Forum Alderson Discussion

The place to discuss Aldersons: New Alderson Family Branches, newly discovered Aldersons or just one you already know about.

Lawrence Alderson: George Alderson of the Old Hospice on Spital

George Alderson was landlord at the Old Hospice on Spital in 1797 at the time of the famed "Hand of Glory" incident.

The Old Hospice now is called Old Spital and I farmed there in the 1970s. My first name is George, and my grandfather (also George) farmed at Grey Scar and Spital Park, two miles or so lower down the Greta (tributary of the Tees), but we are from a different line.

Does anyone have any information on the George who kept the Old Hospice in 1797? The nearest I have found is George at Barnard Castle (1757-1805), son of Roger Alderson and Dorothy Plewes, married on 30 May 1745.

Browsing through "Journeys in Family History" by David Hey,I found this
piece that I thought may be of interest to Aldersons.

Alderson, a name that was so common in Swaledale that each individual formerly had to have a distinctive by-name. In the hearth tax returns of Lady Day 1672 Swaledale was the home of 70 households of Aldersons;
another four families had moved into the northern Vale of York and two had arrived in York, but no Aldersons lived anywhere else in Yorkshire.

Hi Daisy,

Thanks for the quote from David Hey. It would be fascinating to see the detail of the Lady Day Hearth Tax returns he mentions. Does he give a reference in his book saying where the returns are held? It really would be useful to have a list.

Aldersons in Swaledale certainly did have nicknames to distinguish them from others with the same forename. This definitely continued into the 1800s.

I'm sure David Hey is wrong about Aldersons in Yorkshire being only in Swaledale and York. Perhaps he means Aldersons paying Hearth Tax. There were certainly Alderson in Cleveland, Leeds and Cowthorpe at that time that we know of.

Any more detail would be most welcome.

I've recently discovered that my GGG Grandmother was Jane Alderson, born in Stockton on Tees in 1908, she married Nathaniel Devey, Master Mariner and they lived in Stockton. I have her on census info and got her name from her daughters birth certificate but that is all I know about her. Does anyone have any suggestions about where to look for her please? I've looked on the Familysearch.org site but she does not appear there.

Hi Tessa,

I guess you mean 1808 (not 1908).

There was a Jane ALDERSON born in Stockton in 1808. The AFHS has no record relating to her marrying. However the marriage of a Jane ALDERSON to Nathaniel DEVEY is recorded but not linked to anyone.

It looks like Jane baptised in Stockton is probably the Jane who married Nat. DEVEY. I can see no other good candidiate in the database.

Yes I did mean 1808, oops. Embarassed

Thank you for looking in the database, if there was only one Jane Alderson born in Stockton in 1808 then I would imagine it is her that married Nat DEVEY. Their first child Anne was born in 1835 so there would not be a marriage cert on file, so I should imagine Parish records for the marriage will have to be searched. Is there a central base within towns for old parish records do you know or will I have to go to every church in the Stockton area?

Hi Tessa,

Jane (born 1808) is recorded as having parents John ALDERSON and Elizabeth SMITH who married in Stockton on 4 Oct 1803.

The AFHS has records for Jane's siblings, but has no earlier information about this family.

I would guess that John ALDERSON was born no later than 1782.

There are members of the AFHS who descend from John and Elizabeth. I guess they are stuck on this ancestry also.

Thank you for that Albert,
It's a shot in the dark but there may be a way to make a tenuous link between my Jane, and John and Elizabeth.

As names run in families and tend to be 'recycled' I was wondering if any of her siblings had the names Julius or Roshannah, as Roshannah was my GG Grandma's middle name and her brother was Julius.

As they are both quite unusual I thought there might be a chance.

My biology teacher at school was Clifford Alderson, nicknamed 'Stocky' If he is still around and happens to look on here.....Hello Sir.

Does anyone know if this house is still standing or indeed where it was in the village. On the census it seems to come between the Church and the Manse or in that region. On the 1881 and 91 census my great grandmother is living there (Ann Alderson nee Rukin) with her daughter Margaret and son-in-law James Rukin. I would like to know more about it so I can possibly find it when I go over next.

