Seldom Seen, Newfield

[tab11]

Thanks for checking it out Janis.... I don't think they were a wealthy family x

[cjutodd1]

I'm fascinated by the information on Newfield and particularly the information about the Todd family. My main Todd line has been very frustrating as it has been very difficult to get each generation back since my great grandfather Thomas Todd who was born in Seghill, Northumberland. Eventually, after 30 years (!!) I have my 3x grt grandfather, Thomas Hawdon Todd, being baptised at All Saints, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1796. More information is given in his younger brothers' baptisms where it states that he is the son of Thomas Todd, yeoman of Cockfield and Jane Bickerton, daughter of George Bickerton. Thomas Hawdon Todd died 9th December 1863 in Newfield, having previously lived in Longbenton, Northumberland(1841) and Coxhoe, County Durham (1851). It is proving very difficult to establish which Thomas Todd from Cockfield was his father. 
I wondered if anyone out there knows more about him?

[DonnaA23]

I'm fascinated by the information on Newfield and particularly the information about the Todd family. My main Todd line has been very frustrating as it has been very difficult to get each generation back since my great grandfather Thomas Todd who was born in Seghill, Northumberland. Eventually, after 30 years (!!) I have my 3x grt grandfather, Thomas Hawdon Todd, being baptised at All Saints, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1796. More information is given in his younger brothers' baptisms where it states that he is the son of Thomas Todd, yeoman of Cockfield and Jane Bickerton, daughter of George Bickerton. Thomas Hawdon Todd died 9th December 1863 in Newfield, having previously lived in Longbenton, Northumberland(1841) and Coxhoe, County Durham (1851). It is proving very difficult to establish which Thomas Todd from Cockfield was his father. 
I wondered if anyone out there knows more about him?

I think where you have a situation like this, it's best just to send for the birth certificate, or the marriage certificate. Todd is a very common surname. Almost as bad as Wilson, which is what I was researching.

I knew some Todds when I lived in Newfield by the way, from 1965 to 1983. Most families in Newfield, have a long family history there......or at least it used to be that way. There were also Todds in Willington and Byers Green.......they were all related.

[Neil Todd]

My advice to anyone in the TODD group is to get onto the Bishops Transcripts to check each family member, keeping a log of where you are up to in each generation. There are SO many generations that used the same names for cousins that it is extremely hard to decipher individual families.

Luckily for me some knowing clergy gave their residence when filling out the B,M & F information. This distinguished the Todd's from Seldom Seen from the Todd's at Nutty Hagg from the Todd's at Byers Green all the one family of cousins, brothers Etc.

Please make another post cjuTodd1 and we can use the Personal Message system.

Neil

[fiddlerslass]

to cjuTodd1

Thomas & Jane were married by licence see

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRM7-F6N?i=122&wc=M6KL-XMS%3A129236501%2C129236502%3Fcc%3D1675690&cc=1675690

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRM7-XB4?i=123&wc=M6KL-XMS%3A129236501%2C129236502%3Fcc%3D1675690&cc=1675690

So in February 1788 Thomas was living in Whitburn and was age 22 or more and Jane was 24 or more.

http://joinermarriageindex.co.uk/pjoiner/genuki/DUR/Whitburn/

[paulinemackie]

My Dad's Best friend and best man was Alan Todd from Byers Green,I believe he has passed away,remember going to visit him when I was small,must have been around 1960.

[MKRD]

Hi, Just stumbled across this thread as I'm just re-starting my searches on this side of my family.

The side by side map is spot on.

My G. Grandmother was born at Seldom Seen, Newfield in 1877. I gather it was just a row of small cottages virtually on the banks of the wear as the old map shows - nothing much more. There was a colliery / coking plant across the River which could be accessed via 'ford' type crossing at low water. Very poor conditions. I saw a map from around 1950 and it showed just remnants of the cottages after that date the maps show nothing.

My G Grandmother's birth name was Isabel Simpson by the way and her father was Joseph Simpson.

 

[Geordie Mag]

If you want to get a feel of life in Newfield and the surrounding area, it would be worth trying to get hold of the journalistic pieces of Sid Chaplin, who came from there originally, although later moved to Ferryhill. I came across them in a book called "The smell of Sunday dinner" which I picked up in a second-hand bookshop earlier this year. There are some wonderful descriptions of going to swim in the Wear after doing a shift down the pit. That book is out of print, but his son Michael Chaplin has just brought out a large collection of his writing. Not sure whether all the stuff from the old book is included in there.

[cjutodd1]

I don't know how but I missed all the replies until today! Little progress has been made since my last post except that through a DNA test it is confirmed along with the other evidence that this Thomas Todd from Cockfield who married Jane Bickerton is definitely the right person. I have been looking at the Bishops Transcripts but am unsure which to look at as Cockfield, Auckland and Whitworth all seem to have members of this Todd family. It would be lovely to have a less common name- although it could be Smith!!

Catherine