I have been following all the great attempts to trace Mary's roots ( I am always hooked on geographic issues in the county.
The three chunks of Durham that lay within the borders of Northumberland until 1844 ( Alan like you I used to call them "enclaves" until corrected- supposed to be "exclaves") were Islandshire ( the parishes of Tweedmouth Tweedmouth, Kyloe, Holy Island) Norhamshire ( parishes of Norham, Cornhill)
and Bedlingtonshire( only the parish of Bedlington). All know collectively as
" North Durham"
Although the parish of Belford was not part of Durham, it's most northerly "township", Elwick, was part of Durham.
In the context of Registration Districts ( based on parishes) the parishes of Tweedmouth, Ancroft, Holy Island, Kyloe and the Parishes of Norham and Cornhill came under Berwick Reg District. The township of Elwick came under Belford Reg District, as did the parish of Belford etc.
The parish of Bedlington was within the Morpeth Registration District.
In the past folk on the County Durham forum have queried why the list of places covered by the Durham forum included suchplaces as Berwick, Belford and Morpeth. Those places/towns were not part of Durham, but some of their satellites were.
Then , thank goodness, in 1844, all the above were absorbed into Northumberland. ( Similar tidying-ups were done around the country)
Berwick town was never part of Durham, but there was a period in early 1800s when Berwick regarded itself as separate from England- and Scotland.
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On the 1841 census ( 820/9 5-16) The Furness family were in Mason, a village within the parish of Dinnington ( which had recently got it's ecclesiastic independence from the parish of Ponteland)
Mason, Dinnington and Ponteland all lay within Northumberland, within the Registration District of Castle Ward. So it looks a though Mary died in this area.
Mary is recorded as not born in "this county". If this is accurate then she was not born within Northumberland as it stood in 1841. Going on from Alan's point, she was not born Scotland or Ireland, other Foreign Parts. So must have been born in one of the other 49 English counties( or in "North Durham" or ordinary Durham, or in Wales
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Sarah Furness is their oldest child, 15 yrs, on C1841. Born in this county.
The IGI has the bapt of a Sarah Furnass, 16 Apr 1824, dtr of John and Mary, at Chatton.
On C1881 ( 5070-94-12) Sarah Tone, 56 yrs is recorded as born Chatton
So when John and Mary married in 1821, he was Vicar of Chatton and she was " of the parish" of Belford. So he took his new wife back to his job in Chatton. Then had Sarah in the area. Then hadson John and other children in Ponteland/Dinnington/Mason area.
This headache wont let me go to Riga.
Back to Sarah.
In 1849, a Sarah Furness at St John the Baptists at Newcastle, marries John FURNESS Tone. Who's he ? ( Both on C1851 in Elswick- 2404-541-38)
Well I have travelled around plenty, but unfortunately solved nothing !
Michael
