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John -

Read my posts on 11th April at 11:06 and 11:20.

"Ramsden" was John Ramsden Williams, the son of Sarah J Ramsden and James Williams.

John Ramsden Williams was known as Ramsden, and his wife's name was Sarah.

Looks like your family in 1871

1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Hunwick Village, Hunwick, Auckland, Durham, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Allen Ramsden Head - Male 29 1842 - Austin, Durham, England
Margaret Ramsden Wife - Female 28 1843 - Durham, England
Samuel Joseph Ramsden Son - Male 9 1862 - Durham, England
Mary Alice Ramsden Daughter - Female 7 1864 - Durham, England
Margaret Ann Ramsden Daughter - Female 3 1868 - Durham, England
Ada Ramsden Daughter - Female 0 1871 - Durham, England

Original shows Allen as a Photographer b Austin, Durham
Rest of family b Barnard Castle

Hi ErikaH
That's most insteresting about Samuel being at Alms houses. I knew him when I was around 10/11 when he lived with Isabella (known as Isobel) in Barnsley (Sth Yorks) he was totally blind then. I remember him dying around 1955.

Hi all,
Sorry if I dint get back, couldnt find my way to here :). I do have a copy of the letter I would gladly send if I knew how to attach it somewhere? My research all started from discovering a small book an ancestor wrote called Life in a Caravan by Allan Ramsden of Consett. It has some fascinating stories about his travels around the area in his horse drawn photographers caravan. I though he was my grt grandads brother but eventually discover he had a son (Samuel Joseph my gt grandad) when he (Allan) was 19. He also had 5 daughters - Mary Alice 1864, Sarah J 1866, Margaret A 1868, Afda 1872, Eliza 1883, and 2 sons, Allan (1874 William 1875). These are the ones I am trting to follow to see if I can find the surnames of the ones named by first name only in the letter. One puzzle with the letter is that it is signed your affectionate niece and nephew Sarah and Ramsden. It also says Ramsden and I are keeping well and Uncle Allan is still going strong. I cant see anyone called Ramsden Ramsden so must assume he is generally called by his surname!!?

I will definitely post a copy of the letter if I can find out how.
Thanks for all the help. Please send me and ask to look at my tree if needed.

Have given John the link to this thread, so we can only hope he uses it and returns with answers

I wonder if there's any mention of war in the letter?

so that is also making that winter of 1939/40 look even more likely

Oh, good!
Thanks for letting me know, Erika!

So the letter is dated some time between Sept 1939 and 1975 (Ramsden's death).

AG

The 1891 you posted 11/04/20 is definitely John's family

He's shared his tree with me

Sarah J's eldest brother (Samuel) was John's great grandfather

Name: Samuel Joseph Ramsden
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 28 Oct 1861
Birth Place: Barnard Castle
Baptism Date: 18 Nov 1861
Baptism Place: Barnard Castle, Durham, England
Father: Allan Ramsden
Mother: Margaret Ramsden

Name: Samuel J Ramsden
Gender: Male
Marital status: Widow
Birth Date: 28 Oct 1861
Residence Year: 1939
Address: Pennys Hospital (Mens Houses) King Street -********** actually Alms Houses (know it well)
Residence Place: Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Occupation: Retired
Schedule Number: 286
Sub Schedule Number: 8
Enumeration District: NVND

There's mention of Fern Cottage, Knitsley here (a Will from 1942):

SMITH of Fern Cottage Knitsley Consett -- County Durham (pt 1)
https://tinyurl.com/uy84rxo)


In 1939, there's a Smith family at a Fern Cottage In Consett, but in Templetown, not Knitsley Lane. Don't know if they're related to the person who died or not.:

Alexander R Smith
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name: Alexander R Smith
Gender: Male
Marital status: Married
Birth Date: 4 Nov 1878
Residence Year: 1939
Address: Fern Cottage Templetown
Residence Place: Consett, Durham, England
Occupation: Plumber
Schedule Number: 58
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: FFJP
Registration district: 550-2
Inferred Spouse: Isabel R Smith
Inferred Children: Elizabeth I Smith
Household Members:
Name
Alexander R Smith
Isabel R Smith
Elizabeth I Smith
John Smith

However, clearly neither they nor the person who died are Ramsden and/or Sarah.
(Alexander Smith's middle name is Rawson.)

PM received saying the address was Fern Cottage

Have advised responding on the thread

Hopefully John will share what he knows

John says the letter contains a 'great deal' of family history, so, with any luck, he should be able to connect it with the info found and posted on here

Being on STD depends where you lived . As I posted earlier we had a 3 digit number in 1970 so there were some around

Quite favour December 30 1939 until John comes back with perhaps a little more info

Your find looks inspired. We need John to return when he can

Yes, you're right, Erika.

As a student in 1965, I could phone home using STD to the west of Scotland, and I'm sure Consett would have been ahead of that.

If my find of Ramsden and Sarah Williams is correct , the letter could have been written any time from 1918 onwards - in the absence of more clues.

I would be surprised if there were 3-digit phone numbers In 1967. I was on the telephone exchange in 1969, and there were NO 3 digit numbers then

Perhaps John will share with us the info he obviously has, which could help to identify the people, and time-scale.

Title: The Consett Story

Publisher: Ramsden Williams Publications, Consett, Co. Durham.

Publication Date: 1963

January 1940 the Thames froze. Up in the NE the snow could have arrived earlier and 30 Dec 1939 was a Saturday

So it was, Ann ! I stand corrected.

Some website I looked at said it was a Saturday - but obviously wrong.


Oh, well - 1967 or 1972, perhaps, in that case?

Or it may just have been a bad winter in Consett, but not nationwide.
It's frustrating not to be able to see the letter to look for further clues!

Just as a correction 30th December 1946 was a Monday. 27th was most definitely a Friday

Our first phone in 1970 had a local phone number Greenlands 293

30th December was a Saturday in 1967, 1972 & 1978

Apparently Dec 1978 & Jan 1979 was a very bad winter