Family History

My name is Val Pattison (nee Campbell),the photo’s are of my family  the chap sitting wearing a cap is my Granddad James Campbell, the next the soldier is my uncle Herbert Makinson (formerly of Dean Bank) The next photo is my paternal Grandma Frances Campbell the next is my maternal grandma Rebecca Makinson and her sisters, the next Grandma Makinson with her son George Makinson, Granddad Herbert Makinson is also included on the next one. Following that is one of my paternal Grandmother Frances Campbell, the next one is my mother Ethel Campbell with my Great Aunt Lizzie and the little girl is me. The cute little boy with the funny trousers is Bill Pattison aged about 2 or 3. The next one is of my mother her maiden name being Ethel Makinson with her brother George who lost his leg in a pit accident at Mainsforth. The old wedding picture is my parents Ethel Makinson to Ralph Campbell. The last one is me aged about thirteen my paternal Grandma Frances and my kid sister Jan.


Pattison Matthew English

My name is Dale....my mum was born in Ferryhill, and she grew up there until she moved to Bedale.Robert Todd was my grandfathers' name...he married a Margaret Benson..that's where the Nunan comes in..my nan Nunan married a Benson.....now back to my mum..Sadie Catherine Todd married Archie Duncan MacRae.....after she and the Benson family moved to Windsor, Ontario...that's where I come in....Sadie and David.

Archie had two children a daughter me Dale and a son WILLIAM SLATER TODD,b. ABT Mar 1854 in Lamesley, Durham,(son of Robert Todd and Margaret Slater)

d. ABT May 883 in Auckland, Durham, occupation Coal Miner (1871, 1881).

Elizabeth Kennedy, b. ABT Aug 1856 in Leadgate, Durham,(daughter of Charles Kennedy and Ann Maine)

d. ABT Aug 1887 in Auckland, Durham, occupation Dressmaker (1881)

She married WILLIAM SLATER TODD, ABT Nov 1875 in Auckland, Durham,

THEIR CHILDREN

i. Robert Edward Todd, b. ABT Feb 1876 in Tudhoe, Durham,

d. ABT Aug 1893 in Auckland, Durham, occupation Scholar (1881), Coal Miner (1891).

He is living with his Todd grandparents in 1891

ii. Charles Todd, b. ABT Nov 1877 in Stockton, Durham,

d. ABT Feb 1928 in Sedgefield, Durham,

occupation Coal Miner (1891), Coal Miner Hewer (1901, 1911).

He is living with his maternal uncle Joseph in 1891.

He died of dust in the lungs. He is buried in Ducombe Cemetery, Ferryhill.

He married Isabel Scott Lowery, ABT Nov 1899 in Sedgefield, Durham,

b. ABT May 1880 in Metal Bridge, Ferry Hill, Durham,

d. ABT May 1927 in Sedgefield, Durham. Isabel: She is buried in Ducombe Cemetery, Ferryhill

THEIR CHILDREN

1. Joseph Lowery Todd, b. ABT Nov 1900 in Sedgefield, Durham,

d. ABT Nov 1900 in Sedgefield, Durham.

2. William Todd, b. ABT Dec 1901 in Sedgefield, Durham,

d. ABT Feb 1932 in Sedgefield, Durham.

3. Robert Edward Todd, b. 16 Jun 1904 in Ferryhill, Durham,

d. 28 Dec 1981 in Nottinghamshire.

He married Margaret Theresa Benson, ABT Aug 1930 in Bedale, Yorkshire

b. 9 May 1912 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland,

d. 27 Jan 1987 in Windsor, Ontario.

THEIR CHILD

i.Sadie Catherine Todd, b. 30 May 1932 in Sedgefield, Durham. .

