Author Topic: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's  (Read 2659 times)

Offline ScottDixon22

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Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« on: Monday 16 July 18 03:13 BST (UK) »
I found my ancestors, confirmed back to John Dixon (? - 1763), the father of William Dixon (1720-1769).  They were members of St. Andrews church - Shotley Lower Quarter, a very small church at the southern edge of Northumberland.  For William, I found his baptism, marriage and burial there in Shotley.  For John Dixon, I found in the Durham archives John Dixon's 1750 will.  He was buried in 1763 in Shotley.  He gives his estate to his 4 sons, with allowance for his wife.  His youngest son is described as Joseph Dixon "of Stanhope" (northern County Durham).  There is no record prior of John Dixon, the father, in Shotley, however, the churchbook from Shotley only goes back to 1695, so that is not surprising, since he was probably born before then.  There is a 1718 marriage of a John Dixon to Margaret Proud, but in the will John's wife is Isabel.  Don't see any death for a Margaret Proud or a Margaret Dixon.  The big question is, where was the family before 1700?  Were they there in the tiny villages in Shotley parish?  Or did they migrate there from somewhere else?  I note that there are lots of Dixon's in Stanhope, south of Shotley, and also nearby Wolsingham.  Both cities in northern County Durham.  With Shotley being so small, I have doubts that they were there for centuries before 1700, and was that church even there?  If not, then could there be records in the "parent" church/parish, from which St. Andrews Shotley was formed?  Also, I have no info about John Dixon's occupation, other than it saying "yeoman" in his will.  Nor do I have anything on the occupation of his son William.  However, one child of William, George Dixon (my ancestor), was a banksman at the coal mine on Kiln Pit Hill right next to the church.  There were also many stone masons in the family going on down the line after that.  Also, George Dixon and his siblings mostly moved to Snows Green, county Durham (parish of Medomsley), next to Shotley Bridge, which is just across the river from St Andrews-Shotley.  So the later Dixons were in northern county Durham.  I've also heard that the Dixon name ORIGINALLY came from southern Scotland centuries before this, but again, I have no info prior to John Dixon, so I have no idea where they were prior to 1700.  Any thoughts?
Dixon family from Northumberland and Durham, then Staffordshire and Shropshire, then Liverpool, then Illinois, USA. Maiden surnames of those married into my direct Dixon family line over in England include Philipson, Marshall, Westgarth, and Keeling.

Frohock family from Cambridgeshire, then USA (PA, NC, TN, KY, then IL).

Horat family from canton Schwyz, Switzerland, then Illinois, USA

Fearno/Fernow/Ferneau family from Germany, then USA (NY, WV, IL).

Offline iluleah

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #1 on: Monday 16 July 18 10:56 BST (UK) »
Just looked at what info is on Genuki with regards to PRs and where they are http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/NBL/Shotley/ChurchRecords

You can also look on there for Stanhope/Wolsingham
Leicestershire:Chamberlain, Dakin, Wilkinson, Moss, Cook, Welland, Dobson, Roper,Palfreman, Squires, Hames, Goddard, Topliss, Twells,Bacon.
Northamps:Sykes, Harris, Rice,Knowles.
Rutland:Clements, Dalby, Osbourne, Durance, Smith,Christian, Royce, Richardson,Oakham, Dewey,Newbold,Cox,Chamberlaine,Brow, Cooper, Bloodworth,Clarke
Durham/Yorks:Woodend, Watson,Parker, Dowser
Suffolk/Norfolk:Groom, Coleman, Kemp, Barnard, Alden,Blomfield,Smith,Howes,Knight,Kett,Fryston
Lincolnshire:Clements, Woodend

Offline jc26red

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #2 on: Monday 16 July 18 15:21 BST (UK) »
I’m assuming John Dixon’s will was written in 1750 and not proved until 1763?

Are you sure it’s the right John Dixon? Dixon is a very common name in the North East! 

Waters can get a little muddy when you get that far back and it’s easy to pick up on the wrong man just because he has the right name in the right timeframe... after all you don’t have a definitive age at death and there is some questions over his wife/wives names.

Don’t discount name variations, Dickson, Dickinson, Etc., A couple of other NE migration routes is from Ireland and and Cumberland.
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Offline ScottDixon22

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday 24 July 18 20:40 BST (UK) »
Excellent thoughts from both of you.  The Shotley records are visible online, and I have looked at every page from the first pages through the 1850's.  I put every Dixon baptism/marriage/burial record on a spreadsheet so I could cross reference the people and put together the families.

Shotley was a VERY SMALL parish and there were only a handful of Dixon's there.  Yes, the will was written in 1750 and proven in 1762.  The will says he is from Shotley (the only John Dixon living in that parish at the time) and the children named match up with the names of the children baptized in Shotley and described as "son of John Dixon," so I am very confident that this is the correct John Dixon.  There is a bit of confusion about the name of the wife, as there is no marriage record for a John Dixon to Isabel, however, the time of the marriage would likely have been around 1710-1715, and the records that far back seem to be incomplete.  There is also a possibility that Isabel was a later marriage, and perhaps she was a member of another parish, and they may have gotten married in that other parish.  Thanks again for the thoughts!
Dixon family from Northumberland and Durham, then Staffordshire and Shropshire, then Liverpool, then Illinois, USA. Maiden surnames of those married into my direct Dixon family line over in England include Philipson, Marshall, Westgarth, and Keeling.

Frohock family from Cambridgeshire, then USA (PA, NC, TN, KY, then IL).

Horat family from canton Schwyz, Switzerland, then Illinois, USA

Fearno/Fernow/Ferneau family from Germany, then USA (NY, WV, IL).


