Ralph Eccles and Hannah both born about 1700 or before

The baptism records suggest Ralph Eccles and his wife, Hannah, who lived in Lower Darwen, had at least five children all baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Blackburn:

This image was provided by Gordon Hartley for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project.

Richard baptised on 24th November 1723, buried on 1st May 1732.

Ralph baptised 12th April 1730, buried on 21st March 1731.

Ralph baptised 19th March 1732, buried on 25th August 1732.

Martha baptised 30th September 1733; I cannot find any more information, I cannot find a Martha in the deaths for this period. There is a Martha who marries in 1763 but she comes from Blackburn and not Lower Darwen.

Mark (1737-1798) is my five times great grandfather.

The parish records state that all of the above were born to Ralph Eccles and Hannah of Lower Darwen. There are four other children from this period born to a Ralph Eccles but because it does not state Hannah as their mother I am not sure whether these are Ralph and Hannah's children. They are: Alice b. 1716; Elizabeth b. 1718; Anna b. 1719; and an abortive Eccles child, b. 1736. They were, however, from Lower Darwen.

I cannot find a marriage record for Ralph Eccles and Hannah. However, the above parish records tell us that Richard was a weaver - at this point in history he would have been a handloom weaver, probably working at home. Here is a link to Hand Loom Weavers written by Old Crone Holden. It is worth having a read because it talks about the handloom weavers in Darwen in this period.