Mary Ellen Abbott became Mrs Mary Ellen Henderson when she married Bentley Henderson i Newcastle upon Tyne on June 29th 1886. She was 24 years old and her husband Bentley 23 years old.They were married at the parish church in the parish of Christchurch, Newcastle on Tyne. Her father was noted on the marriage certificate as John Abbott, watchmaker, and Bentley's father was Elias Henderson, boilermaker. The witnesses were James Atherton and Mary Atherton.
Bentley Henderson
This photograph was taken by J. Cuttriss, Neville Street, Newcastle on Tyne and was found amongst my mother's effects. I have not been able to verify that this is Mary Ellen's husband, but I am pretty sure that it is.
There is no record of when Mary Ellen left Farnworth for Newcastle, but it was sometime between the census of 1881 and her marriage in 1886. Why she moved, leaving children Annie and James behind with her parents John and Martha, is a mystery. At the time of her marriage Annie as seven years old and James barely five. Probably they were even younger when she left Farnworth.
1891 census
By 1891 Mary Ellen was now Mrs Henderson and was to be found in the census for Newcastle, registered as living at 14, Stepney Bank, Byker, Newcastle On Tyne, Northumberland:
Henderson, Bentley, Head, Married, M, age 26, Boiler Maker, born 1865 in Gateshead, County Durham Henderson, Mary E, Wife, Married, F, age 32, born 1859 in Widnes, Lancashire Henderson, Hannah, Daughter, Single, F, age 1, born 1890 in Newcastle on Tyne
Hannah was Bentley's mother's name. Hannah Henderson died in March 1900, 68 years old.
1901 census
Mary Ellen and Bentley Henderson were registered in the 1901 census as residing at 93 Kirk Street, Byker, Newcastle on Tyne, with five children:
Bentley Henderson, head, age 36, occupation Ship Yd Helper, born Gateshead, Durham Mary Henderson, wife, age 42, weaver flax/linen, born Widnes Hannah Henderson, daughter, age 11, born Newcastle 1890 Dorothy Henderson, daughter, age 9, born Newcastle 1892 Louise Henderson, daughter, age 7, born Widnes 1894 Margaret Henderson, daughter, age 5, born Widnes 1896 Ellis Henderson, son, age 3, born Newcastle 1900
Elias Henderson, Bentley’s father, widower, age 69, boiler smith, lived at 99 St. Peter’s Road, Byker, Newcastle On Tyne.
Events 1902, 1906 and 1909
In 1902 Mary Ellen’s youngest daughter Ida was born in Newcastle.
Then in December 1906 husband Bentley died age 42 leaving Mary Ellen a widow with six children ages 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 and 5 years old. Burial??
Three years later, in 1909, Mary Ellen and the children crossed the Pennines again, leaving Newcastle for Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire.
Why Mary Ellen took this step and why she chose Oldham is anyones guess, but probably looking for work in the Lancashire textile trade. Newcastle on Tyne was a shipbuilding and heavy industrial city. Another factor which probably influenced her decision was the death of father-in- law Elias Henderson in June 1909, age 76 yrs. On his death Elias Henderson lived in the parish of All Saints.
Mary Ellen's mother-in-law Hannah died earlier, in 1900, age 68 yrs.
Between 1896 and 1909 Mary Ellen lost:
her mother Martha Abbott in 1896
her mother-in-law Hannah Henderson in 1900
her husband Bentley Henderson in 1906
her father John Abbott in 1908
her father-in-law Elias Henderson in 1909
By 1909 her eight children varied in age from Annie Abbott age 30 yrs to Ida Henderson who was seven years old.
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Mary Ellen's visits to Farnworth
Mary Ellen left her first two children Annie and James with her parents John and Martha Abbott, theír grandparents, in Farnworth when she moved to Newcastle on Tyne. But Mary Ellen did return to visit her family in the old village.
Margery Lewis of Coroner's Lane Farnworth tells me that Mrs Henderson stayed with the Young family in Farnworth Street on these occasions. Margery's grandma Young, Sarah Ellen Abbott the daughter of Henry and Kate Abbott, ran a chip shop in the village.
The Henderson Family
In the 1881 census for Gateshead we find Mary Ellen’s future husband Bentley Henderson and his family, born in Gateshead County Durham, lived at 161 Harriet Street in Byker, Newcastle, Northumberland.
The Henderson family comprised:
Head Elias Henderson age 49, Rivetter Boiler In Boiler Iron Works
Wife Hannah Henderson, age 49
Son Thomas, age 21, Tinsmith & Copper Lamp Maker
Daughter Dorothy age 19, Drop Maker
Son Bentley, age 17, Apprentice Plater Iron Ship
Daughter Jane, age 14
Daughter Hannah, age 11, scholar
Son John T., age 7, scholar
All born Gateshead Northumberand.
As we shall see, some of these names were also used for of Mary Ellen's and Bentley's children.
BYKER
Mary Ellen and Bentley with family lived in Byker, as did his parents. Byker was a Victorian working-class area of densely built terraces i tne eastern part of the city of Newcastle, on the River Tyne. Much of the housing needed major repair and some was considered unfit for human habitation (many houses lacked bathrooms). It was redeveloped in the 1960's.
The name Byker means "settlement near marshy wood-land" or "settlement near a church" and has Viking roots. The "by" part comes from the Norse "by", meaning "farmstead" or "village". The "ker" comes either from the Norse "kjerr" or "kir", where the former means "marshy woodland" and the latter is a contraction of "kirk", meaning "church".
In 1870-72 Byker was described* as a township with over 10,000 and just over a thousand houses, approx, one and a quarter miles East of Newcastle.
"The inhabitants are employed variously in potteries, glass-works, quarries, collieries, and other manufactories and works."
There were two chapelries - Byker (1844) and Byker St Anthony (1868) in the parish of All Saints.
*John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1872