Sandy

Hi Sandy,

I believe that Swaledale (or perhaps the Dales more generally|) has a chat room or web site. I'm not sure of the name of it. You can perhaps find it via a Google search. I'm sure a posting on that site would give you the answer to your question.

I was doing some research last night through census reports and came across an Alderson family living in Brompton, Northallerton in 1871
Benjamin Alderson aged 51 a linen weaver born in Hurworth
Elizabeth Alderson aged 52 born in Brompton
And their children Jonathan (24) William (20) Martha (19) Edward (15) Benjamin (12) Frederick (10)

Just posting in case someone has lost them lol

Denise

AFHS members have collected a great deal of census data. There is a complete collection for the UK 1881 and 1901 censuses. A check is intended to ensure that the UK 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 census data is complete. There is a good collection of USA census data and some Canadian census data. I don't remember seeing anything much for Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere else.

By complete, I mean for the ALDERSON name. There are ALDERSONs lurking under various other names, usually because of misspelling, who have to be tracked down specifically. The collection for ALDERSON variant names is patchy.

Anyone who is thinking of collecting census data to add to the AFHS collection should first check with Yvonne our Research Officer, to ensure the data is collected in the right form and to avoid overlap.

Hi, just discovered your message. Elizabeth's father was my ggg grandfather - Jonathan Thompson. Her brother Edward was my gg grandfather. If you know anything about the Thompson side of this family I would be very grateful as they are very very difficult to trace. I am sure of the link as so many of the names link as well as dates etc.

Jan Christie

My particular Branch of Aldersons originate from Muker and moved to the area of Great Stainmore, however this morning I had occasion to walk through Oxbridge Cemetery at Stockton-on-Tees where I live. One of the first graves that I saw was of a William Alderson who died in 1901 and was a Primitive Methodist Minister, the same as at least one of my ancestors. Does anyone have any information on this Gentleman? I will get more details from the gravestone in the next couple of days.

Hi JPC,

We look forward to seeing the MI from the gravestone.

William appears in the AFHS database with an ancestry currently back into the 1600s. There is an extensive obituary detailing all of the places that he carried out his ministry - North of England mostly and Scotland.

He married twice and I have now found the registrations for both of his marriages: to Mary Ann LYNN in 1865 and to Sarah PARROTT in 1892.

I have also found census entries for 1871, 1891 and 1901 (Sarah) which are missing from William's AFHS entry. I have failed to find him in the Ancestry.co.uk index for 1861.

His christening appears in an IGI entry for Yarm in May 1816.

Regards Albert

The Gravestone reads;
In Loving Memory, Rev. William Alderson.
died 25.1.01, aged 83 years. Primitive Methodist Minister.
Who fell asleep in Jesus.
Also
Sarah Parrott Alderson, 10.1.17, aged 75 years.

George Alderson, Darlington, in 1861, cowkeeper, married my great aunt, Martha Hodsdon. They had a son, James S Alderson, who was an artist and art teacher in London. My cousin has some of his original paintings. Was he James Simpson Alderson? Can anyone help?

Hi Tony,

John S ALDERSON, the artist, was named James Simpson ALDERSON.

He was the son of George ALDERSON & Martha HODSDON. George became a hotel proprietor in Chelmsford then in Rugby.

As far as I know neither he nor his two sisters married. J S died in in Rugby in 1947.

Do you know anything more about J S or his family?

Hi Albert,
George Alderson became a hotel proprietor in Darlington, then Haughton le Skeme. He was retired and living in Rugby in 1901, with his wife, son James, Daughters Eliza and Helen.also my great aunt Helen Hodsdon and my grandmothers sister Eliza Hodsdon. Plus two servants.
James and his sisters were born in Hammersmith.

My first cousin inherited James paintings from my Grandmother Rebecca Hodsdon-Halls presumably because there were no other heirs after James and his sisters died.

I have other information in the pipe line, but Martha Alderson was descended from Alexander , 7th Marquis of Genoa on her Mothers side.

