William Bancroft from 'Old Snap' farm

 

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Old  Snap Farm  2025

Here is a story about a married couple, William Bancroft & Ann Binns who lived all their lives in and around a farm called “Old Snap” on the outskirts of Keighley, Yorkshire. 

 

William married Ann Binns in 1785 at Haworth Church, even though where they lived was actually in the Keighley Parish area, most marriages around there took place at Haworth, because that was geographically nearer. It is noticed that neither William or Ann were able to write their names as they just left an X as their mark and William's surname is spelt with a "K" which was not unusual in those days where people could not read either.

William & Ann's marriage at Haworth PC 1785

 

William is listed as a weaver in the Craven Muster Rolls of 1803, This was an important historical document produced in 1803, when England declared war against France and the threat of invasion by Napoleon made it necessary to prepare the whole of the active male population of the country between the ages of 17 and 55 for military training, but not military service. The purpose of the lists was to organise reserves of men, not already serving in the military services, who would be required to take on such duties as evacuation of the civilian population, moving food supplies and gathers arms and equipment in the event of an invasion. 

They had at least five children, Ann being their fourth child. Shown near the bottom of this burial records page is the entry for a poor child of 2 years of age, Ann Bancroft, who was the daughter of William and Ann Bancroft and died from Smallpox.

As the following page from the Haworth burial records shows in September/October 1794, smallpox was rampant in the area around this time. The records for this six week period shows 15 out of the 20 burials in this small village were due to smallpox, and nearly all were young children.

 

Haworth Burial Record

William and Ann lived in a small isolated farmhouse know as ‘ Old Snap’ which is still there today on the outskirts of Haworth. Just surviving must have been a daily toil for William and his family, due to the rough moorland that surrounded them, were he scratched out a living as a hand loom weaver.

William seems to have lived his whole life in the area around Old Snap, and died in 1823, and was buried at Haworth Churchyard, as the following parish record shows, written by the hand of Rev’d Patrick Bronte. 

William's burial at Haworth PC

His wife Ann and family seem to have carried on living in the same area, but not at Old Snap, After William's death,  Ann is shown as living nearby at Deanfield as a servant with a farmer called Joseph Heaton…the Heaton family being the large landowners in the area at the time, and the owners of Old Snap farm, which the Bancroft had probably been renting from them. [The ages on the 1841 census are approximate]

1841 census

It seems likely that Ann lived to a good age and died aged 91 years and was buried at Haworth Parish Church as had been her husband William.

Ann's burial at Haworth PC 1/3/1850