I am sure that Bedlington comes under Houghton Church Mike. The church is situated at the top of the bank down into Bedlington. Marg --- On Wed, 30/9/09, Fairless, Michael <michael.fairless@eds.com> wrote: > From: Fairless, Michael <michael.fairless@eds.com> > Subject: [NMB] Bishops Transcripts > To: Northumbria@rootsweb.com > Date: Wednesday, 30 September, 2009, 11:24 AM > There are no entries in Bishops > Transcripts under Northumberland for > Bedlington. I think there was a posting to this list which > said that > they were actually under another Parish's name. Is this so > or am I > mistaken? > > Many thanks > > Mike Fairless > > > > The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORTHUMBRIA-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the > subject and the body of the message >

There are no entries in Bishops Transcripts under Northumberland for Bedlington. I think there was a posting to this list which said that they were actually under another Parish's name. Is this so or am I mistaken? Many thanks Mike Fairless

Hello All I have traced my Family back to Bywell from the 1700's would anybody know what people did for work in those days? There is ony a couple of houses and two churches there now. Thanks Allan Robson

In a message dated 30/09/2009 15:55:01 GMT Daylight Time, kenmar.white@btopenworld.com writes: I am sure that Bedlington comes under Houghton Church Mike. The church is situated at the top of the bank down into Bedlington. Marg Marg: The "Houghton" nearest to Bedlington is spelled "Horton", just SW of Blyth. Horton and Bedlington each had the same ecclesiastical status - that of a parish in their own right, with neither "coming under" the other. Bedlingtonshire was separated from its Northumbrian neighbours, as a detached part of Co Durham, whereas Horton was as much a part of Northumberland as any other part, another reason for not confusing them. There are several parishes with similar names and we must be careful not to confuse them. In Co Durham there are Houghton le Spring and Haughton le Skerne. There is also Haughton le Side, though that is no more than a township, not a parish. In Northumberland there are Horton and Longhoughton. I personally pronounce all those as "Horton" though I know that there can be a dispute with people from Houghton le Spring, some of whom prefer "Howton", but to me that is simply the difference between a Wearside accent (Howton) and a general Tyneside/English one (Horton). Geoff Nicholson

We have the following transcription from a gravestone in Earsdon Church taken yesterday (29/9/2009) Can anyone tell me anything about "Reed Hous" Newsham ? It is not a transcription error for "Red", neither a missing letter for "Hous" but I expect it may have been "Red House" but if it was where was that? Interstingly the year of the date of death of William is carved as 174 followed by a 7 above an 8 separated by two horizontal dots, something like 7 .. 8 Was the stone mason unsure of the year????? There also doesn't seem to be a month for the Death of Elianor ! Many thanks Mike Fairless The Burial Place of John Fawcufs of Newsham - Reed Hous Near Blyth Elianor his wife dyd & buyd 11th 1726 aged 50 years John Fawcufs Husband to Elianor Fawcufs dyd May 4 1737 Aged 65 Years William their Youngest son buried Here the 2nd day of March 1747:8 Aged 34 Years JOHN FAWCUSS Son of the above WILLIAM FAWCUSS Died 14 August 1820 Aged 75 Years

