The History of the Burrell Family

Lincolnshire is derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford. For some time the entire county was called "Lindsey", and it is recorded as such in the Domesday Book (1086 A.D.). Later, Lindsey was applied to the northern core, around Lincoln, and emerged as one of the three Parts of Lincolnshire, along with the Parts of Holland in the south-east and the Parts of Kesteven in the south-west, which each had separate Quarter Sessions as their county administrations.

In 1888 when county councils were set up, Lindsey, Holland and Kesteven each received their own separate one. These survived until 1974, when Holland, Kesteven, and most of Lindsey were unified into Lincolnshire, and the northern part, including Scunthorpe Municipal Borough and Grimsby County Borough, was incorporated into the newly formed non-metropolitan county of Humberside, along with most of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

A further local government reform in 1996 abolished Humberside, and the land south of the Humber was allocated to the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. These two areas became part of Lincolnshire for ceremonial purposes such as the Lord-Lieutenancy, but are not covered by the Lincolnshire police and are in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

The remaining districts of Lincolnshire are Boston, East Lindsey, Lincoln, South Holland, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, and West Lindsey. They are part of the East Midlands region. [1]

The Burrell Family

Generation (0) - Thomas Burrell

0 Thomas Burrell: 1761 - Unknown
+Mary Unknown: 1771 - Unknown
1 John Burrell: 1792 - 1793
1 George Burrell: 1796 - 1865

Thomas Burrel was born around 1761 in Lincolnshire, England. Thomas and Mary Burrell (born around 1771) were married and had two sons. John Burrell, the first-born, did not survive beyond the age of four months. George Burrell was born in 1796 and married Margaret Wiles in 1819. George and Margaret had several children who became the ancestors of the families contained within these pages. Thomas and Mary Burrell appear in the England and Wales Census of 1841 living in Gosberton, which is a village located only a couple of miles north of Surfleet. If this is the same Thomas and Mary Burrell, it is the last record of them.

All of the places mentioned in the notes for Thomas' wife and children are in Spalding parish or district -- Tydd St. Mary is 12 miles to the east; Cowbit is 3 miles south; Deeping Fen, and three 'Deeping' villages are 5-10 miles southwest; Surfleet is 3 miles north of Spalding. Pinchbeck is a mile north of Spalding, between there and Surfleet. Although the town of Holbeach is not mentioned in any of these records, it is quoted by descendents as where the family came from. It can be seen on the map above that Holbeach is central to all of the above-listed villages. [3]

Mary Burrell - wife of Thomas Burrell

Mary (maiden name unknown) was born around 1771 in Lincolnshire, England. She was the wife of Thomas Burrel (patriarch of the Burrell family), as well as the mother of John and George. She appears living with Thomas in Gosberton in the 1841 census. Not much else is known about Mary. It is possible that Mary Burrell, widow, age 80, pauper, nurse, deaf, born Cowbit, Lincolnshire, seen in the 1851 census of Spalding parish, on Deeping Road, could be her. A daughter, Mary Thorpe, widow, age 53, pauper, blind, born in Deeping, and a sister Frances, widow, age X3?, born in Cowbit, were living with her.[4] If this is true, then the daughter, Mary Thorpe, is an as-yet undocumented child of the Burrell family. [4]

Generation (1) - John Burrell

0 Thomas Burrell: 1761 - Unknown
+Mary Unknown: 1771 - Unknown
1 John Burrell: 28 Dec 1792 - 21 Mar 1793

John Burrell, was the the first son of Thomas and Mary Burrell. He was born in Tydd Saint Mary, Lincolnshire on December 28, 1792 but died less than three months later on March 21, 1793. [5]

Generation (1) - George Burrell

0 Thomas Burrell: 1761 - Unknown
+Mary Unknown: 1771 - Unknown
1 George Burrell: 9 Feb 1796 - 7 Mar 1865
+Margaret Wiles: 1800 - after 1881
2 Charles Burrell: 1820 - 1881?
2 George Burrell: 1821 - 1910
2 Mary Ann Burrell: 1824 - after 1841
2 Elizabeth Burrell: 1827 - Unknown
2 James Burrell: 1828 - 1901
2 Thomas Burrell: 1831 - 1896
2 Elizabeth Burrell: 1833 - Unknown
2 Eliza Burrell: 1836 - Unknown
2 Betsy Burrell: 1838 - Unknown

George Burrell was born on February 9, 1796 to Thomas and Mary Burrell in Tydd Saint Mary, Lincolnshire, England. He married Margaret Wiles on May 13, 1819 in Surfleet Parish, Lincolnshire. George was a prominent farmer in the Gosberton area, tilling over fifty acres. He and Margaret had nine children who became the ancestors of the families contained within these pages. Three of George's sons, George, James, and Thomas, immigrated to Ontario, Canada in the early 1850's. It is not certain whether they immigrated together, but it seems likely they did not - George and James were still listed 'at home' in England in the 1851 census, while Thomas was not. George died in Surfleet on March 7, 1865. [6]

Margaret Wiles - wife of George Burrell

Margaret Wiles was born around 1800 in Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, England. She was the wife of George Burrel, as well as the mother of Charles, George, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, James, Thomas, Elizabeth, Eliza, and Betsy Burrell. She appears in the 1881 census living with the family of her grandson George (son of Charles) Burrell. [7]

Preface