William Sennett was born near Coundon in 1858 (click on to read more about his parents & siblings, or to read more about his birth certificate.)
If you aren't familiar with the towns of Co. Durham, try out my Google Map for this family. I wanted to get some things straight in my head!
William was brought up by James & Margaret Sennett of Willington (1871 census) and became a miner. Certainly at the age of 12 he worked down a mine.
He married Deborah Smurthwaite in 1877, and they lived at 33 Albert St., Willington (St. Stephen parish)
1881 Census {not 1891 as I wrote previously}
All of the household were born in Willington, Durham
William Sennett, (aged 23) Miner,
Deborah Sennett, (aged 22) wife,
son, John (Jack, aged 2 - so born ~1879)
also Lodger John Smurthwait (60, Miner, married) and young Eliza Smurthwait (12)
The folk described as Lodgers here were actually in-laws, which was not an uncommon error.
Heather (Deborah Smurthwaite's relative, a contact I met through GenesReunited) has confirmed for us that William's first wife did die tragically young (24) in 1882. So that would be just after the 1881 census was taken, when her son John was 3.
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Our Marra Heather has been looking into this family branch in the last week or two, and has come up with the following. Well, I helped a little bit, but not much!
Thankyou Sherlock Heather ;-)
Deborah Smurthwaite was from a family of 8 children (7 daughters & 1 son!) in the Auckland area of Co. Durham - she was born in 1859. After her marriage to miner, William Sinnett (1877) they lived in Byers Green and are seen in the 1881 census with a toddler John (the Jack my Gran remembered) - details shown above. We think they had John W. Sennett (1878), and Jane Ann Sennett (1881), but shortly after Jane's birth, Deborah is recorded (July 1882) as having died of Phthisis Pulmonaris = TB. She was only 24.
William was present at her death, and she was at Hunwick Lane Ends - photos of the area are found here.
{See this link on medical terms to find Phthisis (pronounced 'Tysis'). In an 1857 text, TB is addressed thus; "How many young mothers hast thou laid in an early tomb?". }
There are also records in Durham for the birth and death of two babies: Jane Sinnett (1877) and James Sennett (1882) - but we aren't sure yet whether these were William & Deborah's children (they could be a cousin's). {Well - now we know that James can't have been Deborah's child, as she died before he was born.}
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You can read more about their son Jack's later life by clicking here.
William remarried in 1883
The next thing we see of widowed William Sennet is in the Auckland Registry of marriages in 1883, when he marries a lass called Emily McGuire - we presume this is the young lass seen in the photo (on post named Sennett Elders).
In the 1891 Census he is found living in Witton Park, Co. Durham with his second wife Emily Sennet. (Details below, and also details & later photos on this page.)
Well, I say "his wife Emily". Perhaps it's a mistake in the transcription of the 1901 Census, but there she is named as Ann. The birth certificate of my ancestor James Sennett definitely gives us the name of Emily Sennett (nee McGuire) as his mother. 'Ann' was born 1866 in Trimdon, according to her entry in the 1901 census. The 1911 census tells us that William & Ann had been married for 28 years, which does date their wedding to 1883.
Heather found Emily McGuire with her parents Joseph and Ellen (transcribed McQuinn) in the 1871 Census - born 1866 and in Trimdon. We think this is too much a coincidence for her not to be 'Ann'. Women often choose to use an alternate name (middle name?) after they have been away from their parents a while. How could we prove it...clues anyone?
{A minor clue arrives in the form of her grandchild - Harry's child was given the middle name of McGuire although it was transcribed as McQuire, and could instead be connected to the mother's family...}
Her parents, Joseph and Ellen McGuire were both born in Cumberland. Emily McGuire has a brother William McGuire, and in 1891 he is found as a lodger in the household of Deborah Smurthwaite's sister, Maria Cowens. {Wow, great detective work there from Heather (Sherlock Holmes)!}
It's a small world. It suggests a way that the newly widowed William could have been introduced to his second wife? We can surmise that Emily knew Deborah before her untimely death.
Haven't yet found entries in the birth & deaths registry for an Emily McGuire/Sennett, although there are several suitable Ann's. Probably, then our Emily was named as Ann when she was born, and perhaps Ann was her Sunday Best name. Some baptismal records are available, and they might help. And then to further complicate matters, in the family we remember our James' Mum was named Jane Sennett.
Did she have a monstrously bad speech impediment? Diabolically bad handwriting? Really bad memory?
Moving round the County, pit to pit:
Details in the later census told us where each child was born, and so we can guess at where the family lived each year. In each town, a colliery was nearby.
Deborah (1887), born Trimdon (But it was usual for a woman to have her first child at her parents' home, so they may not have lived there.)
Henry (1889) born Oakenshaw
James (1891) born Witton Park
Isabella (1893) born Sunnybrow {near Willington}
William (1896) born Spennymoor
Joseph (1898) born Spennymoor
Mary Jane (1900) born Byers Green
Sarah Ann (1905) born Byers Green
The 1911 census also tells us that William & Ann Sennett had 10 children, but that one child had died by 1911. {I'm presuming that William hadn't read the instructions properly and he is also including his 2 children by his first wife... one lived, one died. It was a common error.}
1891 Census
So, William & Deborah's children, John W. (12) & Jane A. (9) are seen in the 1891 census return, counted with William Sennett (33). They are being brought up by him & his second wife Emily (26). Also the couple have their own children, 4 year-old Deborah (sweet of them to name her after his first wife), and 2 year-old Harry.