Marg: My apologies for the premature sending of this message before it was ready. While agreeing with much of what you say, it should be mentioned that some of it seems to be just "popular history" (ie old guesswork, preserved in print), which is often not real history at all. To take things one point at a time - Bywell was probably never a "sizeable town", but rather always a village, albeit once a much larger one then is there now. However, Bywell Hall was built only in 1766, shortly after the marriage between Col Thomas Richard Beaumont of Yorkshire and Diana Wentworth Blackett, which marriage brought Bywell into the Beaumont family, it having previously been a Blackett, and before that a Fenwick (of Wallington) property. The houses on the "Stocksfield side", of which there are and were very few until we come to the village of Stocksfield itself are not part of the village of Bywell, although included within the township of Newton, which lies within one of the two Bywell parishes (probably St Peter's). The ownership of Stocksfield/Newton has always been separate from that of Bywell, and the name of Newton, although no doubt referring to a settlement which was dleiberately made "new" at some time, dates back well before the 1771 flood. The two churches were "supported" by (a) the Diocese of Durham and (b) their respective parishes, that of Bywell St Peters being much the larger parish of the two. There may be some truth in Bywell having been a centre of iron working, especially as, like most of the Tyne valley, it lay "behind the lines" in any Border Wars. The weir on the Tyne, near Bywell Castle, has been speculated by Capt Sterling and others as having possibly a Roman origin andamrking a place at which supplies may have been taken from river barges to be taken to the Wall. In that case it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility that Bywell could have been on a Roman - and thus of importance after Roman times - road, although if so it has never been found! Dere Street passed within a mile or two (Riding Mill) in any case. In mediaeval times, Bywell was the property of the Baliol family, who eventually were installed by Edward I as (briefly) Kings of Scotland. Bywell would have been a useful staging point for them, between their base at Barnard Castle and the Scottish Border/Edinburgh. Geoff Nicholson In a message dated 30/09/2009 15:00:25 GMT Daylight Time, kenmar.white@btopenworld.com writes: Hi Allan Bywell used to be a sizeable town big enough to support the two churches which can be seen today, the Lord of the mannor decided that he did not want a village so near his hall and decided to have some of the houses pulled down, this and the fact that there was a great flood in 1771 when there were ten houses lost and the other tenants were transferred to the Stocksfield side, which was also owned by Mr Beaumont resulted in the very small village we see today, the Market Cross still stands beside the two churches. The old village was divided into several parishes including Newton, and contained handcraftsmen whose trade was in ironwork for the horseman of the county making bits, stirrups, buckles etc, so very much involved with the border reivers. My Charlton family came from the Bywell area and looking at your name of Robson they would probably have been from those parts too, my Charltons migrated slowly down the tyne to North Shields, they also worked in Middlesbrough in the foundries in the mid 1800's. Hope this is of help to you. Marg

Marg: While agreeing with much of what you say, it should be mentioned that some of it seems to be just "popular history" (ie old guesswork, preserved in print), which is often not real history at all. To take things one point at a time - Bywell was probably never a "sizeable town", but rather always a village, albeit once a much larger one then is there now. In a message dated 30/09/2009 15:00:25 GMT Daylight Time, kenmar.white@btopenworld.com writes: Bywell used to be a sizeable town big enough to support the two churches which can be seen today, the Lord of the mannor decided that he did not want a village so near his hall and decided to have some of the houses pulled down, this and the fact that there was a great flood in 1771 when there were ten houses lost and the other tenants were transferred to the Stocksfield side, which was also owned by Mr Beaumont resulted in the very small village we see today, the Market Cross still stands beside the two churches. The old village was divided into several parishes including Newton, and contained handcraftsmen whose trade was in ironwork for the horseman of the county making bits, stirrups, buckles etc, so very much involved with the border reivers. My Charlton family came from the Bywell area and looking at your name of Robson they would probably have been from those parts too, my Charltons migrated slowly down the tyne to North Shields, they also worked in Middlesbrough in the foundries in the mid 1800's.

Colt Park (or Coltpark) was a very small community within the Township of Colt Park, one of the nine or so which comprised the Parish of Netherwitton. ( Coat Yards was another) Armstrong's map of 1769 nicely shows Colt Park just south of Coat Yard, just south of Coldrife, just south of Coldside, all just south of village/town of Rothbury. ( accessible in the communities.northumberland.gov.uk web site, within the "Plans" section of Rothbury Community) Site ref for Colt Park is NZ060930... on the B road 6342, east of Fontburn Reservoir. Michael Dixon

Up to 1844 the Parish of Bedlington was part of County Durham. It (referred to as Bedlingtonshire) together with Norhamshire and Islandshire were "islands" of County Durham within the borders of Northumberland. Collectively referred to as "North Durham" 1841 census for these enclaves administered under County Durham. Folk born within were County Durham-born. Michael ( born on the Northumberland side of the River Blyth)

