John Atlantic Stephenson

[Valda]

Hi

This website holds the Prerogative Court of York will index (there is a charge unfortunately). Since William Brummell was a doctor it might be worth checking to see whether he left a will.

http://www.originsnetwork.com/NWIWelcome.aspx

John Stephenson is not a rare name so tracking his death date and possible will (because there of others so named) will not be so easy. Even so Brummell is not a rare surname.

a potential sibling

CATHARINE BRUMELL
Birth:  11 AUG 1811   
Christening:  27 AUG 1811   St Nicholas Parish Rec And Nonconf, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland,
Father:  WILLIAM BRUMELL 
Mother:  ELIZABETH GORDON 

There are likely to be further records on John Stephenson if he was employed by the East India Company but those records will be held at the British Library in London.

It would help to know a little more about William Brummell, whether he was an apothecary, a doctor or a surgeon for instance. All could be described as doctors.


Regards

Valda

[Buffers]

John Atlantic Stephenson's brother, Albert Peak Stephenson, born at Peak, Staintondale, was my wife's GG Grandfather. Whilst John Atlantic seems to have faired well and become something of a quite wealthy celebrity, the rest of the family were not so lucky. After her husband's death, the mother of John and Albert and the others moved to Gateshead and the family lived in a fairly run down area whilst the boys took mundane manual work. My wife's line is as follows - Albert Peak Stephenson - Albert Henry Stephenson - Albert Peak Stephenson II - Doris Stephenson (my wife's mother). Does this ring any bells with anyone? We are planning a trip to Staintondale later in the year. The mansion where John Stephenson's last employer lived (the owner of the Peak Alum Works) is now a hotel and the house where John Stephenson lived is now a National Trust cottage and available to rent (quite expensive - we won't be staying there!) 

[Valda]

Hi

Welcome to Rootschat

This looks to be the cottage you mentioned 'Low Peak Cottage'

http://www.nationaltrustcottages.co.uk/north_of_england/yorkshire/low_peak/255


Regards

Valda

[Buffers]

Yep - that's the place. Everyone on Rootschat talking about John Atlantic Stephenson seems to be convinced that his mother, John Stephenson's wife was called Elizabeth Brummell - reference to his songs etc. I have a copy of his brother Albert Peak Stephenson's birth certificate and the mother's name is "Elizabeth Stephenson formerly Bromwell". There are mistakes on transcripts and census returns etc but rarely on original Certificates. Who do you think has got it right?

[maggie360]

Hi Valda and Buffers. Thank you Valda for the idea of tracking wills and I will do this asap and let you know! Buffers, I think I must therefore be related to your wife..! My mother's gg grandmother was Catherine mary Layton Stephenson, known as Mary I think, and was the sister of John Atlantic and Albert Peak.She was born in India, married in 1860 in England and lived in Westgate, Northumberland (181 Stone Street.) I would like to find an image of it if it is still there.
The journal that father John Stephenson wrote has only this year come into my possession having been held in New Zealand my another branch of the family. I have practically finished transcribing it  following on a daily basis the journey over 6 months. He is due to arrive in Calcutta on 18th August. It sheds light on him as being very understated in all his descriptions of weather, lack of wind for 3 weeks and the birth of his first son, John Atlantic. Perhaps your wife would like a copy?
 I now need to find a birth certificate for Mary to compare notes but am finding this very difficult. Also, I cannot find a record of her in the 1851 census and am stumped here too! However I do have a photograph of her just before she married. Thank you for the information on the cottage - it does look remote.

[Valda]

Hi

Her death registration, if this is the correct death registration

Deaths Mar 1878   
Stephenson  Elizabeth Gordon  72  Gateshead  10a 457

would fit reasonably well with the possibly baptism - out by a year because she would have been actually 74 later in the year.

ELIZABETH GORDON BRUMMELL OR GORDON
Birth:  22 SEP 1804   
Christening:  13 OCT 1805   St Nicholas Parish Rec And Nonconf, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland,
Father:  WILLIAM BRUMMELL 
Mother:  ELIZABETH GORDON   


Regards

Valda

[Buffers]

God morning Valda & Maggie,

Well, percentage-wise it looks as though Albert Peak's birth certificate is wrong. The number of sources mentioning "Brummell', especially Elizabeth's death certificate, are pretty convincing - thanks, Valda.

Maggie, my wife would absolutely love a copy of John Stephenson's journal. When you're ready, do a posting on the site and we'll sort it out. Meanwhile, I'll dig out a WWI photo of Albert Peak II in the navy and post that on the site.

Has everyone got the story about the rise and fall of the Peak Alum Works - the gambling spend-thrift who once owned it - the reason for its demise etc? I can't pin-point John Stephenson's death. It must have been in the 1840's but Stephenson is such a common name in the north-east and there are loads of deaths recorded in that period for that name. Also, I have always presumed that he left the alum works when it started to deteriorate but does anyone know whether he actually died before Elizabeth and the family moved to Gateshead?

[Buffers]

I've had a look at my downloaded census returns to remind myself of the sequence of events before and after John Stephenson's death. The 1841 census shows the family in Staintondale, of course. At the time of the 1851 census in Gateshead, John was dead and Alfred was 7 so they had moved away from Saintondale sometime between 1842/3 and 1851. But Alfred was born in Heworth which at that time was a village south of Gateshead. So the family had moved at least twice in that 7 year period. By 1851, Elizabeth and the children were in Rabbit Bank, a basic working class area.

What I'm trying to establish, as in my last posting, is exactly when the family moved to Heworth, whether John was still alive at that time and the circumstances of his leaving Peak Alum Works. Any ideas anyone? Also, does anyone know where John Stephenson originated? His wife Elizabeth is listed on census returns as being born in Gateshead/Newcastle (confirmed by your copy of her death certificate, Valda), and Stephenson is a name very much associated with the Tyneside area so was John from there too? The only census return he appears on is the 1841 which does not list birthplaces.

By 1861, Elizabeth had moved to Elswick East Terrace on the north side of the Tyne. Stone Street runs off Elswick East Terrace Maggie, so your ggg grandmother and her family were living just round the corner from her mother, whose household still included your ggg grandmother's brother Albert, my wife's gg grandfather - still unmarried.

[Buffers]

Sorry Maggie, Google Maps made a pigs ear of my Stone Street search. It's no-where near Elswick East Terrace. The only one I can find is in a suburban area in the south of Gateshead. The area seems to be a 20th century residential one with most of the roads having modern names like "Cedar Way" and "Yewtrees"  but Stone Street is there and sounds much older - it is probably an original name. If this is the one, I'm afraid there don't seem to be any original buildings there. However, it is only a couple of miles from Heworth where the Stephensons moved to from Staintondale so maybe there's a connection there.