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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Northumberland => Topic started by: jacdee on Saturday 26 February 05 18:44 GMT (UK)
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Can anyone help me?!! I'm tracing my ancestors, Crowther, and know they lived in the Amble/Alnwick area. Apparantly my GGGranfather worked in Alnwick Gas works, and died as a result of an accident there. But I can't find Alnwick Gas works anywhere! Does anyone know where I can look?
Also one of my great aunts worked in an asylum in Morpeth, and was apparantly killed by an inmate there. Where would I find out any info about this? (i think it might of been in the 1930's) I've done various searches on different search engines, but am hitting my head on a brick wall!!
I'd be very grateful for any help!! Thanx.
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Hello Jacdee
If yuo "google' Alnwick gasworks you will find shedloads of info ,may even tell you about the accident
Joe
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Hi jacdee
Think the asylum you mention may have been St Georges. It was used as a hospital for people who had depression in the 1960's where they gave the notorious electric shock treatment. There is/was also a huge hospital for people with mental/physical disabilities called Northgate. Unless it's closed down in recent years it is still home to a lot of people.
Hope this helps
Fluffnco
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Hey Joe,
Cheers for your help. I did Google and ended up on the newcastle uni page, which showed a pic of the gasworks, which was great. No mention of the accident though. Maybe my relatives were mistaken about that! Do you think maybe the gasworks were known by another name? I was thinking maybe it was owned by a company or similar?
Hi Fluffnco
Thanx for the info, I'll give it a whirl! Just wish my relatives could remember more details!!
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If you have a date for the death in the accident look at the local papers. My ancestor died when a piece of ironstone fell on his head from bucket at Palmers Yard in Jarrow and there was quite a bit in the paper and on his death certificate. There should be a coroner's report too.
Andrea
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Thats a good idea! Never thought of that! Is there a website that has the old papers online? The accident was between 1918 and 1920. I do want to get the death certificate, but don't know if I can do that without a definate death date? Where would I get hold of coroners reports? One of my other ancestors died in Usworth Colliery in 1879, would there have been a newspaper report on that? Sorry for all the questions, but am quite new to all this!
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You can search the deaths at www.1837online.co.uk for a modest fee or by looking at films at your local library or LDS centre - there is a list of those on www.familysearch.org. FreeBMD on the rootsweb aite has a lot of them but not all. Worth trying there to start with. All newspapers are held at the British Library site at Colindale - not online as far as I know but the local record office might have them on film. They could help with Coroner's records too. If you publish his full name on a post someone might have access to the deaths locally and find it for you.
Andrea
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Cool, thanx alot for your help!
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Regarding your ancestor who died in the mines - go to the Duham Mining Museum website - dmm.org.uk/colliery. You can go to the appropriate colliery and you will find when your relative died and sometimes they have a report of the accident. And the hospital you're looking for is probably St Georges - I think it has been there since the Victorian times. It is a mental hospital. Good luck
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Glad I read this post as i have been having trouble finding a relative in Amble / Alnwick area
Father in laws brother was born in 1899 - Hugh Burns - but we could never find anything about him and then when we found a 1st cousin she told us that his name was never mentioned as he was a "bit funny in the head".
Apparently, he fell off a gate when he was young and as he got older he got worse so they had him "locked up" as the term was then. Nobody was allowed to mention his name and when one of hubby's 1st cousins named their son Hugh there was uproar in the family though not many could say exactly why.
Does anyone know if they have records available to look at and how would I go about it?
Carol
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Hi Carol
The Northumberland Communities website at http://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/Morpeth_C13.htm has some examples of Morpeth St. George's Patient Case Books for 1890 - 1892. They give you a good idea of the sort of cases dealt with at the hospital. The originals would appear to be in the Northumberland Record Office.
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I know it is a while since this post but just thought I'd mention that right next to St Georges hospital in Morpeth there was also a large complex called Northgate Hospital ( it was a long term residential institution though) where people who had some form of disability, mental health issue which made them appear a 'bit simple', birth out of wedlock etc were sent to live. Must be records available of 'inmates' or residents seeing as it was shut down after Care in the Community became the 'in thing'. ( If I sound a sceptic re care in the community it is because I work with the people who once lived in these large institutions and not enough resources were put in place to offer them the same levels of care at the time of closing and moving these people out causing them a great deal of hardship at the time )
Any way, hope it helps in some way :)
Fluffnco
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Message for Jacdee
I'm very near the Woodhorn Records Centre - where they have moved the Northumberland Records Centre to. I've actually been looking at the Alnwick and County Gazette for 1920 this week. When I get back I'll look for the information if you can give me a name and more directed date.
J.A.
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Just adding to the info on St George's Hospital.
Once called "Northumberland County Lunatic Asylum"
The National Register for Archives, within the National Archives site has a register of nearly 300 separate records on St George's, with reference numbers, many shown to be lodged at Northumberland County Record Office ( now within the set-up called Northumberland Museum, Archives and Country Park, at Woodhorn.)
And on line are admission etc register for men from 1890 to 1898... showing name address, marital status, age etc.
And also a list of some female admissions.
The site also lists holdings for Northgate Hospital 1916-1960).
Michael Dixon
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http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/a/r/Pamela-Hart-Garden-City/PDFGENEO1.pdf
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Jacdee
I wonder if your Alnwick Gas Works mystery has been resolved yet?
When I was at Woodhorn a couple of weeks ago I looked briefly at the local newspapers. I also looked on FreeBMD for you relatives likely death date. I checked a few years either side and the only death for a young (workable age) male was in Castle Ward - Ponteland area if my memory serves me well. There is only one Crowther death for Alnwick, which is where he would have been registered if he had been killed in the works, but that was for a baby boy.
The Castle Ward death was a man in his early thirties if I recall. If that was him then he may have died from his injuries whilst at home. I also had a look at the Northumberland Coroners/Inquest file and found no Crowther mentioned.
I am going to Woodhorn on Wednesday and need to look again at the local newspaper for a possible death notice. Let me know any information and I will look when I am there. If this problem has been resolved then let me know.
J.A>
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J.A.
Just to maybe help your quest, Castle Ward Registration District covered a fairly wide area.... to give you an idea... here are Castle Ward's four sub-district offices.....
Ponteland,
Stamfordham,
Newburn and
Gosforth.
Michael Dixon