Amble gas works

[magaidhn]

My mother's family have lived in Amble since the late 1800s after losing their farm at Stannington. They used to live at the gas works at the bottom of the Wynd and I am trying to find out some information on the gas works so if anyone knows of anywhere I can get this I would be grateful. I also noticed that the family aren't on the electoral register - they were the Straker family.

Maggie Nicholls

[Coquet]

Hi Maggie, welcome to the forum. I think we might have a page missing from the 1926 register; the last page, which will be the Wynd 'even numbers' by the look of it.. Hopefully I (or someone) will be able to collect the missing data from the Woodhorn Archives at some point and update it.

[janwhin]

Hi Maggie and welcome to the site. Having worked in the gas industry and written a history of pensions in that business I do know that there is a national gas museum in Leicester which holds a lot of the old records.
There could well be some stuff there probably deposited by the old Northern Gas Board.
You can find it by googling.

[magaidhn]

Many thanks to you for the information - brilliant. I will have a look at the archives at the National Gas Museum. I noticed the gas works are on the ordnance survey map of Amble that I have from 1860 but I think my family moved in there shortly afterwards.

Maggie

[janwhin]

If you look on the sister site, the section dealing with the history of Amble, you will see a "Who was who of old Amble". Read about John Henderson who erected the gas works.
According to McAndrews the first gas company was formed in 1848. Morrison and Rylance suggest that the works were originally at Henderson Street before the move to the Wynd. The 1860 map of Amble shows the works at the bottom of the Wynd.

[Alan J.]

I think Hendersons gas works were in Henderson street in the patch of land we knew as "Luckhirts Garden" when we were kids. This venture gave way to the one at the bottom of the Wynd.
I remember the house down there and that the Strakers were involved, Alwyn Straker worked on the team which did installations etc. The family were well established in Amble and still are, they also migrated to Shilbottle and Alnwick too.

[AmbleFormerly]

I’ve only just discovered those forum, my late grandfather was the last Straker who shut down amble gas works. The year is still unclear and a conversation my family and I are having currently but we’re trying to work out of its late 4’s of early 50’s.

[Hadston_Green]

[QUOTE=magaidhn;3324]My mother's family have lived in Amble since the late 1800s after losing their farm at Stannington. They used to live at the gas works at the bottom of the Wynd and I am trying to find out some information on the gas works so if anyone knows of anywhere I can get this I would be grateful. I also noticed that the family aren't on the electoral register - they were the Straker family.

R Straker (Robert?) a sea going engineer of 10 Scott Street, Amble, won the Military Medal in WW1 but sadly was lost in action at sea in WW2.

Can someone look this up? May be a good story.

[j_mcquillen]

[QUOTE=Hadston_Green;8146]

Originally Posted by magaidhn

My mother's family have lived in Amble since the late 1800s after losing their farm at Stannington. They used to live at the gas works at the bottom of the Wynd and I am trying to find out some information on the gas works so if anyone knows of anywhere I can get this I would be grateful. I also noticed that the family aren't on the electoral register - they were the Straker family.

R Straker (Robert?) a sea going engineer of 10 Scott Street, Amble, won the Military Medal in WW1 but sadly was lost in action at sea in WW2.

Can someone look this up? May be a good story.

Cutting attached. Commonwealth War Graves has a record suggesting he was serving in the Merchant Navy on the S.S. Chevington when he was killed.

[janwhin]

A plan of the gas works is here on the website

https://www.fusilier.co.uk/maps_plan...orks_plan.html