RootsChat.Com

Thank you for your reply. I respect your reservations about being inundated with requests but it is fascinating to try and reconstruct what it would have been like in those days.
I would like to be in any loop of people who are interested in Dearham history. I didn't know it existed while my grandmother was alive. She thought her father came from Durham. I am hoping to set up a Proud family blog, which will include Muckleroys.
The family diaspora all along the East Coast of Australia and in Western Australia also indicates how tough it was in those days looking for work. I have discovered that they were all Primitive Methodists by the time they got to Australia. This was the pro Union split-off from the Wesleyans, who were favoured by the mine owners for their protestant work ethic, family values and literacy..
I looked at the Methodist Church in Dearham  but it had not the the charm of the old Anglican Church.
I have looked at the Bishops transcripts and found various family records, nothing before 1841 though. The 1881 census mentions that the Prouds were originally upland farmers as I guess most of the poorer folks were. The largest number lived in Yorkshire.
I subscribe to Ancestry and have corresponded with a lot of extended family through that.The lives of neighbours and fellow passengers have also proved to be informative in developing a realistic picture of life in those days. I still hope to go back to Dearham some day but it will have to be soon as I am 77 now.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer but don't feel obligated. Connie Peters, Sydney, Australia.

It's great to be finding out about old Dearham. I have only been there for a few hours in 2006. Loved the old Anglican Church but didn't see much else to love. Would have been beautiful pre Industrial Rev when the earlier generations were farmers. [as opposed to Crosby Villa where some relatives were living for the 1881 Census; an ugly and bleak "new town" built in the 1870's].  I must look up my info on all the Censuses to trace residences a bit more closely. Various Proud relatives were living at Ratten Row in the 1851 Census. The Muckleroys whose daughter Nancy married Faulder Proud also lived there at some stage. I've forgatten which census it was Richard Proud' Family who were in Ratten Row in 1851 were living in Ellen Villa, Dearham in 1841. Does anyone know where that is/was? Most of the Ratten Row residents seem to have been  colliers even then, as well as being part time agric. labourers. I think RR was probably hastily built accommodation to cater for the influx of miners in the 1840's. The Muckleroys were Irish,  presumably refugees from the famine though I can find out very little about them. The Prouds probably lived there for many generations .
 That line of the family was of Scottish appearance, whereas Nancy[ nee Muckleroy] was small and dark haired [the "black celtic"] I have a somewhat spanish appearance which I believe I inherited from that side of the family. My grandma said she was descended from old-time Spanish sailors but who knows?
I find it hard to research the English part of the family history from here in Sydney, Australia, so any clues and links which contemporary Dearham contacts can provide is most welcome.
Thanks especially, hiyamurra, for your separate input. How does one go about looking up more details about the censuses. For instance, I believe that most of the females in London were domestic servants whereas our ancestors took pride in maintaining their females to keep the families running smoothly. There seem to have been high rates of literacy and fairly low rates of infant mortality. Am I right in making theses suppositions? This seems to have been true of the mining communities in C19 Australia, strong Protestant work ethic, strong community feeling.
Connie Peters, Sydney, Australia.

I have a very old jug made of green and brown pottery with a raised oak design. It is said to have been brought from England by my great-great grandmother [Nancy Proud, nee Muckleroy]. It is thick pottery with a shiny glaze Would this be from Dearham? I would love to know more about it. My grandmother just told me that it was very old and she didn't know any more about it. Cheers Connie

I am researching the family of Richard and Eleanor Proud who appear in censuses as living in Ratten Row , Dearham. I also would dearly like to know more about this address. My great-great-grandparents  Faulder and Nancy Proud migrated to Gympie in Qld, Australia in the 1860's with their entire large family.
I have visited modern-day Dearham and love the old Anglican Church but would love to know more about it. the Prouds appear on all the censuses back to 1841 but I don't know much about what it was like then. They were miners and were also said to have been potters. Before that I think they would have been poor farmers. 
Connie from Oz