Heather had to do some clever detective work to find this family in the 1891 census, as they had been noted down as the 'Lennet' family. (Well a curly Victorian S & L can look very similar!) Deborah's name has been transcribed as Dakers Lennet (?!?) - what a way to go down in history??!
They are living at 21, King St. of Witton Park (Escomb parish) - that's where our James was born, just days after this census was taken.
Also in the household there is William's 16 year-old brother John Sennett (Miner, son of James Sennett), and a domestic servant (Elizabeth A Fleming, 15).
In the previous census, a young lass named Elizabeth Fleming was living in Willington with her father who was a Lancashire-born coal miner.
All the other men in the nearby households are Miners, except for one who is a Coke Drawer. The Ironworks and Mines had been the major employers at the time in Witton Park, though the Ironworks closed in the 1880's. (Also a website here about the history of the Witton Park area, and a really clear map of the town as it appeared in 1897: in the middle of this page. See the rows or terraces which are aligned East-West? King St ran East (downhill) from the King's Head Inn. Now all demolished, except for a wee fragment of Queen St. You can view the space which the colliery rows occupied in my photo here:)
Witton Park - view to East
Jane Ann Sennett
Heather looked up their daughter Jane Ann (born 1881/1882) to find out where she lived, who she married etc., but discovered instead that Jane Ann Sennett died very young {death cert found for her in the Auckland district, 1893}. Bless.
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The 1901 census
High St., Byers Green. 4 occupied rooms. St. Peter's Parish.
Father - William Sennett, 42, born Tottingham {sic, not in current map}, Co. Durham
Occupation Coal Miner Hewer (Almost all the other men of this street are also Miners.)
Mother - Anne Sennett, 35, born Trimdon {It is quite clearly written Anne, not Jane.}
Deborah, 14, born Trimdon
Henry {Harry}, 12 born Oakenshaw {N of Willington}
James, 9 born Witton Park
Isabella {Bella}, 7 born Sunnybrow {near Willington}
William {Bill}, 5 born Spennymoor
Joseph, 3 born Spennymoor
Mary Jane, 1 born Byers Green
See the following links to pages for old photos of these towns: of Sunnybrow and Willington, (and also the Frances Frith site), and of Byers Green.
Thanks (once more!) to Heather for the tip - 'Tottingham' where William was born is probably Tottenham, near Coundon, Co. Durham. Link here.
You'll note that Gran added on Aunty Ann for us, who presumably was born after Mary Jane, i.e. after 1901? It was a while before I found any records to prove she existed!!
What's next? For details of what we can see in the 1911 census see below, and for further information about William's second wife Anne, James & his siblings, follow the links.
I have a reference to William Sennett from December 1903, which tells me that he was living at 14 Front Street, Byers Green. {on 1903 death cert for his father}
1911 Census - Auckland Area - Thanks Elliot!
I'm grateful to have received a copy of the latest Census page for the household of William Sennett (52) and his Ann (45, born Trimdon). William was working as a Deputy Overman that year. They lived at 10 Old Park Terrace, Byers Green (marked with an arrow on the map shown here - it's just South of Hagg Lane).
The census sheet tells us they married in 1883; their children at home were James (1892, Hewer), Isabella (1894), William (1896, Pony Driver), Joseph (1898, Scholar), Mary Jane (1900), and Sarah Ann (1905).
Old Park Terrace now is a lovely quiet place (see my photos from 2010, below) - but in 1901/1911 it was next to a busy railway junction and colliery. I can't say for sure how much longer they lived there, but we do they were continued to live in the Byers Green area.
Views of the terrace
(east & west)
View from the rear of the terrace:
Byers Green Colliery
The Durham Mining Museum site is an excellent place to research old material about Collieries: www.dmm.org.uk
Also a newly available index of the Durham Miners' Association Archive (Hidden Depths - great name!) Sadly not found anything relating to my family there, but you may have better luck!
I found no references there to William Sennett himself, but at the time when he would have been part of the foremen/overmen team at the Byers Green Pit, there were several accidents recorded (as there were in all the local collieries) - links here for as selection of the details about fatalities in 1905, in 1910, in 1911, and in 1919.
The pit closed in 1931, when William Sennett would have been aged 73.
How long did the couple live?
Family history seems to suggest that William & Ann continued to live in the Byers Green area.
I have two definite references to William Sennett from family certificates in his later life:
- Marriage cert of Harry Sennett, 1912 - in which William was described as Foreman Miner.
- Marriage cert (#2) of Harry Sennett, 1943 - in which William was described as Retired Colliery Official. (Though the fact that we are not told he has died on that cert does not of itself prove that he was still alive in 1943.)
His second wife seems to have settled on the name Ann in later life, and she died in 1946, aged 80.
This 1842 report has some amazing descriptions of the work done by Overmen, Drivers (page 15), Hewers etc.
Talking of Pit Ponies...let's remember Pip.
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