WHERE OUR ANCESTORS CALLED HOME was by far the biggest factor in determining how they lived their lives. For the individual farm laborer or coal miner it was always the pursuit of work and the need to put bread on the table that was paramount. If the rural land on which they lived was productive and could support a few animals and crops, it might easily sustain even a large family as long as the weather cooperated. English or Irish families might remain in the same area for hundreds of years, never venturing beyond the local markets in surrounding towns and villages.
The daily existence of our ancestors was governed not only by the times in which they lived, but also by the places they called home. Looking back, we see name after name of hamlet, village, town and city. What were they like when our ancestors lived there, how did they shape their lives and what do those places look like today?
Courtesy: Dave Wood at lovelyliverpool.com
Liverpool's skyline as it is today (above), and the Liverpool waterfront as it was in 1920 (right). The black and white photograph shows off the three iconic buildings at Liverpool's Pier Head - the distinctive Liver Building, on the left, flanked by the Cunard Building and the office building of the former Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. The buildings are collectively known as "The Three Graces." Many of the families featured on this website are associated with this great port city and its fascinating 800-year history.
Below, left: On the other side of England from Liverpool, the River Wear, once the site of Sunderland's mighty shipbuilding and coal mining industries, is now more suited to pleasant evening strolls (right), with the former coal loading docks, or staithes, silent and abandoned.
Believed to be in the public domain by virtue of date.
The city has been transformed twice - once through the Industrial Revolution, and again in the past half-century, with the decline of old industries and the rebirth of new ones. Sunderland and the surrounding towns and villages of County Durham have been the home of Otterson and related families for centuries.
Believed to be in the public domain.
Photo: Michael Otterson
ENGLAND
Cornwall
Callington, Menheniot, Quethiock
County Durham
Houghton le Spring
Ryton
Sunderland
Cumbria
Villages of Alston Moor
Lancashire/Merseyside
Liverpool
Norfolk
Antingham
Upper Sheringham
Suffolk
Hoxne
If the land became unproductive, or if the family had no land of their own, migration to other areas often followed.
But then came that tectonic shift in history known as the Industrial Revolution, which between 1760 and 1840 transformed the face of Britain. Now, there was work in the cities, with wages far above that of the rural agricultural laborer. And so began the great uprooting and mass movements of people that has never stopped.
If you were a poor farm worker in southern England, like Lewis Dix (1853-1893), your eyes might now turn north to the great coal seams being discovered in County Durham, where many of our stories are based. Once there, you were no longer tied to one place but instead followed the work. As one mine petered out, you looked for another one somewhere nearby, or for other work on the docks or factories. As long as there was work, there was bread and shelter for the family.
New industries – coal to power homes and industries, railways and ships to carry it to the cities, steel and building materials for the burgeoning population needing places to live – all began to transform towns that had changed little over the centuries into great cities.
Looking back, we see name after name of hamlet, village, town and city - Menheniot in Cornwall, Hoxne in Suffolk, Jarrow in Durham, the cities of Liverpool and Sunderland, or, in the United States, Oklahoma when it was still Indian territory, or upstate New York where witchcraft has left its stamp on place names. What were they like when our ancestors lived there? What do they look like today?
IRELAND
County Mayo
Aughagower
County Tipperary
Tipperary
N. IRELAND
County Armagh
Armagh
County Tyrone
Tyrone
SCOTLAND
Perthshire
Abernethy
UNITED STATES
Indiana
Kentucky
DeKoven, Union County
Oklahoma
Krebs, Pittsburgh County
Wilburton, Latimer County
Oklahoma City
Wisconsin
Winneconne, Winnebago County
Omro, Winnebago County
Right, from top:
St. Michael and All Angels Church, Houghton le Spring, County Durham, England.
Lane leading to Quethiock, Cornwall, England, just one car wide and typical of many small Cornish villages.
Liver Building at Liverpool waterfront.
Otterson street sign, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The street carries the name of the immigrant coal mining family from County Durham in England.
Photo: Michael Otterson
Photo: Michael Otterson
Photo: Michael Otterson
Otterson Drive in Oklahoma City
Photo: Michael Otterson