Hi there cousins!,
Thank you both so much for the info. I have been on some hunt looking for my granddad's family. I did find Ralph's first son John Charles Smeed (my mum Brenda's half brother). I took my mum to Hayward's Heath to meet him in 2015. He sounded so much like Ralph. He was deaf and very frail and died a few months later. His mother was Violet Perry. He had Graham (and Roselyn who sadly died at 18). So emotional but so lovely they met as he never knew what happened to his father.
My granddad Ralph (referred to as 'Jack'!) left to work in Newcastle - met my grandmother Helen and never went back home. He didn't like his own dad John William Smeed and said he was nasty and beat him so lived with his granddad Charles and worked on Hopkins farm. His father John may have driven all his kids away by the sounds of it. Granddad Jack was the total opposite considering he left his family, as he had a lovely nature! He always wanted to take my mum to Sussex but never got around to it. He died in 1984 of bowel cancer.
My mum had 5 of us - Helen, Anton, Mark, me (Susan) and Christopher so Ralph has left his mark on Geordie-land.
It would be great to connect somewhere where its more private and share photo's. I am also ancestry but think you have to pay to connect with members. I am also on familysearch.org and its free. All of my info will end up on there. Or facebook group otherwise I'm not sure how we'd do it?
Thanks again Sue x