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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Northumberland => Topic started by: River Tyne Lass on Monday 10 May 21 14:15 BST (UK)
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Someone has kindly let me know that Newcastle City library Local Studies Department is currently offering limited, free research from local collections.
Thought this might be useful to know for some RootsChatters. :)
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thank you RTL :-)
Hope it includes newspaper look ups (I can give the date of the Chronicle) as I am getting almost desperate to know what the death notice says for a man who 'supposedly' was married to one of my lot but no sign of a marriage in the GRO index (think they fibbed but would be interesting to see what the notice bills him as)
Boo
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Hopefully they will help Boo. You have to fill a form out.
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/libraries-culture/history-and-heritage/online-heritage-enquiries
Someone sent me something from FaceBook but I can't get image to attach so have added a link instead.
If they won't help I will try to help if my work hours fit when this opens to the public again. Good luck Boo! Let us know if you are successful. :)
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Hopefully they will help Boo. You have to fill a form out.
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/libraries-culture/history-and-heritage/online-heritage-enquiries
Someone sent me something from FaceBook but I can't get image to attach so have added a link instead.
If they won't help I will try to help if my work hours fit when this opens to the public again. Good luck Boo! Let us know if you are successful. :)
Thanks RTL. As ever, that's really kind of you.
Form completed and submitted I am sure they are inundated so it may take some time but I don't mind waiting.
Will update if they are able to help.
Boo
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Reporting back :-)
I sent off the enquiry form on Monday afternoon
Got an auto reply by return, acknowledging they had received it.
and, about an hour ago, a nice young man kindly sent me a scan of the death notice by email.
Full marks to them for helpfulness and prompt service :-)
Boo
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Wow! That is excellent service Boo! I didn't expect things to come through that quick. :D
Thanks for the update! Did the notice reveal anything about this ancestor's marital status that you were interested in?
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Wow! That is excellent service Boo! I didn't expect things to come through that quick. :D
Thanks for the update! Did the notice reveal anything about this ancestor's marital status that you were interested in?
I was extremely impressed with the service and replied to tell them so.
At least I now know what William Hails death notice says rather than wondering :-)
The notice said he was the son of the late Greener and Elizabeth Hails (which is correct) but no mention at all of a wife.
I do have his death register entry and that says the death was registered by T Pickering 'step-son' so that gave me a definite link to his supposed widow.
On balance I've reached the conclusion that the claim they'd actually been married was most likely a face saving exercise as its quite possible that her first husband was still alive - somewhere :-)
Oddly the notice has his age as 49 (correct) and both the burial and death cert says 46 which hints at the possibility that his 'widow' and her family thought he was younger than he was and the notice was possibly inserted by his mother or a sibling who would have known his actual age.
Just conjecture though, sometimes we can't find a definite answer so many years later, so just document what we can and note the possible scenario.
Boo
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Yes, it would seem that bigamy or just giving the appearance of living with someone as husband and wife on account of spouse living elsewhere seems to been more common in the past, when divorce was quite difficult for ordinary people to obtain. This is just a comment, as I know that as a well experienced family historian and RootsChatter, you will know this already Boo. I am glad it sounds like you have been able to work things out Boo, albeit only conjecture.
This type of thing was commented on in a book I have read recently called 'Seeking Catherine Cookson's 'Da' by Kathleen Jones. This is a very good read and I can't help but admire the author's painstaking research throughout. If you ever fancy a good genealogy themed read Boo, I can highly recommend this one. :)
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Just for info
I asked a couple of days ago for a death notice look up in the Evening Chronicle.
Have had a reply, apologising but they have a problem accessing this newspaper between 1902 and 1990.
Not sure what the problem is, but the gentleman advised me to apply again in a couple of weeks as they are hopeful the problem may be resolved by then
So if anyone was going to ask for a look up, please wait a little while, no point in taking up their time having to say sorry no can do at the moment.
Boo
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Hi Boo,
I'm quite sure you have thought of this already but I've got into ordering copies of wills lately and some have helped me a lot.
Maybe his widow is named on his will?
Just a thought,
Michael
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Hi Michael
Nice to 'see' you.
Wills are my first port of call when I discover a likely death reg - if there is an entry in the probate calendar it helps me narrow down a search in the old newspapers if they are available online.
His widow probably would have been mentioned in his will - if he had anything to leave , but they probably had too much week at the end of the paypacket most of their lives :-)
Boo
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Just for info
I asked a couple of days ago for a death notice look up in the Evening Chronicle.
Have had a reply, apologising but they have a problem accessing this newspaper between 1902 and 1990.
Not sure what the problem is, but the gentleman advised me to apply again in a couple of weeks as they are hopeful the problem may be resolved by then
And I re-submitted my request as advised.
Whatever the problem was, its now resolved and they kindly supplied the death notice today :-)
So once again they may be able to help with look ups in newspapers.
Boo
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Just to update on this, the offer of free lookups is still valid.
I sent off a form yesterday to ask if they could check the Newcastle Evening Chronicle for a 1909 death notice.
Always a chance there wasn't one, but the current newspapers online only have Jan - Jun for this year and the burial I had found was in Sept.
Got a reply (complete with a scan of the entry) this afternoon.
Really grateful for this service, especially at my favourite price of free :-)
Full marks to the Library staff !
Boo