The Tunstills of Fylingdales

The story begins with our grandfather Christopher Mead Tuthill (photo on right here taken in the 1970's with his wife Mary Bolton.

His father was William Tuthill, whose early years & ancestors are described on this other post.


In this post, I'm going to show you what little I know so far of Christopher's mother, Hannah Mary Tuthill (nee Tunstill).
I have a copy of the marriage certificate for this Mr & Mrs Tuthill - we now know they married in Stranton in 1904.

Christopher Mead Tuthill was the only child of Hannah & William Tuthill to survive into adulthood. They also had two girls (twins; born 1905) who died around 6 months old, and a boy William who lived from 1912 to 1921. His mother Hannah would have been 38 when William was born.


Tuthill & Tunstill in Hartlepool, 1904

The couple Hannah & William married in June 1904 in Hartlepool, at the Parish Church of Stranton. William was a painter. They were aged 30 and 35 (born 1874 & 1870 respectively). Both Bride & Groom had been living in Hartlepool (Hannah at 44, Studley Road, which is very near the Church and William at 18, Adelaide St. {not in current gazetteer}).

Their marriage certificate tells us that the groom's father was William Tuthill (deceased; a Stevedore) We also know that he was from Suffolk, and that William's mother was Harriet Moore of Lowestoft, Suffolk.

The bride's father was John Tunstill (deceased, a farmer). Again, we know that he was from Fylingdales, and his wife was Ann Tunstill (nee Mead), of Egton/Whitby.

The marriage certificate gives the bride's age as 30, which means she was born around 1873/4.
The birth of a Hannah Mary Tunstill is listed under the Whitby district, in late 1873.

I looked up (on FreeBMD) other marriages of a Tunstill in the Whitby district... John Burn Tunstill married in 1872 (to Ann MEAD - that name was passed to Christopher). So, they would be Hannah Mary's parents.

Following on from that, I found a reference on FreeBMD to the 1841 marriage of John Tunstill in Whitby. On the list of possible brides we see both a Hannah & a Mary, but more likely is the bride Sarah BURN (her son John takes her name).
Also found John Tunstill who died in Whitby in 1887 (aged 73, so born ~1814), and Sarah Tunstill who died in Whitby in 1894 (aged 78). Could these be Hannah Mary's grandparents?


More on John Burn Tunstill
From here we can move backwards to investigate Hannah's father (our Christopher's maternal grandfather). We can be fairly sure (thanks to his middle name) that he was born in ~1840 and that he died in 1882 (registered in the Stockton area), when Hannah was a child.

John Tunstill was born & raised in the area of Fylingdales...and here's a photo of the other thing Fylingdales is famous for! (Also, click here for interesting older photos from Francis Frith.)


1881 Census
I first found some evidence of Hannah Mary Tunstill in Sedgefield, in the 1881 Census. She is with her parents John Burn Tunstill (born Yorkshire, 1842) and Ann (born Egton, 1845). John is a Farmer of 71 acres at Todds New House. The three small children in the house are recorded as born at Long Newton or Sedgefield. Here there's a confusion, as that Hannah Mary was recorded as having been born in 1880, in Sedgefield...whereas the entry I found on FreeBMD was registered in 1873 in Whitby.

• Was this our Hannah?

Ann has suggested that the earlier Hannah (1873) died as an infant & then they named the second girl (1880) Hannah Mary, too (because of the strict naming order). Investigating this idea, further, I searched the death records for a child who fits this plan - with little luck, except for a Hannah Tunstall (died aged under 1). Also, I have not found a record of birth for a second Hannah in 1880 in Durham or Yorkshire.
I did find birth records for her siblings George Mead Tunstill (1879, Stockton dist.) and Chistopher Mead Tunstill (1876, Stockton dist). In addition, we know that Hannah was aged 30 in the year 1904, as we have her marriage certificate.

When I looked at the other census records for this family group, I am led to believe that Hannah was wrongly recorded on the 1881 Census return as 7 months old when she should have been recorded as 7 years old. That would explain everything?
So, Hannah was the oldest child, born in 1873; then her two brothers were born in 1876 & 1879.
Also in the household at the time of the Census were the Neal family from Lincolnshire (James Neal, a farmer - and his wife & 4 children).
There was also a 16-year-old domestic servant girl who was no doubt kept very busy! Her name is very hard to decipher, but it could well be Louisa Burn - and she was born in Eskdaleside, so she was perhaps related to John on his mother's side. Domestic help in less rich households was often sourced from within the wider family at that time.

**Latest News**
Kristeen has been very kind in sharing with us the details of a birth certificate from 1873: for Hannah Mary Tunstill!!
So that solves the confusion. The details all fit nicely...

District of Egton, Whitby, born in Eskdaleside, 24th November 1873, Hannah Mary TUNSTILL.
Mother - Ann Tunstill, formerly Mead. Mother was informant, and she lived in Eskdaleside (though NB mothers often had their first child at a place other than their normal home).
Father - John Tunstill, "A Farmer"

Thankyou kindly, Kristeen! Amazing coincidence here - the copy of this certificate was passed between us on the 24th November, 2009. Happy Birthday, Hannah!! Hope it pleases her that we still remember her life, even in this rather limited way.

