Thomas & Eliza's Children - John Robert Dent

John Robert Dent (Jack) was the 6th of Thomas & Eliza's children.  He was born on the 28th August 1902.  In 1929 he married Eleanor Avery (Nellie) who was born on the 8th December 1905. 

Jack, like his brother Luke, worked at Vickers Armstrong - the 1939 Register shows that Jack worked as a "Maintenance Engineer Armaments." 

Coastal Tanks Vickers Armstrong 1942

The 1939 Register also shows they lived close to Vickers at 86 Roberts Street, Scotswood.  Here is a photograph taken, in 2009 of what was left of Roberts Street, obviously, just before these remaining houses were completely demolished.

This photograph was taken in 2009 showing what remained of Roberts Street Scotswood. Starting from the left at No 74, which means No 86 is top right second door down - they are all flats

By 1953 the Electoral Register shows John Robert and Eleanor were living at 36 Netherby Drive Fenham with their children. 

John and Eleanor had two children:

Their son Frederick (Fred) born 1930 -1989 - married Mary Agnes Young. They had 5 children, Alan, Ann, Marian, Paul, and Catherine. 
                                  
Their daughter Claudia born 1931 - In 1957 married William Hoggett. The 1958 Electoral Register records that Claudia and William were living with her parents at 36 Netherby Drive after they married.

36 Netherby Drive, Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne as at 2019

John and Eleanor's final home was a bungalow at 18 Rudchester Place Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne.

18 Rudchester Place Fenham

Unfortunately I have no photographs of John or any of his family.

John Robert Dent died in October 1981 at the age of 79.  

Eleanor Dent (nee Avery) died in November 1989 aged 83. 

Eliza and Thomas Dent's children - Frederick Thomas

Frederick (Fred) Thomas Dent was born in 1899 was Thomas and Liza's fifth child.  In 1925 at the age of 25 he died in the Scotswood Montagu Pit disaster.

It is so sad that the only photograph or information I have about my great uncle Fred is this memorial in St. John's Cemetery Elswick that commemorates his death, together with the other 31 other poor souls who died along with him as you can see on the Memorial (6 other miners were buried elsewhere). 

I can't imagine how Thomas and Liza, and their children coped with the horror and sadness of Fred's death.

Luke was greatly affected in having to identify his brother's drowned body.  Luke's story, as I remember it, was, he could only identify his brother Fred by the socks his mam had knitted for him.  This story has been passed down through the family.

The coroner's report describes Luke's means of identifying Fred in more detail. (this information was kindly passed on to me by my relative Lillian Pickard) 

"Twenty three of the dead were buried in Elswick Cemetery, there were 50,000 mourners at Elswick Cemetery.  Frederick Thomas Dent, aged 25 of 252 Whitfield Road Scotswood was identified by his brother Luke Dent because of the army boots he was wearing.  They were of a heavy pattern, the toe and heel plate were missing, having been worn off.  Luke said "he had new ones at home on the chimney piece to put on when he had time.  Luke showed the coroner the home knitted stocking tops with a fancy stitch that he recognised were worn by his brother.  Luke also recognised his brother Fred's dark shirt that he had been wearing on the day of the disaster.  Three others were also recovered on May 23rd [some two months later].

This picture of 252 Whitfield Road today (what was the entrance to an upstairs flat is outlined in green).  Today the two flats 252 and 251 are now one house, as are most of the 'houses' in the street.  

252 Whitfield Road 2019

Here is a picture of Fred's dad Thomas (Tot) standing at the entrance of 252 Whitfield Road around the time of the disaster.

Thomas Dent outside 252 Whitfield Road Scotswood

 Lillian Pickering informed me that two of her family members also perished in this terrible disaster - they were G Hetherington and M Hetherington (Matthew).  Matthew's wife Mary Owens (Lillian's father's cousin) had to wait nearly six weeks before they retrieved his body, even more heart rending was is they found him in the arms of his older brother.

Lillian's brother Fred Owens gave me a copy of the following:- 

"The Mines Inspectors Annual Report for 1925 from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian. 
  
"It is with deep regret that I have to record the loss of 38 lives at Montagu View Colliery, situated at Scotswood in the county of Northumberland owned by Messrs W. Benson and Sons Ltd.

This disaster is the worst that has occurred in the Division for a number of years, and was caused by an inrush of water into the workings of the Brockwell Seam at almost the lowest point in the colliery.  The accident happened about 10:30am on Monday 30th March, in a district known as Robson's Bord Flat, following the firing of three shots by the deputy in charge.