She married Archie Duncan MacRae,

b. 16 Aug 1932 in Windsor, Ontario,26

d. 27 Sep 1996 in Windsor, Ontario.26,70

THEIR CHILDREN

i. Dale Ann MacRae b. 5 May 1953.

ii. David Duncan MacRae b. 12 May 1956.

iii. William Slater Todd, b. ABT Nov 1881 in Ferry Hill, Durham,

d. ABT Aug 1932 in Burnley, Lancashire, occupation Coal Miner Hewer (1911).

He is living with a cousin in 1891 and with his paternal grandmother in 1901.

He married Mary Cullen, ABT Feb 1902 in Durham, England,

b. ABT 1881 in Canny Hill, Durham. Mary:

d in 1884.



Todd-Benson- Nunan-MacRae

I have many happy memories of Ferryhill Station in the 50s when I was young and frequently stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, Joan and Hugh Hogg at 6 Dennison Terrace.

I remember a small corner shop opposite run by a husband and wife Mr. & Mrs. Kirtley sweet people. If you ran short out of shop hours you could always knock on the back door.

My aunt and uncle were very friendly with the people who had the club at the bottom of Dennison Street; I believe they were called Mitton. I was a friend of their daughter Gloria.

I remember the tiny brick built Fish n' Chip Shop at the bottom of some steps, and at the top I think it was a prefab type building which was a wool shop/ haberdashery it always seemed to be so full of light.

I spent all my pocket money in the newsagents on the corner, comics, sweets and cap guns. I was quite a tomboy!

In the mid sixties my Aunt and Uncle became landlord and landlady of the Commercial Hotel.

Huge, impressive building on the outside, but I think it was a bit grim inside.

Every Sunday, we walked all the way to St. Luke's Church to attend Mass. It seemed like a marathon for my little legs at the time.

I recall one Saturday morning seeing a lot of men collecting outside a pub which I think was the Surtees. They had their banners and were waiting to be collected to go to Durham Big Meeting.

My mother's family came from Low Spennymoor and were all connected with mining, so I felt very proud.

Yours sincerely, Monica Crabtree(Mrs.)


My father built Aloha bungalow and no1 Dean Road, He was also a council member of the Broom chapel. Mr. Arthur Stevenson.

My father built Aloha bungalow and no1 Dean Road, He was also a council member of the Broom chapel. Mr. Arthur Stevenson.

My grandparents, Ralph and Mary Martin, had been the landlords of “The Swan Hotel”, Ferryhill Station. Mr. C.Woodward.

I used to work as a hairdresser for Gladstone's, Darlington Road. Mrs. C.A.Pearson.



I have a family tree which you may be of interest. As a child I remember being very confused with Aunts and Uncles (Great).

2 brothers married 2 sisters & the resulting off-spring were: Margaret, Harry, Annie, Mary, John Brown, William, James, Ben & Joseph in one family & in the second family there were Henry, John Brown, Margaret, William, Fred, Ben, Annie, Mary, James & all with a Walker surname!

Best wishes, Kate Foster.

My two sets of grandparents both moved to Ferryhill at around the time of the First World War, presumably to find work in the mines.

In 1918, the Hopes were living in Magdalene Place and by 1939 they had moved to Cochrane Terrace. Soon afterwards they moved to "Redesdale" in what became the Bridgehouse Estate, where my Aunt, Irene Robinson, lived until her death in 1989. Her father (and my grandfather), Matthew Hope was a long-serving Methodist local preacher.

My father's family, the Joyces, lived in Highcliffe Terrace in 1936 and sometime in about 1940/41 moved to a bungalow they named "Leeside" in Bridgehouse Estate. The adjoining bungalow, "Ashcroft", was the home of Norrie Joyce's brother, Herbert Chapman.

My cousin and I have been researching our family history and she is especially interested in the place where her father grew up. If, in the future, you produce any booklets of the history and old photographs, I should be very grateful if you would let me know.

With many thanks, Kath Standring.


I read the Northern Echo every day and have a great interest in Ferryhill as I used to stay at my Gran and Granddad's cottage opposite the cricket field in my school holidays from the mid fifties to late sixties.

Thank you very much. T. Hall.


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