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Emmett Genealogy and Family History

1700s to 1950s

compiled by Elaine Robertson

Francis EMMITT, our 3XG grandfather, was born about 1758. This is an estimated date, taken from his death certificate, which shows him to be 80 years old in 1838. To date (June 2007) we have not been able to find out where he was born, but we know from the baptism entry for his second son that he was not born within the parish of All Saints (see below).

He married Ann CALLUM at All Saints' Parish Church, Newcastle upon Tyne on 10 February 1794. The entry in the Parish Register reads as follows:-

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Francis and Ann had four children, three sons and a daughter. Their details are shown in the brief pedigree shown below. His second son, Francis, who was born in 1798, was our great great grandfather.

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Francis the elder died on 22 November 1838 at Dent's Hole. He was described as a Mariner, cause of death is said to be 'old age' - he was 80 years old. The informant was his son, our ancestor, Francis EMMIT.

Ann CALLUM was the daughter of William CALLEM (or CALLUM) and his wife Mary. She was baptised at All Saints' Church on 22 September 1776. The entry in the register reads as follows:-

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Ann and Eleanor may have been twins, or they may have been born a year or more apart, and their parents simply had the baptisms performed when the second daughter was born.

As indicated above Ann CALLEM married Francis EMMITT at All Saints' on 10 February 1794. She could have been just 17 years and 7 months old, or (if her baptism had been delayed as I suggest above) she could have been of full age.

Wlliam CALLUM (or CALLEM) (Ann's father) married Mary CARR at All Saints' Parish Church on 28 October 1770. The entry reads:-

It seems that these two could write - no marks appear. Their first child, a boy named William, was baptised at All Saints' on 3 November 1771. The father was described as a 'Mariner' in that entry, whereas he was a 'Waterman' when his two daughters were baptised nearly five years later (see Ann CALLEM above).

Francis EMMITT, our great great grandfather, was baptised at All Saints' on 27 January 1799. The entry reads as follows:-

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The name AMENT I take to be a mishearing of the correct name EMMETT or EMMITT by the clerk who made the entry. Francis was four months old when he was baptised. 'notc' means 'not of this chapelry', and 'ofc' means 'of this chapelry'.

Francis' elder brother John was born in about 1795. He was baptised on 16 July 1795 and we know there was a sister, Ann, born in about 1805 and another brother William born in about 1806. See brief family tree above.

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Francis married Rosomund PACE at All Saints on 16 September 1819. The entry reads as follows:-

Francis was a Waterman, and he lived at Dent's Hole. The 1841 Census entry about the family is as follows:-

Was this Frank Emmett the Rower and Inventor? Read More

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Rosomond, his wife,died in 1831. She was buried at Ballast Hills Cemetary, not far from where she had lived at Dent's Hole. The entry in the register reads as follows:-

"CM" means Cholera Mortuis

The Census entry for 1851 reads as follows:-

Mary was the wife of Francis' son.

Francis EMMITT, the younger, died on 3 December 1853 at Gateshead Fell Lunatic Asylum. He was said to be 54 years old and had been suffering from 'General Paralysis for 1 year'.

Gateshead Fell Lunatic Asylum was on the site of the present Queen Elizabeth Hospital. To date we have not been able to locate the records of admissions, but obviously Francis was admitted after February 1851 (when the Census was taken).

Rosomond PACE (who became Rosomond EMMETT - see above) was baptised on 25 December 1801 at All Saints'. The entry in the register reads as follows;-

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We have established her brothers and sisters and a brief family tree is set out below. Although Rosomond's father was said to be 'not of this parish' there were many other members of the PACE family in Dent's Hole. They were a prolific family.

We have found the birth of Rosomond Pace's parents (see above). Her mother, formerly Rosomond Bainbridge, (who was of course our great great great grandmother) was still alive in 1851, living in Dent's Hole: the Census entry is as follows:-

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Rosomond [BAINBRIDGE] PACE died immediately after this Census was taken: 18 April 1851.,

Francis and Rosomond EMMETT [formerly PACE] had several children, of whom our great grandfather Charles was (I believe) the fourth. I set out below the births of his brothers and sisters. The entry of Charles's birth is as follows:-

DH is of course Dent's Hole and we note that his father, Francis the Younger, is said to be a brickmaker - by 1841 he is described in the Census as a Waterman. - [Perhaps he took over the fishery after his father - Francis the Elder - died in 1838? BSE]

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Charles married Elizabeth MINTO in the Catholic Chapel, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne on 8 December 1853 (ie five days after the death of his father, Francis, in the 'Lunatic Asylum' on 3 December. We have not been able to find the family in the 1861 Census, but in 1871 they were living in Dent's Hole. The entry is as follows:-

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The last column shows the place of birth of the entrant, and we can perhaps conclude that the family had been moving around during the past few years but had moved back to Dent's Hole shortly before 1871, presumably returning to their roots: Robert EMMETT and his family lived in Dent's Hole as did William EMMETT and his family (both brothers of Charles).

