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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Northumberland => Topic started by: Marama on Saturday 06 November 10 14:50 GMT (UK)
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I would really like someone who lives in or near Morpeth to help me check a birth record from 1689. The LDS transcriptions state that William son of William Donkin was baptised in Morpeth on 15 Sept 1689. I really need someone to look at the original and make sure the transcription is correct as I think the child's name should be Samuel. Does anyone know of anyone who would do this for me please?
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Hi Marama
Welcome to rootschat :)
I can check the Morpeth microfilm at the archives on Wednesday if that's any good
Christine
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My fiche transcript from the Herbert Maxwell Wood Collection has 15 Sept 1689 William son of William Donckin
Janis
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Well, that's saved me a job, Janis ;D
Although I would always advocate looking at originals where ever possible it is unlikely that two separate transcriptions are going to wrong on the same thing.
What makes you think that it should be Samuel, Marama?
Christine
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Thankyou very much Christine and Janis. That would be wonderful. As to why I think this child's name should be Samuel - its a long story. I've been looking for a record of the birth of Samuel Donkin for many years. He turned up in Great Tosson "just before 1720" and died there in 1791. His tombstone in Rothbury says he was 102. The IGI only lists one Samuel Donkin born in the 1600's and he was born in South Shields in 1697. I'm sure he wasn't the one because he married Elizabeth Bell in 1732 in South Shields and we know our Sam married Ann Wilson in 1721 in Rothbury. There was a large family of Donkins in Norton in the mid 1600's and for some reason they all migrated to Morpeth in about 1650. They produced a lot of children but only one was born in 1689 - this William son of William. A lot of the names used by the Morpeth family were also used by the Great Tosson family and Sam called his first son William. Its a long shot but I think its worth pursuing. Once again thankyou very much and I look forward to hearing what you find.
Marama.
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Hi Marama,
I don't know if the following might be of help. Sykes book of Remarkable Events has the death of Samuel Donkin at Great Tosson on May 4 1791 at 102. It also has the following:
The entry for 7 June 1750 says
"Was married at Rothbury, Mr William Donkin, a considerable farmer of Tosson, to Miss Eleanor Shotton, of the same place. The entertainment on this occasion was very grand, there being provided no less than 120 quarters of lamb, 44 quarters of veal, 20 quarters of mutton, a great quantity of beef, 12 hams, with a suitable number of chickens &c., which was concluded with 8 half ankers of brandy made into punch, 12 dozens of cyder, a great many gallons of wine, and 90 bushels of malt made into beer. The company consisted of 550 ladies and gentlemen, who were diverted with the music of 25 fiddlers and pipers, and the whole was concluded with the utmost order and unanimity."
Sorry, couldn't resist quoting the whole thing....some party and no raucous behaviour!!
David Dippie Dixon's Upper Coquetdale says this: "For upwards of a century, the Donkins, a well known Northumbrian family, farmed at Great Tosson. Shortly before 1720, Samuel Donkin, the Patriarch, came into Coquetdale and settled at Great Tosson. He died at 102."
Janet
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Hi Janet,
Thanks for your letter. When my grandfather, Frank Donkin, died in a country town in New South Wales in 1943 the editor of the local paper wrote an obituary quoting that very same article! Frank was only 80 so didn't do as well as his ancestor Samuel I'm afraid.
Marama
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Marama, Re the Donkin family. From what I have seen you are way back into the 1600s, so the following, for what it is worth, may not be of any assistance. There was a family named Donkin in Blyth, Northumberland. They owned a shop in the town centre, which I believe was a newspaper shop. I recall it being there in the 1950s.
Regards,
pityackafromblyth.
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Hi pityackafromblyth
My Donkin family left Northumberland in 1837- and I might add they have been very successful in Australia. They tended to have many more sons than daughters and there are lots of them about nowadays. By the time I got to be interested in their history even my grandmother couldn't tell me anything. The original family took up land in NSW and called it Ryehill so finding a place called Ryehill near Rothbury and David Dippie Dixon's book about Upper Coquetdale, which I acquired in 1997, started me off. Its been a rewarding family tree hunt because there really is a lot of information about the Donkins out there but eventually there is a brick wall and that is - where did Samuel come from? I really believe he was part of the Morpeth family but its not going to be easy to prove it. Maybe the Donkins in Blyth know - I wonder how I can find them?
