Looking though church history pamphlets at Woodhorn yesterday for somewhere completely different, I found one about Birdhopecraig Presbyterian chapel. It is called "Sketch of the history of Birdhopecraig Congregation by Rev. T Newlands" He was their minister for 56 years and it is dated 1896. The first paragraph starts:Almost all early records of this congregation have either been lost or destroyed, so it has been difficult to collect the materials for this sketch" The last paragraph ends: MarriagesThe church was not registered for marriages till 1839, but marrying and giving in marriage went on all the same. They just stepped over the Carter into Scotland, and taking their minister with them, were married there. Five such marriages are registered by the Rev. Mr McFie in the end of the Book of Baptisms, four at Carter Head and one at Cocklaw at the back of Cheviot" These are the five marriages I mentioned in a previous email and reveal the location of Cocklaw. It also explains why marriages might be missing, "lost or destroyed" was his phrase. Gen in NBL England

Gen: Thank you for this. It was particularly interesting to have the location of Cocklaw explained as "back of Cheviot" and, presumably, in Scotland. I had previously thought that what was intended was the Cocklaw (Cocklaw Tower) not far from Chollerton, in the lower N Tyne valley. Once more, proof that one should never jump to conclusions! Geoff Nicholson -----Original Message----- From: gen listlass <[email protected]> To: northumbria <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:29 Subject: [NMB] More about marriages at Birdhopecraig - original source material Looking though church history pamphlets at Woodhorn yesterday for somewhere completely different, I found one about Birdhopecraig Presbyterian chapel. It is called "Sketch of the history of Birdhopecraig Congregation by Rev. T Newlands" He was their minister for 56 years and it is dated 1896. The first paragraph starts:Almost all early records of this congregation have either been lost or destroyed, so it has been difficult to collect the materials for this sketch" The last paragraph ends: MarriagesThe church was not registered for marriages till 1839, but marrying and giving in marriage went on all the same. They just stepped over the Carter into Scotland, and taking their minister with them, were married there. Five such marriages are registered by the Rev. Mr McFie in the end of the Book of Baptisms, four at Carter Head and one at Cocklaw at the back of Cheviot" These are the five marriages I mentioned in a previous email and reveal the location of Cocklaw. It also explains why marriages might be missing, "lost or destroyed" was his phrase. Gen in NBL England .. Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply...... Thank you! The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message