John William Hughes in 1911

John William Hughes

From the 1901 census I found out that my great-grandmother's father was called John William Hughes and that she (Catherine Annie Hughes b1897) had two brothers Mathew (b1895) and Zachariah (b1900). He was born in 1872, but he did not know where as the census stated NK - not known. He was married to Margaret Annie Carr (b1871), the daughter of Mathew Carr and Ann Padley. I found out this information after consulting Catherine Annie's birth certificate and the marriage certificate of John William Hughes and Margaret Annie in May 1893.

Also from the marriage certificate I know that John William's father was Zachariah Hughes - I have previously traced the family of who I believe to be the correct Zachariah Hughes here, however, I need to find a birth record that associates John William with Zachariah.

In the 1911 census, I find John William Hughes living at Landsale Cottages (or Landsdale Cottages), Greenside, Ryton-upon-Tyne. The house had 2 rooms and he is still a coal miner/hewer. He is living with a new wife called Elizabeth Hughes (b1881, Dunston), to whom he has been married for 8 years meaning that he married her in 1903. Elizabeth Hughes has had four children, one of whom has died. The three surviving children are Elizabeth (b1902), Winnie (b1904), and John William (b1910). The first two children were born in Dunston and then John William was born in Greenside, Ryton. Therefore, as Zachariah was born to Margaret Ann Carr in 1900, she must have died between 1900-1902. Interestingly, two of John William Hughes' children with his previous wife - Mathew Hughes and Zachariah Hughes - are also living there but Catherine Annie is not.

I found Catherine Annie Hughes living in the same town, Ryton-upon-Tyne at 1 Holborn House in a house that has 4 rooms. She is living with her mother's parents Matthew and Ann Carr and three of her uncles - Matthew, Joseph and John Carr. Strangely, she is described as being a servant rather than a grand-daughter. All of the Carr men are coal hewers. The other interesting information from this census is that Ann Carr (nee Padley) has had 11 children and four have died. Other than Catherine Annie's mother Margaret Annie, I knew that Ann had had 8 other children, so that means that there are 2 further children who likely died in infancy that I do not yet know the names of.

The most useful piece of information here is that I have found out that John William Hughes was born in Consett, Durham in 1872/3.