Martha Astley, first wife (c.1730-1756)
Phoebe, second wife (c.1736-1818)

Ellen Hayes (b.1782)

Ellis Hayes (1784-1869) and Ellen Bent Hayes (d.1864)
John Hayes (b. 1786)
Ann Hayes (b. 1792)
James Hayes (1794-1795)
Elizabeth (Betty) Heyes (1796-1862) and John Williamson
James Hayes (b. 1800)
Mary Hayes (b. 1801)

Nine Children of Ellis and Ellen Hayes

Hannah Hayes and Levi Pemberton

Elizabeth Hayes and James Sharrock

It will be noted that many members of this family bear the name "Ellis Hayes."

-- William Hey. Records at Leigh Parish Church show that William, son of Ellis Hey of Pennington, was baptized on June 25, 1682, and buried on September 2, 1682, almost three months old.

-- Thomas Hey was baptized at Leigh Parish Church on November 25, 1683. He was buried on October 15, 1686, almost three years old.

-- William Hey, son of Ellis Hey of Pennington, was baptized on October 26, 1686, eleven days after his brother Thomas died. This is the second child of Ellis to be named William, leading researchers to believe that William Hey was probably the name of the father of Ellis Hey.

-- Ellis Hey, son of Ellis Hey of Pennington, was baptized on January 18, 1689, in Leigh, and buried on October 6, 1690, at the age of 21 months.

-- James Heyes, a son of Ellis Hey of Pennington, was baptized on June 19, 1692. His wife was Catherine, as known from the baptisms of two children. James was a shoemaker who lived at one time in Prescot and later in Leigh, about 15 miles away. James and Catherine Heyes had eight children. James and Catherine both died in 1741. He was 48. More details are below.

-- Ellen Hey was baptized on September 20, 1696.

-- Mary Hey, another daughter of Ellis Hey of Pennington, was baptized on January 14, 1699.

-- Margaret Heyes, possibly named after the mother of James, was baptized on March 27, 1717, and buried on March 30, 1717, three days later. Records of both events are in Prescot Parish Church.

-- John Heyes was baptized in Prescot Parish Church on November 12, 1718.

-- Margaret Heyes, a second child with the same name, was baptized on February 16, 1720, at Prescot Church.

-- Alice Heyes, daughter of James Heyes, shoemaker, and his wife Catherine, was baptized at Prescot Church on June 3, 1723. She died three years later and was buried in Leigh on June 18, 1726.

-- Ellis Heyes, son of James Heyes, shoemaker, and his wife Catherine, was baptized at Prescot Church on June 27, 1725. He was buried at Prescot on July 4, 1726, one year old.

-- Ellis Heyes, the second son of James Heyes to bear this name, was baptized on September 2, 1728, at Leigh Parish Church. The record said he was the child of James Heyes, shoemaker, and Catherine, his wife, of Pennington. This record suggests that the family had moved from Prescot to Pennington between the births of the two sons named Ellis. This Ellis Heyes married, first, Martha Astley, and then a woman named Phoebe, and he had two children with each. Ellis died at the age of 32 and was buried on December 26, 1760, in Winwick. More details are below.

-- Mary Heyes was baptized at Leigh Parish Church on May 8, 1732.

-- James Heyes was baptized at Leigh Parish Church on August 17, 1735.

-- Ellen Hayes was born in 1782. Unmarried Ellen had a son, John Hayes, who was born in 1803 and died in 1866. John and his wife Sarah (c.1804-1850) had a daughter Mary Hayes, born on October 23, 1841. (See tombstone below.) Mary was baptized on January 4, 1846, the same day as her sister Sarah Heyes, who had been born on June 5, 1845.

-- Ellis Hayes was born in 1784. He married Ellen Bent in 1807. Both were silk weavers. Ellen died in 1864, Ellis in 1869. They had nine children. See more about Ellis and his family below.

-- John Hayes was born about 1786.

-- Ann Hayes was born in 1792.

-- James Hayes was born in 1794 and died in 1795. His parents gave the name James to their next-born son as well.

