21 & 22 - Alexander Orkney (1823) & Hannah Richardson (1827)

Alexander Orkney (born in Tweedmouth, England in 1823; died in1900) and Hannah Richardson (Born in Tynemouth, England in 1827; died in 1910) lived in the coal-mining area of England during the coal-mining boom.   

Coal had been mined in England since the Bronze Age, but the Industrial Revolution and urbanization made demand for coal explode in the late 19^th Century. Coal was used to heat buildings and to run factories and trains.

They had nine children, and seem to have lived in several little towns around Newcastle-upon-Tyne, such as Bedlington, Morpeth, Longhorsely, and Seaton Burn. According to their other descendants who still live in the area, the moving-around was because Alexander specialized in opening new mines.

The boys became coal miners in their teens. The women also earned money, at least mother Hannah. For years, she ran a fish-and-chips cafe or stand out of the back of their house. Blind son Thomas peeled the potatoes, while daughters Hannah and Susannah boiled the oil and cooked the food.

Although four of the children left for the US, it seems to have been a close family. The siblings who remained in England continued to live near their parents, but several visited the US. The ones who emigrated all came back at various times (Priscilla and Henry only to visit).

• Hannah, the oldest (b.1848) stayed in England. She married and had a large family, but Cousin Anne says her reputation within the family is that she was a bit of a pill.
• Thomas (b. 1851) was the oldest boy, who also stayed in England. He lost one eye in a coal-mining accident and then—because he read too much, according to his sister’s niece Hannah—went completely blind at the age of 42. He never married, but lived with his sister Jane and her family after they returned to England.
• Priscilla (b. 1853) emigrated in 1882 at the age of 29 with her husband, John Hudspith, their children and her younger siblings Henry and Susanna. John seems to have had most economic success in the US, as a mining manager. They never returned to England except to visit several times—one time in a traveling party of 12 family members.
• George (b. 1855) married and stayed in England. He’s the great-grandfather of Cousin Anne, whom we will be visiting this spring.
• Alexander (b. 1857) died in a coal mine at the age of 34, apparently still unmarried. The inquest report said “Fall of coal. Deceased neglected to set sprags to support the coal while he was kirving under it. 10 am.”
• Jane (b. 1861) emigrated (I’m not sure when) but returned to England in 1895 with her husband and daughter. She stayed until after her husband died, but then shortly before her death in 1942 moved again to the US to live with Susanna.
• Henry (b. 1863) emigrated in 1882 at the age of 19 and worked as a coal miner. He married and started a family and sometime shortly after 1910, moved to Washington State for a job in the timber industry.
• Mary Anne (b. 1865) died at the age of 14.
• Susanna, (b. 1867) your ancestor, emigrated to the US at the age of 16 in 1882, with her sister Priscilla, but returned to England later for several years before leaving again.

Susanna’s daughter Hannah wrote: “I remember Mother telling us of Grandad Orkney going to Australia during the Gold Rush. I don't know if it was very profitable or not.” 

Ship's passenger manifests on Ancestry.com show Alex and Hannah visiting the US in 1895, but it must just have been a visit. Shortly after their visit, Jane and Susanna returned to the UK. 

I did not research Alexander and Hannah's parents, who were:

• Thomas Orkney (43), born in Durham in 1801 and died in Alnwick in 1848, and Priscilla Temple (44), born in Tweedmouth in 1793 and died in Tynemouth in 1858.
• Thomas Richardson (45), born in Liverton, Yorkshire in 1797, and died in 1881 in Whitby, Yorkshire, and Anne Sanderson (46) born in 1800 in Lythe, Yorkshire, and died in 1851 in Whitby, Yorkshire.
  

Daughter Susanna

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