SEDGEFIELD BRANCH REPORTS
October 2010 The title for Norman Welch’s presentation was “Everybody has roots”.
Norman suggested that family history is not just about recording dates from Parish and Census Records and searching through Electors Lists, Land Tax returns and Service Records; rather it is about trying to put flesh on the bones.
Quite often there is a misconception that our ancestors have lived in the same place for generations and in some cases this is true, however social mobility did occur in particular miners may have moved from Wales to work in the Durham pits. It is useful to look for clusters of names, did they occur in other parts of the country in earlier records. Check with County Records Offices for your names and locally with the Surtees Society to see if your names have been published there. Births and marriages are recorded on the International Genealogical Index (IGI) which you could search at your library or at Billingham Mormon Centre. The Workhouse records show the reason that people were admitted as well as usual date of birth details. Many Irish people who left Ireland in the 1840s emigrated to America, but many moved to other parts of the country to work in the mills or building canals amongst other occupations. During the Scottish Clearances many Scots emigrated to Canada however some moved to Clydeside to be employed in the new industries which were emerging. If your ancestors were apprenticed they had to pay a stamp duty so there are records for those. Hawkers were licensed so are there records for those? Many types of occupations were recorded such as maritime occupations, coastguards, mariners and so on.
Norman’s talk was very interesting, entertaining and gave an insight into how to discover a broader picture of our ancestors.
August 2010 Several members met at the Library to make use of the computers and all of the additional reference books which the staff had made available. Members assisted each other in pursuing difficulties or problems they were encountering in their research, successfully tracking down some elusive pieces of information.
There was no meeting in July.
June 2010 Arthur Dodds delivered his talk on the subject of “The history of aerialsurveillance, balloons to satellites”
The first balloon flight was recorded in Paris in 1783 and lasted about 10 minutes. The potential military use of the balloon was soon recognised and by 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte used the balloon in order to check what the enemy was doing. During the American Civil War (1861-1865) they used tethered balloons from which to signal with flags what the other side was doing. In 1858 the first aerial photograph was produced in a balloon.
Subsequently, Count Zeppelin changed the shape of the balloon to a cigar shape thus creating the Hindenburg. Sadly in 1937 when the Hindenburg was attempting to dock, it burst into flames killing 35 people, almost one third of the people on board.
The development of aerial photography progressed from using plates to roll films, using specific cameras for reconnaissance and the interpretation of photographs. In WW1 the RFC took photos showing the German trenches from a relatively low altitude. Today the photographs can be taken from high altitude. Photographs are interpreted measuring the shape and size of buildings using the shadows in conjunction with sun tables.
Arthur Dodds concluded his interesting talk with the thought that today aerial surveillance may be carried out by unmanned craft operated from several thousands of miles away indicating the incredible progress that has been made in just over 2 centuries.
May 2010 “Great, Great Grandmother a Woman of the PitVillage” was the title of Margaret Hedley’s presentation. Hannah Hall, 1820-1901, was Margaret’s 2x gt. Grandmother and, as Hannah’s dates were almost the same as Queen Victoria’s, Margaret developed a dual interest for her research, that of her own family and also the Victorian era. Hannah was typical of a woman born in the 1820s in that she was illiterate and therefore the only records of her life are official records. Her father was a miner, like the rest of his family, and they lived in various pit villages. In 1837 he was working at Thornley pit signing his bond with a cross. Hannah’s mother, who was a tailoress, taught Hannah and her sisters to become dressmakers and Hannah would work at farms for a few weeks at a time mending sheets and turning collars. Although Hannah had a baby born 1841 she decided not to marry the father (Henry Wilding), subsequently marrying John Porter in 1843. They lived in a miner’s house and their income was supplemented with Hannah’s dressmaking and taking in lodgers. Hannah had 7 pregnancies in 16 years. John was a good man, neither drinking nor gambling, always bringing his wages home. However conditions in mining were hard and John was paid on piece work and he decided that he would go and seek work in Australia. Despite a setback, where he was brought back as he still had part of his bond to work, John did go abroad to work for 6 years. Hannah was left at home, pregnant and working at dressmaking. Although she was unable to write, she was resourceful and had a photo taken with the new baby (in 1857) and she sent the glass slide to John. (Margaret treasures this glass slide) John returned in 1864 to work at Ludworth pit. Tragically he was killed in a pit accident in 1874 which meant that Hannah and family had to leave their miner’s house in 2 weeks. Hannah married again in 1885, although she lived separately from her husband. In 1891 Hannah lived at Ludworth with her first daughter Ann, opening a shop in her front room. Hannah was a good mother, hard working and would turn her hand to earn money. Not only did Margaret deliver a most interesting talk about her ancestor, she also portrayed the era and society in which Hannah lived.
