Day 2 Durham Record Office

I set off earlier to allow a little more time today; it's easy enough to get into Durham but the traffic really builds up after 3pm and it takes longer to get away. 

Today I've been checking up on Brown baptisms in Washington, County Durham which has helped with the families of Richard and Mary Brown (in my own family tree) and the children of Ralph and Jane Brown (which includes Burdett Lambton Brown). I've confirmed more details for the Fair family (which I'll write up in a separate post) which has suggested a clue as to why my great grandmother, Hannah Tweddle might have been born in Hull. 

Doesn't sound like much but trawling through microfilms is very time consuming. 

I've spent much of the evening transferring all this to Ancestry but I still have to work out what I need to do tomorrow, my last day. I'm hoping to include Memorial Inscriptions but we'll see what happens. 

Day 1 Durham Record Office

I'm staying in Wolsingham which is about half an hour's drive from Durham and using the new park and ride service. It's been really good; there's a bus every ten minutes from the parking area into the City - it costs nothing to park and £2 for the return bus service which easily beats the cost of parking in the city. There's a stop just outside County Hall (not to be confused with City Hall) and one just over the road for the return so it's all very simple. 

Once at County Hall, again, it's all straightforward; check in at the Helpdesk (they're all friendly here) and the Record Office is close by. There's a cafeteria where you can get a hot meal, sandwich or take in a packed lunch (which is what I've done) and there's a microwave if you need to heat something up. Brilliant!

Today I've been checking up on marriages in St Helen Auckland for the Little and Brown families. This has been really useful as I've been able to confirm most of them; still need to find a marriage for Robert Little and Ann Rodham - I can see the banns, but not the marriage. Will have another look before I finish  up. 

Interestingly, I've found the marriage for Mary Little and John Moses (1846); at some point they went off to Shuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Not the only Littles who went there so I must take time to write up more of the Little family in the USA.

Hannah Little married John Hodgson in 1848; a son, Robert was born in 1862 and there's some  fascinating research to come on him I think. It appears that he went off to the USA as a joiner and returned as 'an American physician and surgeon'. Could that be right?

More to do tomorrow!

Second Research Trip 2018

This time I'm in Weardale, Co Durham. I'm going to check up on records at Durham Record Office  with regard to the Brown and Little side of the maternal family tree. The Browns, I've mentioned before but I've neglected the Littles. Sarah Little married Thomas Lumsdon Brown on 15 Sept 1859 in Darlington but both families lived in St Helen Auckland, close by Bishop Auckland. 

I'm eager to learn more about the Little family who moved over to County Durham from Cumberland in the late 1830s. I think they moved 'en famille', so probably 12 family members made the trek across the north Pennines to St Helen's Auckland/West Auckland. They worked in the Durham coalfield but I don't know at this point whether any of then were involved in mining in Cumberland. William Little (Sarah's father) is listed as a labourer in the 1841 census (in County Durham) and in later censuses as a cartman. 

Anyway, tomorrow, I'm off to the Records Office in the city of Durham to check up on the parish records in St Helen Auckland. I'll also be checking other County Durham records for the Stratford family, the Russells and the Fairs of Stockton-on-Tees. Lots to do!!