Regards, Marama.
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Hi Marama
I had a look at the Morpeth parish records today and the child's name is definitely William. I would have been surprised to find two different transcriptions with the same error.
Out of interest the surname is written as Domkin though I wouldn't be worried about a discrepancy like that.
As for Samuel - you can't rely on IGI to tell you everything. There are a number of parishes in Northumberland which are not covered on IGI and those which are do not always go back to the early records you need. In other words your Samuel will be out there somewhere - possibly in a neighbouring parish to Morpeth.
Christine
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Hi Christine
Thankyou very much for going to all that trouble for me. I can see I'll have to come to Morpeth one day and have alook at all those surrounding areas. By the way, do you think his family might have nicknamed him Sam to distinguish him from his father? Quite possible but quite unprovable, I should think!
Thanks once again, Marama.
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Hi Marama
I am researching the Blyth Donkin family, but if my recollection is correct, there were two families and they were not related.
I know my Donkins are supposedly not related to the Rothbury ones, but I think that once they came to Northumberland the family scattered all over the country looking for work. I know some of mine came from Newcastle to Stannington and then to Blyth, but we are supposed to still have relations around Corbridge/Hexham and that area (don't know how true, though).
Kath
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Hi Kath
Thankyou very much for your letter. Have you ever heard the theory that there were Duncans who left Scotland and became Donkins when they reached Northumberland? If that is true then there are probably unrelated Donkin families all over Northumberland. I know there are several families of them in Australia. I'd be interested to hear how your family got yo Blyth via Stannington and Newcastle - and also about the ones in Hexham and Corbridge. Are we allowed to put email addresses here? Maybe we can write to each other that way.
Marama.
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Have you ever heard the theory that there were Duncans who left Scotland and became Donkins when they reached Northumberland? Marama.
Yes, I have Dunkin (of Carlisle, Cumberland) in my tree so that is "half way" by name (as well as nearly all the way into Scotland!)
esdel
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Donkin and Duncan are certainly interchangeable - I have a bunch in Norfolk.
It's all down to regional accents and how they were misheard by people not familiar with the accent. Remembering that most ordinary folk couldn't read or write - to them everything was phonetic.
Christine
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Re the Donkins, Look for North East Memorial Project, on Google. A Sgt. H. DONKIN, of Blyth fell in WWI. He is shown under the Masonic section for Blyth. He was a member of the Blagdon Lodge. The site covers Northumberland and Durham Counties, and list each town etc., and the names of men who died in the war. Also shows teachers who died, and lists which school they were from; also railway workers who joined up/conscripted.
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Further to my last post, re Sgt. H. Donkin, it appears that his Christian name was Henry. This is also on the North East War Memorial project. That site covers the men who lst their lives in WWI, and who were from between the Tweed and the Tees. Not only are cities and towns covered, villages are also included. If visiting the Blyth section, one will be surprised at the number of memorials, plaques, etc., situated throughout the town.
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Hi Janet,
Thanks for your letter. When my grandfather, Frank Donkin, died in a country town in New South Wales in 1943 the editor of the local paper wrote an obituary quoting that very same article! Frank was only 80 so didn't do as well as his ancestor Samuel I'm afraid.
Marama
Marama,
We are both defendants from the same Donkin Family :) My grandfather was Jack Donkin, my great great Grandfather was Thomas Donkin who moved from NSW to Innisfail in Far North Queensland. It appears we both have had similar troubles in getting further past Samuel Donkin and hopefully one day the mystery can be solved. You can view and obtain both HH Donkin WWI andJack Donkin's WWII full military service records online. Jack's mothers name was Mary (aka Molly) Donkin if that helps to ensure the correct record.. Unfortunately I can not help much with your research because I kept mine electronically and lost it all a few years ago so I learnt a valuable research lesson (hard copies and regular back ups are essential). From memory, Frank's obituary had quite a bit of information to follow the breadcrumbs ;)
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Dear Victoria
Yes, Thomas was Frank's younger brother! My aunt, Beth Donkin, wrote her memoirs a few years ago and she mentioned her Uncle Tom and his wife Mollie and their son Jack. Apparently Tom was a dentist and Beth didn't like it when he came to visit because he would do any dentistry required on the kids - with no anaesthetic. She also said that Jack was a tobacco farmer after the war.