I have just spoken to my 1st cousin about James Simpson Alderson. It would appear, that she has a minature painting of a woman and thinks it may be Martha Alderson. Also, she has a beautifully illustrated Fairy Tale by James. He would have been our Grandmothers first cousin, so it's interesting to find out more about him. We are keen to know if James father had any siblings.

James' father George had 11 siblings, one of whom died in infancy - 5 of these were male. One of these siblings was also called James Simpson ALDERSON. I have researched his line forward and back and written articles about that line. The line of another sibling Jonathan has also been researched.

Hello

I'm descended from Gabriel Alderson, saddler of Darlington. Gabriel married in Thirsk 1721 and died sometime between 1730 & 1739. Gabriel had at least three sons: John 1727-1782 & Samuel 1730-1796 who were both weavers, and Gabriel who was described as an "idiot" when he died in 1747.

Any new relations out there?

Janice
New Zealand

I guess the Gabriel in your line is the one that married Dorothy SMITH in Thirsk on 26th Oct 1721. I haven't managed to find any descendants of Gabriel so I am very pleased to hear that you have found three sons.

It seems that Gabriel's son John is the one that married Elizabeth KITCHIN (if I heard Ann properly).

Is Gabriel's son Samuel the one that married Mary MOON in 1756?

How do you descend from Gabriel?

Does anyone have have any further information on George Alderson who married Sithy Scott at Arkengarthdale?
Thanks
Denise

Hi Denise,

It seems that George had two brothers, Simon and Richard, all alive at 8 Feb 1747 and again 22nd August 1749. They must all have been 21 or over on 8 Feb 1747, since they are parties to a legal document, which gives a latest year of birth for the youngest of 1726, and probably earlier.

This comes from the title deeds:
NRY Title Deed Q-435-743
NRY Title Deed Q-435-744.
NRY Title Deed R-279-402.

The latter seems to tell us that their father had a sister who married Richard HIRD.

The order of their appearance in the third document it may be that George was eldest, then Simon, then Richard. I don't know who their parents were.

Marriages and descendants of George and Simon have been identified.

The will of Richard HIRD might be in existence. It might say who his wife was, but she might have died given that the property and land was sold off.

The father of George might not have left a will. The land at Holling Intack was shared equally. That might mean this was 'partiable' inheritance, where all of the children got an equal share of the estate.

There is no marriage currently in the database for an ALDERSON to Richard HIRD.

Arkengarthdale joins Swaledale at Reeth, which is just across the Swale from Grinton. Muker is some miles further up Swaledale from Reeth. I would think you would find Upper Swaledale BMDs at Muker, and others at Grinton.

According to the Mormon online index this particular George Alderson actually married a lady called Ruth Metcalfe. I think I'll have to visit the NYRO to find out before I give him some parents
Denise

The George who married Ruth METCALFE is recorded as being an inn keeper born in 1726.
Are you sure this is the George you want?

Albert, I really don't know at the moment. I'm as certain as I can be with George Walton Alderson is one of mine. then it all gets a little vague but the educated guess is his father was William Alderson who married Mary Walton in Alston Cumbernauld. I'm pretty sure his father was a George, although can't find my notes at the moment, but there are a few question marks.

I can see the sense in suggesting that George Walton ALDERSON was the son of William ALDERSON and Mary WALTON born in Alston, Cumberland. This would explain the 1841 entry showing that George, schoolmaster was not born in Yorkshire. The age fits. But it is puzzling that he doesn't have the second name Walton in the birth entry.

It seems that William and his first wife Margaret MULCASTER were both from Romaldkirk. The mining must have attracted them to Alston. William appears as OLDERSON not ALDERSON in the Alston parish register, it would seem. Margaret must have died and he married Mary WALTON in Alston.

Assuming William was at least 21 when he married Margaret, he was born circa 1746. There is no obvious choice of a William born in Romaldkirk around that date.

And of course, William gets associated with mysterious Pullen or Pulleine tag when he moves to work in the lead mines of Arkengarthdale.

As you say it is all a bit muddy.

Sorry for bring a bit blonde, but what does Pullen or Pulleine mean? I assume that is something to do with the Poor law.

