Dent Family of Romaldkirk

[myrtille]

My grandmother was Mary Dent, I know she was born in Teesdale in March 1883, and the 1911 census sates she was born in Laithe Kirk. I think she was orphaned when young., possibly brought up by relativesShe is related to Collinsons from Crosby Ravensworth/Maulds Meaburn. I would love to know the name of her parents

[lazytee]

Hi Barney and everyone!

I realize I come to this discussion very late, and also I am not a direct descendant of the Dents, but I have recently discovered a member of the Romaldkirk Dent family amongst the outer twiglets of my family tree.  She is Peggy Dent, who married James Dunn of Hamsterley, Co. Durham, in about 1800 at Romaldkirk.  I am descended from the Graham family of Ferryhill, and one of Peggy's granddaughers married John Graham, the brother of my great grandfather David.  Also, one of her Dunn nephews married another member of the same Graham family.  Peggy and James lived at Diddridge in the parish of Hamsterley and raised several children there.  Peggy lived on until about 1851.  I can supply more details if anyone is interested.

I am very keen to learn the particulars of Peggy and James' marriage as recorded in the Romaldkirk parish records, and would be very grateful if some kind person could look them up for me.

Happy hunting to all!

Lazytee.

[Jolly Roger]

Peggy and James were married 18th Oct. 1800. at Romaldkirk

And If Peggy was 70 in 1851 she was born 18th May, 1782 and her Father and mother could be John and ann

JR

[lazytee]

Thank you very much for that info, Roger.  I am most grateful, as it confirms something I needed to verify.

I have been doing more digging today and found that Peggy and her husband James Dunn had at least 12 children, all born at Diddridge near Hamsterley, and that he was considered to be a gentleman.  Happily, I did not find any deaths of their children while young.

Can you tell me, please if the Romaldkirk parish registers are available online?

Kindest regards,

Hazel.

[Jolly Roger]

Unfortunately Romaldkirk parish is not online like most of the other Durham ones.

I only know what i have put on previous post because i have some Dents BMD from Romaldkirk.

JR

[Geordie Mag]

Romaldkirk christenings 1578 - 1772 and marriages 1578 - 1773 are available on IGI and are listed in Hugh Wallis's web site on IGI batch numbers.
However they come under North Riding of Yorkshire, because Romaldkirk, Cotherstone etc are all on the Yorkshire side of the Tees and were in that county until only a few years ago. Though the boundary changes brought them into Durham, for ecclesiastical purposes they stayed in Yorkshire and are, I think, part of the diocese of Ripon and Leeds.

[lazytee]

Roger and Geordie:

My apologies to you both for not replying to your posts more promptly.  And thank you, Geordie - I am pleased to know about the Romaldkirk records on the IGI, though they do not cover the period I am interested in.

And thanks again, Roger, it is kind of you to share your information with me.  I checked on Peggy Dent's age: the 1841 census (never 100% reliable for ages) shows her as 55, and the 1851 census as 70 (much more likely, I feel), matching more or less with the baptism in the Romaldkirk records.  I found her death in the BMDs for Auckland in Q1 of 1856.

The family of her husband James Dunn seem to have been well to do farmers;  they are described in the Hamsterley parish records variously as "farmer", "gentleman" and "yeoman".  From 1768 onwards, and possibly before that (I have not been able to access records earlier than those published on the IGI), until at least 1826 they lived at Diddridge, which lies between Hamsterley and Witton-le-Wear.  From what I can glean from the Bishop's Transcripts the Dunns seem to have been the only family living there, so it seems probable that the family worked the farm themselves; James was the eldest son and he had several brothers who would have been able to help him.

I just wonder how it came about that James went to Romaldkirk and met Peggy.  I did find a family of Dents living in Hamsterley parish, though not until 1821, but perhaps there was there was some kinship between the Dent families living in the two parishes.

I am still digging in the Hamsterley BTs and will post a message if I find anything of interest.

Thanks again to you both.

Hazel.

[Geordie Mag]

Young people in the early 19th century were a lot more mobile than we often expect. For a start, there was a  tradition in the North East  of children being brought up by other family members to ease the pressure on young parents (and,when older, of caring for elderly grandparents), and given the size of many families this could mean they grew up away from their birth parents. This certainly seems to have been the case in my family. I wonder also if families involved in farming  might also expect their sons to work on other farms for a while, perhaps making use of family links, learning the trade - but this is just speculation. Certainly, at the level below "gentleman farmer" young people, male and female, were moving nearly every year between farm jobs.

[lazytee]

Hallo again Geordie!

Thank you for your useful observations on farm life in the 19th century.  It could well be that James Dunn went as a young man to work on a farm near Romaldkirk to get experience. I have noticed that his brothers seem to have moved away from Hamsterley to live and have married girls in other parishes.  There could have been many different circumstances "when Jimmy met Peggy"!

Cheers,

Hazel.