As to Samuel's origins - I'm still of the opinion that he and the William who was born in 1689 were the same person but I don't think I'll ever prove it!
Marama.
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Have you searched wills to see if there is anything of interest?
http://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk/nei/data/simple.php
results link to images on Family Search
Boo
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That William who made his will in 1787 was Samuel's son, the one who had "the wedding." Thanks for the hint though.
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Hi Marama and VictoriaDonkin,
I was delighted to come across your posts (old and newer) about Donkins in Australia, while researching my Donkin ancestors from Rothbury. William Donkin who emigrated in 1837 was the brother of my 2x G grandfather James Donkin. I've just started looking at William Donkin's descendants, but I do have a fair amount of material about the Rothbury families. Were you aware that William's niece Rosina Wardle (nee Donkin) also emigrated to Australia in the 1880s?
Kind regards
Christine
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Dear Christine
Lovely to hear from you. Things like this always happen when I am packing my bags to go overseas! I'd be delighted to swap notes with you. I have a booklet written by Joy Shepherd in 2002. She quotes some wonderful letters written by Barbara Ann Donkin (Mrs Turner) to her brother William in Australia. Apparently William wasn't a good correspondent!! I think you will find that Barbara Ann and William were siblings of your James. Yes, I did know about Rosina Wardle - she also lived in New Zealand for a while.
I'll be back home in mid July. How can we find out each other's email addresses? My name is Jennifer Willmott and I'm pretty sure if you searched that, ignoring all the ones in Britain and America, you might find my address. I'd love to know if you have any thoughts about Sam the Patriarch. I have a few ideas I'd love to discuss with you. Isn't Rothbury a beautiful place? I know why so many people migrated in the 1800's but I've never understood why William came to Australia at almost the same time as two of his brothers went to Canada.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Marama.
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Hello Marama,
I know that William's siblings, Samuel and James remained in Rothbury - the others i have yet to research. I had no idea two brothers went to Canada! I will get onto that right away... Two different branches of my family originate from Rothbury, it is indeed a lovely area. I am sending you a private message containing my email address, which should come through to your email.
Christine
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Hi Ladies (incl Victoria!)
We are headed to Scotland next month & I have found out all I can about the Donkins in Northbury & Great Tosson. I'd love to find out more, and am sure that Samuel is the father (?) of William of William of Jack. I'd love to find out further back & the history with Scotland... but nothing appears to be available. If anyone else can give me some pointers, please do.
With thanks
Lisa Donkin
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I too am descended from Samuel Donkin ( possibly born William ) but struggling to get back any further. I remember my Dad talking to me about Great Tosson and Rothbury , he had great memories of these places. Would love to know if anyone has found who are the parents of Samuel Donkin ( b 1689).
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Hi from New Zealand - I am coming to the Uk in June and was hoping to find graves or places where my ancestors were Mary Mollie Donkin was married to Thomas Hedley (my maiden name is Hedley) I would like to know as much about the Donkins as possible. William born 1723 death 2 June 1787,
Samuel born 1689 dies May 1791, Arthur, born 1648, death?, Robert born 1618 in dunnington married in Holy trinity Goodramgate, which is still there, and John born 1590. Most seem to be from Great Tosson, would love to know if they were Yeomen or what they did. does any one know about clogging being part of Northumberland , as apparently one of my ancestors was a famous clogger. My name is Mary Hedley called Molly, so funny I have an ancestor Mary Mollie. any help would be amazing.
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I have had my DNA tested on Ancestry and it is also on MyHeritage.
Samuel Donkin 1689-1791 is my 5x great grandfather.
I have a large family tree on Ancestry and I have many DNA matches ( people I share DNA with ). These people who are also descended from Samuel Donkin 1689-1791 and his wife Ann Wilson. In many cases I have been able to trace which path they have to the Donkin Family ( from Rothbury ).
My path is in Northumberland England and has some people who were born ' out of wedlock' and the father was not named. However using DNA matches to other people I have been able to trace my path to the Donkin family. My 3x Great grandparents are Robert Donkin 1775-1871 and Susan ( Susannah ) Donkin 1780-1867 ( they are first cousins once removed to each other ) So I have a an enhanced dose of DNA from from the Donkin line.