The Gullett Branch

The Gulletts are an old Devonshire family, originating from the Plymouth area of the county and can be traced back to 1550s. They most certainly took part in The Siege of Plymouth in Devon, during the First English Civil War, when Royalist forces besieged the Plymouth Parliamentary Garrison from 1642 to 1647.

However, this branch of the family starts with my Great Grandmother Jessie Gullett.

Jessie was born in the Plymton-St-Mary’s district of Plymouth in September 1873, to Ann and Samuel Gullett, my Great Great Grandparents. Jessie had two older sisters, Clara Ann & Philippa Jane. In 1881, they are recorded as living in Plymton, Plymouth and Samuel is a Gamekeeper.   At some point in the 1880s, Samuel receives a job offer to become a gamekeeper to the Duke of Northumberland and so moves his young family to Fatfield, Harraton in County Durham. This was some undertaking, a 400-mile journey to relocate to the Northeast………maybe by train.

Working on the same estate in Fatfield are the Ventress family and this is where John Ventress, my Great Grandfather, meets Jessie. John and Jessie were children of the farm, part of the workforce and probably never received any formal education at school, as it’s known Jessie could neither read nor write.  She had to ‘Make-her-Mark’ (an X) on her marriage certificate. Great Grandad John Ventress is a young groom, tending the horses and Jessie works in the fields and feeding the animals on the Duke’s estate.

In 1891, Jessie and John were married, Jessie was just 17 years of age, and later that year they had their first child, Hannah. This was a ‘shotgun’ wedding as there were only 3 months between the date of the wedding and the birth of Hannah.  John and Jessie would go on to have 13 children, but sadly only nine of these children would survive into adulthood.

By the 1901 census, Jessie’s mother and father (my Great Great Grandparents) had moved to Northumberland to work on the larger estate belonging to the Duke of Northumberland and Hannah, (John and Jessie’s first child), has moved to Northumberland with them.   Meanwhile, Great Grandfather John and Great Grandmother Jessie are living in Picktree at Chester-le-Street, with their now enlarged family of one daughter and four boys, one of which is my Grandad, Harry Ventress.

By 1902, my Great Grandparents decide to move Whitburn, tempted by the offer of higher wages in the new mining industries, even if it meant 12 hours, per day, underground! They take up residence at No 1 Elder’s Buildings and Great Grandfather John takes a job at Whitburn pit utilising his skills with horses tending to the ponies who work underground hauling loaded wagons from the coalface.

The 1911 census informs us that my Great, Great Grandparents have move back to Plymouth to retire; Hannah has married and moved to Jesmond Dene, and Jessie and John have increased their family to 7 with the birth of two daughters. So, all in all, 9 people now lived in No 1 Elders Buildings.

Jessie and John, their son Samuel aged 18, employed down the pit. Daughter Lydia aged 17. Son John (Jack) aged 14, employed at the pit as a screenboy. Harry aged 12, Fred aged 11 and Annie aged 6 all at school. Gretta aged 3, being the bairn.  Despite there being three ‘bread-winners’ in the household it must have been very hard to put food on the table and shoes on the feet of all those dependants. Phoebe is born in 1913 swelling the size of the household and stretching resources even further.

Note: Screenboys were employed at the pithead to separate the coal from the dirt before it was washed. An extremely dangerous job resulting many injuries and deaths to young children employed in the mining industry.

Two of Jessie’s sons, Samuel and Harry would experience the horrors of WWI.  Thankfully, both would return, and both would be awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for their actions. Samuel served in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and Harry served in the Machine Gun Corps (MGC).

WW1 Note: Technically the boys had to be 19 to fight but the law did not prevent 14-year-olds and upwards from joining in droves. Many people at the start of the 20th Century didn’t have birth certificates, so it was easy to lie about how old you were.  They responded to the Army’s desperate need for troops and recruiting sergeants were often less than scrupulous. Recruitment officers were paid two shillings and sixpence for each new army recruit and would often ignore any concerns they had about age. My Grandad, Harry Ventress, was only just 16 when he joined the MGC at the outbreak of war.

By the 1920s Great Gran Jessie isn’t a well woman suffering from Diabetes and her youngest son Fred is dying of Tuberculosis (TB).   On 7^th June 1922, Jessie loses another one of her children when Fred dies of Pulmonary Tuberculosis at the tender age of 22. Two weeks later Great Grandmother Jessie loses her battle with Diabetes and passes away at the age of just 49. She must have suffered dreadfully from the diabetes, as at that time there was no available treatments and there wouldn’t be for at least another 5 years. While diabetes is on her death certificate, I believe the death of her youngest son some 2 weeks before clearly hastened her death.   Her son Harry (Grandad) would register her death, and she’s buried in Whitburn cemetery.

Great Grandad John passes away in 1939 at No 1 Elder’s Buildings at the age of 68 and is buried in Whitburn cemetery.

Jessie had what looks like a tragic life, and I think it was; with the loss of so many children, a life of poverty leading to such an early death, but sadly it was probably unremarkable for that time considering the levels of deprivation amongst the working class.

She was very young when she moved to the Northeast with her mum and dad, so she probably lost the distinctive West-country accent by the time she moved to the village, only to inherit another distinctive ‘accent’ of the Northeast. Jessie was the most travelled of my ancestors, with a journey of over 400 miles with her family to make a new life in the Northeast.

As a final footnote, almost 100 years later I would make the 400-mile return journey from the Northeast to Plymouth to join the Royal Navy. Ironically whilst I served in the Royal Navy, I lived in Plymouth for over 25 years with my young family without realising I only lived 2 miles away from where my Great Grandmother was born! It can be a very small world.

If you recognise any members of your family in this branch and would like to add more detail, get in touch with us and let’s shed more light on our story.