Nat Gould

Richard Askey 1758-1820

Ashbourne Church

Richard Askey was born in 1758 at Mapleton in Derbyshire, the son of Richard Askey and his wife née Sarah Maddock. He was baptised at Mapleton on 9 April 1758 (1).

His mother was the daughter of Anthony Maddock, the son of a family long established in that village. She was baptised there on 26 November 1729.

Marriage Licence 1788

On 10 January 1788 Richard Askey married Frances Fernihough at Ashbourne in Derbyshire by licence. She was the daughter of Josiah Fernihough of Ashbourne and his wife Elizabeth (maiden surname unknown), and was baptised at Ashbourne on 28 October 1763.

Richard Askey remained in possession of his family property in Mapleton but moved to live in nearby Ashbourne. They had the following children:

Richard Askey. His birth date is unknown, but he was probably the eldest surviving son (2).

Sarah Askey. She was born on 12 March 1789, and baptised on 20 March 1789 at Ashbourne.

John Askey. Born in 1791, he died in 1806 and was buried at Ashbourne on 23 October 1806.

Elizabeth Askey. She was born on 24 January 1797, and died in 1799. She was buried at Ashbourne on 28 February 1799.

Frances Askey. She was born on 7 January 1800, and baptised on 17 January 1800 at Ashbourne (3).

Thomas Askey 1803-1867. He married Hannah Hambleton 1807-1867 on 29 September 1834 at Ellastone in Staffordshire. She was was born in 1807 at Milldale in Alstonefield parish in Staffordshire, the daughter of William Hambleton and his wife née Martha Sheldon. They lived all their married life in Milldale.

Marriage licence signature

William Askey. He was born on 5 March 1809, and baptised on 14 April 1809.

Richard Askey died on 7 June 1820 and was buried in Mapleton churchyard.

His wife Frances Askey née Fernihough had predeceased him in 1815. She was buried at Ashbourne on 9 May 1815.

His son Richard Askey (who took the surname Haskey) lived in Ashbourne and sold the family property in Mapleton in 1823 (4). The younger surviving son Thomas Askey moved up the Dove valley to Milldale. But although the Askey family lived in Mapleton for only two generations, they left their mark: on a nineteenth century map a large field at the corner of the village road is named Askey Meadow, now part of the grounds of Callow Hall.

(1) The Mapleton register reads: "Richd son of Richd & Sarah Hesketh Rec[eived]".
(2) No entry for his baptism has been found in the Ashbourne registers or the Bishops' Transcripts. The administration bond for the estate of his father describes Richard as being a "yeoman" and "the Natural and lawful son of the said deceased".
He may have married a wife named Ann, as there is an entry in the Ashbourne baptism register for "John son of Richard & Ann Haskey, Smith's Yard, Farmer" under 21 August 1822.
(3) She was known in the family as Fanny, and lived as a spinster in the house of an Ashbourne tailor John Gettliffe and his wife Nanny. He was a signatory to the bond for her father’s estate, and so the two families were evidently connected.
(4) Abstract of Title of Mr. Richard Haskey of Lands at Mappleton in the County of Derby (1823) Derbyshire Record Office D231 M/E 326.