Nat Gould

William Horobin 1724-1794

Peak Forest Church

William Horobin was born in 1724 at Sheen in Staffordshire, the son of William Horobin 1689-1763 and his wife née Hannah Wood.

He farmed at Whittle in Sheen parish.

He married Elizabeth Derbyshire on 26 February 1748, not locally but at Peak Forest in Derbyshire. In the eighteenth century that was a place for clandestine marriages (1). Two of the sisters of William Horobin and a brother (2) also married at Peak Forest (3). Elizabeth Derbyshire was born in 1723 at Sheen, and died there in 1807.

They had the following children:

William Horobin 1749-1825. He was born in 1749 in Sheen, Staffordshire. He married Hannah Barker on 16 October 1791 in Manchester Collegiate Church (now Manchester Cathedral), and had nine children. He died on 26 January 1825 at Broad Meadow in Sheen parish.

Hannah Horobin. She was born in 1751 at Sheen, and baptised there on 11 June 1751. She was married to Joseph Goodwin on 5 October 1773 at Earl Sterndale in Derbyshire. They had a son Joseph Goodwin, born in 1782 at Earl Sterndale in Derbyshire and baptised on 8 October 1782 at Sheen. Hannah Goodwin née Horobin died on 31 July 1821 at Under Whittle in Sheen, and was buried on 3 August 1821 at Sheen.

George Joseph Horobin. He was born in 1755 at Sheen, and died in 1837. He married Elizabeth Thompson.

James Horobin. He was born in 1760 at Sheen, and died in 1824 at Longnor in Staffordshire. He married Elizabeth Elks.

John Horobin. He was born in 1764 at Sheen, and died in 1824. He married Mary Wheeldon on 25 July 1793 at Sheen, and had fifteen children.

Their father William Horobin died on 14 May 1794 at Whittle, Sheen.

His wife Elizabeth Horobin née Derbyshire died in 1807.

(1) From 1728 the chapel attracted many couples wishing to marry with minimum formality. The minister there could grant an immediate licence. Eloping to Peak Forest was not without its dangers, however. The district was wild and lonely. Apart from the chance of being overtaken by aggrieved parents, there was the risk of being robbed on the journey. One couple was brutally murdered by robbers in the Winnats Pass. The register records the Sheen origin of William Horobin and Elizabeth Derbyshire. Thankfully they made the journey safely.
(2) They were Parnell Horobin who was married to John Gould on 3 December 1743, Marie Horobin who was married to John Wheeldon on 21 April 1750, and Joseph Horobin who married Deborah Downes on 30 September 1752.
(3) The chapel had been founded by the formidable Christian, Countess of Devonshire, a Scots aristocrat descended from Robert the Bruce. She defied the Roundheads during the Civil Wars, entirely unscathed. Discovering that the earl’s lands included an area at remote Peak Forest outside any bishop’s jurisdiction, she had the chapel built and dedicated to “Saint Charles King and Martyr”.