location of Jonswood, County Durham?

[PorterzPennellz]

Can anyone shed some light on the location of Jonswood, County Durham? One of my husband's ancestors--George Stephenson, a clogger/shoemaker/cordwainer-- was born there circa 1811 according to the 1851, 1861 and 1871 England censuses.   Any and all leads/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

-Jenny S.

[billslad]

Hi Jenny

In the Ovingham Burial Register (1813-1817) there are two deaths of residents "of Jonswood".  Most of the burials are of people from Ovingham, Mickley, Prudhoe, etc.  If you look at the 1881 Census (RG11 5087 21 36) George's birthplace was said to be Prudhoe

Presumably Jonswood was in that area, roughly where the border of Northumberland crosses to the south side of the Tyne

John

[PorterzPennellz]

Hooray--you've really made my day!! Thank you so much for taking the trouble to track this down, John.  I definitely could never have figured this out on my own.  (I was beginning to think that George was playing some kind of trick on the census takers by saying he was from a non-existent place.)  I'm very grateful for all your help.

Best regards,
Jenny

[JenB]

Most of the burials are of people from Ovingham, Mickley, Prudhoe, etc

Jonswood was in Mickley township. http://www.rootschat.com/links/096p/

Jennifer

[JenB]

Looking at what's been entered in the three censuses, I originally read the place of birth as Inswood (1851), Ionswood (1861) and Ions Wood (1871).

There was a place near Mickley called Hyons Wood I wonder if this was where George hailed from?

Take a look at http://gis.durham.gov.uk/website/intermap/viewer.htm
Click on 'search' at the top of the page.
Then select 'coordinates'. A new page will open
In the bottom two boxes enter 409389 and 560010, and click 'centre map'.
This will open a map based on the current location of Hyonswood (but it's not marked on this map).
Then from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the page select the 1856 - 1865 map.
You can then see Hyons Wood.

You can zoom in and out of the maps by clicking on the '+' and '-' signs at the bottom of the map and then clicking on the relevant part of the map itself.

Hope this might help.

Jennifer

[PorterzPennellz]

Brilliant!  You've pinpointed it, Jennifer.  With this added information, I have just located an online 1769 map of the area with Hyons Wood clearly labelled as "Jon's Wood." Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you! to both Jennifer and John, RootsChatters extraordinaires.

Best Regards,
Jenny