Amanuensis Monday - the will of William Pattison 1905

John Newmark, who writes the TransylvanianDutch blog, has a weekly theme each Monday called Amanuensis Monday to encourage the posting of transcriptions of documents to preserve and publish their contents.



William Pattison was my great-great grandfather. His will is primarily concerned with providing for his daughter Mary - I'm not sure exactly what her condition was, but in the census she was described as an imbecile and judging by the will she was not capable of living independently.

BE IT KNOWN that William Pattison of Longframlington in the County of Northumberland Colliery Manager who at the time of his death had a fixed place of abode at Longframlington aforesaid within the District of the County of Northumberland died on the 15th day of December 1905 at Longframlington aforesaid.


AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that at the date hereunder written the last Will and Testament of the said deceased was proved and registered in the District Probate Registry of His Majesty's High Court of Justice at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and that administration of all the estate which by law devolves to and vests in the personal representatives of the said deceased was granted by the aforesaid Court to William Henry Coulthard of Blue Row Seghill in the said County, Miner, and Samuel Coulthard of Barrass Row, Seghill aforesaid, Miner, the Executors named in the Will.


Dated the 23rd day of January 1906.


Gross value of estate £1405 - 1 - 10
Net value of estate £1116 - 14 - 10


Extracted by Mather & Dickinson Solrs Newcastle-upon-Tyne




1. This is the last Will and Testament of me William Pattison of Longframlington in the County of Northumberland, Manager, made this twenty third day of September one thousand nine hunderd and five.


2. I appoint my friends William Henry Coulthard and Samuel Coulthard both of Seghill in the County of Northumberland Miners (who or the survivors of whom or other the Trustees or Trustee for the time being of this my Will are hereinafter referred to as "my Trustees") to be the Executors and Trustees of this my Will.


3. I give the following legacies free of duty namely: To my daughter Hannah Straughan the sum of One hundred pounds. To my daughter Martha Ann Lamb the sum of One hundred pounds. To my granddaughter Jane Ann Straughan the sum of Twenty pounds.


4. Whereas I intend to purchase a house at Longframlington for my own residence Now I hereby devise any such house unto my Trustees upon trust for to permit my said granddaughter Jane Ann Straughan and my daughter Mary Elizabeth Pattison to have the use and occupation thereof for their joint lives and for the life of the survivor of them it being my wish that my said daughter and granddaughter shall reside together if possible but if from any reason the said Mary Elizabeth Pattison shall cease to reside in the said house then I direct my Trustees in their sole discretion either to allow my said granddaughter to reside there if she shall so desire or to let the said premises and apply all or such part of the rent as they shall think fit in providing a residence for my said daughter and subject thereto upon trust for my said granddaughter for her life and from and after the death of the survivor of them my said daughter and granddaughter I direct my Trustees to sell the said house and to divide the net proceeds thereof among the children of the said Jane Ann Straughan who shall be living at her decease and in default of there being any such children I direct that the proceeds of such sale shall fall into the residue of my estate. And I declare that if I shall die before purchasing any such house my Trustees shall spend such a sum as they shall think fit (but not exceeding Three hundred pounds) on the purchase of a house to be held by them upon the trusts contained in this Will.


5. I devise and bequeath all my real and personal estate not hereby otherwise disposed of unto my trustees upon trust to sell call in and convert into money the same of such part thereof as shall not consist of money and shall out of the moneys produced by such sale calling in and conversion and out of my ready money pay my funeral and testamentary expenses and debts and the legaices bequeathed by my will or any codicil thereto and the duties thereon and shall invest the residue of the said moneys with power from time to time to vary such investments. And shall stand possessed of the residue of the said moneys and the investments for the time being representing the same (hereinafter called "the residuary trust fund") upon trust out of the income arising therefrom to pay such sum as my Trustees shall think fit (but not exceeding seven shillings and six pence per week) for the maintenance of my said daughter Mary Elizabeth Pattison during her life and if such income shall be insufficient for the payment of such weekly sum I declare that my Trustees at their discretion use the capital of the residuary trust fund for the purpose of making up such weekly sum. And from and after the decease of my said daughter Mary Elizabeth Pattison to stand possessed of the residuary trust fund upon trust for my said daughters Martha Ann Lamb and Hannah Straughan in equal shares. I declare that my Trustees may postpone the sale and conversion of any part of my property (including leaseholds or other property of a terminable or wearing out nature) for so long as they think fit and I direct that the rents profits and income to accrue after my death from such part of my estate as shall for the time being remain unsold and unconverted shall after payment thereout of all incidental expenses and outgoings and howsoever invested be paid and applied in the manner in which the income of the proceeds of such sale and conversion would for the time being be payable or applicable under my will if such sale and conversion had been actually made. In additipon to investments authorised by law I empower my Trustees at their absolute discretion to invest any part of the residuary trust fund in or upon the preference or deposit shares of any duly incorporated Building Society at Newcastle upon Tyne without being answerable for any loss which may arise therefrom.


In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand the day and year first hereinbefore written.


William Pattison


Signed by the said Testator William Pattison as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us present at the same time who at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other do hereunto subscribe our names as witnesses.


John Steel - Cardman - Framlington
Henry Clark - Seghill - Miner - Northumberland


On the 23rd day of January 1906 probate of this Will was granted at Newcastle upon Tyne to William Henry Coulthard and Samuel Couthard, the Executors.

On this day ... 31 January

1872 Richard Vaughan Ingram married Harriet Hughes at St Garmon's Church, St Harmon, Radnorshire, Wales. Harriet was the daughter of Thomas Hughes and Ann  Morgan.

1875 William Hudson died in Sunderland. He was 68 years old, and the son of Richard Hudson and Patience Todner.

1931 Frances Martha Jane (Pugh) Pryce died at 36 years old. She was the daughter of Henry Pugh and Elizabeth Charlotte Hamer, and the wife of Robert Ernest Pryce.

Barrington Registers and confirmation of Mary Hudson's birthplace

There are so many indexes available online that it's easy to get lazy and not follow up by confirming the information in the original records. However, it's important to get out to Libraries and Record Offices to get the full picture. Mary Hudson is a great example of why....

Early on in my research I identified a 4xGreat grandfather, Lancelot Hudson who had four sons. I've spent a lot of time tracing the descendants of all four sons, and thought I'd identified all their children, spending a lot of time in my local library confirming index entries against the original parish registers. The Library's resources include the magnificent "Corder Manuscripts". Corder was a Sunderland man who spent much of the early part of the twentieth century tracing the ancestry of all the main families in Sunderland. The Library has a photocopy of his handwritten work, bound into twenty five 2 inch thick books. I'd looked at these before, but a year or so ago, I looked again, and specifically looked at Thomas Hudson, the oldest son of Lancelot, who was born in 1765.

I had already identified thirteen children from Thomas's marriage to Mary Todner and, thinking that was more than enough, didn't notice the gap between the first two children, or think I might have missed any. Corder showed a daughter called Mary, born in 1784 who fills the gap perfectly. But she wasn't born in Sunderland - I'd already checked both the IGI and the registers thoroughly enough to be sure of this. I went back to the IGI and found a baptism of Mary Hudson, daughter of Thomas and Mary, in Bedlington, a mining community over twenty miles away. All of Thomas' other children were born in Sunderland so this seemed unlikely.

This is where original records become vital. The marriage licence (admittedly a transcript obtained from Durham Records Online rather than the original) confirms that the Mary Hudson who married William Haddock in 1802 is the daughter of Thomas Hudson, coal fitter. Corder is therefore correct to say that Thomas had a daughter called Mary. The licence also confirms her year of birth (she was 18 when she married).

Using the IGI again, I've identified several children of this couple, born in Sunderland (baptised in Bishopwearmouth Church). Yesterday, at the Library, I looked up these baptisms in the Parish Register. The first few fall into a magical period for parish registers in Co Durham & Northumberland - the period of the Barrington Registers. In 1797 a new Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington, was ordained. He was a genealogist, and immediately required that all parishes in his diocese should include a lot of additional information when recording baptisms/burials. So baptisms from 1798 to 1812 give information about the parents. The entry for Mary's son William is typical:

William Haddock, born 7 September 1805, baptised 5 February 1806. 5th son of William Haddock mariner native of Painshaw and Mary his wife late Hudson native of Bedlington.

So a single baptism record for one of her children confirms Mary's birthplace, as well as giving me that of her husband. The other "Barrington baptisms" confirm this information. If you have any index entries to look up, do it - you never know what you might find. If these entries are in Barrington Registers, look them up quickly as you'll find lots. I've even found grandfathers named in them.

My next step with this family needs to be a trip to Northumberland Archives to confirm the Bedlington baptism, and maybe find out what Thomas was doing there. I also need to look for the missing children of this family - the baptism I quoted above is the first child I have, but is listed as the 5th. I'm  not convinced that 5th is right (the next son is called the 4th) but there's too big a gap between marriage and the birth for him to be the first child.

On this day ... 30 January

1791 Jane Horsley was born in Hartlepool, Co Durham, the daughter of James Horsley and Jane Hood.

1836 Lancelot Hudson married Isabella Wilkinson at Holy Trinity Church, Sunderland, Co Durham. Lancelot was the son of Lancelot Hudson and Jane Henderson.

1855 Edward Pugh died at Abbeycwmhir, Radnorshire, Wales. He was 40 years old, and was the son of Josiah Kinsey Pugh and Sarah Price.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Date You Were Born

Randy Seaver's challenge for this week is:

1) What day of the week were you born? Tell us how you found out.

I was born on a Wednesday. I've known this for as long as I can remember, but I checked it using Legacy's Date Calculator.

2) What has happened in recorded history on your birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.

My birth date is June 10th. To find what happened this day I googled "on this day" and found the following

From the BBC's website On This Day

1967 - Israel ends six-day war

From On This Day.com

1190 - Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa drowned in the Saleph River while leading an army of the Third Crusade to free Jerusalem.

1943 - Laszlo Biro patented his ballpoint pen.

From Scope Systems' Any Day in History 

1610 - first Dutch settlers arrive to colonise Manhattan Island.

1752 - Benjamin Franklin's kite is struck by lightening.

3)  What famous people have been born on your birth date?  Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

The scopesys and on-this-day websites also had birthday lists.

I already knew

1921 Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh

and

1910 Howlin' Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett)

but had forgotten

1922 Judy Garland

and didn't know

1889 Hattie McDaniel (Mammy in "Gone With The Wind")

1923 Earl Hamner Jr (the narrator from The Waltons)

On this day ... 29 January

1800 Robert Horsley was born in Hartlepool, Co Durham, the son of John Horsley and Margaret Coulson.

1834 John Bulmer married Mary Ann Dawson at All Saints Church, Penshaw, Co Durham. Mary Ann was the daughter of Henry Dawson and Ann Todner.

1877 George Robson married Ann Hunter Mann at St Hilda's Church, Hartlepool, Co Durham. Ann was the daughter of James Mann and Ann Hunter.

On this day ... 28 January

1787 John Thompson married Dinah Coulson in St Hilda's Church, Hartlepool, Co Durham. Dinah was the daughter of Cuthbert Coulson and Ann Rowntry.

Pryce Pugh 1859-1926 and Mary Ann Pugh 1860-1934

David James Pugh's parents were Pryce Pugh and Mary Ann Pugh.

Pryce Pugh was born at Hollies Farm, near Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales on 20 December 1859. He was the third son of farmer James Pugh and his wife Mary Ann Jones. When Pryce was a little boy, the family moved to nearby Kerry (or Ceri if you prefer the Welsh spelling), then to Tyllwyd Farm in Llanbadarn Fynydd, Radnorshire.

Mary Ann Pugh was born on 31 March 1860 at Pengarreg Farm, Aberedw, Radnorshire, Wales. She was the daughter of David Pugh and Mary Williams Jones. During the 1860s, her family moved from Aberedw to Tynddol Farm, Llanbadarn Fynydd, Radnorshire.

The two farms are next to each other just outside the village, so it's probably no surprise that the couple met and got married on 13 December 1879 (both aged just 19) at St Padarn's Church, Llanbadarn Fynydd.

They had three children in the first few years after they married, but then seem to have separated - in 1891 Pryce and DJ (the only surviving child) were living with Pryce's father, in 1901 Pryce is lodging with another farmer, and by 1911 he was living with his widowed mother, while DJ was making his own way in the world. I haven't been able to find Mary Ann on any of these censuses.

Pryce appears to have had a brief spell as a farmer - shortly after the couple married, they had a farm in Llandrindod Wells - however he spent most of his life as an agricultural labourer (working on other people's farms rather than his own).

I have no idea what Mary Ann was doing from the mid-1880s until she reappears on the Electoral Registers for Hay-on-Wye in the mid-1920s. By this time David James Pugh had settled in Hay and Mary Ann was listed living in the flat above DJ's shop.

Pryce Pugh died on 8 November 1926 in hospital in Knighton, Radnorshire. Mary Ann survived him by 7 years, and died on 8 February 1934 in Hay. She was buried in the graveyard of St Padarn's Church, alongside various members of her family from Tynddol.

Their children were:

Mary Edith Gwenllian Pugh 1880-1883
David James Pugh 1881-1962
Henry Thomas Pugh 1883-1884

On this day ... 27 January

1823 Lancelot Hudson Wallace was born in Sunderland, Co Durham, the son of Dent Wallace and Margaret Hudson.

1835 Thomas Reaveley Halliday was born in Sunderland, Co Durham, the son of Lancelot Hudson Halliday and Margaret Nixon.

1844 Ralph Hardy and Hannah Pattison married at St Helen's Church, Kelloe, Co Durham. Hannah was the daughter of Thomas Pattison and Ann Moor.

Wordless Wednesday - Lower Island Road, Hong Kong

Martha Ann (Pattison) (Lamb) Clark and her grandson (my dad) Peter Hudson, taken in Hong Kong in 1937.

On this day ... 26 January

1800 Sarah Yeal was born in Hartlepool, Co Durham, the daughter of William Yeal and Mary Horsley.

1806 John Wren married Frances Rutter at Wolsingham, Co Durham. John was the son of Thomas Wren and Mary Ward.

1961 Isabella (Lamb) Johnston Coulson died in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She emigrated to the US in 1905 then moved to Canada by 1911, and died at the age of 93.

William James Darby 1857-1903 and Elizabeth Read 1854-1921

William Henry Darby's parents were William James Darby and Elizabeth Read.

William James Darby was born on 5 February 1857, at Adelaide Street, Aston, Warwickshire. His parents were Henry Darby, a saw maker, and his wife Ellen Haywood - William was their last child. William grew up in Aston, and eventually began working at his father's saw-making workshop in Freeman Street, Birmingham.

Elizabeth Read was born in Grosvenor Street, Birmingham on 11 January 1854, one of the younger daughters of iron-plate worker Silvester Read and his wife Isabella Child. Isabella died in 1857, and Silvester remarried a couple of years later. His new wife (Ann Terry) was the daughter in law of Catherine Allen, who ran a pub on Freeman Street. Following their marriage, Silvester and Ann moved in with Catherine and helped her to run the pub, eventually taking over the Fox and Grapes and running it themselves. Ann continued to run the pub until her death in 1897.

William and Elizabeth married on 28 August 1877, barely 4 months before their first child was born. They lived initially in Aston, then in other suburbs of Birmingham, while William worked as a saw-maker, presumably in his father's workshop. The family spent a year or two in London (during which time daughter Mary Louise was born) before returning to Birmingham.

William died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 26 August 1903 at the age of only 46, and was buried at Witton Cemetery, Birmingham. Over the next few years, as the children reached adulthood, some of them chose to emigrate away from the poverty they had grown up with in Birmingham, in the hopes of a better life in Canada or the US. Elizabeth saw three of her sons leave to fight in World War One; only two returned. Elizabeth died on 14 December 1921, at the age of 67. She was buried with her husband in Witton Cemetery.

The couple's children were:

William Henry Darby 1877-1917
Ellen Isabella Darby 1879-?? (emigrated to Manitoba, Canada)
Charles Silvester Darby 1881-1964 (emigrated to Manitoba, but died on a return visit to the UK)
Elizabeth Sarah Darby 1883-1962
Kate Lillian Darby 1885-1953
Elsie May Darby 1887-1968
Mary Louise Darby 1889-1971
Frederick Albert Darby 1891-1969
Annie Hilda Darby 1893-1959
Sidney James Darby 1895-1971
Alice Victoria Darby 1897-?? (emigrated to Canada following her mother's death)

On this day ... 25 January

1791 Hannah Glenwright was born at Hayden Bridge, Northumberland, the daughter of Nicholas and Barbara Glenwright.

1828 Jemima Whitehouse was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire. She was the daughter of Thomas Joseph Whitehouse and his wife Elizabeth.

1864 Ellen (Perry) Haywood died in Aston, Warwickshire. She was 82 years old. Ellen was my 4xG grandmother.

Amanuensis Monday - the will of Jane Eliza Hughes 1923

John Newmark, who writes the TransylvanianDutch blog, has a weekly theme each Monday called Amanuensis Monday to encourage the posting of transcriptions of documents to preserve and publish their contents.

Jane Eliza Hughes (nee Powell) was my great-great-grandmother.

This is the last Will and Testament of me Jane Eliza Hughes of the Neuddu Temperance Hotel in the town of Builth Wells in the County of Brecknock. I give and bequeath to my son Arthur Gordon Hughes the sum of Two hundred pounds. I give and bequeath to my son Thomas Walter Hughes the sum of Four hundred pounds. I give and bequeath to my daughter Delilah Jane Pugh the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds. I give and bequeath to my daughters Gertrude Anne Hughes and Gladys Hughes in equal parts the third share in the Neuddu Temperance Hotel Builth Wells. I give and bequeath to my son Albert Edward Powell Dolelfe Ganol the sum of fifty Pounds. I declare that my field adjoining the town of Builth Wells is to be sold and all my debts be paid and the residue of my estate whatsoever be divided in equal shares between my children Harold Hughes Arthur Gordon Hughes Thomas Walter Hughes Delilah Jane Pugh Gertrude Anne Hughes and Gladys Hughes. And I appoint my brother in law Richard Hughes Draper London House Rhayader in the County of Radnor sole executor of this my will. In witness thereof I hereunto set my hand this seventh day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty one.


Signed by the said Jane Eliza Hughes in the presence of us who in her presence and in the presence of each other at the same time subscribe our names as witnesses. 
David Maldwyn Jones, The Manse, Rhayader, Congregational Minister
Mary Worthing, London House, Rhayader, Drapers Assistant


On the 31st day of January 1923 Probate of this Will was granted at Hereford to Richard Hughes the sole executor.

On this day ... 24 January

1789 James Yeal was born in Hartlepool, Co Durham, the son of William Yeal and Mary Horsley.

1810 Jane (Hood) Huntridge died in Hartlepool, Co Durham. She was 80, the wife of Bartholomew Huntridge and the daughter of Joshua Hood and Jane Dixon.

1851 Alexander Watson married Mary Halliday at Christ Church, Tynemouth, Northumberland. Mary was the daughter of John Halliday and Jane Hudson

William Pattison 1827-1905 and Ann Brown 1831-1885

Martha Ann Pattison's parents were William Pattison and Ann Brown

William Pattison was born in 1827 in Newbottle, Co Durham, England, the son of miner Thomas Pattison and his wife Ann Moor. Newbottle was one of many small mining villages on the Durham coalfield. In the late 1830s the Pattison family moved to the mining village of Coxhoe. The 1841 census shows the family living there, at no 24, Oxclose. Only Thomas is listed as working, but it's likely that 13 year old William was already working underground in the coal mine. By 1851 the family had moved to West Hetton Houses, still in Coxhoe, and the 23 year old William was listed as a coal miner, along with his father and two younger brothers.

Ann Brown was born in Easington Lane, Co Durham, England, the daughter of another coal miner, Ralph Brown and his wife Mary Hall. In 1841 the family was living in Brick Garth, Hetton le Hole, but soon after they, too, moved to Coxhoe. By 1851 Ralph was an overman (a foreman in a coal mine) living in Joint Stock Row, in Coxhoe.

William and Ann married on 12 March 1855 at St Helen's Church in Kelloe, Co Durham (the parish church for the village of Coxhoe). The couple settled in Joint Stock Row, near Ann's parents. Their first two children followed in 1856 and 1858.

At some point in the 1860s the family moved to Longframlington, Northumberland. Longframlington is another mining village, and this move meant promotion for William. By the time his third child, Martha Ann, was born in 1869, he had been promoted to overman. In 1872, the couple's last child, Mary Elizabeth, was born. In 1873, William received his certificate as a colliery manager, and he held the job of manager of Longframlington Colliery until his death.

The couple's only son, Ralph, died in 1882. Soon after, Ann fell ill and she eventually died in January 1885. Youngest child Mary Elizabeth was handicapped (in the censuses, with typical Victorian candidness, she was described as an imbecile), so from 1885 Martha Ann was responsible for keeping house for her father (considering her mother's illness, she'd probably been responsible for a couple of years previously as well). When she married in 1896, William needed a new housekeeper, and so his oldest granddaughter, Jane Ann Straughan (daughter of oldest child Hannah) moved in to take care of her grandfather and aunt. William died on 14 December 1905.

The couple's children were:

Hannah Pattison 1856-1907
Ralph Pattison 1858-1882
Martha Ann Pattison 1869-1949
Mary Elizabeth Pattison 1872-1927

On this day ... 23 January

1814 Robert Coulson married Alice Horsley at St Hilda's Church, Hartlepool, Co Durham, England.

1883 Mary Edith Gwenllian Pugh died at Holly Farm, Llandrindod Wells, Radnorshire, Wales.  She was 3 years old, and was the daughter of Pryce and Mary Ann Pugh.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Do Some Random Research

Randy Seaver has set a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge: go to the Random Number Generator, take the name generated and plug it into Ancestry.com, then research the first hit and see what you can find about him/her. Randy credits Chris Staat with the original idea.

The name I got was "Moses Lynn".

The first hit was for the 1930 census living in Columbus, Muscogee, Georgia. Moses was born in 1910 in Georgia. He was living with his mother Grace, sister Dovie (27) and brothers Lee (23), GW (17) and Ron (13). Moses was 20, single, and working as a drayman. Grace was 48 and born in Alabama.

Narrowing the search to include a year of birth of 1910 brought up a quick hit in the 1920 census. The family, still without a father, were in Columbus. GW's name turns out to be Green. Mother Grace and sister Dovie were working as spoolers in a cotton mill.

Moses' 1910 census entry didn't pop up in the initial search so I searched for his mother and found her, with husband and with the oldest children including 7 month old Moses, in Nances, Muscogee, Georgia. Moses' father was Lee Lynn, aged 40 in 1910 and was also recorded as a "dray" or "dairy" man.

I've tried to find Lee on the 1900 census or 1880 but can't see him. I tried looking for an Alabama or Georgia marriage for Lee and Grace and couldn't see that either, and I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm in the UK, as are all my ancestors (apart from a quick swing through Chicago), so I've had little opportunity to do any research in the US. I may just have another look at this sometime when it's not quite so late on a Saturday night.

John Lamb 1839-1914 and Margaret Gerrard 1845-1902

Alexander Lamb's parents were John Lamb and Margaret Gerrard.

John Lamb was born on 3 June 1839 in Moorhouse, Roxburgh, Scotland (Moorhouse appears to be the name of the farm or cottage he was born in), the son of Alexander Lamb and Mary Rathie. Alexander was an agricultural labourer and the family lived in several farms in the Roxburgh area while John was growing up. Alexander died in 1857, and I suspect that Mary had died before then, but I haven't yet found a burial record for her.

Following his father's death, John moved from Roxburgh in the Scottish borders to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, where he took a job as a police constable. He was still in this job in 1866 when, on 17 July, he married Margaret Gerrard at St John's Church.

Margaret was born in Peel Street on the northern banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle, the daughter of James Gerrard and Isabella Marshall. The family had moved to Whickham, on the south bank of the river by the 1851 census, then back into Newcastle by 1861.

The couple lived initially in the Westgate area of Newcastle, where their first two children were born. By 1871, John had left the police and was working as a street-paver, and the family had moved to the Byker area of the city. In the mid-1870s, the family left Newcastle and lived in Seaton Delaval, a mining village to the north east of Newcastle, where John worked as a miner. Although this move and profession only lasted for a couple of years, it had a major impact on John's son Alexander as it appears to be the source of his eventual introduction to his bride Martha Ann Pattison. By the late 70s the family had returned to Byker, and John to street paving, which remained his profession until old age.

Margaret died on 24 May 1902 and was buried in Byker & Heaton Cemetery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. By this time son Alexander was living in South Africa, and her second James had emigrated to Vancouver in Canada. A couple of years later, oldest daughter Isabella moved to Huntsville, Randolph, Missouri, USA. Perhaps it's not a surprise that the elderly widower John eventually decided to emigrate himself, travelling to Vancouver in 1909 with daughter Mary, just a few months after youngest son Clement had made the same journey. Isabella also moved to Vancouver from Missouri. Only one child remained in England by this time.

John died on 29 March 1914 in Vancouver, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery.

John and Margaret's children were:

Isabella Lamb 1867-1961
Alexander Lamb 1869-1907
James Lamb 1872-1960
Mary Elizabeth Lamb 1875-1942
Margaret Lamb 1878-1965
Clement Lamb 1881-1928
Ellen Rathie Lamb 1884-1890

On this day ... 22 January

1852 Edward Pugh died at Pant-y-dwr, Radnorshire, Wales.