Chicken Family Tales

  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - A Challenge Week 8: I can Identify For many years my research into my father's family line stopped at the marriage of Thomas Chicken to Elizabeth Carter by banns on 5th Sept 1807 in the parish of Jarrow with Heworth. They were the parents of 4 children over the next few years, including my GG Grandfather, John. But who was Thomas? There was no clue in the marriage record that I could find, but it was only the Bishop's Transcript, not the original parish register. However, in the baptismal entries for their children Thomas was described as "of Tanfield". In my ignorance I thought that was where he was living at the time so didn't pay too much attention to it. A distant cousin whom I never managed to meet sent me some information that he had about a Thomas Chicken, baptised in Nov 1782 in Ryton, son of George Chicken. He believed that this was our ancestor. Meantime I found a baptism of Thomas and John, twin sons of John Chicken of Fryer...