April 2010 Anita Atkinson presented a dvd “The Women of Windlestone” which was researched and produced by her daughter Ruth. Ruth decided to find if there was any truth in the rumour that there had been female prisoners of war at Windlestone Hall during World War II. Historians thought it very unlikely as women were not part of the German army and local people were not aware that there had been women prisoners. However Ruth heard that the International Committee Red Cross held reports of camp inspections which were carried out every two months regarding living conditions, diet and entertainment. Ruth flew to Geneva and met an Archivist who produced the relevant documents. The records showed that 152 women, who were nurses, were held at Windlestone Hall which was a sub camp of Harperley Camp. The reports indicated that the women had 2 free hours each day, they could attend Church in the neighbouring villages and the ATS issued them with clothing which was ATS uniform (without labels) which may be why local people were unaware of them. The reports also showed that the women had been captured in various places such as Brest, Brussels and Rostock. While some of the male prisoners of war remained or returned to area after the war, little is known what happened to the Women of Windlestone.
March 2010 “Benjamin Flounders, Esquire of Yarm, 1768-1846” was the fascinating subject delivered by Jim Fox. Jim’s wife was a Flounders and they have spent many hours reading and researching Benjamin’s papers which were deposited at NYCC Archives. Benjamin never threw any papers away so there is a wealth of records such as account books and wages books.
Benjamin was born at Crathorne to a wealthy family of linen merchants and manufacturers. He was married twice. His first wife died when their daughter Mary was 2. He remarried but she and their baby son died in 1814. Financially, Benjamin was a timber merchant shipping out of the port of Yarm, just one of his many business interests. In 1810 he inherited Culmington Estate, Shropshire from his Uncle Gideon in the expectation that the estate would be sold in order to build a QuakerSchool. He was a charitable man in the harsh winter of 1816 he provided enough substantial soup for 3000. He endowed the NationalSchool in Yarm with £1,000, the interest of which educated 50 poor children. With reference to the Culmington Estate some of the records relate to poaching on the estate, some to the embezzlement by one of his own stewards. There is even a bill from the Sun Inn for £5.5s.2d. for refreshments during a meeting with his employees.
His daughter Mary was his companion and they made a Grand Tour in 1830. Mary married when she was 39, sadly dying just a few years later of TB.
Before Benjamin died, he created a Trust Fund of £20,000 for the poor of Yarm, created annuities for former staff and gave large sums to several schools in the area. Benjamin also fulfilled his uncle’s wish of selling the Culmington Estate in order to build a QuakerSchool.
February 2010 About 16 members met at Sedgefield Library for an evening of sharing information and discussing how to pursue research problems. New members were given assistance and shown how to make use of both the internet and paper records to start their family history research. The Library staff also provided information and help with the computers.
January 2010 “Whitby Interwar Years 1919-1939” was the interesting subject delivered by Colin Wilkinson. Between the Wars and during the Depression years of the 1920’s and 1930’s there was some unemployment in Whitby as the traditional industries declined. However, there still remained an opportunity for growth as, even during the Depression, people still aspired to take a holiday. For some people it might have only been a day trip and, as the Railways promoted holidays, visitors increased. The Council took responsibility to promote Whitby as a holiday resort with parks, spa complexes, tea dances, beach cafes, museum, art gallery and open air swimming pool to name but a few. From 1935 both council housing and private building was taking place and the infrastructure was being developed, which lead to some increase in employment. Colin’s talk concluded with the point that the Census records for Whitby Urban District show that between 1911 and 1951 there was very little movement in the population which remained between 11,000 and 12,000.
November 2009 The subject for Norman Welch’s entertaining talk was “Not all Nuts arefrom Brazil”. Of course it had nothing to do with nuts, but rather the eccentricities of “some” family historians who manage to trace their family tree back to a person of some note while happily disregarding the gaps of a generation or two. There are others who will share their tree in great detail to all and sundry whether it is of interest or not to the listener. However, the above are in the minority and Norman concluded that the family historian who shares not only some of their research but how they have resolved a difficult problem which they have encountered, in such a way that will be of benefit to the listener, will always be appreciated.