-- Elizabeth (Betty) Heyes was born on December 9, 1796, and baptized at St. Luke's Church in Lowton on January 6, 1797. There is some doubt as to whether she fits within this family. The baptismal record names "Elisabeth daughter of John Hays of Lowton born December 9th and baptised January 6th 1797." The record does not mention the name of the mother. The others in this family were identified as children of both John and Ann Hayes. Also, this would be the only child of John not baptized in Leigh Parish Church. Further, there was another John Hayes living in the area, and Elizabeth might have been his child. However, if baptized in Lowton, it is likely that Elizabeth would have been born in Lowton, as all of the other children in the family had been, and her birthdate in 1796 falls within the five-year gap between the births of the two boys named James Hayes. Also, records of St. Oswald's Church in Winwick show that "Betty Hayes" was married there on January 4, 1819, to John Williamson, and census records show that John and Betty lived on Lowton Common. These facts increase the likelihood that Betty was one of the children in this Hayes family. John had been born about 1799, probably at Leeds or Doncaster in Yorkshire, and died in Lowton on May 3, 1872. Betty died in Lowton on March 15, 1862.  Their tombstone in St. Luke's Church Burial Ground in Lowton shows the date of death and age for Betty but not for John. The stone also records the burial of their daughter, Margaret Williamson, and her husband John Prescott. 

St. Luke's grave for Betty Hayes Williamson (1796-1862), her husband, John Williamson, and daughter Margaret Williamson  Prescott (1837-1869) and husband John.	Grave of Sarah Hayes (1824-1849), the daughter of Mary Hayes (b. 1801), Sarah's husband John Kearsley, and their son James, who died at 16. Sarah's mother was a sister of Betty Hayes Williamson and Ellis Heyes (b. 1784)

-- James Hayes, a second James, was born in 1800.

-- Mary Hayes, last-known child of John and Ann Houghton Hayes, was born in 1801.  She was not married. Mary had a daughter, Sarah Hayes, who married John Kearsley of Lowton. John had been born on October 23, 1825, in Leigh, Lancashire. He was a son of James Kearsley, who had been born about 1800 in West Leigh, Lancashire, and died on September 13, 1867, in Atherton, Lancashire, and of Elizabeth Livesley, born about 1802 in Leigh, buried on September 11, 1833.

Although John Kearsley is named on Sarah's tombstone, no date of death is given. Sarah died in 1849 at the age of 25, according to her tombstone in St. Luke's Cemetery (above). Sarah and John Kearsley had four sons, in 1844, 1845, 1846 and 1848. All of them died before their mother Sarah. No information has been uncovered about John Kearsley after his wife Sarah died. Family reseachers Keith Hayes and Al Williamson developed this information on the Hayes and Kearsley families. The known children of John and Sarah Kearsley were these:

Children of Ellis and Ellen Bent Hayes. Most of the information below on the Ellis Hayes family focuses on Samuel and Peers, but some information has been developed on nine children:

1. Henry Hayes, was baptized on May 30, 1807, at Leigh Parish Church, and thus probably was born during the month of May 1807. That would have been three months after Ellis and Ellen were married. Henry died on February 2, 1881, in Lowton. He and his wife Alice had no children.

2. William Hayes was born in 1810 and died in 1901 at the age of 91.  He married Margaret Prescott in Winwick Church on New Year's Day, 1833, the same day that his brother John Hayes married Ann Morris. Margaret died in 1854 at the age of 42, and in 1859, William married Ellen Westwell. She had been born about 1819 and died in 1907. William did not have children with either wife.

3. John Hayes was born on May 30, 1813, and died in 1864 at the age of 50.  On January 1, 1833, he married Ann Morris, with whom he had at least six children. The tombstone for John and Ann is below.

4. Ellis Hayes was born on September 18, 1815, and died in 1886.

5. Hannah Hayes (spelled "Heyes" in one record) was born in 1818 in Lowton and baptized on August 22, 1818, at Leigh Parish Church. She died on August 1, 1861, in Lowton. On June 2, 1844, in Winwick Warrington, Hannah married Henry Morris, who had been born in 1818 in Lowton. He was a cotton weaver, and Hannah was a silk hand loom weaver. Their son William Morris and his son Henry Morris (1876-1958) both worked in the chemical industry in Widnes. Hannah's husband, Henry Morris, died on March 6, 1855, in Atherton, Lancashire. Henry and Hannah Morris had three children: Samuel Morris, born in 1846, William Morris (1847-1899), and Elizabeth Morris, born in 1850. Josephine Morris O'Neill, a descendant of Hannah and Henry Morris and their son William, provided information on this section.

6. Samuel Hayes, the sixth child of Ellis and Ellen Bent Hays, was baptized on July 28, 1821, at Leigh Parish Church. He first married Esther Morris of Lowton on December 13, 1847, at Lowton, St. Luke's Church. She had been born in 1825, but she died in 1848, not long after their wedding. Prior to their marriage, Samuel and Esther had a daughter, who was known initially as Ellen Morris and later as Ellen M. Hayes. Ellen was born August 28, 1844, and baptized on March 10, 1845, at Lowton, St. Luke's. The 1861 census made clear that "Ellen M. Hayes" lived with the family.

