The Ormrods

The Ormrods are a distinct branch of the Ormerod Family, which developed in South East Lancashire.

Milton Ormerod, in his work, The Ormerods, describes how the Ormrods are descended from an Oliver Ormrod, who according to family tradition came from the Burnley area as a boy.

There he had been an apprentice to, or worked for, a man that he disliked, and he ran away to the Bolton area.

He first lived at Bradshaw, and then at Hill Farm, Harwood, where the next four generations of Ormrods followed him.

This first Oliver reportedly had seventeen children by two wives.

From those of the second marriage were descended Peter and James Ormrod who were cotton spinners and mill owners in Bolton. This branch of the family became so wealthy that they were able to buy an estate in the Fylde.

The eldest sons in the second and third generations were an Oliver and a Thomas who had ten and seven children respectively. They were followed by another Oliver and then another Thomas in the senior line, the last of whom died in 1883.

Maps showing the distribution of Ormrods at the time of the 1881 Census can be found at the Maps Section of this website.