October 2009 Shirley Hamilton’s subject was “The origins of false teeth”
Shirley is a retired archaeologist who has worked on monastic sites. At the Priory at Pontefract if people were buried inside the priory it meant they were important. In the Manleverer family vault one of the skeletons had teeth bound together with gold thread and this prompted Shirley to research the subject of false teeth. Shirley found that there were very few books written about teeth, however from different sources she discovered that as long ago as 5000 years ago the Babylonians believed tooth ache was a result of divine displeasure. In 65BC Horace described 2 witches running so fast that the dentures of one of them fell out. In 1295 Marco Polo, in South China, found there was a custom of fitting gold over their teeth, whilst Henry III of France had several teeth made of bone. More recently Sam Pepys (1664) wrote that his wife had new teeth fitted which were difficult to remove to clean, so just left them in and although George Washington had teeth made from elephant tusks, he still suffered from toothache! Today we can have all sorts of treatment for our teeth and should we need dentures they won’t be made from bone or wood.
September 2009 Alex Sampson introduced the speaker, Tim Brown, whose subject was “Cowley House murders and other tales”
Tim related the following story. Cowley House, is located behind Layton House, south of Sedgefield and east of the A177 and, on 10th November 1828, was the scene of 2 horrific murders. During the morning 2 brothers, Joseph and Israel Hutchinson, their brother in law and a farm labourer had been threshing in the barn. John Hutchinson, father aged 80 and the rest of the family were around the house. At midday the family sat down for their meal, then Joseph went out and returned with a poker which he used to inflict fatal injuries on both his father and brother. Joseph then left the farm later being apprehended by the Constable Crossling. Subsequently, although the jury decided that he had caused the death of his father and brother, the judge decided that the prisoner, Joseph Hutchinson, was not of sound enough mind to be tried and that he should be detained in prison.
Tim Brown also gave a brief outline of a website which will be online early in 2010 and the records will include wills, probate records and marriage bonds which are held at Durham University Library. The work has been carried out by 3 full time staff with assistance from Tim and other volunteers.
August 2009 Members met at the Library and made use of the computers, books and other records, which the Library Staff had made available, to pursue their research. There was also an opportunity to share problems and discuss what other avenues to follow when you come up against a brick wall.
April 2009 “From Ripon to Norfolk Island – the story of John Fell, Convict” was the topic Ann Fell related of one of her husband’s distant ancestors. John Fell was born in Ripon and was a weaver by trade. However, Ann found that John had been convicted of stealing in 1823 and to discover more about this, she searched the newspaper records at York Library. In the York Herald of 5th April 1823, Ann learned that having stolen items from a local tailor which amounted to more that £5 in value, John Fell was given a death sentence, which was then reprieved and commuted to life and transportation to Australia. Although Ann could not find any ship’s log records for this voyage, one of the passengers had maintained a diary recording the events. At one stage, prior to needing repairs in Rio de Janeiro, the convicts had been required to assist with pumping out the vessel. Within a year of arriving in Australia, John Fell was convicted again of stealing and burglary and sent to Norfolk Island, where the worst criminals were consigned. Eventually John Fell was listed in the convicts’ pardons between 1842-1845 and subsequently in 1848, at the age of 51, he was given a full pardon.
March 2009 Dr. Tony Nicholson’s presentation was entitled “Secrets of the Attic – concluding chapters” commencing with a brief recap on discovering a hoard of old photographs and papers in his attic some years ago. The story starts in the 1890s and from the letters to the subject, Annie, Dr. Nicholson has been able to research the many twists and turns of Annie’s adult life. Just as he thought he had probably completed his research, Dr. Nicholson found some new leads both in this country and abroad and has been able to fill in some of the gaps. Continuing his painstaking research, Dr. Nicholson hopes he will be able to find the answers to some of the remaining questions
February 2009 This meeting was held at Sedgefield Library. Once again the library staff had provided a lot of local history material for members to use. The computers were available for those who wanted to carry out research using the Internet and members assisted each other with their knowledge of relevant websites. Members had the opportunity to discuss their family history research and help each other in trying to solve problems.
January 2009 The first meeting of 2009 was an interesting talk regarding the “History ofTown Kelloe” delivered by Gordon Staff.
Although called Town Kelloe, it never was a town or even a village. It was first recorded in the 700’s by the monks of Lindisfarne as a large Anglo Saxon settlement. In1076 it was given to a Norman nobleman by King William. The Norman nobleman changed his name to Richard de Kelloe. In the 1400’s Town Kelloe was a collection of cottages around the fortified manor house, plus a blacksmith’s and a small farmhouse.