John Appleby, born in Beverley, Yorkshire, married Mary Cowton at Scarborough in 1799.  Their children were born in Scarborough but their son Cowton Appleby raised his family in Derbyshire and from there most of their descendants moved to Sheffield.

In 1864 tragedy struck in the shape of the Sheffield Flood - which took the lives of nearly 250 people,  including three members of the Appleby family ...

The following extract is taken from the excellent website about the Sheffield Flood -

"John Cowton Appleby, a widower of thirty-six, also a prospering grocer in the district [of Hillsborough], lost not only his stock but also  his life.  Appleby, together with his sixty-three year old mother Mary, and her granddaughter of the same name, fought vainly to get out of their crumbly home.  Mrs Appleby's body was recovered from the river in Rotherham."

On March 11th 1864 - shortly before midnight - the newly built Dale Dyke Dam - situated in the Bradfield hills just outside Sheffield - collapsed. A colossal mountain of water thundered down the Loxley valley and on to Sheffield wreaking death and destruction on a horrific scale. The greatest devastation took place in the Malin Bridge, Hillsborough, and Owlerton areas. Excepting wars, this is now acknowledged as one of the biggest man-made disasters in British history, and has been recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

The Flood killed 238 people living in Sheffield and the hamlets in the valley below the Dale Dyke Dam.  According to Wikipedia, 130 buildings were destroyed and 500 partially damaged, 15 bridges were swept away and six others badly damaged. If you suspect some of your own ancestors may have been involved, visit the excellent Sheffield Flood Claims website which lists all the insurance claims made as a result of the disaster.  

Some researchers have merged this line with the Scarborough Appleby line which is headed (so far) by Wm. Appleby 1754 & Mary Godfrey, we think this to be incorrect after much researching by our own team (one of whom is a descendent of this line) but maybe you can provide the evidence to link the two lines?

If YOU are descended from this line and can add any further information, please do get in touch using the Contact Form on the left.  Also, if you know of any living male Appleby descendants from this line, we would be very interested to discuss the possibility of participation in our yDNA project!