RootsChat.Com

That would be interesting. Since I wrote that post I have spent years researching the family, piecing together various branches etc. I even have a photo of the Abin I am talking about who was born in 1837 along with his wife. His father was indeed called Michael and he did have a brother called Abin, who was married to Ellen Ryan. Their children were Michael, Elizabeth, Mary, James, John, Stephen, Helena, Thomas Winifred. Does that ring a bell ?
Send me a PM if it does but I have discovered at least 3 "Abins" from different families at the same time in Clogh Castlecomer but the fact you have the exact same names in the same order is very interesting.

Had a phone call from a helpful lady called Lynne at the burial office in South Shields.

The last recorded sale of a burial plot in Westoe Cemetery was in 1953 although as said before, it is still open to burials in existing family plots.

When Harton Cemetery was opened in 1891, within a decade it had replaced Westoe as the place of choice for people to be buried in. I suppose it was a natural change as the population of the town began to expand and move out of the Tyne Dock & Laygate / Westoe area further afield to Harton, Horsely Hill, Cleadon  and other outlying areas which were previously sparsely populated and mainly farmland.

Thanks, I'm beginning to think I will have to do that. Astonishingly, it isn't mentioned anywhere online not even a Google search - simply says it is closed to new burials, no more details.

Have you attempted to find children to the marriages that you know of, and then looked for them on family trees on ancestry, Genes Reunited, etc?

Have you got the death certificates of his siblings, to see who the informant was?

I do have a lot of details about the descendants - I have deleted their names from the initial post as I was warned it was against forum policy to publish the names of the living. I have no idea where they are or who they married though. For example :-

1) William Parker , I have no idea if he married or not and where he lived etc as there are so many WPs in that era it's impossible to know. I have ordered the birth cert and hope that he will have definitely died after 1970 for then I can trace his death cert and see who the witnesses are. If he died before 1970 then there is no chance. The cert will take some time to come as I could not be sure of the GRO index so have asked for a general search with the parents' names.

2) Grace Ann Parker, married (Deans) but had no kids.

3) Thomas Oley Parker married and had 4 children, at least 3 of whom married themselves. One of them was a policeman in South Shields. I have traced at least 5 Grandchildren. 4 boys and 1 girl but I can't give any details obviously as they were all born after 1950 and so presumably still alive.

4) James Parker, 1908 I believe he lived his entire life in South Shields and died in 1982 but again I can't be sure so have sent for the birth cert with a general GRO 1 year each side search and will work forwards from that.

5) Isabell Parker, 1912 I know she was married (Errington) and divorced and had at least one son and lived her life in Sunderland. Again, can't list the name as he is presumably still laive.

6) Hannah Parker 1916 she lived in the same street as my Grandmother & parents. She was married twice, had two daughters , one granddaughter and two great granddaughters who would now be about 35-40 years old.

My Grandfather died in 1962, long before I was born. My mother tells me he never saw or talked about his father (William Parker 1874-1946) who died 15 years after my mother was born yet lived in the same town. He was pointed out to her once in the street by her mother when he was walking across the road. She recalls some of her father's siblings came to the funeral but being over 50 years ago, she can't recall who.

Of James, William and Isabell, she has no memory at all and did not know they even existed until I started the family research. She probably has between 10 - 15 first cousins who she has never ever even met or heard of which is quite sad in my opinion.

Sorry for the long winded reply

Similarly, of his 6 surviving siblings, she only remembers meeting and talking about an Uncle Tommy, Aunty Grace and Aunty Hannah.

I have traced the family tree of my Grandfather (Parker) all the way back to 1680 in Whickham, Gateshead but am having much more difficulty tracing the last two generations , post-war more or less. This is probably because my Grandfather (who died before I was born) did not keep in touch with a lot of his family.

My grandfather was Frederick Parker (1905-1962). He was a pilot at the docks.

His parents were William Parker (1874-1946) and Martha Oley (1875-1926).

There were 13 children in the marriage but 6 of them died between the ages of 1 and 16.

Surviving children were

1) William 1900-83

2) Grace Ann 1901-1978 (married Joseph Deans)

3) Frederick (my grandfather) (married Margaret Jane Scott)

4) Thomas Oley Parker (1907-1959) married Frances Davis

5) James Parker (1908-1982)

6) Isabell Wall Parker (1912-1980) married Thomas Errington and lived in Sunderland

7) Hannah Parker (1916-1978) married Owen McGarrell (1915-1955)and had 2 daughters in 1936 and 1936 . Hannah's second husband, Henry Myers Willis (1904-1967)was the farm manager at Marsden Pit Village.

If anybody knows anything about any of the above people or is connected to them personally, please get in touch, we will be related, either first second or third cousins    

Many thanks