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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Durham => Topic started by: lila on Wednesday 17 May 06 18:57 BST (UK)
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looking for a needle in ahaystack with this one all i know is great grandfather john william vickers from towlaw or tantobie lived with parents on a pea farm in towlaw i think havent even got a birth date only know born approx 1873 just wondering if anyone could give me the correct name for farm thanks lila
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Lila…
A bit from Tow Law but a Vickers family appears on the 1881 census at Dearn Head Farm, Coatham Mundeville, which is near Darlington. There is a John William aged 8, the father is Francis Vickers farmer of 50 acres. Ref RG11/4892.
terry
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thanks terry i had seen that one trouble is a have also found a lot of other vickers names with farms and all i know for sure is that they had this pea farm either tow law or tantobie i believe these villages are nxt to each other thtanks very much tho
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According to the current Ordnance Survey map there is still a Pea Farm not far south of Tantobie, you can see its location marked by the arrow on this link http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=418582&Y=552976&A=Y&Z=5
Jennifer
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thanks i will have a look now lila
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Hi lila,
Regarding the Vickers from Towlaw.
From what i know all of the Vickers in that area originally came from the up the Wolsingham, Stanhope valley.
I haven't heard of a Pea farm in Towlaw and the weather up there wouldn't be the best for growing peas.
Could it be Pease farm?
I'm pretty sure that there was families with the surname Pease in the Towlaw, Wolsingham, Stanhope area and would have been related to the Vickers.
regards,
Rewcastle
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Lila,
Do you have the names of John William's parents? I have info regarding Vickers families originating in the Stanhope area.
Mim
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Hello. I have to agree with the last two postings. I always thought of VICKERS as a Wear Valley name. There are 168 VICKERS in the dale and nineteen are "John" Out of these 1 farmer has 600 acres, one farmer has 25 acres and one is a farm manager. Adamand
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Hello.I should have said those VICKERS numbers were from the 1861 census.
Adamand
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thanks everyone for you help im afraid im going of what my gran told my mother about visiting her grandmother in towlaw/tantobie on the peafarm i have no other info and no one to ask now apart from my mother i do know that john william vickers was born approx 1873 i dint know what day or month he dies 9 10 45 and married for the second time to hannah iasbell thompson in 1909 april/may/june this is my great gran just thought if i could find the elusive pea farm i might not be hitting my head againt brick wall my gran also said he had two sons from previous marrage one of them being called john who died in first world war aged 21 but i cant find anything about that either thanks for the help tho lila
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Lila... Before you give up maybe you could post a message on the Annfield Plain Family History website, you might just find somebody there with the right local knowledge.
Here is the site: http://www.annfieldplainfhs.org.uk/
Good luck
terry
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almost forgot i know for a fact that they were living at john st no place durham in 1906 thanks lila
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thanks terry i will do
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Lila,
You've got a lot to go off. :)
It's more than likely that it is Pea Farm, Oxhill, Stanley. Due to them living in Noplace.
Noplace is just East of Stanley between Stanley and Beamish (where the open air museum is)
Pea Farm is on the West side of Stanley, just down the hill (2 or 3 fields) north of the main road.
From a planning application, march this year, is is Wards that have the farm.
A few years ago i was speaking to the woman whose husband had the farm, can't remember what the name was, but they also had the carpet place inside Stanley old market.
(They may be related to the Vickers, i.e. farm handed down).
The main registry office for Births, Marriages and Deaths for Derwentside District is in Stanley.
John who died in the 1st World War, If he lived in the Stanley area, They usually had a photo in the local paper and the Newcaste Journal for soldiers that died.
p.s. if you get his death certificate it should tell you more info + his age, also there might be something in the local paper.
Regards
Rewcastle
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thank you so much looks like i might find my ggrandads family
now lila
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Hi - regarding a 'pea farm' at Tow Law, I can recall that in the 1940s and 50s my relations had a farm at Tow Law and part of that was operated as a market garden and it grew two or three acres of peas but it was not called a pea farm however.
Regarding the Vickers famiies at Tow Law, my father was born at Tow Law and his father was John Vickers who was born at Sadberge and there is no relationship with the Wolsingham Vickers families.
Alan Vickers.
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hi alan fournd out a bit more since i posted about pea farm my john william vickers born 1874 father was joseph vickers mother jane raey gladders dont know if these names mean anything to you lila
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Thanks Lila, unfortunately they are not my ancestors.
Alan.
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If it is the same Pea Farm, at Oxhill, Stanley that JenB identified on the streetmap and Rewcastle mentioned (that lila was looking for a LONG time since!), it does have a bit of history...
On 20th December 1908 the body of 10 year old Mary Donnelly was found in the hedgerow in the field behind the Pea Farm. The body of the child was taken to Pea Farm and remained there for 2-3 days.
