James Pounder and Elizabeth Horsley, Old Hartlepool, England

     James Pounder and Elizabeth Horsley of Old Hartlepool, England are my paternal great great great great great grandparents.  Both the Pounder and Horsley names go back into the history of The Headland.  James, like so many men in his extended family, was a fisherman.  

     Unfortunately, there are sketchy records dating back into the early 1800's.  The first census to list the names of family members was in 1841.  There are baptism and death records for many individuals.

     James Pounder, son of James Pounder and Mary Blair, was born on April 1, 1783 and baptized on June 1, 1783 at St Hilda Anglican Church, Hartlepool, on The Headland.  

     On July 10, 1805, twenty-two year old James Pounder married nineteen year old Elizabeth Horsley, at St Hilda Anglican Church.  Elizabeth, the daughter of Richard Horsley and Elizabeth Reevley, was born on February 22, 1786 in Hartlepool, England.  

     Their first born child, Elizabeth Pounder, is my great great great great grandmother.    

1841 England Census
Hartlepool

   

1857 Ordinance Map showing the location of Chapel Street

Chapel Street

James Pounder, age 55, fisher, born in Durham County

Elizabeth Pounder, age 55, born in Durham County

George Pounder, age 20, born in Durham County

Robert Pounder, age 15, born in Durham County 

Alice Pounder, age 15, born in Durham County

     The census helps to fill in three additional children in this Pounder family.    

     Of interest is the other family I drew a red line around, Edward and Lucy Storey, living on the same street as the Pounders.  The Storey's are my paternal great great great great grandparents.  Their son, John Storey married Ann Robinson, daughter of Elizabeth Pounder when she was married to George Robinson.  This is my connection to the Old Hartlepool families.

SACRED

TO THE MEMORY OF

JAMES POUNDER

Who Died October 1st 1846

Aged 63 Years

ALSO THREE OF HIS CHILDREN

     I was thrilled to find ta listing for my great great great great great grandfather on Find A Grave and located in the St Hilda graveyard.  Elizabeth Horsley Pounder died on July 1, 1848 at age sixty-eight.  She is also listed on Find A Grave as buried at St Hilda

Known Children of James and Elizabeth Pounder:

1. Elizabeth Pounder--1805-1872.  Married George Robinson and second Matthew Pounder.  My GGGG Grandmother
2. Mary Pounder--1807-1841.  Married Joseph Robinson.
3. Ann Pounder--1810-1860.
4. George Pounder--1812-1814.
5. George Pounder--1816-1885.
6. James Pounder--1816-1872.  Married Mary Ann Heron (Stobart).
7. Alice Pounder--1824-1899.  Married William Harper.
8. Robert Pounder--1825-1889.  Married Mary Horsley.

Perhaps two unknown children died and along with George are buried with their father.

  I thank the fellow family genealogists I have found on line who have shared their research.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2025, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Monday Miracle--Pounders Unleashed

I know we all have success stories to share of folks finding our blogs and those surnames we have mentioned. Last month I shared information on my Pounder line from Hartlepool, England and another researcher from the UK sent me a comment on my blog that she, too, has my family in her database out on ancestry.

One of my shortcomings was following the Pounder surname. First, I have no UK information at my disposal here in Ohio and second, as I mentioned in the blog, there are hundreds of Pounders, all with similar first names living in Hartlepool.

She made me a guest to her ancestry information and there I found many generations of my family listed. It was all very exciting and gives me something to begin building my research upon.

Genealogy blogging comes up aces again. YEEE HAWW

The Pounder surname--Old Hartlepool, Durham County, England

     The Pounder surname is part of my paternal Hartlepool, England Hughes line. Elizabeth Pounder is my paternal great great great great grandmother. Figuring out the Pounders of Hartlepool, England takes a great deal of patience to navigate the name.  So many Pounders...so many generations....all with the same first names.

Marriage record of Elizabeth Pounder and George RobinsonMy paternal gggg grandparents

     Elizabeth, daughter of James Pounder and Elizabeth Horsley married George Robinson, a fisherman also from Hartlepool on May 14, 1826 at St. Hilda's on The Headland, Hartlepool, England. Their ceremony was performed by William Wilson, Curate of Hartlepool. Witnesses were: William Horsley, George Comer and John Fletcher. From the old records, neither George Robinson nor Elizabeth Pounder were able to write their name and signed with an "X".

     My Pounder link continues back from James Pounder and Elizabeth Horsely.

St. Hilda's on The Headland, Hartlepool, England

     My English friend, who by the way has done all the research on this family for me, sent me an addendum to the information which was of great interest to me. It involves the derivation of the name POUNDER. "From very early times, an important village official was the 'pinder' or 'pounder'. His job was the impounding of stray cattle in the pinfold or pound until their owner redeemed them on payment of a fine." According to my friend, "I have a true 'dyed in the wool' Hartlepool ancestor with the Pounder name that is special to the Headland (Old Hartlepool). Very cool!!!!

     My first cousin twice removed from Hartlepool, John George Marsh, married a Hartlepool Pounder, Mary Pounder. Over the years Mary and I corresponded about family and we were both surprised to find that John descended from Pounders, something he was unaware of.

     Always the generous one, Mary sent me information about her Pounder family. Mary was the daughter of Richard Pounder and Mary Herring. She was born January 23, 1923 in Hartlepool, England.

Additional Information:

John George and Mary Pounder Marsh on Flipside

The Headland/Hartlepool/West Hartlepool, England at The Linda Hughes Hiser Family Genealogy Home Page

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

2025  Updated