Rigger

Continued (finger trouble) 5. Adam Bestford shown to be living at 179 Whitby Road Whitley Bay. No military records located (not to say he did not enlist) 6. Luke Bestford is shown living at Gateshead again no military records found (as above)

Hi Have had a quick check and find the following: Note. the Soldiers in the Bedlington Soldiers who died in WW1 are based on the Record of Enlistment document held at St Cuthbert's Church. This is not a complete list of Bedlington Soldiers who died in WW1. 1. Robert Bestford, # 38597. died 1/12/1917. he was with the Durham light Infantry. Military records show and address at 42, Snowball Terrace Gateshead. His detailed war records are available. Robert is remembered at the Memorial for the North East Railway at York. Robert was a Station Porter before WW1. The Memorial Roll of Honour & Case at the 1914-1918 Library honours his name. 2. William Thomas Bestford, #1242, died 21st July 1916. he was with the Royal Engineers 1st/2nd Northumbrian Field Coy. his details are available on the CWGC site and easy to find. 3. George Bestford survived the conflict but had wounds and shell shock. He is shown to be associated with 5th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, Oxford and Bucks. Regiment and possibly the the Tyneside Scottish (record in the Tyneside Scottish book (Stewart & Sheen). In the Record of Enlistment he is shown to be living at Bedlington. Note the photo shows a possible Sergeant Tyneside Scottish. George has links with Egypt and being promoted to an Officer. 4. Thomas Bestford it appears was a 2nd Lieutenant with the 41 Sanitary Section serving in India. No further details available.

There is a History Society in Bedlington, that I know of. A chap called David Cowans is the Chairman. I no longer live in Bedlington but take a great interest from a distant.

As a kid we used to stop off there on the way to the woods and chuck a stone down the shaft and wait for the noise when it reached the bottom. Many years later I worked at the same Dr Pit pit.

Was Ewart Hill not where the ventilation shaft was for the Doctor Pit on the road from Bedlington to Hartford Woods?

I have been helping the North East War Memorial Project providing research and stories of Soldiers who died in the Great War. The names I listed are the ones I can not positively identify. Unfortunately, we only have an initial to work with which adds to the difficulty. I have tried all the the usual sources. I was aware of the Poppy Map which was a great initiative, but not sure if they have any detail behind the names. I was hoping a family might recognise some of the names.

A post about the Bedlington Memorial on the Front Street at Bedlington was posted on the Bygone Bedlington site recently. The North East War Memorial Project (NEWMP) web site has compiled short stories of the soldiers listed on that Memorial however, several soldiers have not yet been identified, these are W Burns, G Crozier, R Hunter, E Martin, A Mitchison, R Peebles, G Peebles, W Sanderson and J Gilby (Gilroy). If anyone has information about these brave soldiers can you please make contact so the NEWMP can complete the stories for this Memorial. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Thanks very much for providing this information, greatly appreciated

This is new to me. My 2x great grandad was landlord at the Anvil Inn. The spelling is Johnstone and his middle name was Bruce but he did not use that name. I would be interested in any information from the inquest. thanks

What a great photo. In 1901, my great great Grandfather William Johnstone, originally from Scotland, was the 'Innkeeper' at the Anvil Arms. In the Inn at this time were his second wife Jane Johnstone (nee Gibson), his son James Johnstone (Blacksmith), Elizabeth Gibson , age 29, and William Bruce Johnstone a butcher and then miner who died in 1917 in WW1.