Northumberland Archives is a heritage partner to a National Lottery Funded project, the ‘Northumberland Village Halls Heritage Project’. The project aims to celebrate the history of some of Northumberland’s Village Halls and ensure that records and memories are preserved for future generations. The project was developed by and is managed by Community Action Northumberland (CAN) whose mission is to benefit and help sustain rural communities in Northumberland. This blog was written by Lynn Hall.

This whole process started when towards the end of 2021 a former committee member contacted our chairman David Pentney and informed him she had six boxes of old information concerning the Village hall. When David looked through the boxes he found loads of history from the Village hall including the minute’s book used by the original trustees dating back to 1928.

However the book was looking a little fragile so he contacted Community Action Northumberland (CAN) for advice on restoration and how best to display the information. From that David arranged a meeting with CAN representative Tracey Morgan in early April which Nick & I attended, – being quite new to the village we were interested in its history, although we did not realise until we attended the meeting that our hall was enrolled on the CAN Village Hall history projectJ. Lucky for us we had all the info for our project contained within those boxes including two minutes books covering 1928 to 1999.

As part of the project Nick, David & I visited Northumberland Archives on 26th April meeting representatives from other Village halls who were doing the project. We were given a crash course on what materials can be used to preserve documents, as well as ideas on how to do any research we may need to do for our individual projects. We were also treated to a tour behind the scenes to see how they store documents so they are preserved for future generations, as well as how they are trying to get a lot of documents scanned for online viewing. It was a well presented and interesting tour.

Initially we were hoping to do a synopsis of both minute books which would form the central theme of our project, however as Nick worked his way through the minutes and we realised how time consuming this was we decided to focus on the 50 years up to 1978, which was still quite an undertaking. One of the biggest problems was deciphering the different handwriting styles over the years – we would think we had it cracked & then the minute taker would change and, therefore, the handwriting too! Another issue we had was getting information from the locals as we are new to the village so this was why we concentrated on the minute books.

As Nick continued with the synopsis he decided to include subsections on points of interest e.g. the caretaker – as there was a lot of discussion in early minutes on the caretaker’s duties & wages. We considered printing the synopsis into booklet form & distributing to villagers but as I typed Nick’s notes up it became apparent this would be too costly, so another idea is to put it on our website for people to read or download.

With the CAN/ National Lottery grant of £300 we have purchased some display boards. These will allow us to showcase all the information and photos we have at the coffee morning we are organising for the 26th November, hopefully we will have a good turnout as we are offering free coffee & biscuits. Anyone who wants a copy of the synopsis can have it emailed – also allowing us a platform to email them about future events.

Nick and I have certainly learned about the village through doing the project, with interesting anecdotes like the lamb which was offered as a raffle prize at an Easter dance – it did not mention if this was alive or butchered. Or the caretaker saga in the 1930s when the caretaker at the time was asked to take a pay cut from 7 to 5/- a week, when he refused new tenders were requested for his job – however his was the only tender they received at, you’ve guessed it, 7/- a week so he carried on in his role. Then there was all the Google searching we did when we were looking up e.g. a needle & thread race or old penny pitching which was part of a sports day held in 1930.

So although initially we wondered what we had let ourselves in for we feel it was worth doing.

This blog was written by one of our Archive Assistants.

Recently, staff from Northumberland Archives and Morpeth Road Academy, Blyth, teamed up and organised a local history walk complete with lesson plans and activities for Year 5 students. The day was divided up into two parts, a heritage walk with work sheets to complete and then lunch and activities at the Commissioners Building. 

I arrived early on a bright Friday morning to an already bustling school. After signing in at reception, our team and myself were escorted to the classroom of some very lively and enthusiastic Year 5 students.  

The group were instructed on the schedule of the day and reminded of the importance of manners and road safety while away from school. Coats, hats, activity sheets and packed lunches were gathered up and everyone set off. As we walked, we chattered and laughed. The children asked many questions! 

The Blyth Heritage Walk activity sheet was to be filled in by the students at various planned stops along the route. Some of them being; the site of the former train station, the Wallaw Cinema which was renovated and is now a pub, the old fire station and Crofton Mill Park. Staff prompted for answers and ideas using visual aids that showed the buildings as they had once been. 

On arrival at the Harbour Commissioners Office building, we were met by Clive Gray and Jane Stewart. They took us a tour of the building and explained its purpose in the past and enlightened us of its future of being transformed into an education centre/archive. The students particularly enjoyed sitting around the large table in the boardroom, pretending that they were taking part in an important meeting. 

The next 30 minutes was lunchtime. This was a noisy event! We were all hungry and sat down together in groups to eat our lunch. 

