....is what my Dad used to say to us if we shouted to each other from room to room. Well, it`s official, definately in the genes! After a bit more delving into the family history, I am back as far as just after 1800 and have found a set of Great Great Great Grandparents who were Cullercoats Fishing Folk. One James Stocks who married Mary Gallon. James Stocks is buried at Tynemouth Priory Cemetary. Assuming it is still there, it will be on my list of `places to visit` when I finally manage a trip back.

Another lovely find is an original copy of the Order of Service for the dedication of the war memorial cross and panel at St. Pauls in Willington Quay. Something else which my Dad didn`t even know existed, despite living only doors away from the church in George St. Grandad`s name, James A. Gray, is on the panel. I`m beginning to build up a picture of a very angry young man who built a wall of steel around his emotions on the death of his father. The Order of Service was kindly sent to me by a cousin, together with some lovely old photos of my Grandad.

I`ve also finally worked out where Howdon Panns fits into the scheme of things - I kept seeing it on birth certificates etc. I believe I am correct in saying that Willington Quay did used to be called Howdon Panns, and that these were salt flats?

After prising the family bible out of my sister`s clutches, I have managed to get back a bit further - about 1740 - but only with names and dates. Some wonderful Geordie names appearing, such as Robson, Scott and Hall, so I may yet find that I am a relative of wor Bobby, Ridley or Sir John!(:o)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Answers

Nice one Gal. Tynemouth Priory cemetary is still there though reading names on some of the stones may be difficult. When you're done I'll commission you to research my family ;-)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Let's just hope that the name Shepherd doesn't appear somewhere!

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Geordie, if you want I`ll e mail the useful addresses I`ve found. (:o)

Clarky, haven`t found a Shepherd yet - but don`t expect me to admit to it if I do!(;o)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

BTW Geordie, we were out your way a couple of weekends ago - stopped off at a pub called The Cart Horse, Cart and Horse, Waggon and Horse? Something like that anyway - big painting of a horse on the outside wall. Good pub grub! (:o)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Gal,

I'd like to do some research, so would appreciate knowing the places that might be helpful. Cheers.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

A number of you disrespectful folk have made disparaging reference to Mr Freddy.

Don't be forgetting that the lord's my Shepherd............

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Cart and Horses and Kingsworthy?

email those addresses please

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Fascinating stuff, Galaxy. I'm sure if all of us with Newcastle connections traced our ancestors back 10 generations, say (which is more than I've managed to as yet), more than a few of us would be related. The only Tynemouth connection i've come up with though, is my great grandfather's brother, David Miller, ran the Gibraltar Rock 'pub and barber's shop' there. Now I'm not sure whether they were one and the same (an interesting concept to say the least, but I certainly could often use a drink when I see what I look like after a trip to the local barber's), but I think the pub's still there.

Going back to the 'we're all related' concept, perhaps we should list surnames of those in the NE that crop up in our family trees - I bet there'll be a fair few Robson's and the like..I'll start off
Miller (obviously), Sinclair, Robson , Gnant, Brady, Simpson, Bennet, Davis, Fenwick, Proctor, Armstrong, Slater, Thew, MacDonald, Seaton...to name a few

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Windy, the Gibraltor Rock is still there, It's a restaurant downstairs and a pub upstairs, right by the Tynemouth Priory ruins. I was there last week, a mate of mine runs it now.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

There you go..connections already ;-). Actually my great aunt (Rhoda Miller) married a Jack Metcalfe..ie my dad's cousins were Metcalfe's

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Galaxy I seem to remember Howdan Panns being down from Willington Quay just beyond Haggies (?) Rope works. There's a small burn, which runs from Wallsend thru Willington Quay, and out into the Tyne. Just beyond the metro bridge there used to be mud flats that me old Granddad used to dig for lugworms to take me fishing.

As a kid it was rumored that a woman killed in the rope works used to a walk the bridge on still nights with her decapitated head tucked beneath her arm!!

Frightened the life out of me!!!!!

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Hiya Hiro - I remember Haggies Rope Factory, but didn`t know the ghost story. We were always told that if we didn`t work hard at school we`d end up working at Haggies!

Geordie, Clarky - I`ll send you the links I`ve got via e mail.

Other names in our family: Henderson, Snowdon, Hocking, Hunter, Flynn, Goodwin, Turnbull, Dryden, Dobson, Rowntree, Nowley, Curry, Joyce.