New pumping plant had to be installed, and the last body was not recovered from the mine until 19th October.

The water broke in from the old Paradise Pit, Brockwell Seam workings, which had been abandoned about the year 1848.

The circumstances of this accident were the subject of a special inquiry by the Right Hon. H.P. Macmillan, K.C., with H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines acting assessor.  The inquiry was held on 26th and 27th January, 1926, at the Moot Hall, Newcastle-on-Tyne.  The report* of the inquiry was published in April 1926.

A relief fund was opened by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and met with a ready response by the general public.

*Report on the causes of, and circumstances attending the in rush of water which occurred at the View Pit of the Montagu Colliery Scotswood Northumberland, on 30th March, 1925, by the Right Hon. Hugh Pattison Macmillan, K.C (Cmd.2607)."

The following is a more up-to-date (short) modern version of what happened which is interesting:-

"On the 25th March 1925 miners at the Montagu View Pit in Scotswood Newcastle upon Tyne broke through into the old workings of the Paradise Pit with the consequence of thirty eight men and boys dying in the flood that followed.  It was a disaster that should never have happened.  The plans to the old mine were kept in the offices of a nearby colliery, but the owners of the Montagu Colliery didn't refer to them when they planned to extend the Montagu workings to the Paradise Barrier. The Montagu wasn't the only disaster in Newcastle caused by flooding from old workings.  In 1815 seventy five miners died at Heaton when the pit was flooded fron old workings. John Buddle Jnr, the part owner and manager of Heaton proposed after the disaster that there should be a central repository for the plans of old mines, but unfortunately his suggestion was not taken up until after the Montagu disaster.  A J Cronin's book "The Stars Look Down is a fictionalised account of the Montagu Disaster."   

I leave Lillian Pickard (nee Owen) to finish this very sad page.

"Terrible isn't it the troubles within family history.  It is sad things like deaths, wars and disaster are the only things that are well documented - all the funny and good things are not." 

Eliza and Thomas Dent's children - Amelia

Amelia (Meelie) was Eliza and Thomas' 4th child born on the 23rd October 1896  - She was born at 78 Grieveson House Woodland, near Bishop Auckland.  

I only have two photographs of Meelie - they were taken when she was visiting her brother Luke, his wife Janet Dent, at 13 Gregson Street Scotswood, and Janet's half sister Ellen Pattison who was also visiting.

A little blurred but a happy phtograph - better than nothing!
Left Ellen Pattison, Luke (with Ellen and Meelie on his knee)
and Meelie

Left just managed to get Amelia, Meelie Davison (nee Dent) on photograph!
Ellen Pattison and Janet Dent (nee Clark)
13 Gregson Street Circa 1950s?

In the 1911 Census Amelia was 14 and was living with her parents and all her brothers and sisters - Jinny, Luke, John Robert, Edna and a lodger Ralph Ingram at 22 Montague Street Scotswood.

22 Montague Street 2019

At the age of 25, Amelia married Thomas Davidson who was also aged 25 - Amelia and Thomas went on to have 4 children:-

1.  Edna Millicent - born 1921 - 1994. Married George William Stoves who died in 1989 - They had no children.

2. Freda - born 1925 married James Marshall. They had one child  born in 1958 who married Malcolm Philip Hall.

3.  Elsie - born 1930 married Eric Hardy, they had one daughter born 1958 who married Howard Walker. 

4.  Thomas - born 1938 married Freda Dingle, they had one son.


The following photograph of an old rocking chair was a typical piece of furniture you could find in a colliery house and belonged to Auntie Meelie and Thomas. I can only assume that at sometime she must have given it to her brother Luke, and it was then in turn passed on to their daughter Jenny, my mam, and eventually passed down to me.

I love it - unfortunately the webbing has worn away with old age, thereby nothing holds the springs in place, so they  hang down. I have been loathed to have it repaired, as not surprisingly the black covering is no longer produced. I suppose the cover could be replaced with black leather but somehow I don't think it would be the same, so nobody is allowed to sit on it.

As you can see I have placed the two black dolls that my Grandma's half sister Auntie Ellen bought for my sister Dorothy and I about 55 years ago, thereby stopping people sitting on it.  