Once tidied away, it was time for our main lesson. Flip chart paper and pens were supplied to each group. 

Students were asked to focus on the needs of different members of the community, e.g., the elderly, primary school child, teenagers, people with difficulties, young mothers etc. They were encouraged to understand and produce changes that can be made to meet the needs of these groups of people and therefore make the town better. 

As I joined in, I noticed that the students were particularly good readers and even better at exchanging ideas and debating facts before deciding on their final ideas. Each group fed back their designs to the whole class who gave their opinion to the new town which was created. 

The afternoon walk back to school was not as lively as it had been earlier on in the day! Students were tired out but soon perked up when we got back to school and were allowed 15 minutes out in the playground before home time. 

For years I have been researching my family tree and done quite well, mainly using the website Ancestry, but there were two relatives who always puzzled me. The 1901 census describes their relationship to the head of the household as nieces, so I knew they were related to my family but with the head of household having several siblings I couldn’t tell from that census alone who their parents were. When the 1911 census was released I thought great, hopefully this time they will be at home with their parents…but alas, this time they were listed as living with their grandparents! Hmm well I didn’t want to go to the trouble and expense of ordering birth certificates, so when I got a job in the archive, I thought I would try to trace them using the parish records. Parish records are church records of births, burials and marriages and other events, see below, originally kept to prevent bigamy and consanguineous marriages. I knew my ancestors date of birth and that they were born in Newcastle, but there are many churches in Newcastle, so it took a bit of digging to find the right church. Fortunately, there is a computer programme called “Reading Room” in the archive where many parish records have been digitised and looking through them is so much quicker than using the microfilm readers.

After a while I found one of the sisters, her father and mother were both recorded along with their place of abode and the father’s occupation. What a treat some extra information that I was not expecting. I looked for the second sister at the same church, but nothing, she was for some reason baptised in a different church, so that did take a little more searching, but I did find her. Again, the father’s occupation (which was different this time) was recorded along with the families’ place of abode (which was also different and new information).

Imagine my joy at finally being able to give my ancestor her parents! A piece of the puzzle solved.

The earliest parish records the archives have date back to the late 16th century, although not for every parish unfortunately. Parish records were first recorded under the reign of King Henry VIII but he didn’t specify that they should be recorded on parchment so some of them, being on more femur paper, didn’t last all that long. His successor Elizabeth I realised that being able to retain the records was important and decreed that they be recorded on parchment and so fortunately for us, some of them still exist. The originals must be protected of course so the digitised records on “Reading Room” or our microfilm copies are the place we suggest you look first. Let’s have a look at some of the examples of records on “Reading Room”.

Christening record 1696 Shotley St Andrew’s

“Dorothy daughter of Francis Hutchinson the last day of September”

This record is old and is in lovely handwriting, but it does not give a huge amount of detail.

The next parish record is interesting from the first page where it is written;

St Augustine’s Fenham 1927-1930

“All Baptisms wherein “418 or 416 Westgate Road” is described as the residence were administered in the Poor Law Institution”

The second page has a record dated August 29th 1927

“Child’s name: Margaret

Parents name: John and Veronica Scott

Abode: 416 Westgate Road

Occupation: Labourer

Godparents’ names: no information submitted

By whom ceremony performed: [G Miles]

So looking at the parish record you may find out who your relatives Godparents were, which might give more clues to your family tree.

Parish records also cover non-Anglican records, Banns, confirmations and unconsecrated burials.

Lowick St John Baptisms Dissenters births and burials 1771-1817

“1784 Maria daughter of John and Elizabeth Elliot, Famer at Lowick”

Banns 1915-1924 St Augustine Newcastle

“John Wilson Lamb of this parish” also includes a note on the side “43 Crossley”, perhaps his address?

“Jane Innas of St Aidan’s parish” also includes a note on the side “130 West View” perhaps this was her address?

“Banns read May 2, 9, 16 1915”

Meldon St John the Baptist Confirmation candidates 1896

On sat March 28 1896 at 10.30 am the following were presented at Mitford Parish Church

Henry Collin aged 23 years The Kennels, Meldon

Rosina Walton 18.4 years The Farm, Meldon

Elizabeth Nichol 19.3 years Deer Cottages, Meldon

Berwick civil cemetery records unconsecrated burials 1856-1863

Catherine Ann Purves daughter of William Purves shoe maker age 1 Chapel Street Berwick date of burial 8th June 1857 ceremony by John Cairns United Presbyterian Minister

You could even look for a local hero, like this one

If you would like a copy of any records you find on “Reading Room” you can print them off at a cost of £2 per sheet.

Happy searching!