children, all born near Doncaster: Anne (1779), Elizabeth (1781), Hannah (1783), Mary (1785), Susannah (1788), William (1790), Grace (1792), Thomas (1795), James (1796).

George Rowley (1861–1932) and the First World War

George Rowley, son of Thomas Jenkinson Rowley and Mary Ann Jaques, was born in January 1861. He married Mary Ann Howard (~1862) on 26 December 1883 at Doncaster Register Office. He died 2 August 1932.

His son George Henry Rowley died on 16 August 1917 in Belgium, of wounds. Service numbers: 607105 / 430881. Rank: Private. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Passchendaele, West Flanders — his body was never recovered. A War Gratuity was paid to his next of kin on 21 June 1919.

The Jenkinson family

Mary Jenkinson (born 25 January 1800, Hatfield Woodhouse) was the daughter of Thomas Jenkinson (1773–1840) and Ann Allen (1773–1833). They had six children: Elizabeth (1792), Ann (1795), John (1797), Mary (1800), Hannah (1803), Thomas (1807). Ann Allen was the daughter of Richard Allen (1739–1844, born Marston, Yorkshire) and Elizabeth Bentham (1742–1783).

Part 7: Anne Frankish and the Brady family

Anne (Annie) Frankish (born 1858, York; died October 1916, Leeds) was the youngest surviving child of William Frankish (1818–1865) and Harriet Scruton, and my great-grandfather Alfred Wilson Frankish’s aunt. She married Thomas Brady (born October 1857) in April 1880 in York.

DNA matches rogerbrady71 (62cM) and Lianne Wilson-Morris (62cM) connect through the Brady/Frankish line. Christine Lucas (71cM) descends directly from Anne Frankish.

Part 8: Research puzzles

8.1 The unknown father of Alfred Wilson Frankish (1866)

My great-grandfather Alfred Wilson Frankish was born illegitimate on 11 September 1866 at St Maurice, York. His baptism record (No. 1663, page 208) leaves the father column blank. His mother Harriet was 18, unmarried, and her own father had died eight months earlier.

The Wilson middle name

Alfred’s middle name Wilson almost certainly records his father’s surname, following the common Victorian practice with illegitimate children. AncestryDNA Pro Tools cluster analysis (May 2026) identified a cluster of paternal matches that share DNA with me but cannot be connected to any known line — Frankish, Laverack, or Rowley. At least one member of this cluster descends from a Wilson family (see below). This is consistent with Alfred’s father being surnamed Wilson, but it has not been conclusively proved.

The unresolved DNA cluster

Tricia Louth’s ancestry has been traced to a confirmed Wilson line: William Wilson (born 1784, Ayton, Yorkshire) married Margaret Wilson (born 1796, Gainford, County Durham). Their son Francis White Wilson (1828–1871) farmed at Thornaby Grange. His son Francis White Wilson Jr (1865–1930) was Tricia’s grandfather’s father. Whether this Wilson family is connected to Alfred’s unknown father has not been established.

Wilson families in St Maurice — census sweep (May 2026)

Candidate 1: George Wilson (Joiner) family — primary candidate

George Wilson (born ~1815, Flaxton/Bossall, Yorkshire), a joiner, lived in St Maurice throughout 1851–1881. His son John Wilson (born ~1845/46, York) was a bachelor aged about 20 at the time of Alfred’s conception in December 1865. John did not marry until 3 December 1870 (Elizabeth Cooper, Elvington). His marriage witnesses included his brother Alfred Robert Wilson — whose name matches Alfred Wilson Frankish’s given name. John died 18 May 1872, leaving a son John Thomas Wilson (born 1872).

Candidate 2: David Wilson (printer) family — background lead

David Wilson (born ~1820, Clitheroe, Lancashire), also a printer in St Maurice. His son William Battersby Wilson (~1845) married in October 1865 — two months before Alfred’s conception. Deprioritised but not ruled out. A 12cM match with a descendant of Philip Wilson (another son) was found but is too small to interpret reliably.

Candidate 3: Robert Wilson (born ~1845, Barton, County Durham) — secondary candidate

Robert Wilson was born approximately 1845 in Barton, County Durham (within Gainford parish), the son of Thomas Wilson (printer, born ~1817, Barnard Castle). The family was in St Maurice in 1851 but cannot be found in 1861. Robert’s birthplace in Barton, which is within Gainford parish, is the same parish in which Tricia Louth’s ancestor Margaret Wilson was born. If Thomas Wilson (Barnard Castle) and William Wilson (Ayton/Thornaby) were related, it would explain the DNA cluster. This is geographically suggestive but entirely unproven.

Current position

John Wilson (son of George Wilson, joiner of St Maurice) remains the strongest documentary candidate: same parish, bachelor at the right time, right age, naming pattern consistent. No DNA confirmation has been obtained. The link between the York George Wilson family and the Thornaby/Durham DNA cluster has not been proved.

Unverified: Alfred Wilson Frankish’s father is not identified. DNA comparison with a known descendant of the George Wilson (joiner) family would confirm or rule out the John Wilson hypothesis. Parish register research in Flaxton/Bossall and in Barnard Castle/Gainford (County Durham) may resolve the DNA connection.

8.2 The unknown father of George Thompson (1857)

George Thompson was born illegitimate in 1857 in Kirk Sandall. His mother was Sarah Thompson, unmarried. No father is recorded anywhere. He has no middle name, so there is no naming convention clue.

DNA evidence: nil result

Pro Tools cluster analysis (May 2026) confirmed that George Thompson’s paternal line has no representation in my Ancestry DNA database. Every paternal match in the 20–400cM range was accounted for by one of four known lines: Frankish, Wilson (Alfred’s line), Laverack, or Rowley. DNA cannot help identify George’s father.

Documentary steps

Unverified: George Thompson’s father is unknown. DNA cannot contribute. The birth certificate is the immediate next step.

Part 9: DNA evidence

My Ancestry ethnicity estimate assigns Parent 1 (maternal) and Parent 2 (paternal). The paternal components are shown below.

Ethnicity — paternal components

The 6% Swedish element is entirely maternal and is discussed in the Brown Family History page.

Explained paternal DNA matches