Canny lass

Hi again @Colin Nichol. The 1911 census form filled in by James himself gives the information related to the length of the marriage and the number of children living and dead. I also would assume that St Peters is the burial place of Annie Margaret. However, money was tight in those days so she may be buried in another person's grave as she was so young. It was common practice for an infant to be placed inside the coffin of the next adult to be buried.

Hi @Colin Nichol Welcome to the forum. The parish of Cambois was originally part of St Cuthbert's, Bedlington, it was a small parish served by the vicar of Sleekburn and a non-stipendiary priest. The Cambois church, St Andrews, is a small church built in 1860. It was formerly the mission church of St Peter's Church, West Sleekburn until it closed in the 1990s. As a mission church it did not have a graveyard so burials took place at St Peter's, West Sleekburn. Cambois, St Peter: Records of baptisms 1865-1936, marriages 1866-1998 and burials 1874-1966 are available at Northumberland Archives Service. P.S.Did you know that James and Mary Alice lost a second child within the first 10 years of their marriage?

Hi @BMog Sorry, I don't know what happened above. It just wouldn't let me write or delete anything! Mary's marriage was registered in Durham registration district which includes the city of Durham. This doesn't necessarily mean that she lived - or was married - in the parish of Durham. The Durham registration district had, in 1904 when she married, at least 37 different parishes. Couples usually married in the bride's parish so what you need is a copy of the marriage certificate which you can obtain from the GRO. Many certificates are now digitalized and can be bought as a pdf file - much cheaper than the paper copies. The certificate will give you the address of both Mary and Henry as well the parish in which they married. That will give yo more information to work while trying to find his employer - or place of business if he was self employed. If the latter is correct then you can try the directories and gazettes. Hope this helps. Good luck with your research.

@BMog

1968 is a bit late for me as I left in 1962. However I do recognise the odd name. John Aynsley, Netherton lad, a bit younger than me, contributes on Bygone Bedlington I believe. Good luck with your search Malcolm that could be quite a reunion!

Sounds as though they've hired 'the Donald'!

Your great grandfather, James Scott, also worked as an agricultural labourer. In 1901 when Ralph gives his occupation as Farmer/butcher, James is working with his brothers on the farm as a labourer. In 1903 he is still in the area, presumably working at Westfield, when he marries. His children are born: Ralph at Springhill, just a stone's throw away from North Sunderland, Mary Jane is, in fact, born at Westfield and Henry at Elford - also a stone's throw away from North Sunderland. It's not clear if James was living at Westfield or elsewhere. The children may have been born at the homes of Mary Jane's relatives which was quite a common occurance. Mary Jane, your great grandmother, was from Norham, which is also on the map just south west of Berwick so she was a local lass. By 1911 James and his family have made the move from North Sunderland to Holborn about 11 miles south of Berwick on Tweed. It is here he becomes a farmer, working for himself at West Holborn. Lowick Beal. Address: Farm House, Holborn West. (See https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1156167 for map and better photo or ‘drive’ past on Google maps as I did). The farm is now a grade 2 listed building. If you’d like any of the documentation from which I’ve taken this info leave your e- post address in my mail box (move your marker over my ‘hat’ and choose ‘message’. It’s not wise to leave it here on site.

@Susan J-D Hi again! This may be long! I don’t know how well you know the area so I’ll start with a map which covers most of the places I’ll mention: Berwick, Seahouses, Bamburgh, Wooler, Lowick, Belford and Chathill. North Sunderland isn’t shown but it’s almost part of Seahouses. It’s not a huge area as you see. Your great grandfather James and his father, Ralph, didn’t jointly have a farm. They had 2 quite separate places and I can’t say if they owned or rented them. Ralph, who would be your 2x great grandfather, was an agricultural labourer at the age of 19 living with his widowed mother in New Bewick near Wooler. 10 years later, in 1871, he is married and living in the small village of North Sunderland, adjacent to Seahouses on the north east coast and is a butcher. He seems to live here for many years with the same neighbours and his children are all born here. In 1891 he gives his occupation as “Butcher & farmer” and he is now self-employed, so he has presumably taken over a farm – rented or bought. He employs his sons: George as his butcher’s assistant and Ralph jr – 13 years old - as a shepherd. Just where the farm is located isn’t clear from the documentation available other than that it is in North Sunderland, In 1911 the farm address is given as “Westfield, Chathill”, which is about 9 miles north of Alnwick and 3 miles inland from the North Sea coast between Seahouses and Bamburgh. I think it’s fair to presume that it is still the same farm. He now gives his occupation as “Farmer”only so he seems to have given up butchering – possibly to his son George. His sons, Ralph jr, & John, and daughter Annie work for him. As Annie is a dairy maid it may be a dairy farm. Ralph dies in 1913 and I can see that his son, Ralph jr. seems to take over the farm. In 1921 he is still single and running the farm together with his unmarried sister, Annie, as housekeeper. Today, Westfield is a B & B guest house.

