John Rishworth was the fourth child of Thomas Rishworth and Fanny Thornber.  He was born at Steeton on 17^th December 1845.  At the age of 16 he was employed as a Bobbin Turner but by 1871 he was living at Rishworth Street Tailor Shop, accompanied by his younger brothers Charles and Samuel, and by this time working as a Tailor. It is not known who had built Rishworth Street, or indeed which property this was.  Rishworth Row had been recorded in 1861

In 1880 his father Thomas died and at the time of the 1881 Census John was still living in Steeton with his mother at Garden Cottage.Shortly afterwards on 30^th July1881 John married Mary Elizabeth Lantaff at Ilkley.

The 1881 census recorded Mary Elizabeth Lantaff as being employed as a servant, residing with her employers, Wm.T. and Kate Potter at Cross Beck Road, Ilkley.  Mary Elizabeth was born at St. Ives, Oldhurst, Huntingdon, Dec1855 and died at Ilkley June 1944. 

John Rishworth and Mary Elizabeth Lantaff had two sons and six daughters.  John died March 1917 aged 71, but was survived by Mary Elizabeth until June 1944 when she died age 88.

Arthur was born 29^th October 1881.  The 1901 census recorded that he was an Apprentice Cabinet Maker.  Arthur emigrated to Canada and arrived in Toronto in April 1911.  Shortly afterwards on 20^th September 1911 he married Alice Mary Sowerby.  Arthur died August 1957.  (See Later ).

Emma was born 1^st January 1883, and died unmarried, June 1958 aged 75.

Fanny was born 29^th October 1884, and died unmarried, December 1934 aged 50.

Harry was born 24^th March 1886 and married Mary Alice Lister.  He died 26^th December 1946 aged 60 (See Later).

Arthur, Emma, Fanny and Harry were all christened at Ilkley on 5^th September 1887.  The family address was stated to be Ash Grove.

Alice was born 10^th January 1888, and died unmarried, June1972, aged 84.

Amy was born 10^th October 1889.   Amy married Harold Stott, a soldier of Laburnum Cottage, Ben Rhydding, on 2^nd January 1915, when they were both aged 25.  Amy’s address at this time was 103, Leeds Road, Ilkley.

Amy and Alice were both christened at Ilkley on 25^th May 1890, the address being more positively stated to be 59, Ash Grove.

Maggie was born 1^st October 1892 and christened at Ilkley on 23^rd July 1893.  Maggie, aged 27, married Joseph Wood, aged 28, a mechanical engineer, at Ilkley on 27^th September 1919.  Both addresses were stated as 103, Leeds Road, and both fathers were reported as deceased.  The next wedding in the Parish Register was that of their best man, Priestley Wood, on 25^th October 1919, and his address was recorded as 12, Leamington Terrace, Ilkley.

Annie was born 3^rd December1894 and christened at Ilkley on 10^th December 1902.  The address was now stated to be 23, Ashland Terrace.  Annie was engaged to Ernest Simpson and was travelling on the Beltania from England to Australia in 1925 to marry Ernest who was already in Australia. However during the voyage she met a ship’s cook Frederick Graves who she subsequently married in Sydney later that year.  Annie died on 17^th September 1989.  23, Ashland Terrace was the family address at the time of the 1901 census.  It is suspected that Ashland Terrace may have been incorporated into Leeds Road and subsequently became 103, Leeds Road.

At the time of the 1901 census all the family except for Harry were living at the family home at 23, Ashland Terrace, Ilkley.  Additionally the house was occupied by a boarder, William Harris Hotchkiss, whose profession is described (with abbreviations) as Priest Cath Apol of Church.

Arthur Rishworth, born in Ilkley on 29^th October 1881, emigrated to Canada in 1911.  He married Alice Mary Sowerby on 20^th September 1911.  Alice Mary Sowerby was born in Epworth June 1887.  Arthur died in August 1957, aged 76. Alice died on 6^th December 1964, aged 77.  They had one son Edgar (Ed) and one daughter Beatrice Muriel (Betty).

The exact date of Arthur’s arrival is not known.  The marriage application said that he had been in Canada since 1^st April 1911, but it is not clear if this is his date of arrival or whether he had been resident since “before 1^st April”.  It is further understood that they had met while Alice was in service in Ilkley.

Edgar Rishworth, born 1915 married Lola Brock and had a son and a daughter, both live in Calgary, with their families.

Beatrice Muriel Rishworth was born 22^nd January 1918.  She married Fred Hull, born 15^th March 1918, on 18^th May 1942.  Beatrice (Betty) was known as Beatrice Muriel Rishworth Hull.  They had three daughters, all married with children.  Fred died on 24^th February 2004.  Beatrice died 27^th May 2017 in her 100^th year.