He also named one of his his children Walton which also suggests to me that Mary WALTON was his mother. Maybe it wasn't a given middle name and he was just thinking of us future researchers.Also in 3 of thei childrens baptism records he uses the name George Walton.
There are a few certificates I am missing here that may provide more clues. I'll send off and see what comes about
Thanks for you help
Denise

Excuse me for forgetting that you are a new member of the AFHS. We are getting into the murky waters of Swaledale nicknames.

As I understand it, because there were so many ALDERSONs with the same name, they had nicknames which even got used in the parish registers. It is something I know very little about. There are articles in old issues of the AFHS Newsletter about this. There are particular articles about the Pullen nickname. You can get copies of old issues from the Secretary see www.afhs.org/past_newsletters.html. I will root through my copies and see which back numbers you might want to read. (I had a look at the online index but couldn't see the articles I remember.)

I will get back to you on this.

Yes the WALTON name is suggestive, but you would be surprised by the numbers of different Walton first and middle names in the database, including a family where the ALDERSON mother didn't marry the WALTON father. Still the William and Mary family of Alston does seem the most likely.

Ah, so they were thinking of us future researchers
Thanks for your help on this , the clan is becoming a lot clearer

The date given for baptism from the AFHS for William ALDERSON is 23 December 1742 in Arkengarthdale, not Romaldkirk. Where can I find the information that says both William ALDERSON and Margaret MULCASTER were from Romaldkirk?

The marriage entry in the AFHS database has the note:
'at Garrigill?; she of Romaldkirk; she OLDERSON of Romaldkirk'
The second she must be a mistype of he, since she was manifestly not an OLDERSON whereas he certainly could have been. Of course the note could be totally wrong. I presume it is from the Alston parish records.

Just thinking out loud here, as it's the marriage entry, it could just say Romaldkirk because that's where he was living at the time? But then I've studied the maps and Garrigill is over 30km away so that doesn't make sense. Then on rechecking, there is a question mark as to where George Walton Alderson was born although as it says on the 1841 census, he was not of this county. In the marriage register it says he of Arkengarthdale but obviously that is just the same as my husband and I putting both of this parish despite him not being born here.
Better give it a rest before I throw him outside

Yes, I suppose the marriage register would give their parish of residence not their parish of birth. They were married by banns, which would be read at Garrigill and at Romaldkirk I suppose.

After a while it is a good idea to sit back and study the whole picture again.

I have found some articles on nicknames in old Newsletters, which I will tell you about tomorrow. I have also done some work on a branch of ALDERSONs wher the Pullen tag is used. I will review that and see if it makes any sense.

Have been to the records office today, Geoge Walton ALDERSON and Hannah Barningham married in Wensley Parish which I already knew, but forgot that earlier marriages and banns didn't have the grooms father on. I had a quick look at the transcribed records for Arkengarthdale but there is no sign of George at all. Does anyone know where the records for Alston are held or how I can find the name of Georges father? He was fom Arkengarthdale at the time of his marriage on the banns in 1800. Also there is a Joseph George ALDERSON baptised March 18th 1801 in Leyburn, does he belong to anyone here. he was buried on March 19th 1801 but it does says he was from Preston. One of Georges children, Walton ALDERSON married by license as opposed to banns, who would issue the licenses in this area? Would there be any more information on the license.
I also think that Hannah may have been born in Leyburn as opposed to Catterick, who do I need to check that with?
And the ultimate question, why do I always run out of time when I go to the Records Office

More thoughts - I can't find any references online to Walton ALDERSONs before the marriage of William ALDERSON and Mary WALTON, so I think it is probably fair to say that those with the Walton tag are descendants of this couple. I have however found various Walton ALDERSONs on the census returns. As there are large gaps between William and Marys known children, I'm looking along the lines that there was possibly more male children. I have found children belonging to a William and Mary ALDERSON on Romaldkirk where they from at the time of their marriage but they were both born before the date I have for their marriage. Does anyone know who this William and Mary ALDERSON in Romaldkirk about 1767/68 were?