I had an email from Janice Ward from Blackburn, who had a question about her great great grandfather Thomas Blanchard.

"Having started to trace my family, my mother's maiden name being Blanchard, and realised her ancestors could be traced back to Pocklington....My great great grandfather Thomas Blanchard born 1835 appears to have left Pocklington in the early 1860s to perhaps seek work and settle in Salford, Manchester. His son Frank then moved to Blackburn in 1880s. Thomas Blanchard b. 1791 married Elizabeth Douthwaite in 1822 where it names her father as William Douthwaite and presumably the same William that owned the property and land. Thomas and Elizabeth went on to have 11 children and he died in 1850-he was buried in Pocklington and his gravestone I found on findagrave.com"

This website does not have census information, so it is very essential that a census record is looked up for 1851, knowing that Elizabeth would be a widow. It should have Thomas Blanchard junior in the household, even though Thomas senior died the year before.

Census: 1851
Address: Chapmangate
Parish: Pocklington
ref: HO107/2357/~F307
Census Provider: The Genealogist

On the Pocklington history website we can look at the trade directories:
Archives->People->Trade Directories 1791 - 1900

Open each directory in turn starting with 1791 and press CTRL-F this will bring up the FIND function of the web browser. Type in BLANCHARD

This gives the following results:
1791 - Francis Blanchard - (F) Cordwainer (F meaning Freeholder with a vote)
1823 - John Blanchard in Chapmangate - Fellmonger & Glover
1823 - George Blanchard in Union street - Fellmonger & Glover
1831 - G. Blanchard in Chapmangate - Fellmonger & Glover
1831 - T. Blanchard in Swinegate - Fellmonger & Glover
1834 - Thomas Blanshard - Smithey Hill - Fellmonger (note spelling difference)
1840 - Hannah Blanchard - Chapmangate - Fellmonger & Glover
1840 - Thomas Blanchard - Chapmangate - Fellmonger & Glover
1840 - Anthony Blanchard - Canal Head - Corn Miller
1844 - Anthony Blanchard - Corn Miller
1844 - Hannah Blanchard - Chapmangate - Fellmonger & Glover
1844 - Thomas Blanchard - Chapmangate - Fellmonger & Glover
1845 - Thomas Blanchard - Swine Market - Fellmonger - Owner William Douthwaite (House). Map Reference No. 28
1845 - Mrs Blanchard - Pavement - Glover - Owner Parish (House). Map reference 19.
1851 - Wm. Blanchard - Smithy Hill - Fellmonger & Glover
1857 - Elizabeth Blanchard - Smithy Hill - Fellmonger
1858 - Wm. Blanchard - Smithy Hill - Fellmonger & Glover
1879 - Blanchard William, woolstapler & fellmonger 
1889 - No entry
1892 - No entry


Easton's directory for 1845 is very useful as it contains the extra information of who is the owner, but more importantly the map reference of location of the house.
William Watson's map of 1844 is most useful as it has each house drawn in detail and is available to view on this website. Using the map reference from Easton's directory, it is possible to identify the exact location of the house.
Easton's directory says Thomas Blanchard was in Swinegate, so look up the street on the map and then look for the house numbered 28. In her email Janice mentioned Thomas married Elizabeth Douthwaite in 1822 and as the house is on Douthwaite yard, and the owner is William Douthwaite then it is likely we have the right house.

We know Thomas Blanchard senior died in 1850, and that Thomas junior did not leave Pocklington until 1860, it is likely we can look at the same house on the 1855 William Watson map. This particular map does not have an associated directory with an index like the 1844 map as the names are drawn directly on the map.



The location is interesting if the rear of the premises was used as an abbatoir as just further behind this property was the location of a large tannery and Watson's 1844 map shows the location of the Tanyard. The Tanyard was run by the Wilson family from the 1770's until it went out of business in 1834. The water from the beck would have assisted the cleaning of the abbatoir and with the disposal of chemicals from the tanning process. The web page tells us that Robert Denison carried on the Tannery until 1850 after which the tannery was closed and a Flax Mill was built.

Because we know the location of the house we can use Google maps Street View to see if the house is still there. Many houses in Pocklington have disappeared, but luckily this one is still there.

Google 'Street View'

It is now a Pet shop and a remnant of the later owner R.M. English who ran the mill nearby. It is also interesting to compare Watson's rendition of the windows and doors with the current building to see how much of the current building survives from the time that Watson's map was drawn in 1855.

Finally to use the resources of the website we can go to the Search facility.
Type in 'Blanchard' and we find many references to the Blanchard family, but also we find the Pocklington Church Inscriptions. When you land on the page press CTRL-F and type blanchard and then you will find the search engine reference to the gravestone that Janice sent with her enquiry email, and because it was published in 1898, it has more text than survives on the gravestone today. Also remember to check the surname variants and it is always best to check those as well e.g. Blanshard.

So, using the resources of this website it may be possible to find the house of your ancestor in Pocklington.

If you have any connections to, or information on the Blanchard family please contact me and I will pass the details on to Janice.