Amble East Cemetery
 

As expected for a coastal cemetery, there are a number of burials for people either drowned in the harbour or washed ashore from wrecks. Some of these are identified in the comments in the burial register. Here's one:

Edward Johnson, aged 19 of Ryhope Colliery buried on 5 February 1902 "cast up by the sea at Bondicar"

An inquest was reported in the Sunderland Daily Echo of 6 February. Thomas Stewart, a Hauxley fisherman, found the body in a boat, identified as from the Eglinton of Glasgow, on 2 February, at Bondicar Burn.

His mother, Mary Ann Johnson, the wife of miner William of 47 Curry Street, Ryhope, identified the body as her son. He was an Able bodied Seaman of the SS Eglinton, bound for Inverness from Sunderland with a cargo of coal.

There's one 'Matyen, Johanna', age 56, (13th April 1903) which I think may be a transcription error for 'Matzen, Johannes' - we have a monumental inscription for this man;

From my notes

German: ' Hier Ruht Capt Matzen v. [place?] Gest. D. 10 April 1903 im alter v. 53 jahren' = Here rests Captain Matzen of ......, date of death 10th April 1903 at the age of 53


Name appears to be Johannes Matzan in the death indexes?


Any more info on that one Janwhin?

Yes, here's a bit more info on the Captain. According to the register he was of the ship Marks and died in the North Sea.

I guess it must be a transcription error because the Shields Gazette of 13 April states that the German galeat Marx of Amcrum arrived in Amble to report the death of their captain. The vessel was about 30 to 40 miles off Amble and the master Mr Johannes Matzen fell backwards into his cabin as he was coming up onto deck. He was found to be dead. Apparently he was a well known figure in Amble as he had loaded from the port for about 20 years. He belonged to Amcrum, a small island off the coast of Germany.

The Shields Gazette does seem to be a great source of information on Amble:)

Thanks for that, most interesting. I have to rephotograph that gravestone as my 1st attempt failed.


Re Germans; Unfortunately (for them) German crews that found themselves in Amble at the outbreak of WW1 were incarcerated!


Things must have improved quickly after the war though as I know my ancestors visited German ports on Amble boats during this time; sending postcards and buying souvenirs.

Captain Matzen
 

Having Googled Amcrum in Germany, the correct name seems to be Amrum.

Germans
 

My coal mining family in Broomhill weren't ecstatic about the end of the First War. Apparently the Versailles Treaty provided for "reparation coal" to be mined in Germany on starvation wages. Priced British coal out of the market and really started to bite in 1921. Lockouts and short time eventually resulted in the 1926 strike.

Any information on this one Janwhin? :

http://www.fusilier.co.uk/cemetery/henderson.htm



[Mary Henderson]
'In loving memory of Mary; beloved daughter of Henry & Sarah Henderson who died at the Police Station Radcliffe July 19th 1902 Aged 15 years.'

Found my 4xGrandmother in the transcription, Mary Richardson* b. 1826/7 (died age 71).
unfortunately no headstone that I am aware of.


*Maiden name Sims originally from Chevington/ Broomhill area. Wife of Anthony Richardson a Miner living at Broomhill who died of typhus fever at the ripe old age of 33 is 1855. (If anyone has any earlier info on the Sims tribe at Broomhill/Chevington area I'd be most interested to hear from you.)

I've been trying today to find some info online about Acklington Colliery (Where the heck was it!)

and on the Durham Mining Museum page I noticed we have two of the miners recorded as killed on that page buried in the East Cemetery:

Christopher Robertson Copeland:
06 Dec 1899, aged 31, Stone Tipper, Deceased after assisting to plumb the shaft, which was being deepened, was told to take a torch lamp on to the heap, but instead of going up the steps he unaccountably walked straight into the shaft, the fencing of which had not been replaced after they had finished the plumbing. [headstone]

Daniel Rutherforth:
07 Jul 1900, aged 68, Horsekeeper, The deceased was descending the shaft when he fell out of the cage. There was no evidence to show how the accident occurred, and it is probable he fainted or had a fit. (age disagrees with the cemetery transcription but the dates agree)


Both horrible deaths falling down the pit shaft. R.I.P.

Acklington Colliery
 

I noticed a mention of Acklington pit and thought it might have been an error and really referred to Togston or Broomhill, but I don't think so. There is a Coal Houses on the North Broomhill to Acklington road, so perhaps there was a drift mine there? Maybe the airfield finished it off!