*****

We know from records on Free BMD that John Burn Tunstall died in 1882, in the Stockton district (which included Sedgefield). He was aged only 40.
1882 was also the year of the Tudhoe Colliery Disaster.

1891 Census
By now, Ann (nee Mead, late Tunstill) has been widowed (1882) and married Mr. George Lamming, a Lincoln-born man who works as a Labourer. George records his birthpace as Faldingworth, I think - it's a bit tough to decipher. (Faldingworth is between Lincoln & Grimsby.)
I have found a birth record for a George Henry Lamming, who was born in early 1838 in the Boston district of Lincolnshire. A Land Drainer named George Lamming is boarding at the pub in Bradbury Village, Co. Durham, in 1871. In 1881, I haven't yet found him in the census returns.

Ancestry have their marriage listed under 1886 in the Stockton district, Ann Tunstill & George Lamming. {Some records have this man's name as Lambring, but that seems to be a mis-transcription ... I checked the spelling on the original typewritten list.}

In 1891, George & Ann Lamming lived in The Square, Sedgefield, which is a leafy area in the village centre. The Crosshill Hotel is there - just off the High St. The household in 1891 consisted Ann's 3 Tunstill children and a much younger daughter, as well as 5 guests.
The Tunstill children were in fact recorded as "in-laws" of George Lamming, rather than stepchildren. Hannah was 17. Christopher (14) was working as a Labourer, as was his Stepfather George. {It's not recorded where they worked.}
A new addition to the family was the child Esther M. Lamming (4, born Sedgefield - her birth was recorded in 1886 in the Stockton district); I presume she was the only child of Ann George.
Also in the household was a nephew, Whitby-born James Warhurst (13, Labourer), and 4 other Labourers were also Lodgers. Quite a household - no doubt Hannah & Ann were kept very busy.

1901 Census
By the Census of 1901, George, Ann and their children have all settled at 19 Ouston St., Hartlepool (where our Hannah met Christopher Tuthill). Hannah was aged 27, but records no profession. Christopher was a general Labourer, whilst George was a Tailor (21). Young Esther Margaret Lamming was just 14.
Visitors at that time were the Elliot family (father Thomas was a Blacksmith), and in addition a Boarder, 18-year old Labourer Herbert Craven from London.

I used FreeBMD to search for the dates when George & Ann died in the Hartlepool district. George Lamming died in 1911 (aged 74), whilst Ann Lamming died aged 73 in the year 1919.

Esther Lamming still lived with them in Hartlepool at the time of the census in 1911, and then married a gent named Joseph Greenlees in Hartlepool, 1912. He was in the 1901 census - the eldest of a large Irish family, his father was a Ship Plater - and Joseph himself was working as an apprentice plater. I think they had two children - Howard Lamming in 1917, George W. Lamming in 1923.

********

Now to turn back the clock - to find out more about Hannah's parents:
1871 Census
In 1871, John Burn Tunstill (Hannah's father in later years) was living with sister Sarah Ann Tunstill & brother Robinson Tunstill (16), in the Egton district (St. John's Sleights, Eskdaleside) and all recorded as born Fylingdales. John & his siblings are farming 40 acres at "Tunstalls Farm".

Where are their parents? - not in neighbouring households.

Found a candidate household in Normanby, 1871, John Tunstill (57) & wife Sarah (55) & daur Rose (13) are on a small farm of just 13 acres. All were born in Fylingdales.


1861 Census
In 1861, John Burn Tunstill (19, born Fylingdales) lives in a district of Whitby (Hawsker & Stainsacre), working as an Ag Lab and lodging there. Also in the same house is Esther Tunstill (13, born Fylingdales, a nurse) - that could be his sister.
Their parents John (47) & Sarah (45) Tunstill, meanwhile, are on the farm in Fylingdales (10 acres) with the 4 younger children, Jane, Betsy, Robinson & Rose. All were born in Fylingdales.

On the same census page is a possible relative of Sarah Tunstill - Thomas Burn, aged 89, farmer, born Fylingdales (and his wife Sarah, 84, born Fylingdales).

1851 Census
Now we see young John Burn Tunstill (9) with his parents in Fylingdales, but this time his father John is at trade as a Shoemaker (aged 37). John Junior is the eldest child, and has 4 small sisters.

1841 Census
In 1841, John (25, Shoemaker) & Sarah Tunstill (I presume his wife) were at Rowe, in Fylingdales.

On the same page is another John Tunstill (62, Shoemaker - perhaps John's father?) with his daughter?? Ann Tunstill (22).

Also on the same page; Thomas (farmer, aged 65) & Sarah Burn with an 11 year old Jane Newton.

this post isn't properly finished yet - do come back...

Meantime, more details may be available from the Whitby Archives.