[Coquet]

Hi


I contacted Alnmouth History Society last night and they kindly drew my attention to your society and its efforts to establish old records re Amble


My wife's past family originated in Amble and Alnmouth and I can trace them back as far as 1797 and then get stuck, or at least maybe a few assumptions need to be made to progress back through the publication on the Parish Registers of Lesbury beyond the 1770's


We have the attached old family letter from 1847 that might be of interest to you.


It is written by a Mr William Black ( born in Scotland in 1776 d.1858) who was a Master Gunner In the letter he describes his journey in August 1847 down to a new work posting with HM Navy at Devonport with his wife Eleanor Young. Eleanor Young was born in the Alnmouth/Amble area in 1780 and died in 1854 in Devonport. William and Eleanor were married on Holy Island on 6 July 1809


Eleanor Young had a brother Thomas Young ( born about 1779 in Alnmouth) who was a mariner on HMS Eagle. Thomas was married to an Isabella as we also have a copy of old family papers dated May 1804 assigning over his 6d a week from his wages on HMS Eagle at that time. By deduction from the birth registers of Lesbury Parish at that time I'm pretty sure her maiden name was Isabella Cook, daughter of Robert Cook of Alnmouth (born about 1750). HMS Eagle was registered out of Alnmouth I believe, but I don't have any photos or info on the ship. Do you have anything?


Where Amble comes into the picture is that Thomas Young was living in Amble in 1847, or at least working there in the docks, and travelling from a residence in Alnmouth locality. In 1841 he was a seaman. in 1851 he was retired from Royal Navy and in 1861 was still working age 82 as a ferryman. I guess through that period from 1847 being involved in construction of your new harbour. We have a treasured family heirloom of a lathe turned bog oak fruit bowl about 25cm diameter that was made from one of the old ship mooring posts at Amble Harbour reclaimed we think by Thomas Young while he was working on the dock rebuild in the 1850's?


Anyway, hope this snippet is of interest to you. Do you by any chance have any more information or pictures ofHMS Eagle, the Young family at that time, or the reconstruction of the docks? Thomas Young witnessed a lot of weddings in the 1810- 1840's Maybe he was a locally well known person or a captain?

[Sue...]