Gateshead, Bishop Aukland, Durham

[Eyorepet]

Evening Boo
You managed to find a list in 1931 and a few years previous with the Criterion Hotel I am now trying to find the address 6 Church Street, Felling, Gateshead around 1906 to 08 I realise there won't be a census but there will be electoral rolls but for the life of me I just can't figure out how to get them on FindMyPast. Managed it for the Criterion but now it's just not working, can you help me out please? Thanks

[Tickettyboo]

In 1908 the franchise was a lot more restricted, only 2 in 5 men were entitled to a vote (based on either ownership of property or a yearly rental value that was more than most working class families were paying) It wasn’t until 1918 that all men over the age of 21 and some women over the age of 30 were entitled to a vote.
and the first election when everyone over the age of 21 had the vote (male and female) was in 1929.

The 1931 electoral register was compiled by street name within in electoral division /polling district, as by then even ‘the wimmin’ could vote once they had reached the age of 21. So finding an address without knowing a name is not 'too' difficult.

but back in 1908,  when the registers were a lot smaller, it was compiled alphabetically by voters surname, within the electoral division/poling district - which makes it a LOT more difficult to find a particular address without a name to search for.

It is possible to page through the registers on FindMyPast though, but takes a good bit of time and its hit and miss whether whoever lived at that address qualified to vote and is listed. I don’t have the time this week to trawl through for you, sorry,  but can point you to the how and where - though I had to firkle a fair bit to even get that far :-)

Felling was in Jarrow Electoral Division (it tells you that on the 1901 census which is where I checked for Church Street to find out which division and district may be the right one).

the first page in the image set on FindMyPast for 1908 is here:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01oj5/
go two pages forward by clicking the ‘next’ button and look at the index which shows all the polling districts

There’s High Felling, Low Felling and South Felling - I have no idea which one may contain a Church Street (or even if they all do, its a common street name!)

High Felling starts at this page
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01oj6/

Low Felling starts at this page
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01oj7/

and South Felling starts at this page
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01oj8/

You may need a flask and some sandwiches, there will be a fair few pages to scan through :-)
Boo

[Eyorepet]

Thank you Boo
I will give it a try. With chocolate to keep me going 😂

[River Tyne Lass]

In response to your asking for advice as to whether you should give up – I would say a resounding NO, it is very early days and besides I would never give up – I agree with Boo on that score. I am actually in the same boat as you, I am in the process of trying to find my unknown Great Grandfather who was the Father of my illegitimate Grandmother.  I haven’t been able to find anything on the paper trail so very recently have gone down the DNA route as suggested on here.  Perhaps, this might be a good idea for you too should all else fail. 
I know you are not relying on me to try to solve things but at least I can do some look ups which hopefully may or may not contain clues.  I am very keen to get to the archives to do this as I think this is a very interesting thread and I do anticipate that in the next few weeks there will be a time when I will be able to do this (I wish it could be this week but circumstances won't permit).  I am hoping that when the entries are found there might be some clue that any of us might be able to work with to find out more.  I know I am interested to know things such as if anyone had gone along with Mary Beatrice when she was signing in and who she may have been ‘taken out’ by if anyone.  If we are really, really fortunate if she had your Grandfather with her, his Father might be named as next of kin for them both or he might be named as baby Margaret’s Father.  There might be addresses.  Or there may be very little information.
I think it is interesting that there is a Father’s name given on the marriage certificate.  I helped someone a while back who had an ancestor who was illegitimate.  On his marriage certificate was his Father’s first name and surname as a first and middle name and then the Mother’s maiden name was tagged on the end.   In that case, we knew that this man had been the ‘common law’ husband of the Father.  She had not been able to marry him as she was already married.  We have no way of knowing at this stage, but perhaps there may be the possibility that your Grandfather’s  Father was called Charles Henry – who knows at this stage.
Anyway, I would just advise to be patient, bide your time and don’t give up.  Wait and look for the clues that might come along .. there are still avenues to explore and people to help you on here .. so plenty of scope to remain positive about this, I would think. 

[Eyorepet]

Thank you RTL
 I think my problem is that I'm very impatient and want answers now, perhaps this is a way of teaching me to slow down a little 😁
Soon  I'll be off my crutches and won't have so much time so will keep going,  pushing on, but at a slower pace.
Really looking forward to hearing anything about Mary and the workhouse although I am now thinking of it more as a hospital where she was because she is listed as a patient, but either way very intrigued!
As always, eternally grateful
😁

[Tickettyboo]

I was at an LDS Family History Centre for a little while this morning and looked at the image for the marriage of Mary Beatrice's parents William Thorpe and Mary Bowman in case you don't have the details

The Parish Church of All Saints, Newcastle upon Tyne
Marriage Register, page 93, entry 186

4th March 1866

William THORPE, age 19, Bachelor, occupation Bookbinder, Residence: Barker St., Father's name and occupation both have lines indicating no information known/given

Mary BOWMAN, age 18, Spinster, no occupation recorded, Residence: Barker St., Father Thomas BOWMAN, occupation pointsman
married according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Established Church, by Sup. Reg, Cert

Both Groom and Bride signed their names as did both witnesses William *INSON and James M? N? WILSON  (neither witness has an easy to read signature)

The minister was Walter Irvine
NB James Wilson was witness for 3 out of the four marriages on this page and the preceding page, so I'd guess he was perhaps a churchwarden or something, thereby handy to stand as witness if needed.

Boo

[Eyorepet]

Wow Boo, thank you that is amazing Another person without a named father! There certainly does seem to be a few of them around. Makes it tricky to go further back though unfortunately.

[Tickettyboo]

Have to admit my heart did sink a little for you when I saw that!
You can sit in the corner with me and my Mary Ann Brown and we can commiserate with each other
:-)

Boo

[Eyorepet]

Hahaha thank you! I have started on my husbands family now and that is an eye opener too, when I have got as far as I can go I will go back to the Thorpe's and dig away