In a message dated 30/09/2009 11:25:14 GMT Daylight Time, michael.fairless@eds.com writes: There are no entries in Bishops Transcripts under Northumberland for Bedlington. I think there was a posting to this list which said that they were actually under another Parish's name. Is this so or am I mistaken? Many thanks Mike Fairless Mike: I don't know about that, though it is possible since the LDS BT site is just a Beta one and not the final product. It could be, however, that if they have separated the two counties, they may have included Bedlington parish ("Bedlingtonshire") under Co Durham, of which it was a detached part, along with Norhamshire and Islandshire, until the mid-1840s. Geoff Nicholson

Mike: 174 7/8 in any date means 1747-48, ie although you don't mention the month and day it would have been between 1 January, when the year starts nowadays, and 25th March (Lady Day), which was the "old New Year". If you think it correct to give dates Old Style, then you will read it as 1747, which is what it still officially was, but if you find it more meaningful for a modern reader to give it New Style, then you will call it 1748, whiich makes it have the correct relationship to modern dates. Such a situation with dates lasted from when certain European countries first adopted the Gregorian calendar until 1751 but literate people in this country had mostly changed over unofficially well before then, hence the need for "bilingual dates". And we think that European interference with our units etc is a new thing! Incidentally, there is very little left to be "discovered" on old gravestones in either Northumberland or Co Durham. Thanks to the efforts of the NDFHS (and their recorders such as Alan Readdie, Don Mason and Phil Thirkell), Cleveland FHS and lots and lots of individuals and local history societies, just about every ancient churchyard has now been recorded. Standards do vary, however, but the "genealogical" information (names, relationships, dates, addresses, occupations etc, where given) are usually "in the bag" and available for purchase from the relevant publishers. The publisher with the largest range of local churchyard MIs is the NDFHS (see ndfhs.org.uk). None of this is meant to imply that there is not still a major job still to do in recording such churchyards as have slipped through the net so far, plus the majority of municipal cemeteries, most of which are huge and, possibly for that reason, have been left untouched. The NDFHS certainly used to maintain, via their MI co-ordinator, a list of all known sites, with the current situation as regards whether they have been transcribed, whether someone is currently undertaking the job or whether they are still waiting for someone (one of the subscribers ot this list, perhaps?) to volunteer. Geoff Nicholson In a message dated 30/09/2009 10:24:34 GMT Daylight Time, michael.fairless@eds.com writes: We have the following transcription from a gravestone in Earsdon Church taken yesterday (29/9/2009) Can anyone tell me anything about "Reed Hous" Newsham ? It is not a transcription error for "Red", neither a missing letter for "Hous" but I expect it may have been "Red House" but if it was where was that? Interstingly the year of the date of death of William is carved as 174 followed by a 7 above an 8 separated by two horizontal dots, something like 7 .. 8 Was the stone mason unsure of the year????? There also doesn't seem to be a month for the Death of Elianor ! Many thanks Mike Fairless

Linda: It seems to me that the wording before "pauper" is "mas wid", with the "s" as a superscript, the meaning being therefore "mariner's widow". The son, I note, was a "cordwainer m", meaning a master cordwainer, which implies simply that he had at least one employee. I am not familiar with "Cold Park", though "Cold" is a common element in Northumberland place-names. I was once told the meaning of it though I have long forgotten it! It is not as simple as "cold", however - place-name meanings rarely are what they at first seem! As well as several Cold Knuckles (that one strikes a chill, doesn't it?), there are or were Coldcoats (Ponteland), Coldmartin (Chatton), Coldsmouth (Kirknewton) and Coldwell (Kirkwhelpington). I suspect that your Cold Park is really Old Park, a farm which is about a mile SE of Netherwitton. Geoff Nicholson In a message dated 29/09/2009 19:20:23 GMT Daylight Time, Lindatamarisk@aol.com writes: hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me. I am trying to trace a Richardson family from Netherwitton area of northumberland. They moved around as father was a shepherd but in 1851 census they appear in Newbiggin village, Morpeth Dist 7, HO 107 2418 (pg 35). I have a possible candidate in Ann (Green) Richardson but I can't make out the word before pauper. She is living with son William, a Cordwainer, born at Cold Park. Does anyone have any idea where this is? My Ann was born I believe around 1781 in Newcastle (although I have no proof) & William was christened in Netherwitton in 1816 while the family were living at Birkhead Moor. That would make them 70 & 35 (recorded as 75 & 30) respectively. In 1861 census Ann is recorded as being 80 which is correct. The name Richardson seems to be a common one & I want to be sure I have found the right family. Mamy thanks Linda

