vol 2 issue 2 - Houghton-le-Spring

THE HOUGHTONIAN | JUNE 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 2 | ISSN 1757-3890WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Can you help solve theseGenealogical & Heritage Quests?JOSEPH STOKOEHello Paul, I was just browsingthough the Houghton HeritageSociety site and came across thefollowing on the Houghton CollieryRemembered page: 1881 - At thistime, Houghton Colliery manager,Joseph Stokoe, lived in GilpinHouse, The Quay, Church Street.He was presented with a goldencoach clock with the followinginscription: "Presented to JosephStokoe Esq, Viewer, on theattainment of his 50Th year by theofficials of the Houghton Collieryas a mark of esteem July 30th,1881" The clock now belongs toJoseph's great-great grandson,Mike Preiss, in South Africa, andstill keeps good time. This was anexciting discovery as Joseph wasmy 3x gt uncle and I am in touchwith his gt grandson Noel Stokoe.We knew that Joseph's sonJoseph Laws Stokoe went out toSouth Africa and had at least twochildren but did not know thatthere were family still out there!Would it be at all possible for youto put me in touch with MikePreiss please? Thanking you inadvance.Pam BennettHOUGHTON EMIGRANTSVirden, Illinois, USA is home tomany descendants of formerHoughton residents. Mostemigrated around 1901-1903. Mygreat great grandfather wasGeorge Smith, married first toJane Thompson, and later to AnnLampton. My great grandmotherwas Arthurina Ashman Smith,whose brothers and sister exceptfor Phoebe remained inHoughton. Other families whoemigrated were Osborne, Page,Rankin, Scott, Hutton--all localminers.George RishelIllinois, USAHOUGHTON’S ITALIANSDear Paul, I am an elderly MAstudent at Teesside Universityresearching Italian immigrationinto the North East as little hasbeen written about them. I amreally impressed with your site andinterested in obtaining the bookcoming weeks, once the book hasWith thanks to Lena Inch for sharing these photographs New Zealandbeen laid out.and many more.and DVD that go along with it. Iwould love to bewould love to be able to havepermission to quote from yourfindings and would of course givecredit too any information used. Ihave information on many areas inthe North East and want tocompare experiences here with thelarger Italian communities in thelarge cities, London, Birmingham,Manchester and Liverpool to see ifthe smaller communitiesexperienced the same changes inperception of the Italianimmigramts especially in relationto 1940 and the rounding up ofthe local Italian population,Middlesbrough and theirexperience of riots and where theloss on the Arandora Star hadsuch devistating effects on theItalian population. I have beenpromised oral testimony from amember of the Pacitto family andother familes and I have contactedMichael Minchella in South Shieldswho is also going to talk to me.Unfortunately I am going intohospital in three weeks for majorsurgery so my research time isseverally curtailed. Any help youare prepared to give would begreatefully received and as statedwould be acknowledged in mydissertation. Yours faithfully.Dorothy DinsdaleTeesideTHE GRAMMAR SCHOOLPrompted by a question from mycousin in Australia, I would like tofind out more about Houghton leSpring Grammar School (knownpreviously as Houghton-le SpringSecondary School). MyGrandfather, Thomas Alfred King,taught there from 1926 when theschool opened until hisillness/death in 1949. My motherand her two sisters and herbrother were all pupils at theschool and they have plenty ofmemories, but no photos and no"official" documentation. I'dparticularly appreciate memoriesand pictures.Sheila WheeldonPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:The history of the GrammarSchool has been researched andis due to go on to the HoughtonHeritage Society website in theYARD ROWCan anyone help withphotographs of Yard Row,Philadlephia, as one of the houseswas where my Father, ThomasGraydon Lawton and his Motherand Father lived? They wereBenjamin Bould Lawton andElizabeth Mary who lived at 2 YardRow which was within the NCBPhiladelphia Workshops, wheremy Father did his apprenticeship,and later became Assistant WorksManager. The Works Manager atthe time (early 1950s) was aThomas Lawson who I think livedin Chester-le-Street. Yard Rowwas demolished I understand inthe 1950s. I have one grainyimage of Father and Grandfathertaken outside of the house, whichwas taken sometime in the 1930s,but before 1939, as BenjaminBould was killed in a collieryaccident in November of that year,and is buried in the churchyard ofSt Matthews, Newbottle. Any infowould be most welcome.Ian LawtonWakefieldPLAIN PIT DISASTERDear Houghton Heritage Society,Just stumbled across this groupand am thrilled. I do a lot ofgenealogy and some of myancestors originated fromHoughton Le Spring, back as faras 1800. Names includePatterson, Gardiner, Gardner,Gardener, Watson and Gibson. Alot of them are buried in StMichaels Churchyard including my4x great grandfather and his sonwho were killed in the Plain Pitmining disaster in 1823.Nicky WinkworthLAYBOURN & ELLIOTTSI’m looking for information on thefollowing Laybourns and Elliotts,who may have been from theHoughton-le-Spring area: BesseyLaybourn; Thomas Laybourn;Susan Laybourn; Susanna Elliott;and Robert Elliott. They may havebeen buried in St Michael'sChurchyard and Houghton HillsideCemetery.Barbara MetcalfeSTEWARD FAMILYHi Paul, I've just been looking at theHoughton Heritage Society websiteit's really good and reallyinformative. I am researching theSteward family tree, and whilst weall live in Swindon, I had no idea wehave such a strong heritage inHoughton Le Spring. Nearly all ofmy ancestors were born there ornearby (Rainton, Castle Eden,Hetton Le Hole) and I'm currentlylearning all about this place - ofwhich I didn't even know existed!Do you have any tips or goodplaces to look for moreinformation? I'm looking at 1700s -late 1800s mostly. I'm interested toknow more about the place andwhy they all decided to move toSwindon - most likely due to theRailways and working in GWR - butwondered if many other families didthe same? Seems like a longjourney too! Any comments orsuggestions are most appreciated.Best wishes.Carly StewardSwindonFIELD HOUSE FARMDear Sirs, I have been researchingmy Father's Mother's family. Theywere the Richardson family, andhad a farm at Field House, WestRainton in the 1800s. I cameacross the Houghton HeritageSociety site during my research,and saw a letter from DeborahWhinfield, regarding the grave ofHannah Richardson. I don't know ifthe Hannah Richardson that MsWhinfield is seeking is related to myfamily, but I do have someinformation which shows 3Hannahs, one born 1839, one born1865 and one born 1897 (MaryHannah Richardson, who lived at 7Shiney Row). I appreciate therewere a lot of Richardsons around atthe time, and Hannah was a fairlycommon name, but we may find weare researching the same family. Isit possible for you to forward myemail to Ms Whinfield? Yoursfaithfully.David BoltonKeep reading for m oreFam ily Tree Quests only in theHough tonian