Gilbert Corner

Gilbert Corner was my fourth-great grandfather, born circa 1795 in Durham. Looking at various census documents, Gilbert gave different places of birth.

One was Northalerton, which may well have been a town close to central Durham at the time - many of those towns based on mining industry rose and died within years, and the names disappeared forever. It's also a fact that often there was more than one place with the same or a very similar name. However there is a Northallerton (difference being two L's) a great deal south of Durham central and now part of most Northern Yorkshire. With ever-changing county borders over time, t was likely part of Durham at some point and if so - it was probably close to the south border of the county. It's quite a distance from where the family were based and difficult to understand that it could be a mistake given the careful writing of the census representative.

Elsewhere he states he was born at Rushey Ford, which probably meant Rushyford, which is a little south of the county's city centre, in Ferryhill, County Durham. Quite often in the decades between British census the information differs. This is not particularly unusual. This can be a number of factors but usually simply involves cross-referencing and lateral thinking as well as good luck.

However I'd be more inclined to believe the latter place given the Corners and Youngs stayed in the general area surrounding north of central Durham particularly Chester-Le-Street, and its surrounding towns of Pelton, Nettlesworth, Sacriston, Houghton, South Shields, Birtley, Beamish, and Tanfield - where they seemingly moved at whim following colliery work and accounts for the great variety of places their litters were birthed. Many of the towns that my great-grandmother and her siblings were born in no longer even exist.

Gilbert was farming in the area close to Pelton Colliery in the early 1840s. In 1845 his wife Elizabeth (nee Blakey) passed away leaving him a widower to raise children on his own while running a business. On and off over the years he was supporting between two to three children at home who no doubt assisted on the agricultural endeavours. In the early 1850s Gilbert had a farming enterprise in what is now known as Tanfield Lea, Stanley, known as "Folly Farm". It was 20 acres.and likely still exists today - Tanfield is pretty tiny with just a handful of roads and lanes; and a substantial patch of forest called "Folly Wood". Next to it is Tanfield Grange Farm, and I believe this is the same property.

In the early 1860s he was based in Pelton Level, farming 22 acres. In the late 1860s he was living at Low Flatts near Chester-Le-Street. He passed away in 1869 leaving an estate valued at under 100 pounds. By the time his grandson Gilbert Jr. was farming in the 1880s on a property called Dene House not far away in Chester-Le-street, some of it no doubt inherited, their holdings had expanded to cover eighty acres and they were employing labourers. Later Gilbert Jr. gave the agricultural industry away and became an engine driver instead.