> Was the stone mason > unsure of the year????? Before the official change of the beginning of the year from March to January (1752), stones were sometimes transcribed this way.  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar ... in the paragraph headed 'New Year's Day'. For an online picture of another stone engraved in this way, in Massachusetts, see: http://gravematter.smugmug.com/Massachusetts/Newburyport/Old-Hill-Burying-Ground-est/943936_cHcRJ/1/43275083_zHjpE/Medium Your message doesn't mention the day of the death on the gravestone in Earsdon, but it should be in January, February or March.

Thank you so much Mike, although this isnt a direct ancestor of mine we do have Softley's in the area of Earsdon and Backworth and there is a Softley web site, I will let them know of your find. Could you give me some indication of where about this grave was so that I can go over and photograph it. I know this is a tall order as one row looks very like another. Marg --- On Tue, 29/9/09, Fairless, Michael <michael.fairless@eds.com> wrote: > From: Fairless, Michael <michael.fairless@eds.com> > Subject: [NMB] Softley in Earsdon in 1800s > To: Northumbria@rootsweb.com > Date: Tuesday, 29 September, 2009, 2:41 PM > A couple of months agio I'm sure > someone was enquiring about the > Softley's of Earsdon and Backworth > On a visit to St Albans Church, Earsdon today. We > trranscribed the > following stone > > Hope it helps someone > > Mike Fairless > > > Gravestone in St Albans Church, Earsdon (29th September > 2009) > > IN > MEMORY OF > HENRY SON OF WILLIAM > AND MARY SOFTLEY BACKWORTH > WHO DIED IN INFANCY > ALSO > THOMAS SON OF THE ABOVE > DIED APRIL 2ND 1826 > AGED 20 YEARS > ALSO > THE ABOVE WILLIAM SOFTLEY > WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE APRIL 4TH > 1836 AGED 52 YEARS > Deeply lamented by his > Surviving relatives > MARY THE BELOVED WIFE OF THE > ABOVE > WILLIAM SOFTLEY > DIED APRIL xxxxxxxxx2 AGED 74 YEARS > Bless    xxxxxxxxxxxx        > ded > that   xxxxxxxxxxxx      >       the Lord >     > > > > The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORTHUMBRIA-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the > subject and the body of the message >

A couple of months agio I'm sure someone was enquiring about the Softley's of Earsdon and Backworth On a visit to St Albans Church, Earsdon today. We trranscribed the following stone Hope it helps someone Mike Fairless Gravestone in St Albans Church, Earsdon (29th September 2009) IN MEMORY OF HENRY SON OF WILLIAM AND MARY SOFTLEY BACKWORTH WHO DIED IN INFANCY ALSO THOMAS SON OF THE ABOVE DIED APRIL 2ND 1826 AGED 20 YEARS ALSO THE ABOVE WILLIAM SOFTLEY WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE APRIL 4TH 1836 AGED 52 YEARS Deeply lamented by his Surviving relatives MARY THE BELOVED WIFE OF THE ABOVE WILLIAM SOFTLEY DIED APRIL xxxxxxxxx2 AGED 74 YEARS Bless xxxxxxxxxxxx ded that xxxxxxxxxxxx the Lord

hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me. I am trying to trace a Richardson family from Netherwitton area of northumberland. They moved around as father was a shepherd but in 1851 census they appear in Newbiggin village, Morpeth Dist 7, HO 107 2418 (pg 35). I have a possible candidate in Ann (Green) Richardson but I can't make out the word before pauper. She is living with son William, a Cordwainer, born at Cold Park. Does anyone have any idea where this is? My Ann was born I believe around 1781 in Newcastle (although I have no proof) & William was christened in Netherwitton in 1816 while the family were living at Birkhead Moor. That would make them 70 & 35 (recorded as 75 & 30) respectively. In 1861 census Ann is recorded as being 80 which is correct. The name Richardson seems to be a common one & I want to be sure I have found the right family. Mamy thanks Linda