On April 21, 1851, after Esther died, Samuel married Mary Ann Lowe at Tyldesley Top Chapel. Mary Ann had been born in 1831 and she died in 1891 at the age of 59. On her marriage certificate, Mary Ann said she had been born in Liverpool and that her father, Ellis Lowe, was a shoemaker. Samuel and Mary Ann Lowe Hayes had five children: Mary E. Hayes, born in 1853; Ellis Lowe Hays, 1855; Thomas Hayes, 1859 (died in 1863); Esther Hayes, 1863; and Harriet Hayes, 1866. The 1861 census showed that Samuel and his family lived at 9 Lowton Common, in Lowton, Lancashire, near his parents, Ellis Hayes, 78, and Ellen Hayes, 76, who were at 7 Lowton Common. Samuel, 38, born in Lowton, and his wife, Mary Ann Hayes, 28, born in Liverpool, were both described as silk weavers. Samuel's son Ellis, named after his grandfather and his great-great-grandfather, was listed in the census as a male named "Ethel," but this was clearly a bad reading of the census-taker's writing. In the 1861 census, the Samuel Hayes family included Samuel, 40; wife Mary Ann, 30; Ellen M. Hayes, 16 (daughter of Samuel's first wife), a silk weaver; Mary E., 7; Ellis, 5; and Thomas Hayes, 2.  Samuel died on October 19, 1898, at the age of 77. Samuel and Mary Ann Lowe Hayes were buried with Thomas Leather (1778-1860) and his wife Mary (see tombstone below). The 1851 census showed Mary Ann Lowe living with Leathers and described her as a niece.

Peers Hayes (1828-1909) of Lancashire

Peers Hayes, the eighth child of Ellis and Ellen Bent Hayes, was born on April 12, 1828, and baptized on July 7, 1828, in Leigh Parish Church. He was married twice, first to Ellen Prescott and then to Anne Hatton.  With Ellen, he had one child and with Anne had nine.

Ellen Prescott, the first wife of Peers, was also from Lowton. Peers and Ellen were married on August 16, 1847, at St. Luke's Church in Lowton. Ellen had been born about 1828, and she died on February 6, 1851. They had one child, Margaret Hayes, born on November 7, 1847.  

St. Luke's Church in Lowton. Photos by Keith Hayes in 2011.		St. Mary's Church in Lowton

In 1851, after Ellen's death, Peers married Anne Hatton, of Kenyon, Lancashire. Anne had been born on August 3, 1826, in Kenyon, Lancashire, the daughter of Charles and Ellen Hatton. They had nine children. Anne died on August 9, 1908 at the age of 82.  The 1861 census showed that Peers and Anne Hayes lived on Lowton Common, in Lowton, a part of St. Mary’s Parish, Lancashire.  Peers was 32, born in Lowton in 1828. Lowton Common seems have been been a community where a number of Hayes family members lived.  Also on Lowton Common, was the family of Samuel Hayes, 38, brother of Peers, and his wife Mary Ann Hayes, 28, as well as the parents of Peers and Samuel, Ellis Hayes, 78, and his wife Ellen Hayes, 76.  

The Hayes section of St. Luke's church yard in Lowton, including gravestones of some of the children and other descendants of Ellis Hayes (1784-1869). At lower left is John Heyes (1803-1866), illegitimate son of Ellen Hayes (b. 1782), the sister of Ellis Hayes (1784-1869), and John's wife Sarah (c.1804-1850). At lower right is the grave of John Hayes (1813-1864), son of Ellis, and his wife, Ann. At left middle is marker for Samuel Heyes (1821-1898), son of Ellis, and first wife Esther. Samuel was actually buried with his second wife Mary Ann (see photo above). In the center, rear, is the gravestone of Peers Hayes (1828-1909), son of Ellis. Details are in the caption at right.	Grave for Peers Hayes, two wives, Ellen and Ann Hatton Hayes, and two children: "Piers Hayes of Lowton, died September 23rd, 1909, Aged 81 years, Ellen his wife died February 6, 1851, aged 23 years. Ann, his wife, died August 9th, 1908, aged 82 years. Martha, their daughter, died 6th June 1868, aged 12 Weeks. Also Henry, their son, died 23rd August 1874, aged 10 years. Thy will be done."	Ellen Hayes (1824-1910), sister of Peers Hayes, and husband Edward Houghton. It reads: "Edward Houghton, who died October 22, 1803, aged 74 years, Ellen his wife, who died January 19th, 1910, aged 84 [should be 85] years. Also Thomas, son of the above, who died January 17, 1951, aged 82 years, Also Jane Houghton, wife of the above, who died August 5, 1957, aged 87 years."

