Parents: Cotton Stansfeld and Agnes Hunte
Born: baptised as 'son of Cotton' 7 Oct 1610 at Felkirk
(BTs, Wakefield Family Hist. Soc.)
Flourished: c1650
Died: unknown
Siblings
Possibly Robert, buried 5 Dec 1626 at Felkirk
Marriage: possibly to Elizabeth, buried 12 June 1687 at Felkirk as 'of Havercroft'
Children
Cotton buried 8 May 1715 at Felkirk as 'of Havercroft'
Sources
- Felkirk Bishop's Transcripts, Wakefield District Family History Society transcriptions booklets R77 and R79
- West Yorkshire, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812
Evidence (circumstantial)
Note: The nearest thing to solid evidence is the transcript of Felkirk BTs. I have yet to see the original BTs for confirmation.
Other facts
John is not listed in the 1672 Hearth Tax return for Ackworth, nor for Shafton, South Hiendley, Ryhill, Havercroft, Brierley, Cudworth, or Hemsworth.
In and around 1645 two events combined to devastate the local population: Plague and Civil War. In neighbouring Ackworth, the Plague killed 153 people during that year, most of the village in fact. The same year a Civil War skirmish was fought just outside Ackworth and its church is supposed to have been used for stabling Cromwell's troops. Thomas Bradley, made chaplain to Charles I in 1628, was rector of staunchly royalist Ackworth at that time. In the 1644 Siege of Pontefract he had preached to the royalist troops under Sir George Wentworth. But in 1645 Cromwell's troops occupied Ackworth and he was deprived of his living and his home. It is believed that Bradley attended Charles I at his execution 30 Jan 1649. In 1660, after power was restored to the monarchy, he returned to the rectory of Ackworth until he died in 1673.
