Dear Listers, Sarah Ann Lennon Born c.1866 North Seaton, always claimed to have been brought up at Cliff House, Amble( the old Coast Guard House) that stands so prominently above the small beach to the side of the South Pier. The probable censuses for her childhood don't seem to bear this out although a lot can happen between 10 year intervals. Does anyone know who the successive occupiers of Cliff House were in the years from 1871 onwards? I suppose they could have been relatives or close friends of Sarah Ann. Best wishes, Mary

On 13 Oct 2010 at 13:04, Mary Newbery wrote: > Dear Listers, > Sarah Ann Lennon Born c.1866 North Seaton, always claimed to have been > brought up at Cliff House, Amble( the old Coast Guard House) that > stands so prominently above the small beach to the side of the South > Pier. The probable censuses for her childhood don't seem to bear this > out although a lot can happen between 10 year intervals. Does anyone > know who the successive occupiers of Cliff House were in the years > from 1871 onwards? I suppose they could have been relatives or close > friends of Sarah Ann. Best wishes, Mary < The 1881 census on CD-ROM has a very useful facility for searching with keywords under the link "Neighbors - Advanced query" (American spelling of Neighbours). This reveals that in 1881 the address shown as "South Link Cliff House", Amble (I take it this is what you mean), was occupied by the following..... BENJAMIN MATTHEWS, 47, Trinity Pilot Lightkeeper, his wife Margaret, 49, their four children and a nephew. GEORGE ROBINSON, 70, Pilot, and his daughter Jane, 22. If you want to check out the online census (assuming you don't have the CD version), the reference is: RG11, piece 5120, folio 127, page 72. In 1881 Sarah A Lennon, 16, was a live-in servant to a family called WOOD, headed by Philip T. S. Wood, 32, slater and plasterer employing eight men, at Byron St, Amble (ref: RG11, piece 5120, folio 108, page 34. In 1871 the surname appears as LINNEN (assuming Sarah was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth) and the family were at Hauxley. I checked the image and that is quite clearly the spelling, Sarah A being born at North Seaton. Also in 1871, Benjamin MATTHEW (sic) and family were at Cliff House then, as was George Robinson, his wife and daughter; plus a family headed by William TURNBULL and another headed by Jno (sic) MURPHY. All the male heads were pilots except Murphy who was a draper-grocer. You can do an address search with Findmypast in 1871 by entering Cliff House and Amble. Ref: RG10, piece 5170, folios 59 and 60, pages 44 and 45. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE