My 8 Great-grandparents
This is a new page, under construction in December 2023.
Between 1837 and 1882 eight people were born, all during the reign of Queen Victoria, who would play an important part in my life, my great grandparents. Seven of them were born in Durham, five of those in Hartlepool. Two were born about 20 miles away, one in Sunderland, a large ship building town a short journey northwards up the coast and one in Tudhoe, a small farming and iron working village further inland due west, and the eighth was born in the Suffolk fishing village of Corton. They all lived for between 54 and 85 years, mostly in Hartlepool, the first of them dying in 1921, and the last in 1967. By some mysterious series of events these eight people managed to pair themselves up into four couples, and had several children, four of whom became my grandparents, those in turn were born between 1897 and 1907. The four grandparents all lived in Hartlepool until at least the early 1930s.
Everybody is familiar with the concept of a dynastic film or book that traces the lives of a family down through the ages. To keep the story reasonably linear it normally concentrates on one person from each generation, only making casual references to other people. The same concept applies to a family tree. Generally it is the line of primogeniture, following the life of the eldest son of each generation, sometimes making a slight references to siblings but very rarely mentioning children of those siblings.
Each of the eight people I mentioned earlier, my great grandparents, were equally important to my being here today so I cannot follow the traditional one person per generation structure from films, books and family trees. I will introduce my eight great grandparents, and then briefly talk about what I know of their own parents and grandparents. A list of dates is pretty boring and I will try to avoid that approach. I will then return to my great grandparents after they became couples.
My first-born great-grandparent was George Daniel Leggett, Suffolk, just north of Lowestoft on 18th July, 1837, just one month into the reign of Queen Victoria. His birth was also 18 days into the legislation under The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836, when the civil registration service started in England and Wales. George's birth and baptism were recorded in the records of Corton Parish Church, but not additionally in accordance with the new Act. The entry is dated 13th August 1837. The vicar's name was T. C. Fowler. The previous register entry, dated 16th July, has Mr Fowler listed as 'Rector' rather than vicar.
It seems that his family came from generations of agricultural labourers (his father Daniel Leggett was listed as 'labourer' on George's baptism record), and George had several siblings who continued to follow that tradition. Something must have lured George away from following in the family tradition, as he became a fisherman, eventually having his own boat. He is known to have lived in Hull in the early 1860s, where he was married to a lady, Mary Boynton in February 1862. She gave him four children, of whom only one, Mary junior, survived to adulthood, and it seems that young Mary never married. For reasons that I doubt will ever be known, at some point between 1870 and 1890 it seems that George deserted his wife, and moved to North Yorkshire. Census records from the missing 20 years do not include George, which suggests either he was very secretive or possibly just away at sea on the nights of the census and failed to record his movements as he should have done.
The 1891 Census has a George Leggett (the surname is unclear), age 53, widower and fisherman from Lowestoft listed as a visitor at 88, High Street, Hartlepool. His host is 26-year-old Thomas Garnham, a stationary engine fitter, born in Gislingham, Suffolk, 40 miles south east from Corton. Mr Garnham is living with his wife and three pre-school children (two of whom were born in Scarborough in the late 1880s where George had lived with his wife for many years) as well as a boarder, Arthur Patton. It seems significant that George Leggett is listed as a visitor rather than a boarder. To summarise, we have a George Leggett, fisherman, born 1837, living in Scarborough, in the 1870s and probably 1880s, disappearing from there, then a George Leggett, fisherman, aged 53 in 1890, appears in Hartlepool, visiting a man who has two children, recently born in Scarborough. It's not conclusively the same man, possibly not even beyond reasonable doubt, but it's impossible to ignore.
David William Young, born in Hartlepool in 1859, was the son of William, a labourer, initially in a colliery, later in an iron works, and then in a local shipyard, born in Sunderland, and his Scottish-born wife Helen Myers. William's father, Lancelot, is recorded in 1841 as being a Broker, living in Flag lane, Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland. By 1851 he was a Potter (Turner). Helen's Scottish parents were Helen Lindsay and David Myers. David Young, initially working as a blacksmith, progressed by 1891 to be an engineer's machinist.
Jane Adamson was born in the village of Tudhoe in the middle of winter on 11th January, 1860, and her mother, Ann, was the daughter of John Adamson, a local pub landlord and one-time Farmer. John had married Martha Hodgson. Jane's father is not mentioned on her birth certificate, but DNA research has shown that it is highly likely that she was the illegitimate daughter of a local farm boy. It seems definite that the farm boy had the surname Harrison, but DNA research has been unable to pinpoint which one of the was the father. The one closest in age to Anne was Francis Harrison, and he emigrated to New Zealand several years later. Not long after the birth of Jane, Ann married a local engineer and blacksmith, Edwin Potter who worked at the ironworks in the village. Edwin was born in Oxfordshire, and was the son of George, a bricklayer. Even now it is usual for weddings to take place in the parish church of the bride, but for some reason Edwin and Anne married a few miles away at St Mary's, Wakefield, Yorkshire.
I doubt we will ever know for certain whether Edwin knew that he was not the father of Jane. For the next 20 years Jane lived with Edwin and Ann, and Jane's name is always recorded as Adamson, rather than Potter, which suggests to me that he did know that Jane was not his daughter. Edwin and Anne, who became prominent Quakers in Middlesbrough, went on to have more daughters, including twins Martha and Mary, both dying in infancy, and Lydia, who eventually married Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, heir to the chocolate Dynasty. At some point in her twenties, Jane moved to South Shields, where aged 29 she eventually met and married a 70-year-old coal dealer, Henry Thompson who gave her a child, Henry junior, known as Harry, in December 1890, just 9 1/2 months after the wedding. Sadly Henry died soon after, in January 1891, in Morton Street, South Shields. Morton Street was probably named in honour of Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer, administrator, and author an journalist, who searched for Dr. David Livingstone, the explorer in 1871, who gave his name to the adjacent street in South Shields.
My fourth great grandparent was Sarah Elizabeth Beasley, born in 1863, in West Hartlepool. Very little is know about her. Her father James Beasley was a seaman. The spellchecker amusingly suggests that her name is really Beastly. Her mother was Margaret Ellen Clark, from Runswick Bay, Yorkshire, 30 miles down the coast from Hartlepool, and 8 miles north west of Whitby. It is now one of the Yorkshire Coast’s prettiest destinations with its sweeping, sheltered bay and charming red roof cottages. The sandy beach, which once provided anchorage for brightly coloured fishing boats, is now a family favourite for rock pooling, fossil hunting and coastal walks, where you can admire the breathtakingly stunning sea views. Sarah's father was James, a seaman. Sarah's maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Robinson came from the nearby village of Ellerby.
Edward Samuel Wilson was born in Hartlepool in 1864, the son of a local tailor and his wife. His family life was a bit complicated. His father was Edward Wilson, Sr., born in Stockton, in 1823. Edward Sr. aged 20, married a Jane Byers, in 1843, losing her 10 years later. Twelve years later he married Manchester girl Louisa Ann Heathcote, in June 1857, just nine months after Louisa had been widowed, with three children, by William Robinson, who died in 1856. Edward Samuel Wilson was born in 1864 to Louisa, followed by his brother John Peter Wilson in 1866. Their father, Edward Sr., died in 1870, and Louisa then married yet again, in 1872, to William Joseph Heritage.
By his mid teens Edward Samuel Wilson worked in the docks, as a ship's plater. It was hard and often dangerous work, involving fixing large panels of steel to the superstructure of ships. In the early 1890s he was married to a lady, Mary Brennan, but there are very sad newspaper reports that he was charged with neglect, and failure to pay the penalties for this neglect and Mary died soon after, in 1894.
Great grandparent number six, Mary McDonald was the daughter of an Irish couple Patrick McDonald and Margaret Hopkins, both born in the early 1840s, who had come over from Ireland. Mary was born in Hartlepool, in 1870. At about this time the McDonald family was living at Saw Mill Cottages, Throston, on the outskirts of Hartlepool. Nothing is known about their earlier life in Ireland. In 1891 a Mary Ann McDonald was working as a servant in Bath Terrace, Hartlepool.
James Sedcole Watson (JSW) was born in Sunderland in 1876, one of six brothers. A childhood fascination with his middle name on his widow's memorial plaque in the late 1960s never left me, and eventually I discovered that the name came from James Sedcole, the deputy town clerk and accountant to the Jarrow Corporation, who married Maria Ditchburn Frazer, sister of JSW's mother Isabella. It is worth noting that by the late 1880s James Sedcole, the town clerk had become a Registrar of Births and Deaths in the Westoe district of South Shields, and actually recorded the birth of Henry Thompson, my great grandmother Jane Adamson's son in December 1889.
James's father, Thomas Christopher Watson was the son of Robert Smith Watson, who had left his birthplace of Bedlington to establish himself as a butcher in Sunderland. Thomas had had a successful job as a mercantile clerk, but it seems that he had problems with alcohol and was arrested on occasions for drunkenness and also assaulting his wife. At one time William Holmes Watson, the eldest brother, had to give evidence against his father in court which led to Thomas being imprisoned in 1881, unable to pay a £50 bond as an alternative. After one such arrest in 1885 Thomas died in the morning following captivity overnight (drunk and incapable) in the cells. When this research was started, I was amused to discover I had an ancestor called William HOLMES WATSON, only to realise that it was just a coincidence, as Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle only created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. William Homes Watson was born 21 years earlier.
Kate Loughborough was born in 1882 to John Loughborough, and Annie Maria Ballard, the daughter of William Henry a London builder and decorator, following in the trade of his father, also William Henry. Annie's mother, Catherine Glassop, was the daughter of an East End comb manufacturer. Although John's father, George Loughborough was born in Marylebone in London, John was born in Hartlepool to George, and his local wife, Elizabeth Mowbray. George was a fisherman, and it is easy to imagine that his work took him up the east coast of England, to places like Lowestoft, Hull and eventually Hartlepool so it is quite likely that he met Elizabeth while taking a break from the high seas. In 1881 John was living in Hackney, East London and this is probably how he came to meet the local girl who became his wife. He took Annie Maria back to Hartlepool She gave birth to twins in 1882, Kate and a brother, John Mowbray Loughborough, who died at the age of six weeks. John eventually died in 1911, in Hartlepool.
Kate grew up in the area of Hartlepool's Headland, right on the coast, known as the Croft, where her family had a grocer's and baker's business.
Sadly we are never likely to know how these eight people met each other, although we can reliably guess that it was on the streets of Hartlepool. Perhaps they were introduced by a mutual friend, perhaps at a social engagement or perhaps a young man just caught the eye of a young lady and they exchanged smiles, before the man risked refusal by making a shy contact. Four men, George, a fisherman, David, an engineer's machinist, Edward, a ship's plater, and James, an architect's clerk, all with close links to the sea were to meet their future wives between 1882 and 1905.
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The first to meet were David William Young and Sarah Elizabeth Beasley, marrying in 1883.
Next to meet were George Daniel Leggett, the fisherman with a mysterious marital past, and Jane Adamson. Nothing is known of George and Janes life together before the birth of their first child, Lavinia Adamson Leggett, in April 1892, at 91, Mile End Road, Westoe, a five minute walk from where Jane had been living with late husband Henry Thompson. Once again, the Registrar was James Sedcole, husband of my great great grand aunt, Maria Frazer. Jane's entry as mother on the birth certificate stated, "Jane Leggett late Thompson formerly Adamson". No record has been found to show that Jane and George were ever actually married. George, as father was listed as being a Fish Dealer. It is easy to imagine that Jane, just turned 30, had met George while he was selling fish, perhaps being attracted by his saucy banter. Who knows!
By January 1894 Jane and George had moved to Castle Hill in Richmond, Yorkshire where George was a fishmonger, as recorded on the birth certificate if their second child, another daughter, Violet Mary. Jane was listed as "Jane Leggett, formerly Adamson", abandoning all memory of her brief marriage to Henry Thompson. Throughout her life in the twentieth century it is notable (but unexplained) that Jane uses a variety of surnames. Less than two years later, October 1895 saw the birth of Jane and George's third child, a son, George Daniel junior. The happy couple, now living in Barningham, Yorkshire had George's occupation listed on the birth certificate as Innkeeper, believed to be at the Black Bull. A news story from January of that year reported that George had been fined two shillings and sixpence and costs, in respect of a stray horse.
A mere eleven months letter, in September 1896, still in Barningham, Jane, listed on the birth certificate as "Jane Leggett late Thompson formerly Adamson" gave birth to Ernest Victor Leggett. The birth was reported by George Leggett, who made his mark.
Three Septembers later, in 1899, saw the birth of Florence Louise Leggett at 19 High Street, Hartlepool, the address of The General Jackson public house. The father was named as George Daniel Leggett, dock labourer, all reported by Jane herself.
In February 1899 Jane had acquired the General Jackson license.
In November 1900 the birth of Thomas William Leggett at 10, St Helen's Place, Hartlepool was recorded. Oddly the father was named as George Thompson, ship plater's keeper, and Jane was shown to be Jane Thompson, formerly Adamson. A ship plater's keeper is believed to be a supervisor or time-keeper of platers, who would have worked with panels of a ship.
Note the separate page recording my thoughts on whether George and Jane's relationship had failed by this time.
Then Edward Samuel Wilson and Mary McDonald, when Mary became Edward's second wife in May, 1898.
Finally Kate Loughborough and James Sedcole Watson who married on St Valentine's Day in February 1905.
David & Sarah, George & Jane, Edward & Mary and James & Kate would all have children over the next few years, including my four grand parents, all born between 1898 and 1907.
Although David & Sarah had several children, Frederick Young was my first grandparent to be born.
A calendar quickly reveals that Mary Wilson, wife of Edward Samuel Wilson must have already been pregnant with their first child, my maternal grandmother, when they married in 1898.
Thomas William Leggett, my paternal grandfather was born in 1900, the last of six children of George Daniel Leggett and Jane Adamson.
My fourth grandparent, May Frazer Watson was born in 1907, the first child of James Sedcole Watson and his wife Kate.
Once again, I sadly don't know how my grandparents met, but Frederick Young and Margaret Wilson lived near to each other, as did May Watson and Thomas Leggett.
My parents were born in Hartlepool in the late 1920s, and stayed there until, after marriage in 1950, they traveled south to start a new life, initially in South London before settling for several years in Dartford in Kent, before moving right across the capital to Eastcote in the borough of Hillingdon to the north west.
As an adult in later life it saddens me that I know so little about my great grandparents. seven of the eight had died before I was even born, and my memories of the Eighth, Kate Loughborough, are very vague. I remember her as a shriveled little old lady, and in retrospect, she was probably suffering from Alzheimer's disease.