Many of the Hayes family members in early years seem to have been involved in the silk business.  Parents Ellis and Ellen Hayes were each identified in 1861 as “formerly silk weaver.”  Their son Samuel and his wife Mary Ann Hayes were also identified as silk weavers, as was their daughter Ellen M. Hayes, 16.  Other children were Mary E. Hayes, 7, born in Lowton in 1854, Ellis L. Hayes, 5, born in Lowton in 1856 (apparently named for his grandfather), and Thomas Hayes, 2, born in Lowton in 1859. 

Peers Hayes in the 1861 census is identified as a silk weaver, 33, as is his wife Anne Hayes, 34.  Children present in the house were Margaret Hayes, 13, born in Lowton in 1848, the daughter of first wife Ellen Hayes (identified as a “back seater in cotton mill”); Ellen Hayes, 8, born in Lowton in 1853; Elizabeth Hayes, 6, born in Lowton in 1855; Peers Hayes, 4, born in Lowton in 1857; and Charles Hayes, 1, born in Lowton in 1860. 

In the 1871 census, the family lived at 2 Mather Lane in Lowton.  (The name of Peers, 42, is spelled “Piers” in one account.)  Daughter Martha Hayes was not included since she had died in 1868, the year of her birth. Father Peers and all other children are shown in the census as having been born in Lowton. Only the mother, Anne Hatton Hayes, 44 at the time, was born elsewhere. In the 1891 census, twenty years later, the only people shown are William and his parents, at Thornbush Farm in Lowton. The Hayes house was still standing in 2009, although the surrounding property had largely been converted into a housing estate.

Peers Hayes died on September 23, 1909, at the age of 81, and was buried at St. Luke's Church, along with both of his wives -- Ellen Prescott Hayes and Anne Hatton Hayes -- as well as two of his children, Martha and Henry. The tombstone is inscribed "Thy will be done."

The family of Peers Hayes, taken in 1887. In the center are Anne Hatton and Peers Hayes, with daughters Mary and Hannah. Standing in back are Margaret, Charles, William, Peers, Elizabeth and Ellen Hayes. (Children Henry and Martha had died.)

Hayes women about 1896. Seated at right is Ellen Hayes Wilkinson (adjusting glasses). Next to her is Elizabeth Hayes Sharrock, holding daughter Elizabeth Sharrock. Woman standing at left may be Annie Hayes, the wife of Charles Hayes (see photo below). Others are unidentified.

1. Margaret Hayes, born on November 7, 1847, was the child of the Peers and his first wife, Ellen Prescott. Margaret was baptized at At. Luke's Church on May 17, 1855, the same day as her sister Elizabeth was baptized. All the others in the family were children of Peers' second wife, Anne Hatton.

2. Ellen (also called Helen) Hayes was born in March 17, 1853. She married John Wilkinson and they had five children. She died on August 7, 1943, in Leigh. More details are below.

3. Elizabeth Hayes, born on March 26, 1855, and baptized on May 17, 1855, the same day as her sister Margaret. Elizabeth married James Sharrock and they moved to America. Elizabeth died on April 29, 1942, in Rhode Island. They had two children. More details are below.

4. Peers Hayes was born on December 5, 1856, and baptized on May 1, 1857, at St. Luke's Church. He married Matilda Whiteley in 1879. She died on April 29, 1914, and was buried in Leigh Cemetery. They had four sons: Frank Hayes, born in 1881; Watson, 1882; Harold, 1887; and Henry, 1890. Peers, who was named for his father, wrote a poignant poem of regret when his sister Hannah sailed for America.  The 1911 census showed Peers living on Twist Lane in Leigh. It said Peers and his wife Matilda were both 53, and lived with Frank, 30, a road constructor and employer, Harold, 24, a "hawker," Henry, 21, a clerk, Edith, 30, a daughter in law, probably the wife of Frank, and Russell, 6, grandson of Peers. The census said that Peers was a "stationway surface engineman" working in a colliery. Relatives also reported that he ran a hardware shop. Marian Wilkinson Magilton remembered going to the shop to get paraffin as a small child.  The sons were remembered to have opened the Winter Garden cinema and dance hall in Southport.  It is also remembered, with a hint of family scandal, that the sons once visited the home of Elizabeth Hayes Sharrock and brought along a roulette wheel.  It was recalled that they eventually went bankrupt.