The dolls had to be repaired a couple of years ago, I found them on the chair completely collapsed, not surprising the elastic holding them together had perished, so, with great difficulty I found someone to repair them, and as you can see they have pride of place on the rocking chair.

Auntie Ellen's Christmas Present to Pauline & Dorothy Stafford about 55 years ago and the Rocking Chair inherited from Auntie (Meelie) Amelia Davison (nee Dent) 

I found this photograph of the same rocking chair in a typical interior of a colliery house.

A typical miners house - a blazing fire and washing drying above the cast iron stove and oven - not quite the luxury we have these days in 2019!

Sadly I don't have a lot of information about Meelie and Thomas but records show that Thomas died on the 8th December 1938 at the age of 59.  

Amelia (Meelie) died in 1984 aged 88.

Eliza and Thomas Dent's Children - Sarah (Sally) Dent

Eliza and Thomas' third child was Sarah (Sally) who was born on the 11th April 1893.  Unfortunately I don't have a photograph that I could say definitively it was Sally, but this previously uploaded photograph on Jinny's page probably contains a photograph of Sally.

Back Jinny's husband Tommy Clark and perhaps Edna next to him
Left Jinny, perhaps Sally, and Amelia (Meelie)

In 1913 Sally married Ernest (Ernie) Pattison who at the time was a Colliery Locomotive Driver.  He was born on the 5th Oct 1884 and died in 1968.
  
When Sally married she moved to the Easington area where Ernest was probably already working.

Sally and Ernest had a daughter Elsie born in 1912, and two sons - Frederick born in 1917 and Norman born in 1919. Like their dad, both worked in the colliery.  

At this time Easington was a relatively new colliery which had been sunk in 1889, with the first coal being drawn in 1910.  Thousands came to the area from all parts of Britain. It closed on the 7th May 1993 with the loss of 1,400 jobs.

Since then Easington has become an employment blackspot.

One of the houses that Sally and Ernest first lived in was 97 New Sixth Street, Easington, Co Durham. It is notable that none of the streets were named, just given numbers, which was probably due to having to build such a huge amount of housing as quickly as possible to accommodate the massive influx of miners and their families. 

97 New Sixth Street Easington in 2019

This photograph shows the extent of some of the colliery housing in Easington and how close they were built to the Colliery, and the sea. 

Ariel view Easington Colliery and the extent of some of housing built

Sally and Ernest children were:-

Elsie Pattinson  - born on the 30th November 1912.  In October 1935 at the age of 23 she married Leslie Sutherland, who was born 6th August 1911.  

The 1939 Register shows (just as war was beginning) Leslie was working as a Temporary Postman.  At this time Sally and Ernest were living at 13 Lime Avenue Blackhall Colliery Hartlepool - they lived in this house until their deaths.  

13 Lime View Blackhall Colliery Hartlepool today

 

Elsie and Leslie had two sons:-

Frederick Pattinson - b 2nd Sept 1917.  It is recorded in the 1939 Register that Frederick was employed at the Colliery as a general labourer, Coke Ovens.  During the war Fred joined the RAF, and when he was demobbed he found work at the the 'Ministry' at Longbenton.  He died aged 87 in the Peterlee area.  Fred never married. 

Norman Pattinson  -  b 20th Jan 1919.  The 1939 Register records that Norman was employed as a Colliery Sorter - He married Catherine Langhorne in 1944 and it is believed they had one son.  Norman's death at the age of 82 was registered Hartlepool. 

This is a photograph I found on the internet of a George A Sutherland b in 1911 - he is 15 years old in this photograph taken in Easington in 1925.  The 1939 register shows he was a window cleaner, (not working in the colliery).  The reason I uploaded this photograph is that there is a slight chance that George could be related to Leslie Sutherland, but what this photograph also shows is the way Frederick and Norman would probably have dressed.

I discovered that George A Sutherland lived at 22 Bourne Street Easington which still exists.

George A Sutherland aged l5 years b circa 1911
Taken in Easington in 1926

"Easington Pit Disaster 1951

On Tuesday 29th May at 4:35 am an explosion occurred in the Duck Bill district of the Five Quarter Seam - the coal cutting machine cutter, struck pyrites causing sparks which ignited firedamp - 120 yards of roof was brought down and entombed 81 men.

The rescue operation covered a period of 257 hours during which time 11 officers, 48 permanent corps-men and 291 trained colliery rescue workers were engaged.  Between them these men wore apparatus 1,168 times and 13,277 pounds of liquid air was used.