Anybody got any ideas where I could get hold of an old street map of Willington Quay? One from the 50`s. (:o)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Fascinating stuff, Galaxy! You sure you don't want to start a second career in geneology. I'd hire you! Are you're links only for UK family research? I'd be interested if they work for Irish or US connections. May take a long time to trace back far enough to find where my English/Scottish connection, if it's even possible as that branch is the least known. I'm at least trying to collect the links for when I've got the time and money to do some serious digging.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Just sent the links to Clarky, Geordie and Ciara. If I put three addresses in the To: box, will it go to all three of you? If any of you don`t receive a copy of the e mail, let me know, and I`ll send them individually. OK? (:o)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Galaxy,

A couple of map links - http://www.old-maps.co.uk have old OS maps which can be viewed free via the internet and ordered hard copy or e- mail at a cost. Also http://www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk/ne.htm have a selection of old maps that can be bought (they're actually Newcastle based). I've got a download map of the area to the west of Ouse Burn and east of the bridge, but you're obviously looking further east.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Thanks Windy - I`ll take a look.(:o)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Something somebody may be able to help with on this sort of subject. I've been trying to find out more about my great grandfather, who to say the least is treated as a black sheep of the family..seemed to have no fixed job, but did 'bits and pieces', including selling advertising space on the Newcastle United match programmes/posters, and a few other stories. Anyway, reading between the lines he was obviously a bit dodgy - managing to support a family of 11 kids with no obvious financial support. How would I go about finding if he had a criminal record - anyone know? He lived 1864 to 1944.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Got your email, Galaxy. Thanks!

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

I started doing my family tree about 4 years ago, so here's a few places that I have found very useful - even in the last 4 years the volume of online data has increased exponentially - you can do a lot of searching just from your PC.
Starting with North-East :
The Tyne Wear Archive Service in Blandford Street is very good and the staff are extremely helpful (believe it or not I discovered that one of them is a distant cousin of mine - we have a common great grandfather - she was helping me to start off my search in 1997 and she suddenly realised that she recognised some of the names we were turning up as we got back into the 1800's)
Newcastle Central Library Local Studies Section and Family History section, including censuses and Births Deaths and Marriage 'St Catherine's" Index.
Northumberland and Durham Family History Society, next door to the Lit and Phil, - great place friendly helpful people, 10 pounds a year to be a member.
On internet for Newcastle & North-East:
Genealogy guide to Newcastle
http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/mii/defaulta2.htm
GENUKI : very broad and detailed coverage, including lots on North- East as one of the prime movers turns out to be a prof at Newcastle Univ, Brian Randell (see subsequent link)
http://www.genuki.org.uk/indexes/NBLcontents.html
http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell/home.informal/Genealogy/< br> For Scottish ancestors
Scots Origins : One of the best places to look for on-line searches if you have Scottish ancestors, started about a year and a half ago (though can be pricey if you don't know what you're looking for)
http://www.origins.net/GRO/
General info on Scots genealogy
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/
Equivalent for England but not anywhere near as comprehensive yet, and mostly for Southern England, so irrelevant to pure northerners:
http://www.englishorigins.com/
Worldwide:
Mormon genealogical on-line search, (very comprehensive, though some of it is said to be wishful thinking by people trying to link themselves to Grace Darling, George Stephenson, etc) You don't have to be a mormon to find your family in it either!
http://www.familysearch.com/
Family Tree Maker is a very good software to store your trees in, easy to use and very complete. They also have their own web based family tree search engine, although very much angled towards USA :
Family Tree Maker site for links to other sites
http://www.genealogy.com/links/?Welcome=982183904
Search engine from Family Tree Maker
http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/allsearch.html
Other quite good database, again quite American-biased:
Roots database, and bulletin boards, etc
http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/filelist.html
I hope that these might help someone. If you have any names such as Robertson, Heslop, Mauchlen, Swift, Oliver, Harrison, Storey, Atkins, Robson, Gibson, Hay, MacDougall, Peel, Darling (not Grace), Gooch, Jewitt, Mosley, McLellan, Skinner, Sligh, Todd, from Newcastle, North Northumberland, Berwickshire, Edinburgh, Leith, Aberdeen, & Selby (only place South of the Tyne) etc we may have some common ancestors. I searched in vain for some Milburns and Charltons and Shearers and Asprillas, but at least I found Robson.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Galaxy..... I might as well pitch in with my twopennorth.....

where does the Snowdon side of your family fit in. My grandmother (dads side) was nee Snowdon, would have been out of Bedlington/Netherton/Nedderton area late c1880 onward.

Isn't it great how these threads start.......little aside and off you go, same happened a bit back when Syme asked a question and the Heaton reunion threads all stared.

Great stuff.

80)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Few years ago while visiting my sister ower in Galway I took it on myself to visit a wee place in Co Clare called Callaghan`s Mills, Well there was a mill, a water wheel, a garage, two houses and not much else except for a brass plaque on the mill entrance, (locked) which gave out the info on the mill`s history and to my surprise I learned that there were more Callaghan`s /O`Callaghans living in Spain than in Ireland , Further investigation from books revealed a pirate connection , so tonite folks Buff will cheer on Valencia. All I really wanted to be was a Border Reiver tho a Viking would have suited me on reflection.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Barry - thank you for the links - duly added to my research folder! (:o)

ITK - The Snowdons in our family are on my Mother`s side. My Mother`s Grandfather was Thomas Snowdon, who lived around the Willington/Rosehill area. His father was apparently from Morpeth. Can`t reseach that side at the moment `till I get some birth certs. (:o)

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001