Hi again @Susan J-D. It’s been a cold, wet weekend here which gave me time to have another look at your question. I still think that Coney Garth may be the home farm for Bothal Castle – which was originally the manor house before being granted the rights to call itself a castle. As a manor house under the feudal system, it would certainly have a home farm. As I said before, the home farm was usually close to the manor house and that would certainly make Coney Garth a respectable contender. However, I have to admit that I have been assuming that Coney Garth (marked red on the map) and Coneygarth Moor Farm (marked blue on the map) were the same thing. A more thorough rummage through the old maps has shown me that this was not the case. Coney Garth has been named on maps since at least 1805 and, while the small cluster of buildings to its east have appeared an equally long time, it is not until 1921 that the name Coneygarth Moor appears. Your great grandfather, James Scott, seems (according to the births of his sons James and Thomas John) to have moved the 40 or so miles from Lowick to Ashington at some point roughly between 1914 and 1921. Just where he moved to is difficult to say but certainly in 1921 he was living and working at Coneygarth Moor Farm in the Bothal Demesne and he was still there in 1939. He did not own the farm though, as you say, he was a farm owner prior to his move to Ashington – as was his father before him. James was, in 1921, a farm steward - a very respectable position - employed by the Ashington Coal Company who owned the farm – as well as the remaining seven largest farms in the area. All 8 farms were run by one farm manager; George Preston Graham, and he lived in one of the large houses on Woodbine Terrace (marked yellow on the map) just a stone’s throw from your great grandfather. At that time Ashington Coal Company was owned by the Portland family who lived at Bothal Castle (which is still owned and occupied by their descendants), so indirectly James was employed by the lord of the manor – the Duke of Portland. He, and his Ashington Coal Company, seem to have been good employers. They built many houses for workers in both the mines and on the farms and one purpose of the farms was, in fact, to supply food for the workers. They had a milk ration of 2 quarts a day and even the farm cats had a ration of 1 pint a day! If you have seen your great grandfather’s address given as “Home Farm” on any document then Home Farm would seem to be Coneygarth Moor Farm rather than Coney Garth. I find it surprising that Coneygarth Moor farm should be the home farm as it is considerably less in size than Coney Garth – which, having had a good look around the maps, seems to be by far the largest in the area as well as being located nearest to the manor house. Let us know how you get on at the Northumberland Archives!

@Susan J-D Have you considered that Home Farm and Coney Garth may be one and the same thing? The name “Home Farm” is traditionally used to refer to any farm that is part of the manor house’s demesne – often the farm lying closest to the manor house. These were often farmed by a farm manager, hired by the lord of the manor, to cater for the needs of his household while other land was rented out to tenant farmers. Looking at this map from 1859 you can see that Coney Garth (centre), located between Ashington and Pegswood, is a considerable size and just a stone’s throw from Bothal Castle (bottom left) and also part of the Bothal Demesne. Of course, your relative may not have worked for the lord of the manor. Much depends upon when your relatives lived there. The name Home Farm can live on for centuries after being used as such.

That is horrendous, Malcolm!! What is politics coming to? It sounds as if we are in America, but we are in Bedlington! It just makes no sense at all.

It's confirmed on NCC's website. Well done Malcolm! https://beta.northumberland.gov.uk/elections/2025-county-council-election-results-summary

I know very little about the content of the photo I posted above. I inherited it, and a lot of other material, many years ago from a former colleague and fellow researcher. Today I did a quick bit of research on Routledge’s Buildings. They may well have been several buildings – if the number of families living in them is anything to go by. In 1881 there were 25 families living in Routledge’s Buildings, Barrington. Nothing is known of the size of the individual family’s accommodation. One resident is Jane Routledge, a 62 year old widow, living with her two daughters of 20 and 15 years and her two sons, Robert 23 years and John 18 years, all with their roots in Cowpen and Bebside. In 1891 there are 31 families living in Routledge’s Buildings. Most accommodation seems to be of 2 rooms per family though the occasional 3 or 4 room dwelling does appear. John Routledge is still in the same house. In 1901 there are 27 families in Routledge’s Buildings. John Routledge is still there. The number of rooms per family varies from 2 to 5, though mostly 2. All in all, there are 74 rooms accounted for in the census returns for the address. Clearly, that is many more than would possible in the building on the photo. Next step – look at the building on maps! On the following map, dated 1896, I can clearly see that Routledge’s Buildings is infinitely bigger than in the photo. Furthermore, it appears to be built in two blocks. I’d suggest therefore that the photo is only part of Routledge’s buildings.

@7RIrF This is the only picture I have of Routledge Buildings. As you see it's not a row or terrace. It's just a 'building'. In my experience most of the addresses including the word "buildings" were exactly that - a building. It's a bit misleading that it's usually in the plural form 'buildings'. As for the name they usually, but not always, take their name from the surname of the owner. If you can yell me just which census you found Routledge Buildings in I can probably help you a bit more. What exactly do you mean by "(Blank) Buildings"?

Well! That was a nice little wander around a place I love, and looking so much better than it's ever done before. Thank you Malcolm for all your hard work.