The Gartlands of Co. Tyrone

        The Gartlands came over from Co. Tyrone, Ireland sometime before 1870 to live in Co. Durham, England where James was employed as a miner at various collieries in the county. They eventually settled at Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne.
        The Gartland family grave, which had been commissioned by James after he came into some money, was vandalised in the early 60's and there is now no trace of it. Originally it was intended for himself and his three children,Thomas, Susannah and John but John's eldest daughter Ellen died in 1914 at the age of thirteen and was buried in the grave thus taking up the place reserved for Thomas.

        James brother John, left Iveston, Co. Durham in 1882 and sailed for America where he settled in Du Bois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. Shortly after he arrived in America he wrote a letter to his brother dated 29th May 1882, which has only recently come to light,sending best wishes to many of his former work colleagues and mentioning family members.

        Some additional information has been obtained from the 1881 Census Index for Durham taken on the night of 3/4 April, the year before John sailed for America.

The Family of James Gartland & Ellen McNicholl
James Gartland = Ellen McNicholl
of Co.Tyrone of Co.Tyrone
1840-1902 1845-1891
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| | |
Thomas Susannah John
1870-1944 1873-1918 1876-

Thomas Gartland 1870-1944
        Thomas was born at Trimdon Colliery on 13th August 1870. In 1901 at the age of 30 Thomas was living at 25 Ord Street Benwell and was employed as a 'Brickmaker'. In 1925 his address was 48 Ethel Street Benwell.
        On the 23 Feb 1925 Thomas applied for a copy of his birth certificate for the purposes of the 'Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920'. On his application he had given the surname 'Gartland' but the certificate has the spelling 'Gartlam' which is an example of the confusion which can arise due to illiteracy and an Irish accent, when his father James signed the original certificate with an 'X' when he registered the birth.

Susannah Gartland 1873-1918
        Susannah was born on 25th September 1873 at Wardley, Heworth, Co.Durham. Her birth certificate gives yet another example of name confusion where the name is written as 'Gartlind' but this time it was her mother who had registered the birth and signed with an'X'.
        By 1901 (census) Susannah had married Hugh McNeill and they were living with her father James and her two brothers, Tom and John at 25 Ord Street Benwell. In the following years they had four children: Ellen born on the 9th of March 1902; Hugh born on the 3rd of October 1904; James born on the 9th of July 1909 and Thomas born on the 9th of August 1911.
        In 1904 the family were living at 8, Sister Street, Scotswood which was the birthplace of Hugh, my father and they were living there, certainly until 1909. By the time of the birth of their youngest son Thomas in 1911 they had moved to 4C Prospect Terrace, within the Urban District of Benwell. Newcastle upon Tyne.
        Susannah was a school teacher and in 1891 was teaching at St. George's Church School, Bell's Close, Lemington. In 1902, or possibly later she may have been at St. Joseph's School Blaydon. Susan died of Pneumonia at 161 Dolphin Street on the 5th April 1918, at the age of 44 years. She was buried in the Gartland family grave at St James's Cemetery Benwell along with her Father James, Brother John and Neice Ellen.

John Gartland 1876-
        John was born in 1876 at Brandon Colliery in Co.Durham. In 1901 he married Mary Elizabeth Searle who was born in 1880 at Maryport in Cumbria, she was the daughter of Frederick Searle, a coal miner of Maryport and his wife Margaret Ann Evans who was born in Scotland.
        John and Mary had 10 children who were all born in Benwell: Ellen 1901-1914; Mary 1902-1931; Margaret; James 1906-1991; Suzannah 1910-1969; Thomas; John 1918-1988; Elizabeth; Frederick 1918-1987 and Ellen.

The Descendants of James Gartland & Ellen McNicholl

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