Logo for Ann Leeming
Ann Leeming was born into a Catholic family in Chipping (Lancashire) and raised a family of 8 children in nearby Fulwood Row.
Her parents (John Leeming and Isabel Dewhurst) were married in Chipping on 28 May 1781. Ann was their eldest child, born a year later. She was baptised at Chipping on 1 May 1782. Seven siblings joined her over the next 18 years: Edward 1785; Mary 1788; John 1790; Elizabeth 1792; James 1796; Isabel 1797; and Thomas 1800.
Her brother Edward witnessed her marriage to Thomas Clarkson at Broughton on 10 February 1806. He also witnessed the baptism of their first child (Helen) later that year.
Ann's father John Leeming died and was buried at Chipping on 9 May 1808.
Ann and Thomas Clarkson had eight children altogether. The first two were baptised at Chipping and the rest were baptised at Fernyhalgh (near the Clarkson home at Fulwood Row). This could imply that the family lived at Chipping during the early years of their marriage before moving to Fulwood Row by 1809. But, if Thomas Clarkson was a native of Chipping, we would expect that they would have married there, instead of at Broughton. It is more likely that Thomas Clarkson originated near Broughton and Fulwood Row and that Ann travelled back to Chipping for the birth of her first two children. It is also possible that she spent a considerable amount of time at Chipping around this time in order to support her recently-widowed mother.
The couple's children were Helen 1806; John 1808; Robert; 1809; Elizabeth 1811; Mary 1813; Ann 1815; and twins Thomas and Mary in 1816.
Both Ann and her husband Thomas had first names that were very common in Lancashire at that time. The Clarkson surname is also very common in the area. For these reasons, records of later events in their life have been elusive.