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Joseph Wren (1805 - ?)
Joseph Wren was the 'bastard son of Mary Wren' according to the Bishop's Transcripts for Westmorland. As such, and unless his true father was coincidently a Wren, he is the root of our male Wren line. The chances of us finding his true father appear to be very slim. Christened on 4th August 1805 in Grasmere, Westmorland the next record we have of Joseph is his marriage to Mary Braithwaite in what is now Manchester Cathedral on 8th June 1930. He is registered as a blacksmith of Dearham, Cumberland. Mary is registered as spinster of Manchester but came originally from Portinscale near Keswick in Cumberland. After their marriage Mary went to live with Joseph in Dearham. They had four children there: Daniel (1831), William (1833), Mary Caroline (1835) and Abraham (1838). Sadly, both Mary Caroline and Abraham died in early childhood aged 3 and 2½ years respectively. By 1844 they were living in Seaton near Workington where Mary died of Phthisis, a form of tuberculosis, on 16th November 1844. She was taken back to Dearham to be buried, presumably with her children Mary Caroline and Abraham. The informant on Mary's death certificate is Margaret Scurr (nee Braithwaite), Mary's sister, who also lived in Seaton. Within six months Joseph had remarried. He married Anne Tindall, daughter of Joseph Tindall, in Bridekirk, Cumberland on 12th May 1845. Anne was a servant in Ribton Hall, just east of Seaton, at the time of their marriage. By the time of the 1851 census Joseph and Anne were living in Strand Street near the harbour in Whitehaven. William was with them, apprenticed as a joiner, as were daughters Jane and Mary Ann and son Joseph. Joseph's (senior) occupation in 1851 is a Blacksmith Journeyman.
Jane is a mystery as she was born in Cockermouth in 1843 just prior to Mary's death but there is (as yet) no record of her birth. However, there is a record of a Jane Tindall being born to an Ann Tindall in Cockermouth in 1843 with no mention of a father. This, coupled with the lack of a respectful mourning period before remarrying, leads to speculating that Joseph could well have been Jane's real father. Another piece of speculation, yet to be confirmed, is the fact that Daniel, Joseph's son, married Tamer Tindall, daughter of Joseph Tyndal. Could this be the same man as Anne Tindall's father? Both were wool spinners and Tamer did have a sister called Ann of the right age. If so then Daniel married his step-mother's sister. What happened to Joseph after 1851 is still unknown. There is a record of a Joseph Wren of the right age dying in 1867 in the Cockermouth district.
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