Great Grandfathers

In the mid 1800s there was a huge increase in industry in Britain.  Many of our ancestors moved from their agricultural bases in the South and West or from Ireland to the industrial areas in the North East. The map shows some of the areas our ancestors moved to.  The railway system was much more extensive than at present and cheaper fares (third class) allowed easier movement throughout the country.

Map of North Durham showing some of the areas where our great grandparents lived

Crowther

Thomas Frederick Crowther (1858-1900)

Thomas was the third son of Joseph Crowther (1820-1889) and Elizabeth Hitchmough (1823-1892). He was born in Liverpool, his family lived at 19 Count Blundell Street. His father Joseph was a Cooper. Sometime between the 1871 and 1881 census the family moved to Jarrow, presumably for economic reasons. 

Thomas became a Marine Engineer.  He married Hannah Isabella Wouldhave in February 1889 in St Paul’s, Jarrow.

Postcard picture of St Paul's Jarrow.  It is now next to the site of Bede's World

Presumably due to Thomas’s occupation, the family moved to Barrow in Furness during the late 1880s and then to Govan, Glasgow.  Thomas also joined the Freemasons (we still have his certificate). Thomas died in Victoria Hospital, Glasgow aged 41.  He was suffering from Bright’s disease (a chronic disease of the kidneys), for which there was no cure at the time.

Hannah Isabella brought her family back to Jarrow, to be near her family.

Thomas had the following siblings

• Alice Hitchmough Crowther (1847-1911), who married Alfred Hutchings (1847-1909) in 1872.  The family lived in Heaton, Newcastle.
• Joseph Crowther (1851-1921), who married Mary Anne Davies (1856-1940) in 1877.  The family lived in Toxteth, Liverpool.
• James Francis Crowther (1855-1903), who married Georgina Wouldhave (1867-1937), Hannah Isabella’s sister. The family lived in Jarrow.  Sadly their son, Joseph Frederick Crowther, who joined the Durham Light Infantry in 1915, died in action in Flanders in February 1918.

William Henry Slaughter (1855-1925)

William was born in Brighton.  His mother, Elizabeth Pratt (1828-1907) married Thomas Slaughter in 1858 in Brighton, but it isn’t clear if Thomas was Willliam’s father.  Thomas died in Brighton workhouse in 1860; the family must have been destitute since Elizabeth was in the workhouse with her youngest child Frederick Stephen in the 1861 census. Undoubtedly they moved north because of the promise of employment in the coal mines of Durham.  By the late 1870s the family were in Sherburn Hill, Durham and in the 1871 census the three eldest boys are working in the pits. Elizabeth married for the second time in 1873 to William Wake (1813-1887), a widower.

William worked as a coal miner all his life.  He married Bell Lowe (1859-1933) in February 1880 at St Paul’s, Jarrow.  The family lived in Hebburn Colliery.

William had the following siblings

• George Thomas Slaughter (1853-1889).  George worked as a coal miner all of his life and died of tubercular disease of the spine aged 35.
• Frederick Stephen Slaughter (1859-1939) married Jane Elizabeth Dixon (1860-1916) in 1882.  Although Frederick was also a Coal miner he had sufficient education to be a census enumerator for the 1881 census.  Frederick sometimes took the surname Wake (as in the 1901 census) and in his will he was named as Frederick Stephen Slaughter or Wake. After the death of Jane he married Frances Anne Manners in 1917, who was granted probate on Frederick's death November 1939.
• John Michael Slaughter (1868-1940), who was also a coal miner and lived in Hebburn.

McAndrew 

Edward McAndrew (1853-1930)

Edward was baptised in St Joseph’s, Gateshead in 1855.  He was the son of Edward McAndrew (1830-1870?) and Mary Caulfield (1825-1901).  Both of Edward’s parents were born in Co Mayo. In the 1911 census Edward’s aunt was staying with his family and she gave her birthplace as Geesala, which is a small village in the North West of Co Mayo. 

Edward married Mary Paddon in 1878 at St Patrick’s Chapel Gateshead.  They lived in Felling, then Byker, finally living at High Row, Bigges Main.  Edward was a iron driller in the shipyards.  In May 1896,  Edward was admitted to the County Asylum, Newminster in Morpeth.   According to the case books, he was delusional but not violent.  

He returned home in August 1908 at the request of his relatives. In the 1911 census he was again living in with Mary in High Row, Bigges Main.  At some point after this they moved to central Wallsend and Edward died at Rawdon Road in November 1930.

• It has proved difficult to find siblings for Edward.  We think he had a brother, Thomas (1858-?), who was a Stick Hawker in the 1871 census, but we can’t find anything more about him.

Frank Burridge (1873-1915)

Frank was the youngest son of Thomas Burridge (1833-1919) and Elizabeth Voysey (1830-1900).  Thomas and Elizabeth were both born in Devon and lived near Newton St Cyres, where they were married in 1854. Thomas was an agricultural labourer; he moved to find work and in the 1861 census the family were in Cornwall.  Then in 1871 the family had moved to Lamesley in Durham and Thomas’s occupation was Coal Miner.  The family moved around the area staying in Collierly, West Pelton and Beamish.  Frank was the youngest son and he followed his father and brothers into the collieries.  He married Sarah Pinkney(1874-1951) in 1892. Frank worked as a coal miner all his life and died aged 42 years of Heart failure.

Frank had the following siblings

• John Voysey Burridge (1856-1886) married Alice Meddick in 1881.  John worked in the coal mines and the family lived in Sunniside.
• Thomas Burridge (1859-?) married Emma Owers in 1883.  They lived in Kibblesworth, Beamish and then Stanley; Tom was a coal miner.
• Mark Burridge (1860-1915) married Elizabeth Ann Wilkinson in 1884.  Mark was a coal miner but was unable to work from 1901 since he was suffering from a mental disease.  In October 1915 he went missing and was found dead six weeks later on 27th November in the Twizell Colliery reservoir. A coroner’s jury returned a verdict of suicide.
• Ben James Burridge (1866-1938) married Sarah Hutchinson(1866-1946) in 1885 and the family lived in Pelton and Craghead. Ben was politically active and sought election as a Parliamentary candidate and representative of Durham Miners Association to the trade Union Congress in 1914.  He was not elected to either of these posts, but is recorded as a Labour Agent for the registration of electors in the Consett Parliamentary Division in 1918.  Ben was also a delegate to the Derby Methodist Conference in 1913. In 1913 adverts in the Scotsman looking for a Doctor for the Craghead Medical Association gave Ben’s name as the contact for application to the position.

Memorial to Miners at Craghead

• Ben James’s son, Ben James Herbert Burridge (1898-1977) was a footballer who made 124 appearances in the Football League for Darlington, Sheffield Wednesday and Oldham Athletic in the 1920 and 1930s.  He joined the RAF in 1917 serving as a wireless operator.
• Mary Ann Burridge (1870-1962) married John William F Stephenson in 1891.  In the 1901 census the family is living two doors from her brother Mark and his family in West Pelton. In the 1939 register, May is living with her two daughters, Elizabeth, a Head Teacher, and Ada J, a Colliery Bill Clerk, in Twizell Lane in Pelton.  

Twizell Lane, Pelton in April this year