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Thanks for that, Boo.  It doesn't look a great place to live, but I guess at that time you took what you could get!  Interestingly, one of the other photos in that link is of William Doxford engineering.  I also have Doxfords in the same line as Robert, though much later.  I wonder if there could be a connection there?  More research!

The posts regarding Mushroom by you, JenB were certainly not ignored, they answered my query perfectly, and given me a new area to investigate.  As I said in my last post, this is what i love about this forum, we end up going in a different direction to that anticipated.

Thanks again to everyone who answered the query.

I also saw the Hannah Varley/George Batey marriage, that's why I favoured the Bell marriage.  I haven't seen the family search entry, though, I will take a look at it.

I couldn't get any results on Family Search, very odd.

My Gt Gt Grandfather was Robert Richardson.  I have been unable to find him and his family on the 1861 census, until today I came across what I believe is the family under the name Ritcherdson.  The spouse and children all fit, as do the birthplaces, except for Robert himself.  His birthplace is given on FindMyPast as Muskham, Northumberland, and on Ancestry as Mushroom.  On the actual census return it does look like Mushroom to me.  Is there, or was there such a place, either in Durham or Northumberland?  I can't find any reference to it.  Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.