Elizabeth MINTO was baptised at Earsdon on 4 January 1831. The entry reads as follows:-

Robert MINTO was born 7 July 1802 at Prudhoe. The entry of his birth in the Minsteracres Register (Vol. 1 p 39) is as follows:-

Dorothy MACKEY (who became Dorothy MINTO) was born at Cowpen in about 1804. We still have to find the entry of her baptism. She married Robert MINTO at St. John's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne on 14 June 1828.

By 1851 we find the family living at Byker: the entry is as follows:-

Charles and Elizabeth had seven children, four sons and three daughters (see the Census entry shown above ). Christopher, the fourth son, who was born on 13 August 1867 at 30 Hopper Street, Sunderland, was our grandfather.

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This is the first time the name Christopher comes into our family. Our grandfather was a Waterman like his forebears, but he was employed on 'wherries' which were used to transport coal from the staithes to the larger deep water ships. He was a tall, well built man with a moustache of the type worn by Vikings. He looked like a Viking, having red or sandy hair. In this connection, it is interesting to speculate whether the EMMETTs had Viking blood. I learned recently that there are very few Viking names in Northumberland: two of those names are Byker and Walker. We know that the Vikings did make their incursions up the rivers and eventually colonised the north-east of England, settling down and founding families. Is it too fanciful to think that some of them may have come to that bend in the river that became Dent' s Hole and decided to stay there there?

Christopher married on 23 April 1904 our grandmother, Ellen LAIDLER. This was at St. Andrew's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne. The certificate shows Christopher as being 35 years old (he was in fact 37), while Ellen is said to be 33 (she was in fact 32). Both were living at 49 Prudhoe Street. They had two children, both boys, the eldest of whom was our father, Christopher Harrison Emmett.

Grandmother Ellen died on 3 May 1952 at the age of 79. Grandfather Christopher died on 16 May 1955 at the age of 87.

Ellen LAIDLER was born at 52 or 63 (it is difficult to read the certificate) Prudhoe Street, Newcastle on 25 September 1872. This address is only a few doors away from the address given on her marriage certificate. Her parents are William LAIDLER, an engine fitter, AND Mary Jane LAIDLER formerly CURRY.

She had at least two sisters and one brother. The Census entry for the family for 1881 reads:-

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Grandmother Ellen was tall and fair.                   Ellen Laidler - Photos

Her parents, William LAIDLER and Mary Jane CURRIE were married on 8 June 1867 at the Register Office, Newcastle. William is said to be 21 years old, an engine fitter, living at Sycamore Street, Newcastle. Mary Jane is shown as 19, living at Prudhoe Street, Newcastle. William signed the register, but Mary Jane put her mark.

William LAIDLER was born 1 May 1846 at Churchill Street, in the Township of Westgate. He is the son of Thomas LAIDLER, a plate glass smoother, and Elizabeth LAIDLER formerly SCOTT. He died on 17 August 1912 at 17 Herbert Street, Newcastle. He was 66 years old and had been suffering from Pneumonia Lobar for six days. The informant was Jane Laidler, his widow, who was present at the death.

All we know about Thomas and Elizabeth LAIDLER is that they were married on 14 November 1838 at the Catholic Chapel in Newcastle. Thomas was living then at Oakwellgate, Gateshead and was said to be a glass smoother, while Elizabeth SCOTT was living at Saville Row, Newcastle. He was the son of Thomas LAIDLER, a butcher, and she was the daughter of Thomas SCOTT, a labourer. Both signed their names on the certificate.

Mary Jane CURRY (who became Jane LAIDLER) was born on 21 May 1848 at 19 St. John's Lane, Newcastle, the daughter of William CURRY, Stenciller and Ellen CURRY formerly NICHOLSON. We have not yet found the record of her death, but clearly she was alive in 1912 when her husband died.

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