Hi list, On the 1851 census my great-grandfather is found in Leadgate, Durham, England. It says he was born in Ratcliff, Northumberland in 1835 along with a brother born there in 1832 and a sister in 1838. An older sister and brother were born in Newburn, Northumberland in 1829 and 1830 and his mother in Bells Close, Northumberland in 1801. My problem is I can't find Ratcliff, Northumberland on the map. Is it an old city that has become extinct or has it been renamed? Stephanie

In message <000801c72e15$3b386110$ff25bc42@DD9GK911>, Stephanie Schickinger <stschick50@chartermi.net> writes >Hi list, >On the 1851 census my great-grandfather is found in Leadgate, Durham, >England. It says he was born in Ratcliff, Northumberland in 1835 along >with a brother born there in 1832 and a sister in 1838. An older sister >and brother were born in Newburn, Northumberland in 1829 and 1830 and >his mother in Bells Close, Northumberland in 1801. My problem is I >can't find Ratcliff, Northumberland on the map. Is it an old city that >has become extinct or has it been renamed? >Stephanie Hi Stephanie, It could be Radcliffe in Warkworth parish. For information on Northumberland, including places & maps start here: <http://www.genuki.bpears.org.uk/NBL/> Regards, -- Helen Oram

Stephanie, You're quite correct, Radcliffe now is a collection of half a dozen houses about a mile south of Amble on the main coast road (A1068). The names Radcliffe and Ratcliff were interchangable and quite often Census records are recorded almost phonetically. Among the few things which survive are the school yard now used for caravan storage and a bus depot, Rose Cottage on the site of the colliery which is now a semi but was probably a detached colliery manger's house. Until 1971 there were nine rows and other assorted buildings; a club, an institute, a pub, a school, chaplaincy etc.. At the height of coal production in the area some several hundred people lived in the village. Radcliffe colliery opened in 1836 and was joined to the infant port of Amble by a waggonway at this time, first coal production was in Sept 1837, by 1896 the coal had been exhausted. Near the end of the life of Radcliffe Colliery, Newborough Colliery was built in 1892 about a mile to the SE of Radcliffe, this too was joined to Amble by an extension of the waggonway and to North Broomhill, about two mile west. This colliery ran until around the time of the Second World War. Hauxley Colliery opened in 1926 and ran until 1966, this was to the east of High Hauxley. I remember this site being opencast around the early 1970s and being able to see shafts & underground trackways being exposed and waggons tumbling down. So there was almost continuous employment to miners in this small area from around 1840 until 1966. Most the area to the east of the main road through Radcliffe was opencast in the early 1970s and this is why so little of the village remains. You can see a lot of pictures of the village at the time it was abandoned at the Sine Project website (just search Google for it). Radcliffe (or Radclyffe) comes from the Earl of Newbrugh, one time family name for this peerage (now in Italian lineage). The Earls of Newburgh owned land in and around Amble and in particular the strip of land which became the harbour for Amble, where the coals from the collieries mentioned above were loaded onto vessels. The Radcliffe name was used for the village, streets, the colliery, a seam of coal, pubs, a working men's club and locally renowned bricks made at Amble using the fireclay from the colliery. Also there is even today a Newborough Street in Amble. Hope this helps Gary Park -----Original Message----- From: dur-nbl-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:dur-nbl-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Stephanie Schickinger Sent: 02 January 2007 02:25 To: DUR-NBL@rootsweb.com Subject: [DUR-NBL] Ratcliff in Northumberland Hi list, On the 1851 census my great-grandfather is found in Leadgate, Durham, England. It says he was born in Ratcliff, Northumberland in 1835 along with a brother born there in 1832 and a sister in 1838. An older sister and brother were born in Newburn, Northumberland in 1829 and 1830 and his mother in Bells Close, Northumberland in 1801. My problem is I can't find Ratcliff, Northumberland on the map. Is it an old city that has become extinct or has it been renamed? Stephanie ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== To Post a message to this list send it to, DUR-NBL-L@rootsweb.com ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== List Web Page http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/durhamgenealogy/index.phtml ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DUR-NBL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message