Hi, I have been trawling through the wills of families associated with my family and as no doubt many of you know they often raise more questions. I was wondering if anyone on the list has researched the Pearts who lived in upper Weardale in the 1600s and early 1700s who may want to exchange thoughts. I descend from the Norwoods of Stanhope and long ago traced them back to the marriage of William Norwood to Margaret Peart who married in 1738 at All Saints Newcastle upon Tyne. They had 2 children Theophilus 1739 and William 1742. Unfortunately I know nothing about the 2 William Norwoods but do know that Theophilus and his mother Margaret turn up in Stanhope by 1770. Theophilus is my ancestor and he married twice in Stanhope. His mother Margaret Norwood nee Peart died in Stanhope in 1772. I had originally thought that Margaret Peart could well have been the Margaret Peart who was baptised at Stanhope in 1704 the daughter of Thomas Peart and Margaret Watson.. I have recently come upon the will of Thomas Peart of 1740 and in it he mentions a number of his siblings and among them is his sister Margaret Noraway..I have come to the conclusion that this may well be my Margaret.. I have looked at other marriages of Margaret Pearts and this certainly seems to be a possibility. She would have been away in Newcastle at the time of the writing of the will and only recently married for Thomas Peart to be uncertain of the correct spelling or pronunciation. I cant find any reference to Noraway as a surname and Norwoods are scarce as well. Shoot me down if you think I am barking mad here!! Having said that I have also been looking at the will of Francis Peart 1691 and that of John Peart 1680..These families of Pearts all lived at Heathery Cleugh and seem to me to be related.. The will of Francis Peart mentions a number of beneficiaries but doesn't state familial relationships unfortunately. Thats why I was wondering if anyone else has looked at or is currently looking at these Pearts in this time frame. John Ayton

From: Geoff Nicholson John: I think you are very probably correct in thinking that Noraway is effectively the same as Norwood in this case. I haven't seen the originals of either the Wills or the parish registers but I also wonder whether you (or a transcriber if what you have looked at is a transcript) have mis-read one of them. You are getting back to a period when some of the older hands were still in use and they can take a lot of getting used to. Peart is an interesting surname. It is archetypically a Weardale one, being very common all up and down the valley, and rare elsewhere, even in Co Durham, and has been there for centuries. It is one of those very old, very well-established surnames which was there before the boom in lead mining increased the local population and is still there now that the transient lead miners have all gone. That possibly has something to do with Pearts being (small) land-owners as well as labourers. They have probably had an attachment with the land which has tended to prevent them moving away - or even wanting to move away. Good luck with your researches, Geoff Nicholson -----Original Message----- From: John Ayton via <northumbria@rootsweb.com> To: NORTHUMBRIA-L@rootsweb.com <northumbria-l@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 11:41 Subject: [NMB] Pearts of Weardale and Norwoods Hi, I have been trawling through the wills of families associated with my family and as no doubt many of you know they often raise more questions. I was wondering if anyone on the list has researched the Pearts who lived in upper Weardale in the 1600s and early 1700s who may want to exchange thoughts. I descend from the Norwoods of Stanhope and long ago traced them back to the marriage of William Norwood to Margaret Peart who married in 1738 at All Saints Newcastle upon Tyne. They had 2 children Theophilus 1739 and William 1742. Unfortunately I know nothing about the 2 William Norwoods but do know that Theophilus and his mother Margaret turn up in Stanhope by 1770. Theophilus is my ancestor and he married twice in Stanhope. His mother Margaret Norwood nee Peart died in Stanhope in 1772. I had originally thought that Margaret Peart could well have been the Margaret Peart who was baptised at Stanhope in 1704 the daughter of Thomas Peart and Margaret Watson.. I have recently come upon the will of Thomas Peart of 1740 and in it he mentions a number of his siblings and among them is his sister Margaret Noraway..I have come to the conclusion that this may well be my Margaret.. I have looked at other marriages of Margaret Pearts and this certainly seems to be a possibility. She would have been away in Newcastle at the time of the writing of the will and only recently married for Thomas Peart to be uncertain of the correct spelling or pronunciation. I cant find any reference to Noraway as a surname and Norwoods are scarce as well. Shoot me down if you think I am barking mad here!! Having said that I have also been looking at the will of Francis Peart 1691 and that of John Peart 1680..These families of Pearts all lived at Heathery Cleugh and seem to me to be related.. The will of Francis Peart mentions a number of beneficiaries but doesn't state familial relationships unfortunately. Thats why I was wondering if anyone else has looked at or is currently looking at these Pearts in this time frame. John Ayton .. Please quote the minimum necessary to put your reply on context. Please introduce yourself at the top of every post. 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