We knew a little about Jack and his family from the records of our Great-Uncle's memories. He recalled Jack as a miner whose wife's name was Nellie. Also that they had many children, including Bob, Russell, Deborah. Three of his sons were bandsmen in the Guards.
An address connected with the family is Whitehill Rd. (perhaps that should have been written as Wheatley Hill, or even Whitton Pk?)
In this section I have had a good deal of help from Ronald, whom we believe is a very distant cousin (as he is related to Nellie/Ellenore's Grandfather, William Gargett, born 1816 in Mickleton, North Yorkshire). He has kindly agreed that we can share in his research, so I have pooled our collective knowledge in this piece. Hopefully, we may come into contact with some of the descendants of John William Sennett (Jack) and his wife Ellenore (Gargett - known as Nellie?).
Nellie
Ronald tells me his Ellenore Gargett was born in 1879 in Butterknowle, Co. Durham. She married John Sennett in Lynesack, in 1900. (I haven't seen any other references to a marriage in the right period and area of anyone named John Sennett, so I'm 90% certain that this couple are the right ones. It should be noted, though, that there is one other family headed by a John Sennett (miner, aged 27, born in Willington) in the Wheatley Hill Census (1901). There, the wife is named Dorothy, born in Fatfield.)
Ellenore was one of 10 children, of parents Thomas & Elisabeth Gargett who lived next-door (at number 6) to where John & Ellenore are recorded by the 1901 Census. Many of Ellenore's ancestors were miners, as was the case in the Sennett family.
Jack
John Sennett was first spotted in the 1881 census return, and a suitable entry in the birth registry has been found for John William Sinnett in the Auckland Durham area in 1878. His mother Deborah died when he was very young, and then he was brought up by his father William & step-mother Emily. He has been seen in the 1891 census, in his father's house at 21 King St., Witton Park. There they are recorded as Senett, but this was transcribed as Lenett in the Ancestry database.
Marriage Certificate
I have the marriage certificate for John W. Sennett and Ellenore Gargett.
It shows they married on February the 17th, 1900 in the parish church of Lynesack, Co. Durham (presume that's St. John the Evangelist).
The groom was John William Sennett, 21, a Miner of The Slack, Butterknowle. His father was William Sennett, a Miner.
The bride was Ellenore Gargett, 21, also of The Slack. Her father was Thomas Gargett, a Miner.
Witnesses were Stephen Dalkin and Elizabeth Alice Gargett {Ronald identifies these folks as relatives of Ellenore - "Elisabeth Alice was Ellenore's younger sister, Stephen Dalkin was the younger brother of her oldest sister's husband".}
This marriage was by Superintendant Registrar's Certificate {rather than after Banns as usual}. There is a site (linked here) which explains a lot of the details you'd expect to find on marriage certificates. It gives several explanations of why a Superintendant Registrar's Certificate would be used. Although there is a possibility that it's because the couple were of differing religions, it could also be that the parich church was too small to have been a suitable place to read the banns. It also states that they are a rare find.
'The Slack', by the way is a small area on the way from Butterknowle to Cockfield. It's where The Stag's Head Pub is now.
Young Married Couple
In the 1901 census John and Ellenore Sennett are listed together at Copley Bent (near The Slack area), Lynesack & Softley , Durham, with a baby girl Jane Ann. John William (22) is a miner (hewer), listed as born Brancepeth {close enough?}. His wife Eleanor seems to be near her family - a household a few doors away are also Gargetts. They are a large household of Ellenore's father Thomas Gargett (57, Coal Miner Lamp Man) and his wife Elizabeth Jane (46, born Barnard Castle); 6 of their children, a grand-daughter and a brother Robert (sadly described as "Weak-minded").
Follow this link to read about the short-lived Copley Bent Colliery, and this link to see Mike Garratt's page on Copley Bent & Butterknowle. Also this nicely-made website about the Butterknowle area (www.teesdalehistory.com), this one from the Durham Miner Project site, and this leaflet PDF which shows a circular walk in the area & points out sites of mines, etc.
Talking of the Gargetts - I found this record of the tragic fatal accident down the Butterknowle Pit (DMM.org.uk);
Gargett, William, 04 Oct 1887, aged 15, Wailer (a boy who had to pick out stones & pyrites from the coal trucks), crushed between coal truck and screens.
Jack & Nellie's children
We already know about Jane Ann Sennett, as she appeared on the 1901 Census.
There are many children listed in the birth index for Co. Durham, including these where it appears their mother's name was Gargett:
1906, Richard Gargett Sennett
1911, Robert H Sennett
1913, John J Sennett
1916, Joseph V Sennett
The 1911 Census (Thanks to Elliot) finds John's larger family for us. We can see John William Sennett (born 1879, Coalminer Hewer) with his wife Eleanor (1879) living in a fairly large house in Copley Lane, Butterknowle. Their children were Jane Ann (1901), Thomas William (1904), Richard Gargett Sennett (1907) and Deborah (1909). These names and dates are roughly confirmed by some records that turned up on FreeBMD, too.
Further on still, we can see a record at the West Durham Registrars of the marriage in 1922 of Jane A. Sennett to Thomas Dunn. The bride could have been Jack & Nellie's eldest child, or one of his step-sisters?!
No comments:
Post a Comment