Hi to all K400s,
Here is the answer to the Kellaway Quiz question.
Cramlington in Northumberland (now called Northumbria) in the far North of
England is based on coal mines. In 1865 there was a bitter strike which
went on for many weeks. The mine owners evicted most of the strikers and
their families from their houses.
In December 1865, miners from Cornwall and Devon, many of them with their
families, were brought, probably by train, to Cramlington to work in the
mines. They were given the houses vacated by the locals who dispersed to
other places of work. There were 428 Wessex miners altogether.
James would have been eleven years old at the time of the strike. Young
children were, as you know, employed in hazardous work, if not mining then
perhaps in leading ponies or in operating ventilation systems. I do not
know exactly when James moved. His father, John Kellaway (b.1828), an
engineer in the Royal Navy, is reported to have been killed in HMS
Gibraltar in 1860, so it is likely that James was fatherless, and that the
family was impoverished. Under such circumstances it is understandable if
James joined the move to the north.
In 1876 James married a local girl Grace Stanford Smith. They later
migrated to the USA.
If you wish to read the fascinating story of the strike (with a little more
information about the Wessex migrants) see
http://www.swinhope.demon.co.uk/genuki/NBL/Cramlington/Strike.html
And there is some information about members of the Pomeroy family who went
North from Cornwall on
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~allpoms/neengland1.htm This
suggests that some Wessex people were shocked to find that they were
expected to strike-break, and accepted a union subsidy to return home.
There are other interesting social sidelines.
Finally, please see
http://members.tripod.co.uk/dreycott/phillack.htm for a
genealogical chart which shows James. (It's a bit slow to download.) I
would appreciate any criticism or help with this story.
None of the answers mentioned the strike. The best answer was received from
David Scott. David lives in Swindon which is not very far from Bristol. He
might actually make it to collect his prize at the Kellaway Arms!
There were also a couple of witty ones. If you wish to see them look at
http://members.tripod.co.uk/dreycott/answers.htm
My thanks also to Brian Pears of NORTHUMBERLAND-L(a)Rootsweb.com for sorting
me out about Cramlington.
Perhaps we'll do another quiz some time soon.
Bill