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Topics - belfordian

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1
Northumberland / Dockwray square
« on: Monday 11 March 24 21:33 GMT (UK)  »
What is the origin of the name of Dockwray Square in North Shields? Is it named after someone with surname of Dockwray?

2
Northumberland / Where is PROUDLAW?
« on: Thursday 29 February 24 12:04 GMT (UK)  »
I have received a query from someone researching ancestors from North Northumberland who mentions that one of them may have lived at PROUDLAW. Probably near Bamburgh, Warenford or Newham. I live near the latter but have not heard of it and it does not appear on old maps.

Can anyone help suggest where this might be? I think it could be an mis- transcription  but for what?

3
The Common Room / Finding the earliest folk in a village with certain surname
« on: Sunday 20 August 23 18:28 BST (UK)  »
I often want to find when a particular ancestral line arrived in a place and stayed for a few generations. I’m thinking of  pre-1800 times. Is there an easier way of doing this than trawling through parish registers which in my area often don’t start until 1700s. Has anyone created software which sorts through baptisms and burials in a place and attempts to attribute these to a particular person? As burials did not always state age I suppose it would not give accurate results.

This is wishful thinking, I realise, but I’d love to know how when some of my lines arrived in a place.
Any suggestions?

4
I was told by my grandfather that our Glass ancestors moved from the Highlands to North Northumberland probably late 17/early 18c. Was there some external event around then likely to motivate this move? Can anyone suggest starting points for establishing where they moved from? I don’t know dates or names, only very common recurring forenames amongst descendants. My grandfather believed  seven sons had  come from Ross and Cromarty……but that sounds rather fanciful. However, he must have heard that from his family.

This is definitely a case of looking for a needle in a haystack but I’m fixated on attempting to discover more. Can anyone offer some guidance on researching this further, please?

5
Northumberland / Schoolhouses near Hetton Law
« on: Monday 06 February 23 20:40 GMT (UK)  »
I’m curious to know more about this place marked as Schoolhouses on old 1850/60s OS maps. Map ref is 031344. This was before compulsory schooling and is situated in a very rural location in parish of Chatton with only small farms nearby. It lies just east of Hetton  Law farmstead, a few miles north of the route between Belford and Wooler and south of Lowick and Holburn. None of the census returns listing it provide evidence that it was still a school then as it appears to be a residence for a single person or family but never that of a teacher. I have scoured local history books for information but found nothing. A school was built in 1863 less than a couple of miles to the south at Hazelrigg.
- Why would a school be built in such a position?
- Who would have provided it?
- Why would it have ceased to be a school by then yet retained the name?

There is no trace of any building on the site now which is next to a narrow road on a bend next to a burn.

Does anyone know of a similar case? Could Schoolhouses have another meaning?

I’d be grateful to anyone who can shed light on this. Thank you!

6
Europe / EMIGRATION FROM SWEDEN TO DENMARK
« on: Saturday 29 October 22 20:41 BST (UK)  »
Can anyone tell me if it was common in early 19century for Swedish men to move to Denmark for work? Are there any records of such movement? I am trying to find out about the origins of my 2x grt grandfather Niels Olsen 1816c -1864.

7
Donegal / Dougherty/Dockerty/Dockwrey/Dockwray Are these surnames interchangeable?
« on: Saturday 22 October 22 17:44 BST (UK)  »
I'm posting this in Donegal section as that is where I understand these surnames originated although my people lived around Tyneside from end of 18th century.

My ancestor John Charles Dougherty born in Deptford Durham was baptised as such in 1853 but was later known as J...C...DOCKWREY. Our family always understood he changed his surname after marriage in 1878. However I have seen documentation dating before this that he and his father or grandfather used the name DOCKWREY or DOCKRAY long before 1878.

Does anyone know if these names were interchangeable? Were they pronounced differently?
I'd be grateful for any information.

8
Northumberland / Blyth, Church Street
« on: Thursday 29 September 22 11:27 BST (UK)  »
From modern photos Church St in Blyth looks very different from how I imagined it in mid-19th century. My mariner ancestors lived at 10 Church St. Can anyone tell me whether the building now listed as number 10 is the original building from the 1871 census?

9
Northumberland Lookup Requests / Keen Or Beal
« on: Thursday 27 August 20 12:24 BST (UK)  »
I have been searching for many years for the Baptism and parentage of MARGARET KEEN born About 1788 at Beal, opposite Holy Island and near Ancroft and Berwick.She married Cuthbert Elliott (date and place unknown) and they lived initially in the parish of Lucker and later Cheswick in the parish of Ancroft where she is buried in 1864. There is someone of the right name and year of birth baptised further south at Lesbury but that is not mine.
Can anyone help? There were several people at Beal called Keen, descendants of Joseph Keen and Eleanor Duncan but no one who had a daughter baptised Margaret then.  She consistently names Beal as her birthplace on the census.
Val

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