Offline iluleah

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 24 July 18 21:21 BST (UK) »
I have just checked www.freereg.org.uk, put in John Dixon, all records, 1650-1750 and Northumberland/Co Durham and there are 120 results, one or more of which may be yours or could help you exclude ones that are not
Leicestershire:Chamberlain, Dakin, Wilkinson, Moss, Cook, Welland, Dobson, Roper,Palfreman, Squires, Hames, Goddard, Topliss, Twells,Bacon.
Northamps:Sykes, Harris, Rice,Knowles.
Rutland:Clements, Dalby, Osbourne, Durance, Smith,Christian, Royce, Richardson,Oakham, Dewey,Newbold,Cox,Chamberlaine,Brow, Cooper, Bloodworth,Clarke
Durham/Yorks:Woodend, Watson,Parker, Dowser
Suffolk/Norfolk:Groom, Coleman, Kemp, Barnard, Alden,Blomfield,Smith,Howes,Knight,Kett,Fryston
Lincolnshire:Clements, Woodend

Offline goldie61

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 24 July 18 22:47 BST (UK) »
There is a marriage of a John Dixon to an Isabel Philipson 8th May 1705 at Bywell - about 6 miles away from Shotley I believe. No places of residence given on the transcription - it would pay you to view the entry in the register, although freereg usually transcribe these if they're given in the register.
Lane, Burgess: Cheshire. Finney, Rogers, Gilman:Derbys
Cochran, Nicol, Paton, Bruce:Scotland. Bertolle:London
Bainbridge, Christman, Jeffs: Staffs

Offline goldie61

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #6 on: Tuesday 24 July 18 23:03 BST (UK) »
Just to add, the transcriptions of the Shotley registers on freereg are given as only starting at 1767 - seems they haven't done the earlier ones yet.
In case anybody else is looking..

Scott: Have you checked to see if there are any Memorial Inscriptions at Shotley church?
That may give you the age of John Dixon.
Lane, Burgess: Cheshire. Finney, Rogers, Gilman:Derbys
Cochran, Nicol, Paton, Bruce:Scotland. Bertolle:London
Bainbridge, Christman, Jeffs: Staffs

Offline ScottDixon22

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #7 on: Wednesday 25 July 18 19:34 BST (UK) »
Dear goldie61, thanks for the info!  Actually, I was looking at the very same marriage of John Dixon to Isabel Philipson, and wondered if this was the same John Dixon as my ancestor.  I also note that Shotley parish/chapel was formed from St. Andrews Bywell, according to the Church of England, who I wrote to a few days ago.  So this leads further credence to the possibility that this was the John Dixon I'm looking for, there in the Bywell registers.

Regarding the church registers, they are available back to the late 1600's online via familysearch.org.  There is a post in 1660 and 1662 in the parish documentation that the church has where they mention that the church is in need of repairs and lacking both scripture books and a register book, so this pretty much explains why the registers only go back to the late 1600's.

I went to Salt Lake City and searched the tombstone inscriptions for Shotley, which were recorded around the year 1900, and no John Dixon is listed with a tombstone, although his burial in 1763 is recorded in the Shotley registers.  His son William Dixon (my 5th great grandfather) has a tombstone up against the church just to the left of the front door, so that was a huge find!  Tombstone says he died in 1769 at age 49, and indeed in the registers there is William Dixon baptized in 1720, and buried in 1769, with the baptism of their children recorded in those registers.

I actually visited the church back in November 2017, and saw the tombstone, and looked around the cemetery for other Dixon tombstones, but found none besides the Wm. Dixon tombstone.  I would have thought that if there were any other Dixon tombstones, they would have turned up in the tombstone inscription document mentioned above, but I wanted to look around, anyway, as it it an interesting little place and part of our family's history.  The key document linking us to that church (beyond mentions in our old family bibles) is the birth of Joshua Dixon in 1804 there in Shotley.  It says "8th son of George Dixon, banksman of Grey Mare Pit, son of Wm Dixon, native of Shotleyfield in this parish, by his wife Ann Westgarth, daughter of Wm Westgarth, native of Birkenside in this parish."  George Dixon's baptism in 1858 Shotley register shows him as "son of William Dixon of Shotleyfield."  So this is confirmed very well.  William Dixon's baptism in 1720 Shotley Register says "son of Jno. Dixon."  But, again, this is where I hit the brick wall, with John Dixon.
Dixon family from Northumberland and Durham, then Staffordshire and Shropshire, then Liverpool, then Illinois, USA. Maiden surnames of those married into my direct Dixon family line over in England include Philipson, Marshall, Westgarth, and Keeling.

Frohock family from Cambridgeshire, then USA (PA, NC, TN, KY, then IL).

Horat family from canton Schwyz, Switzerland, then Illinois, USA

Fearno/Fernow/Ferneau family from Germany, then USA (NY, WV, IL).

Offline goldie61

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Re: Northumberland & County Durham migration in the 1700's
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday 25 July 18 22:42 BST (UK) »
There's a will of a John Dixon of Bywell 1684
http://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk/nei/data/neisearch.php
Probably worth a look even though it may be a bit early - but you should cover all bases.
I've been surprised at the some of ages men got married at that time - not always at or around 21 at all.
It says he's a 'tailor', but maybe some of his sons/grandsons didn't want to do that? - I think you said your ancestor was a 'yeoman'? That's a class above just 'farmer', but below 'gentleman'.
Lane, Burgess: Cheshire. Finney, Rogers, Gilman:Derbys
Cochran, Nicol, Paton, Bruce:Scotland. Bertolle:London
Bainbridge, Christman, Jeffs: Staffs