Genealogy Chat

Possible marriage for son George:

First name(s) GEORGE
Last name EDINGTON
Marriage quarter 3
Marriage year 1929
Spouse: Winifred Richardson
Spouse's last name Richardson
District Tynemouth
County Northumberland
Volume 10B Page 449
--------------------------------------------------

wife in 1939:

Edington Household (3 People) 160 Howdon Road , Tynemouth C.B., Northumberland, England

Winifred Edington 15 Jul 1911 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married
Lilian Todd (Edington) 01 Nov 1929 Female At School Single
Winifred Mitchinson (Edington) 22 Apr 1933 Female At School Single
Closed Record
------------------------------------------

George's death:
Name: George Edington
Birth Date: 11 Apr 1908
Date of Registration: Sep 1987
Age at Death: 79
Registration district: North Tyneside
Inferred County: Tyne and Wear
Volume: 2 Page: 967
-------------------------------------------------

Looks like Alexander died after the 1911 census:

Birth:
First name(s) ALEXANDER E
Last name WATSON
Birth year 1910
Birth quarter 4
District Tynemouth
County Northumberland
Country England
Volume 10B Page 207

Death:
First name(s) ALEXANDER E
Last name WATSON
Gender Male
Birth year 1911
Age 1
Death quarter 3
Death year 1912
District Tynemouth
County Northumberland
Volume 10B Page 217

Just looking at Thomas CR1 card- his description matches his fathers almost exactly:

5ft 4inches
Blue eyes
Brown hair
Complexion fair

At the time he was a fresh faced young lad of 18 or 19. I should image a life on the seas would weather any man!
--------------------------------------------

I note Thomas died in 1981- do you have colour photographs for him? Just looking at some of the photos on my wall- Obviously the black and white photos don't show eye colour at all- my Gran, I believe, had blue eyes but I can't tell from the images. I also have several colour photos from the late 1970s but, even on the larger images it's a struggle to see accurate eye colour and the one person that I know had blue eyes looks to have dark/ black eyes even in a colour image.

I am not really an observant person, and unless a person had very striking eyes, I'm not sure I'd really know what colour they were if I was asked at a later time.

Did your Grandfather have brown eyes?

Thank you all for your help. She recalls Olive as looking like an old woman but she admits that she was in reality probably only about 60(ish) so that could be her born in 1927. We do have a few couple of coloured photos of Thomas and this backs up my mothers description of him, very dark skinned and dark features. I also called my uncle, who is older than my mother and would have been around 26 when Thomas died for his description of him and he gave the same description: dark dark skin and almost black eyes - he described them as 'crow like'. He also said he had often wondered growing up if Thomas had been illegitimately conceived with one of the Arab's that populated the area at the time and George and infact not actually been his father.

I do agree that a life at sea can definitely weather a man but in Thomas' case he was chef in the kitchen and only went up and down the coast of England, his career at sea also only last 8 years.

My grandfather, uncle and mother (Thomas' son and grandchildren) are all very dark skinned, all have lovely brown eyes - big, dark and round like malteasers! - and brown hair so dark it could pass for black in some lights. My grandfather was Thomas' absoloute double.