How shocking that must have been :o :o
At the time Mr and Mrs J Cowan lived at this farm.
justmej
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i remember this story my gran told me
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Oh well lila, that confirms it was the same farm then :)
My Great Grandfather (the one in my avatar on the left) was the Police Inspector in charge of the murder investigation. A horribly gruesome murder of a small girl and it seems she lived not far from the farm where her body was found. The lodger who lived with Mary's family was found guilty and sentenced to death. :o
justmej
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Hi Lila
My Name is Sue, nee Ward
My family (WARD) currently own Pea Farm, Oxhill, Stanley on which I was born in 1962 and grew up there and I believe my Grandad, William Ward Took over in approx 1952 from the Coal Board and then he bought it outright sometime in the 1970's.
My Husband and I redeveloped 2 of the farmworkers cottages and made 1 house from them approx 18 years ago and we still own it today although we don't live there now, my brother, the now farmer looks after it for us.
Ironically we had someone looking round a couple of weeks ago tracing their roots.
A little late in response but have only just seen it, Hope this helps
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Hi Sue
Welcome to RootsChat! How interesting to learn the farm now belongs to your family. I recently received copies (23 pages!) of newspaper articles on the terrible murder of 10 year old Mary Donnelly in 1908, which go into great and somewhat gruesome detail. The farm is mentioned and was where the inquest was held, after the discovery of Mary's body, in the first field behind the farm.
The copies of the articles were so kindly sent to me by a relative of another police officer, who was also involved in the case, along with my great grandfather.
Of course, should you be interested in seeing these, I'm sure I can copy them for you.
justmej
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Hi Justmej
Thanks for your contact. It would be interesting to see the papers and I would be happy to pay for the copying and postage and wondered if you could send to my Mother Mrs M Ward
If you are agreeable to this, please let me know and I will sort something out
Many thanks
Sue
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Hi Sue
No problem... give me a few days to get them copied and I will send them off.
May be wise to 'edit' your previous post and delete the address off, which I have now made a note of. Should have mentioned that after you have made 3 postings on RootsChat you are then able to send a PM (personal message) by clicking on the small green scroll on the left.
justmej
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I don't think that there is any doubt that your Pea Farm is the one at Stanley. If your grandmother stayed there she very probably visited the small former pit village of Tantobie because that was the home of the local Co-operative Society which finally closed in the 1950's.
Pea Farm is also very close to the former Oakey's Cottages of Cat Pie fame (a poem written by the pitman poet Tommy Armstrong between 1890 and his death in 1922).
I note that James VICKER's mother was Jane Reay GLADDERS. The GLADDERS family have been present (and still are) in the Tanfield, Tantobie, White-le-Head, Flint Hill and Tanfield Lea area since the mid 1800's. Presumably you have traced Jane's ancestors.
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Pea Farm is also very close to the former Oakey's Cottages of Cat Pie fame (a poem written by the pitman poet Tommy Armstrong between 1890 and his death in 1922).
I believe Tommy Armstrong also wrote something about the Pea Farm murder of Mary Donnelly.
justmej
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Hi,
Yes, the ode to Mary Donnelly can be found on page 72 of the publication 'Polisses & Candymen' The Complete Works of Tommy Armstrong, The Pitman Poet. There is also a photo of Mary's grave and the memorial which was erected by the public of Stanley and District in memory of Mary.
I have a connection to Pea Farm on my FT in the year 1858.
mim
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Hi Mim
It's amazing how many people have connections to the farm, hopefully not all bad, I'm sure it's seen a lot in it's time, if only the land could talk!
Regards
Sue
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Many thanks mim... I have seen the ode, where my great grandfather is also mentioned, but have not seen the photograph of Mary's grave. I did find one in the booklet 'Memories of Stanley' and the headstone does state that it was erected by public subscription.
justmej
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wow havent been on here for a long time so interesting thank you all x
lila
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Hi Lila
just looking through your postings and I note you mention the name Vickers, Tow Law, ok it's a long shot but there is a Land Agent in Tow Law called Harry Vickers, he has an office there and has looked after some of the affairs of Pea Farm.
Have fun
Sue
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Pease is a well known name around that area,Peases West near Billy Row for instance,may be Pease's Farm after all.
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Hi
I have just found out that the child murdered at Pea Farm was my great aunt's sister Mary and I was wondering if anyone had more information about the incident (press cuttings etc) - I would like to have this to share with my parents
Thanks
Jo
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Hi Jo
Welcome to RootsChat.
I have copies of the newspaper articles relating to the murder of Mary Donnelly, kindly sent to me by a relative of one of the policemen, who was also involved in the investigation. If you make another 2 postings on here, then I can contact you by pm (personal message) for your e-mail address.
Regards
justmej
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Hi there. I hope you don’t mind my message. I am researching the investigation into the murder of Mary Donnelly in December 1908, and read with interest your message (user justmej) here that your ancestor was Inspector Stark.
I am new to the site and not sure if there is a way to contact you directly on the site, but would very much appreciate getting in contact.
Thanks so much for your time.
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Hi there. I hope you don’t mind my message. I am researching the investigation into the murder of Mary Donnelly in December 1908, and read with interest your message (user justmej) here that your ancestor was Inspector Stark.
I am new to the site and not sure if there is a way to contact you directly on the site, but would very much appreciate getting in contact.
Thanks so much for your time.
Hi abaloo,
I can't believe that I've let this one slip by! If you are still interested and make another two posts then you will be able to contact me via pm.
Regards
justmej