Very little is known about Ellen Rostron. From the ages stated in census returns and when she died, Ellen was born sometime between April 1813 and April 1814. The census records state that she was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, which is quite surprising as the Rostron surname is very much a Lancashire and particularly Blackburn surname. Unfortunately, no baptism record has been found. Her marriage took place before 1837 when the father's name and occupation would have been recorded and before the first detailed census, so it's not been possible to find her listed along with her parents. Consequently, the names of her parents are not known.

One line of research that is being pursued is that her father may have been a soldier accompanied by his family. In the 1851 census, a 66 year old Pensioner from the Royal Artillery, called William Rostron, was living in Byrom Street, Blackburn.

The first record that has been found for Ellen, is in Parish Register for the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Blackburn (now Blackburn Cathedral), which records her marriage to William Alston, an Engine Tenter and a bachelor, on the 8th of June 1835. Both of them signed the register with a cross. The witnesses were John Astley and Joseph Fairbrother but they were probably church officials, rather than friends, as they witnessed most of the marriages that day.

By the time the first detailed census was taken on the 6th of June 1841, Ellen and William are living in Kay Street, which was in the Nova Scotia district of Blackburn. They have a son, Edward aged 5 and a daughter Celia aged 1 - a third child, Mary Ann, died in infancy in 1838.

When the next census was taken, in March 1851, the family had moved to Jubilee Street, which was close to the railway station in the centre of Blackburn. A further five children have been added to the family. Curiously, in the last column of the census form, there is a tick against both William and Ellen's entries, this was used to signify that the person was either Blind or Deaf & Dumb.

The family were still in Jubilee Street in April 1861 and, apart from their seven year old daughter Mary Ann, all the children were working (even their son Thomas who was only ten years old). There are no ticks on the 1861 census form, so it's unlikely that they were blind. Perhaps they had hearing problems or maybe the enumerator in 1851 thought they were dumb!

Ellen died of Pneumonia on the 20th of April 1866 at number 5 Holt's Buildings, which was off Moor Street in the Lark Hill district of Blackburn. Her daughter Ann (Hannah) was present at the death and informed the Registrar the same day but gave Ellen's age as 50 years, she was in fact at least 52. Ellen was buried in the graveyard of St Mary the Virgin church in Blackburn, on the 23rd of April.

Ellen and William had nine children, of which one died in infancy and another at the age of 15 years.

Edward Alston 1836-1906
Mary Ann Alston 1838-1838
Celia Alston 1840-1855
John Alston 1841-1895
William Alston 1844- ??
Thurston Alston 1846- ??
Hannah Alston 1848- ??
Thomas Alston 1851- ??
Mary Ann Alston 1854-1938

Notes

1. Alston Surname Variants
The surname found in records for the Alstons in this family take three forms; Alston, Alstead or Halstead and seem to appear randomly rather than any deliberate attempt to change - presumably this is down to parish clerks and enumerators writing down what they believe they heard. On the 30 Mar 1851, the surname Alston was used on the census but Halstead used when Ellen and William's son Thomas was baptised on the same day!

2. Occupations
A Tenter was someone who looked after a machine.