Migrants from Whitburn
by BRIAN HASTINGS
I am currently researching families and individuals who, were either born in Whitburn or in Whitburn Colliery, and who left the village, either for foreign parts or for elsewhere in Britain. They may have intended to settle permanently or temporarily. Their movement out of the village, for the purpose of this study, would have ideally taken place before 1940, but I do have a special interest in Victorian/Edwardian Whitburn.
Should there be anyone who would like to work with me to collate, record and analyse this information, please do not hesitate to contact me. This could prove to be a valuable resource for researchers throughout the world.
George Potts Wight, born in Whitburn in 1862. By 1871, he was living in Islington, London and can be traced there until 1901; he was employed as a clerk in the War Office, financial dept. In 1911, he is in Hampstead. He died in Dumfries in 1920. He appears on only one Ancestry tree.
Laura Eliza Paull, born in Whitburn in 1838. In 1851, she is recorded as being a pupil at Ackworth School, in Yorkshire, (originally Ackworth was a Quaker school). She married a Prussian, Moritz Herschell, (he was employed as an African merchant) and she passed away in the Wirral, Cheshire in 1860, only 22. Herschell, who remarried, features on five Ancestry trees; Laura Eliza, who seems to have been childless, only one.
Peter Allen Short, born in Whitburn in 1850. By 1881, he had left for Liverpool (Everton), where he was employed as a blacksmith. He married a Liverpudlian, Mary Ellen Pointon. Peter passed away in West Derby, Liverpool in 1918. Well researched, he appears on thirty-eight family trees on Ancestry.
Herman Lisle Young, born at Souter Lighthouse in 1888, his Father being then principal lighthouse keeper. Herman was killed in a mine explosion off the Irish coast on board H.M.S. Laurentic in 1917. He had spent time in Pembrokeshire and Holyhead, Anglesey, where his father was lighthouse keeper. He married Annie Jones at Toxteth St. Cleopas, Lancashire in 1913; Annie was tragically left a young widow and who appears to have been childless. Herman features on thirteen Ancestry trees.
Should you have any such individual on your family tree or encounter any “migrants” from Whitburn during any research you are doing, I would love to hear from you.