It may be that the the temperatures were not excessive, nor travelling conditions unduly arduous, but the work was prolonged. The distances travelled were considerable and the atmosphere so lethal that anyone making a mistake or raking a liberty was likely to pay for it with his life.  Nevertheless, and in spite of the death of two of their own comrades, these men never faltered, and their morale throughout was maintained at a level that reflected the greatest credit on them as individuals and on the system in which they had been trained."

I am sure Ernest, Sally and their family were deeply affected by the tragedy as were the community they lived in.

Easington - Crowds waiting for news 1st June 1951

Sally died aged 64 in 1956.

Ernest died aged 77 in 1968 - he outlived Sarah/Sally by 12 years.

Eliza and Thomas Dent's Children - Luke

Eliza and Thomas' second born was Luke (my grandpa) who was born in 1891 at Brandon, County Durham.  In order to stay in work Luke's father worked in many pits in the area,  eventually leaving Woodland near Bishop Auckland, moving to Newcastle upon Tyne to another mining area, Scotswood, where Luke eventually became a miner (like his dad)

By 1915, at the age of 24, my handsome grandpa, Luke, was employed by Vickers Armstrong's and as you can see he worked there for forty years until he retired on the 25th April 1958.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/vickers-armstrong-old-photos-show-9985844

Also in 1915 Luke married Janet Clark aged 23.  Her wedding dress was beautiful. 

  

WW1 had been raging over a year when Luke and Janet's wedding took place. I assume because he was working in a munitions factory, Luke was exempt, but he did join up. Here we see 28 year old Luke, looking very proud in his uniform and carrying a Swagger Stick. 

Luke Dent aged about 27 in uniform ready for war 

Luke and Janet had two children Janet (Jenny) b 1917 - 1987 and William (Billy) b 1934 - 2002

Baby Jenny Circa 1917 

Billy circa 1935

Older Jenny in Newcastle City Centre aged about 18 circa 1935

Older Billy ready to join Merchant Navy circa 1955

I think Luke and Janet were very brave, as in the 1920s, when work was difficult to find, Janet's half sister Hilda persuaded Luke and Janet to move to Peru.  Hilda had met and married a Peruvian Carlos de Terry, who had been studying mining at Armstrong College Newcastle upon Tyne.  Hilda told them there was plenty of work in Lima, where she lived.  So, Janet, Luke and Jenny 'upped-sticks', booked tickets on a boat and sailed off to Peru. Jenny would be around 4 years old at the time.  Methinks Hilda had been economical with the truth, but I believe they were also very homesick, so they returned home quite quickly. 

Older photograph of Luke circa 1956

Older picture of Janet Dent in Garden of 13 Gregson Street Scotswood
This was Luke and Janet's Last home together

Luke died in 1958 in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Newcastle at the age of 68, of a Cerebral Haemorrhage.  This was the same year as he retired from Vickers Armstrong. Grandma said he lied about his age so he worked two years longer than the statutory retirement age of 65.

After Luke died, Grandma and Grandpa's house, 13 Gregson Street Scotswood, was burgled. Janet was too nervous to remain living there, so she applied for a pensioners cottage at Bells Close which was very close to her half sister Ellen.

Apart from all the things stolen, a casualty of the burglary was Grandma's writing slope.

Janet Dent's Writing Slope showing a crack right across the top, no doubt done whilst trying the 'prise' it open

L-R Janet Dent, Ellen Pattison, Billy Dent - Bells Close
 

Janet died at the age of 89 in 1978, just before my one and only child was born, our daughter Elise, but at least she knew she was going to be a Great Grandma.  She died in her home at Bells Close cared for by her daughter Jenny with the help of her sister Ellen.  She had stomach cancer.

My mam, sister and I missed Grandpa Luke very much, he wasn't very tall, all our family was small.  

He was gentle and quiet, but with a great sense of humour. I remember when my sister and I were little girls we were bought toy cameras that would squirt water at the person you were pretending to photograph, Grandpa was so good at pretending he didn't know it's is just a small thing but at 74 (in 2020) I remember it so well! 

After Grandpa died, almost every Sunday afternoon I used to pick up my mam and sister in the car to visit Grandma, we did this for years until she died, we also saw Auntie Ellen, as she was always around at Janet's.  They both were always so pleased to see the three of us.

So lucky to have such kind, loving and gentle Grandpa and Grandma, and Auntie Ellen.