Mono Monday 594 :: MM594 :: Glass

How many do you see? What you won't see are the millions of glass bottles that were made within a stones throw of this pub in Seaton Sluice.

A family history lesson follows and why we visited today...

My 5xGreat John (1745-1843) and 4xGreat James (1776-1851) Grandfathers worked at the bottle factory. Not only that John was 19 years old when this pub was built in 1764 so could he have helped build it. I'm sure he must have visited it at least once. He was the one still listed as a bottle maker when he died at the age of 98.

My 3x Great Grandfather John (1806-1842) broke away from Seaton Sluice and became a Master Mariner (aka Captain). It didn't do him any good as he died before his father and grandfather. Time to look at my extra...

I have included an image of outside the King's Arms. Also I show a field with stones on the rough ground together with a close-up of a stone with a Bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus cornicalus) next to it. This is the ruins of Dairy House that lies within the grounds of Seaton Delaval Hall and is where Captain John's wife Jane (1812 - 1842) was born. She was my 3x Great Grandmother.

Her father, my 4x Great Grandfather, Robert (1789-?) lived at Dairy House as a 'Viewer' (aka manager) for the local coal colliery. The bottle industry needed a lot of coal and sand, both plentiful in the area. 

The church is St Alban's Earsdon just south of Seaton Sluice and Dairy House. It pops up a lot in my family history for christenings, marriages and burials. The graveyard is huge and dates back to the time in history I'm interested in. Unfortunately the older parts are overgrown and a full search would take forever. 

Our next aim is to find out why Captain John died at the age of 36 (in Liverpool) and why his wife died later that same year in Northumberland. Also contacting the National Trust to see if Seaton Delaval Hall holds records of their workers at the bottle factory and of their mines. 

Family tree research can be fascinating. I do like to add more to it by researching the social history of the times and places.