Deaths at Seaton Sluice-burial place(s)?completed

[meadbh]

Hello Gary,

I have a photo taken in the 1930s of the family burial plot of my gt-grandparents, Samuel and Jane BIRD, of Bates Cottages, Holywell. Unfortunately the angle at which it was taken doesn't give much clue as to its location but it was a huge headstone and I thought it would be simple to locate. I was horrified at the state of St Alban's churchyard when I first went looking (unsuccessfully) a couple of years ago. I tried again (unsuccessfully!) last October when things were marginally better as I think there  had been a 'clear-up' day with volunteers earlier in the year. If you do come across a stone dedicated to the BIRD family -Elizabeth Jane (d 1905), Jane (d 1909), Samuel (d 1926) and Thomas (d1937)- I would be very grateful to hear about it.

Good luck with your work.

Kath

[micksharp]

Hi Kath

What was your great granda's occupation?

Before I went to the graveyard I would have thought that, being a miner, my great grandad would have been quite poor and could not have afforded a stone. However, there  are loads of miners, blacksmiths, even joiners in there who have what I would call quite grand stones!

Makes you wonder what happens to them!

[Preshous]

Hi Kath

I have made a note of the names and I will certainly look out for them. I seem to recall seeing Bates Cottages but it is quite hard to flick through the photographs. It is much easier to transcribe the stones one by one into a database, in that way I can search for a given name. I look forward to finding your lost stone.

Gary

[Annied22]

Hi Annied

Its Just as well you didn't bump into me yesterday, I must have looked a right site all wrapped up with my woolly hat on. Gary

I was no oil painting myself!!

I remember getting quite a surprise when I found my family's plot and discovered it was a double one with an impressive headstone. My great great grandfather had been a bottle factory labourer and then, when the bottle factory closed down, a general labourer at the pit. He also had 8 children and money must have been extremely tight, so like you, I wasn't expecting anything nearly so grand. The Johnson's, to whom I'm also related and who have a similar background, are close by and their plot is much the same. My guess is that they'd all signed to to a savings/insurance scheme with the Co-op!

Mick, I originally found my great great grandfather's plot 25 years ago, so I knew pretty much exactly where to look this time. I'm sure I saw a Sharp headstone in passing, so will take a better look when I'm there next time.

[meadbh]

Thanks, Gary

There is a stone to a family from Bates Cottages, in an accessible place by a path, but unfortunately, not my lot!
Mick, My gt-grandfather was a humble miner, one of many who came from Norfolk to work in the North East. I was surprised when I saw the photo of the family plot he'd purchased, with a beautiful  headstone and grave surround. Pity that it's now hidden somewhere in the so-called 'conservation area'. Th first time we went we were smartly dressed as we were going on to visit relatives in Holywell; last time we knew better and took wellies and old trousers!

Kath

[Preshous]

Hi Kath

I have just looked through the first 100 or so pics and have found 2 references to Bates Cottages, unfortunately neither one is the one you want. I will continue to look for the stone. Just to add further to the Grandiose of some gravestones. Many miners where killed at work and more often than not a Gravestone was erected as a result of fellow miners contributions.

Gary

[brushbroomstick]

I used to live in Earsdon as a child and when I visited the Graveyard on New Years Day I had a look at the Hartley Pit Disaster memorial .
I and my friends used to spend many hours looking at gravestones in the old cemetary - being very interested in anything local.

I had earlier been looking at details of the disaster on the web and noticed some ROBSONS born in Backwoth and Earsdon. There was a Ralph ROBSON whose wife Ruth gave birth to a son CARR ROBSON on 22/7/1862 , some 6 months after the accident.
I have numerous CARR ROBSONS in my family , my gr gr gr garndfather JOHN ROBSON from Slaley who married Mary CARR in 1763 and St Giles in Durham where my gr grandfather CARR ROBSON was born in 1832. I know there must be other alliances between ROBSONS and CARRS giving rise to the name CARR ROBSON but as there seem to be so many of them in and around Earsdon and nearby mining areas I was wondering if anyone could give me any more information on these families.

Irene
 

[Preshous]

Hi all

This is probably the wrong place to have a rant but here it goes.

Having spent the last 4 hours trying to transcribe the gravestones in St Albans, Earsdon, I became so frustrated at the sheer neglect that I feel I need to rattle a few cages somewhere. The church yard is an absolute disgrace. Its a wonder anyone living within a 10 mile radius of the place can sleep of a night due to the rotating of the poor incumbents of said church yard. What a kop out to turn a sacred place into a nature reserve. There are 100s of 1,000s of acres of land that we can turn into so called "nature reserves" without encroaching on our church yards.  Our forebearers worked, built, fought and died for the communities in which they lived and we owe it to them to keep there final resting places sacred and a place for their descendants to come and enjoy. It really galls me when local authorities can throw £200k on a bamboo bridge that no one can use in the name of "Tourism". Why not give 20 churches £10k each to sort out burial grounds. I would bet as many " Tourists" would come in search of their ancestors, and as such would spread so called "tourism income" across a wider area of the county as apposed to just one place. I apologize if I have upset anyone, well unless your in a postion to rectify aforementioned atrocity, but my intentions comes from the heart. I fully intend to pursue this matter. Lots of people make lots of money out of Genealogy its about time they started give us something back.

Rant over

Gary

[micksharp]

Gary

I have to agree with you on all of your points, and not only because I can't find my great grandparents in the graveyard. Anyone can turn anywhere into a nature reserve - you just neglect the area and put up a board saying that the area has been selected for transformation into a nature-rich reserve, then take all the credit from the local wildlife enthusiasts. There appear to be similar nature reserves all around that area, especially at nearby Backworth where former colliery land (where I would imagine many of the St Alban's churchyard miners worked) was ripe for reclamation.

A local librarian warned me before I went there that the part of the cemetery belonging to the church was a mess, but I would have thought that North Tyneside Council had some responsibility to maintain all of it to a standard where graves were actually visible? It is a burial ground after all, and a tie to our own personal pasts.