 5. Charles Hayes was born on August 6, 1859, and baptized on October 16, 1859, at St. Luke's Church. He was one of the Hayes family members who stayed behind in England. Charles was a supervisor of a canal lock, and he and his wife lived in a house at the lock. The 1891 census showed them at 5 Ivy House, St. Helens Road, Leigh, very close to the canal, but in 1901 the census showed them at 17 Derwent Street, near Pennington Church. Charles married Annie Simister in 1883, and they had a daughter, Ethel Hayes, born about 1888. Ethel apparently had died by the time of the 1901 census. A son, Edmond Hayes, was born about 1894 (he was 7 on the 1901 census). Charles, Annie and Edmond were photographed in front of the lock house (see photo at right). Records show that Ann Hayes, wife of Charles Hayes, died on April 4, 1929, leaving effects amounting to 54 pounds. Probate letters were issued to Charles Henry Wilkinson, overlooker, the husband of Ellen Hayes, a sister of Charles. Five months after Annie's death, on September 16, 1929, Charles himself died. Records showed that he and Annie lived at Limerick house, off St. Helens Road, Leigh Bridge (possibly the building in the photo at the right). An 1847 map shows Limerick House on the canal just south of Leigh town center. When Charles died, probate letters were issued to their son, Edmund Simister Hayes, a "foreman porter." The effects of Charles amounted to more than 845 pounds.

6. Hannah Hayes, born October 29, 1861, was baptized on February 9, 1862, at St. Mary's Church. She was the first of the family members to move to America. She married Levi Pemberton, and they had ten children. Hannah died on April 7, 1955, in Rhode Island. More details on her are below.

7. Henry Hayes was born on November 10, 1863, and baptized on January 31, 1864, at St. Mary's Church. He died on August 23, 1874, at the age of 10.

8. Mary Hayes was born on December 27, 1865, and baptized on  February 25, 1866, at St. Mary's Church. She married John Prescott, and they had five children, including Beatrice Prescott, who married William Sharp, and Leah, Arthur, John and James Prescott.

9. Martha Hayes was born on March 30, 1868, and baptized at St. Mary's Church on May 24, 1868. She died three months later, on June 6, 1868.

10. William Ellis Hayes was born on June 5, 1869, and baptized on August 1, 1869, at St. Mary's Church. The census taken on April 2, 1911, showed that William, age 42, single, living at No. 7 Reeves Street, Lowton, was a "carter" for a florist. He married Edith Lyon two months later, on June 3, 1911, at St. Peter's Church on Firs Lane, Leigh. William died in 1952.

a.  Hilda Hodgson, born in New Bedford on August 7, 1922, was a nurse.  She married Charles Bejma on June 3, 1950, and they had one daughter, Bethany Bejma.  Hilda died of cancer on April 12, 1974, at the age of 51.  Charlie died on December 11, 2002, at the age of 85.  Bethany graduated from high school two months after her mother's death. She worked first for the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Bank, then at Memorial Hospital as a technician.  On June 5, 1976, she married Mark Force, at the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Pawtucket.  Her cousin Lynn Jackson was maid of honor. Bethany and Mark had three children:

b.  Mildred Hodgson, born on January 4, 1925, married Charles Cyganoski on March 31, 1951.  The newlyweds (maintaining the family connections) visited the Boyers in Easton in the course of their honeymoon.  Charlie, who had been born on May 20, 1923, had joined the Army in 1942 and served in China, Burma and India with the 10th and 14th Air Force units.  He was a sergeant when he was discharged in 1945.  He died of cancer on July 12, 1996.  (Mildred is the source of much of the information in this section on the Hayes and Wilkinson families.)  They had two children (photo at right). In 2012, Mildred was living with her son Bruce in Warwick, Rhode Island.

-- Charles Joseph Cyganoski, Jr. (Joseph) was born on March 12, 1953, in Pawtucket.  Joe graduated from high school in 1971 and went to college for six years to become a registered pharmacist.  In 1985, he was working for the CVS chain drug stores.  He married Deborah Cotrone, born March 16, 1955, at the Woodbury Church in Warwick, Rhode Island, on January 10, 1981, and they had a daughter, Elizabeth Ann Cyganoski, on March 7, 1984. Elizabeth was a noted ballet dancer while in college and was a principal dancer with the State Ballet of Rhode Island. She married Brandon Decker on November 12, 2011, in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Elizabeth graduated from the University of New England in 2011 as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. In 2012, she lived in Pensacola, Florida.