1835 obituary

[John H Williams]

If I wanted to find an obituary for a Bedlingtonian who died in 1835, was there a local paper where I could search?

 

[Canny lass]

My research has only ever come across a couple of local newspapers which can be accessed through the Northumberland Archives. Unfortunately none of them go back as far as 1835.

Blyth and Wansbeck Telegraph and East Northumberland Advertiser 1894

Blyth Examiner 1888

Morpeth Herald 1854 

They also have the Newcastle Courant from 1828 but it seems a bit far away for a Bedlington person.

It's worth remembering that your average Joe Bloggs didn't often have a newspaper obituary way back then. That was something reserved for the more affluent who could afford it.

 

[John H Williams]

I was hoping to find some information about the two Cotes brothers,sons of Henry Cotes,the vicar of Bedlington. They both died young-ish.They were involved in foxhunting,badger baiting and all sorts,and I wondered what jobs they had.

 

[Canny lass]

You might find this interesting, taken from Trade and Empire in Early Nineteenth-Century Southeast Asia by G.R.Knight (pages 85-86). It gives some insight into the brother’s William and Henry’s life (and death) in Java and Bangladesh. Read even the footnotes as they give quite a bit of information.

https://books.google.se/books?id=5AY3CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=Reverend+henry+Cotes&source=bl&ots=DGSX0Cz0dB&sig=ACfU3U2jylbFFZEScWxPZ5Cy9Nir_pW2-Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjn7IKgx7zvAhVkoosKHWW1BBI4ChDoATAGegQIBRAD#v=onepage&q=Reverend henry Cotes&f=false

[John H Williams]

Well,well!! The father was highly respected,but his offspring were not as successful. I found the death notice below amusing.Ned Cotes was involved in breeding the first Bedlingtons.John Stoker,in his letter,describes Ned and John Cotes hunting foxes,baiting badgers etc.. Then Ned went off to the madhouse. But the death notice claims he was a gentleman of strict integrity and refined manners!!

Thanks for the book reference. A peculiar family.

[Canny lass]

2 hours ago, John H Williams said:

Then Ned went off to the madhouse. But the death notice claims he was a gentleman of strict integrity and refined manners!!

Mental ill health is not a hinder to retaining integrity and good manners. We must remember that at the time of Ned's admission to the madhouse one could be deemed 'mad' for simply back-answering a parent, being pregnant outside of marriage or a host of other things totally unrelated to mental illness as we know it today.

May I ask which newspaper that is? It seems to cover a wide area from South Shields and Sunderland to Alnwick and Bedlington.

[John H Williams]

That was the Newcastle Journal. 1835.

 

 

[Canny lass]

Thanks John! The BNA seems like a good research site. I haven't come across it before. Would you recommend it?

[John H Williams]

The BNA is the British Newspaper Archives. Most old British newspapers have now been put on the internet. You have to pay a subscription fee,then you can research and download anything you want. Yes,I would recommend it. Instead of going to the newspaper offices and going through page after page,you can 'search' for whatever you want,and it will give you the references. I put Edward Cotes into the Newcastle Journal and it came up with his death notice. You can research people,dogs,industry,villages,whatever you want,without leaving your house. I have found a lot of references to Bedlington (the dogs and the town) on the site.

[Canny lass]

Thanks! I'll give it a try.