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Hello,

Does anyone know if any of the family history websites like Genealogist, Ancestry etc have accessible online records for Dudley and Netherton particularly those 1850s+? I have had a look on various websites and the resources tab on here and it doesn't seem like they are accessible anywhere?

Have a good night,

Dan

Hello,

I am looking for help dating this photo if possible, or if any photography detectives can shed any light on it. The gentleman standing back right is Roger Wood, a member of my family who lived 1833-1879 when he was drowned in a shipping disaster along with his wife and daughter. It appears to show him with some friends and unusually for Victorian times, they seem to be larking around. I don't own the original so sadly cannot show the frame or rear of the photo. Thanks for reading!

Dan

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone might have the full transcript or even the image for the following marriage at Stratford Upon Avon? Familysearch has it as the 19th of July 1813 between William Commander and Comfort Plant. I have tried looking online but Ancestry stops at 1812 and no joy elsewhere. I am looking for either: extra information than Familysearch provides such as the witnesses (if any) or a copy of their 'marks' when they signed it as I would like to include this in a social history book about the family I am writing. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you for reading,

Dan

Hello,

I have a chap who married in Newcastle in 1820 and then moved around Wallsend, Benwell and Arthur's Hill. I have a place in Northumberland where he is 'Native from' but I can't read it, is there anyone here who can identify it please? See attached. Thanks for reading!

Have a good day,

Dan

Hello,

I have just began to unravel my Ancestry tree in a panic but I am looking for a little advice, a second opinion  or someone who might know the family?

So I have a Thomas Cummins born in Great Chilton to Richard Cummin (Thomas added the s to Cummins) around 1725. I can be sure of this as I have transcribed a collection of land documents from Durham Records Office where Richard passed on some land to my Thomas who eventually passes it on to his son Thomas- this is all ok as the addresses match my research... Now Thomas married and had children in Great Chilton however I know he migrated to Rainton Mill around 1773 as the family start turning up in records there. Thomas was a miller and eventually moved to Philadelphia and then Newbottle. He dies 1800 in Newbottle and a wife called Mary 'Wife of Thomas Cummings' dies in Newbottle 1796.

Now I, like 72 other Ancestry trees, have had this Thomas marry Mary Smith in Boldon 5th Sept 1745, bit of a jump in terms of distance but Thomas' father had historically tended a farm in nearby Heworth and I theorised he had been apprenticed out as a miller. This couple also have a son Richard baptised in Boldon 1746 who would be named after Thomas' father and just after this there are a lot of children born in Great Chilton and baptised at Kirk Merrington. This all seemed to check out and I was happy with this, but...

While transcribing the above mentioned land documents, one states that Thomas' wife was called Jane, I thought it was a clerical error at first (as the document also references Thomas' parents as 'Richard Cummins and his wife Jane' which is correct and I thought it might be a mistake) but it has made me panic a little, I have had this family in place for over ten years and I have even taken Mary Smith's line right back, however in light of this land document, I did a little digging and:

1. None of the Chilton baptisms state the mother, only the first Boldon one which may not be correct for my Thomas- I never found a further record for this first son Richard Cummins.
2. Durham Records Online has a 'Jane Cummins of Rainton Mill' die in 1773- I know my family were at Rainton Mill in this year as Thomas' son had this address for the baptism of an illegitimate child(!) so Thomas was almost certainly working the mill, is this his wife? Then again he had a daughter Jane born 1752, no age is given in the burial nor does it say 'daughter of'...
3. I have also found a record for a Thomas Cummins 'of Houghton le Spring' (parish for Philadelphia and Newbottle) marrying Mary Barkas at St Giles Durham in 1776- this could be the Mary for the above burial and a second marriage for Thomas which could suggest the land document is right - it is talking about claimants from 'Thomas Cummins the Elder and his wife Jane', if all the children were born to Jane this would be right.

Anyway, I feel I am undoing my own and many others' research. Any opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks for reading this overlong tale,

Dan