Ainscough - Lancashire Ainscoughs

Lancashire Ainscoughs

Recent research shows that there are references to Ainscoughs in the Ormskirk area as early as the 13thC - William of Ainscough was a beneficiary to the church in Ormskirk; and there is a reference in 'The Cartulary of Burscough Priory' (1199-c1230) to a piece of land in the Scarisbrick estate called Aykescogh (Oak Wood) in the 12thC. Interestingly, in the same document the spelling of the name changes, in 1199 this is referred to as a place called 'Ayscogh', but then changes just 50 years later to 'Aykescogh' (1245-c1260).

Some genealogical sources give the English-Scottish borders as the origin of the family, others claim Cumberland as the source. Given the various theories on the derivation of the name, it is possible that there were other, independent lineages with the same surname.

Ralph Ainscough (b.1899 in Horwich) recorded his grandfather Ralph (b.1841 in Aspull) telling him that older generations of the Ainscoughs - e.g. William (b.1816 in Blackrod) had pronounced the name as “Ainsker”. There is some documentary evidence for this as William’s younger brother Charles (b.1818 in Blackrod) gave his name as “Insker” on moving to Staffordshire in the 1840s. Some Yorkshire names acquired an internal “n” when crossing the Pennines into Lancashire. “Ainsker” may well have originated as “Aisker” - which is not far removed from the Anglo-Saxon “Aiks keogh” or oak wood. Given the common nature of places as surname origins, it is possible that there was more than one distinct line with the same surname.

Evidence of origin from the International Genealogical Index (IGI) is mixed and inconclusive. The IGI itself is a valuable but flawed resource. The current online database - which I shall term “IGI 2” - contains records contributed by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), many of which are questionable. The original pass through Britain’s parish records by LDS members was free of personal contributions and was available on microfiches in such centres as the library of the Society of Genealogists. I shall term this database “IGI 1”. This original database excluded many Catholic records, owing to the reluctance of Catholic priests to allow their records being transcribed by the LDS. It also failed to record some nonconformist register entries. Given these caveats, an examination of the 1,623 records of Ainscoughs in Lancashire in the original IGI 1 shows that the earliest recorded event was the christening of Thomas Ainscough - son of John - on 27 April 1549 in Chorley. The next was the marriage of Kateryn Aynscow to John Brindill (Katherine Ainscough & John Brindle) on 17 January 1550 in the parish of Chorley. In the same year, on 20 January and in the same parish, Richard Aynscow married “Jone Leeds”. John, Katherine and Richard may have been siblings and quite possibly were born in the 1520s. The records in IGI 1 are drawn almost exclusively from Anglican records, but these three Ainscoughs may well have come from the Lincolnshire connection.

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