Harry Rishworth had left the family home and in 1901 was residing with his Uncle Henry Rishworth and wife Mary at their farm “Bracken” at Silsden, and was employed as a “farm servant”.  Examination of a current map indicates “Low Bracken Farm” and “High Bracken Farm”.  The latter is considered the farm Grandad described to me as being “high on the moors above Silsden, and a right bleak spot” and so far as I am aware the place where he continued to live and work until his move to Thornton in Craven.  Aged 21, he married Mary Alice Lister, aged 18, on 11^th January 1908, at Thornton in Craven Parish Church.  The Marriage Certificate records that he was a Farm Labourer, living in Thornton in Craven.  He lived at Thornton in Craven until his death in hospital at Skipton on 26^th December 1946.  He was buried at Thornton in Craven on 28^th December 1946.  His home for most of the period, Beech Hill, was at the top end of the village green, now part of the enlarged former farm house.  During his latter years he was separated from his wife.

Mary Alice Rishworth, who was born in Blackburn on about 8^th September 1889 lived at 20, Wellhouse Road, Barnoldswick during the last years of her life, after separating from Harry c 1936.  She died 14^th January 1959 and was buried at Thornton in Craven 17^th January 1959.

Harry Rishworth and Mary Alice had three sons, all born at Thornton in Craven.

William Rishworth was born 24^th June 1908 at 4, Station Road, Thornton in Craven. He subsequently married Dora Russell of Colne, June 1940 then they emigrated to Australia in 1957.  They had no children.  William died c1972.  Dora was born 11^th August 1908 and died 8^th August 1984.

John Rishworth was born 16^th November 1909.  He married Margaret Henderson Stephens at Thornton in Craven on 4^th July 1930.  He died on 2^nd September 1986.  Although he always referred to living at Thornton in Craven for all of his life, there was a short period early in the marriage when he lived at nearby Kelbrook.

Margaret Henderson Stephens was born on 16^th June 1906 at Murton, Co.Durham.  She died at Thornton in Craven on 28th August 1998, bringing an end to almost a century of the Rishworth life in Thornton in Craven.  Margaret had left her parents home in Co. Durham to work as a servant for the Clay family at Thornton Manor House.  During the last few weeks of her life she was cared for at the Thornton Manor Nursing Home, which had been converted for this use some years earlier.

John and Margaret had two sons, Ronald and Robert, and a daughter Elizabeth.

Ronald Rishworth was born at 67, Dotclifffe Road, Kelbrook on 26^th November 1932 and baptised at Thornton in Craven on 18^th December 1932. He moved to Holland in 1953 to work as a translator for Royal Dutch Shell and continued to live there at The Hague where he died on 16^th July 2016.

He married Jacobine Heymans at Thornton in Craven Parish Church on 30^th September 1961.  He then married Sonia La Lau in Holland on 23^rd March 1967.  Sonia already had a son Diederik William Folef , born 30th January 1960, who subsequently changed his name to Rishworth.  Ronald and Sonia had a son born in 1969.  Diederik died 9th July 2011.

Robert Rishworth was born at 1, Station Road, Thornton in Craven on 19^th September 1937, and baptised at Thornton in Craven on 17^th October 1937.   He has lived in the counties of Durham, Northumberland and Warwickshire, before returning to Yorkshire in 1985 and moving to Filey in1997.  He moved to Huddersfield (only a few miles from Rishworth village) in 2014 after several years at Filey on the Yorkshire coast.

He married Patricia Anne Marsden, born 21^st November 1938, at Bardsey Parish Church (near Leeds) on 14^th December 1963.  Pat died on 9^th May 2006.

Elizabeth (Betty) Rishworth was born at School House, Thornton in Craven on 3^rd July 1939, and baptised at Thornton in Craven on 6^th August 1939.   She married in 1959 and has lived in Skipton since this date.

John and Margaret Rishworth moved from School House to Lime Tree Cottage, Thornton in Craven, c1964, and this continued to be their residence until their deaths.  Margaret Rishworth was the last Rishworth to reside in Thornton in Craven when she died in 1998, just over 90 years after Harry had arrived there.

Harry Rishworth was born at Beech Hill, Thornton in Craven on 27^th January 1915, and baptised on 4^th April 1915. He married Martha Lister, June 1935 and died in March 1982.  (A second generation Harry Rishworth marrying a Lister, but a completely different family, from Skipton). Martha, born 14^th March 1909 died January 1992. They had a son Harry born 10^th December 1935 who died August 2004, and a daughter Margaret born 1938 who married Geoffrey Bartlett then emigrated to Australia..

Harry Rishworth, born 10^th December 1935 married Elsa Winifred Eden, born 11^th September 1938, Sept 1957.  They had two daughters, Pamela J, born 5^th November 1958 and Helen T, born Dec 1961.  Both daughters are understood to be married but not yet traced.  Harry died August 2004 and Elsa died March 2005.

Margaret A Rishworth, born Sept 1938 married Geoffrey Bartlett Dec 1956.  They emigrated to Australia, and are understood to have had two children, Donald, born  c 1959 and Jeanette, born c 1961.  No further information is available at this time.