Coal Houses was also on ye olde map dated 1866.

Mary Henderson
 

Sorry Coquet, nothing more than Radcliffe for her. I know that Henry was the PC in Radcliffe.....his name often pops up in the local newspapers.
I kind of imagine that he should be related to me in some way, Henry Henderson is a major family name from Warkworth, but perhaps it is a coincidence.

Durham Mining Museum
 

The memorial roll on this website is an amazing piece of work. I've been trying to pick up some matches to the East Cemetery burials, although the register is a bit hitty missy on recording cause of death. The youngest so far is James Alfred Clark aged 12 of North Street, Amble. He was a trapper, killed at Broomhill from being run over by a tub.

There are so many deaths but the Mines Inspectorate/inquests always state that they are accidental.

Acklington Colliery
 

I think you might be right, the Acklington village website says it was at coal houses. If the Durham Mining Museum website has the coordinates correct then I am probably interpreting them incorrectly and ending up too far east.


It sure is, I occasionally send him photos of relevant headstones.

Accidental Death at Gloster Hill
 

Another news item, from the Morpeth Herald of 7 May 1898, concerning the death of James Baston, buried in the East cemetery on 4 May, aged 12. The burial register records that he was killed by a runaway horse.

"On Monday a horse took fright and galloped down the road towards Amble. Before reaching the road ends, near the Hope Farm, it collided with a cart. The cart attached to the runaway was broken, but the horse continued its wild career, dragging the broken shaft behind. It turned into the Warkworth Road, and overtook a horse and cart driven by a boy named Baston, the son of the steward of Gloster Hill. The horse dashed into the back of the cart, which it upset, and the boy was thrown beneath his horse, with the cart shaft lying on his chest. On being extricated it was found that the boy was quite dead. Dr Smyth and the police were early at the spot, but could do nothing for the unfortunate little fellow. Deceased was only 12 years of age. The runaway was caught near Chester House, having run a distance of nearly 5 miles."

Some months back I was looking through the microfilm in alnwick library -the Alnwick Mercury or perhaps Alnwick Gazette for something and came across another very tragic death of a child; year was 1903.

I didn't write it down but a girl in a house in Amble had leant over the fire (I assume to reach something on the mantelpiece), unfortunately her dress and petticoats had passed into the fire and caught alight. The girl panicked and ran out of the house and into the street and was then apparently engulfed in flames and died from her injuries.

[QUOTE=Coquet;954]Some months back I was looking through the microfilm in alnwick library -the Alnwick Mercury or perhaps Alnwick Gazette for something and came across another very tragic death of a child; year was 1903.

There is an article in the Shileds Gazette of 15 April 1903: "Death from Burns at Amble - The death of a girl named Ann Grundy, from burns at Amble, was inquired into at the Masons' Arms, Amble, yesterday afternoon, by Mr. Charles Percy. From the evidence it appeared that the girl was attempting to reach something on the mantelpiece when she fell forward into the fire. She immediately rushed into the open air. She died twelve hours afterwards in great agony. The verdict was "Death from Shock, the result of burns.""

She is buried in the East Cemetery, aged 5 1/2 of Scott Street, on 15 April.

I did get the Captain Matzen stone re-photographed for the record.


http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/images/matzen2.jpg


R.I.P. Johannes Matzen.

Not sure what happened to the cross that once stood on top. No trace of it around, but then many of the other memorials have parts missing.
Someone told me that headstones had allegedly been incorporated into the walls around the paddling pools but were later removed. Don't know if that's a tall tale or not?

sad to see grave stones in this condition , whether through natural erosion or vandalism ..........................especially vandalism.

Good new photograph for Captain Matzen, Coquet, such a lot of history in that cemetery disappearing.
I have a leaflet about the cemetery produced by Amble Town Council in 2006 which is a good start but doesn't touch the surface (sorry for the pun, not intended!) in relation to the people buried there. It seems that the main concern is the preservation of the spire and the gates and not the headstones :(

Yes, I think lying the stones down flat is accelerating the destruction of the inscriptions, being exposed to pooling water and many more frosts (all the ground frosts) than they would be if they were upright.

Not sure what the solution is to that. Other cemeteries prop them up against the boundary walls.