Canny lass

A Bedlingtonian has made the national news headlines here in Sweden! When seven dachshund puppies became motherless after a dramatic birth an unexpected hero stepped in. Bedlington Terrier Zahara took care of the puppies and began to feed them as her own. When Max Ackberger’s dachshund didn’t survive the birth, the situation became acute for her seven puppies. Max looked to Facebook for help and made contact with Lena Westholm who lived in the same town. Lena¨s Bedlington Terrier, Zahara, was having a false pregnancy at the time and showing strong maternal instincts. The puppies were introduced to her and, despite some initial hesitation, she let the puppies start feeding. At first, Zahara thought it was a little scary but then her mother’s instinct took over. From then on, the puppies were hers. Just now the puppies are both bottle and breast fed but it is hoped that they will soon manage with only milk from Zahara. A true Bedlingtonian!! Well done Zahara. https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/sju-taxvalparnas-mamma-dog-da-tog-bedlingtonterriern-zahara-over-och-borjade-dia

@Mal Is there any organized instruction for the use of these defibrillators, Mal or is it up to an interested individual to find their own? My own experience here is that, while there are clear and concise instructions inside for its use, several users have never seen a defibrillator prior to the need for its urgent use and have had a tendency to panic at the scene.

What a great idea!

Well done!

In my experience of family history research I've found people's ages to be the absolute least reliable when it comes to determining a date of birth! When the census started in 1841 children's ages up to and including 14 years were recorded accurately. Anybody 15 years and over had their age rounded up or down to the nearest 5 or 10. This practice was stopped for the 1851 and subsequent census surveys but I've found examples in my family of enumerators who continued. Going back to the 1800s quite a lot of people didn't even know their birthday. You are right when you say that parental consent for under 21s was required in 1866 but the legal minimum age for marriage was 14 for males and 12 for females. However, William would be well over the age of 21 so he wouldn't be needing any consent and wouldn't need to lie. The 1841 Scotland census isn't available to me in its original form but a transcription gives William's age as 7 "mo". That census was done 6-7 June so this would give a birth date between 6th October and 6th November the previous year – 1840. This would fit in nicely with the birth date of William Taylor, registered in Meigle, Perthshire, as 25 OCT 1840 to James Taylor and his wife Jess (nee Walker). That might be worth investigating further. Do you know that children in the 1800s were very often named in a certain order? I had a look at William and Elizabeth's children: 1st son is given his maternal grandfather's name. (Robert) 1st daughter is given her paternal grandmother's name. (Jess) 2nd son is given his paternal grandfather's name. (James) 2nd daughter is given her maternal grandmothers name. (Jessie) As both grandmothers shared a similar name Jess/Jessie the 2nd daughter would possibly be given her mother's name - Elizabeth. Carry on with the detective work!

Well there you go! Whining and whinging aren't always a bad thing and I'm sure you did both beautifully, Malcolm. Well done, I'm sure this will be a real asset to Bedlington and I'm looking forward to visiting it.

Good Luck! Let is know how you get on.

Hi again @Dave Taylor. It's not from the Death Index but at least you can know where he died and where he's buried and it gives you a date to work with in your research. It appeared in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, Thursday 2nd June 1910 and was repeated in the same newspaper Saturday 4th June 1910. In case you might want to investigate further: Heaton Cemetery is now called Byker and Heaton Cemetery.

@Dave Taylor Hi Dave, welcome to the forum. If William's wife was Elizabeth, born Newcastle and living in 1911 in Shieldfield (Canada Street), Newcastle with 2 of her sons, John and George, then I think you're in the wrong area with Brick Lane. Elizabeth is living in Newcastle and, while it's not impossible, it seems unlikely that she would move back with the boys so soon after her husbands death as the boys would have had jobs to go to in Bedlington if they had been living there. Another reason not to move would be that William would be buried in Bedlington (or Bebside which was nearer Brick Road) but still part of Bedlingtonshire. That would be a hard thing to do for a widow. There is a William Taylor, born abt 1842 who's death was registered in Newcastle in December 1909 and that might well be worth having a look at: Name: William Taylor Age: 67 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1842 [abt 1842] Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec Registration Place: Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, UK Death Date: Dec 1909 Inferred Death Place: Northumberland, United Kingdom Volume:10b Page: 56 Hope this helps. Let me know how you get on with your search and if I can be of any more help.

Welcome to the forum @Appleby I was born in Howard Row, which was next to Clifton Row. Howard Row was demolished shortly after my birth in 1947 but Clifton Row remained throughout my childhood and I played there often with classmates in the 50s. There were Applebys in Clifton Row then but I'm afraid I can't remember anything about them. I attended the colliery school which had 2 classes. There was a boy named Appleby there but not in my class, so he would be a year or so older/younger than me. I think his name was James. Alan recommended that you look in the gallery among the photos in the album Netherton/Nedderton old photos. I'm going to suggest that you also look in another album " Netherton/Nedderton old photos 2. There you'll find quite a few class photos for both the Netherton school (infants) and the Nedderton school (juniors) where all colliery kids were educated. With a bit of luck your friend might be able to recognise some family facial feature that could help to identify an Appleby. In that album you'll also find 2 of my favourite photos: Clifton Row, back (facing the outside 'netties' )and the more presentable Clifton Row, front facing the gardens.

No recollection whatsoever of reading it earlier! Clearly another of my 'senior moments'.

Found this little gem while rummaging for information on the whereabouts of the Bedlington Post Office, mid 19th century. It is a "Report to the General Board of Health for Morpeth re Cholera, dated 1849. It certainly makes me grateful and thankful for how Bedlington is today.

@Nicola RileyHi Nicola, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your mam's death. If I'm thinking of the right person then I went to school with Joyce - Westridge Secondary Modern 1959 - 1962. A very nice girl. She wasn't in my class but in the same class as my best friend so we hung about together during our breaks. You'll find a couple of school photos of that Joyce in the Gallery, Westridge album. Might be worth a look. I think you may have found the topic related to Fountain Yard where your nanna's brothers are mentioned. I don't think Fountain Yard comes up in any other topics. Dr Pit is up for discussion frequently. Type "Dr Pit" (inverted commas are important) in the search box, top right and you'll get a list of where it appears.