On 28/9/09 09:32, "Brian Pears" <bp@bpears.org.uk> wrote: > Dunrobin Terrace is now part of Wesley Street which runs > between Kells Lane and Church Road, Low Fell. Thanks Brian Can you pinpoint where this terrace was in Wesley Street? I've searched the 1891 (RG12/4185 ) and 1901 (RG13/4760) Census pages covering Wesley Street and surroundings but can not work out which houses are the ones I'm looking for. The enumerators list the odd numbers in Wesley Street but no even numbers in either year. Robin

robin@scottishwool.com wrote: > Can anyone tell me where Dunrobin Terrace in Low Fell were/are? > > I have a lawyers letter referring Thomas and Margaret GARDNER obtained a > mortgage from The Newcastle upon Tyne Globe Permanent Building Society in > 1902 for 12 and 14 Dunrobin Terrace, Low Fell > > Also in other documents are about houses in Worley Terrace ... Where was > that street? Robin Dunrobin Terrace is now part of Wesley Street which runs between Kells Lane and Church Road, Low Fell. I don't know of a Worley Terrace, but there's a Worley Avenue which runs parallel with Durham Road on its west side just north of Chowdene Bank. It's also possible that "Worley" is a mistranscription of "Wesley" - Wesley Terrace is now part of Cross Keys Lane which runs between Durham Road and Belle Vue Bank. Brian -- Brian Pears (Gateshead, UK) http://www.bpears.org.uk/ Joint List Admin NORTHUMBRIA Genealogy Mailing List GENUKI Northumberland Maintainer

When last in the local history library in North Shields on a loose sheet of paper I found a typed "letter?". It must have been transcribed from somewhere (newspaper?) but the librarian and myself were completely at a loss. It was not dated. We think it refers to some kind of hustings/ campaign. I recognised a few of the people that are referred to and date the letter as c1820. It just starts 'Gentlemen' and ends 'a friend and well wisher of Mr Ilderton'. It was addressed to Mr Ilderton's, Committee Rooms, Howard Street, North Shields.. The content is very coloquiel and dificult to understand - something about unprincipled and cowardly scoundrels - trying to blacken someones campaign, about a sum of money sent down by Mr Young to Chapman's bank, about Mr Young and Mr Ilderton's hustings..... I would love some help in puting this in context. Who was Mr Ilderton? The people I recognise are ....Jim HALL the plank stealer with feed the pigs Sall his wife and habermeal Kyeat Maddison (now Downey) his sister.....(James HALL was a joiner/cabinet maker of Mount Pleasant, North Shields born c 1785 who married Sarah, probably Sarah Hayes at South Shields in 1804. Kyeat was Catherine HALL who married George Maddison, grocer/merchant in 1795 Christchurch and after he died, she married William Downie, ship owner/mariner in 1816 at Christchurch.) Who was ......charitable Sharp the grocer, the pig faced lady's husband......St.John the backy spinner....Geordy HALL the soap boiler.....the low descended FENWICK'S who people usually call cat-faced Tom, S.Preston..... blackguard Lying Jack.... Campville and gin-shop Jack, Preston Villa. It's a choice letter but I wish to understand it more! Any help most welcome. Anne .

Can anyone tell me where Dunrobin Terrace in Low Fell were/are? I have a lawyers letter referring Thomas and Margaret GARDNER obtained a mortgage from The Newcastle upon Tyne Globe Permanent Building Society in 1902 for 12 and 14 Dunrobin Terrace, Low Fell Also in other documents are about houses in Worley Terrace ... Where was that street? Robin