Heddon-on-the-Wall Local History Society
  • Home
  • Calendar
  • Introduction
  • Where are we?
  • History Map
  • Timeline
    • Prehistoric
    • AD43 to 1599
    • 1600 to 1799
    • 1800 to 1899
    • 1900 to 1999
    • 2000 to 2099
  • Heddon's History
    • Prehistory
    • Hadrian's Wall >
      • Vallum excavation (1893)
      • Hadrian's Wall excavation 1926
      • Wall ditch, Bays Leap (1958)
      • Hadrian’s Wall: Archaeological research by English Heritage 1976-2000
      • Throckley & Heddon entanglements
      • WallWatch
      • English Heritage (2020)
      • Wardell-Armstrong Archaeolgy Reports
      • Historic England Archives
    • Six townships >
      • 1 Heddon township >
        • Heddon in the Middle Ages
        • Common Land
        • Middle Marches
        • Tithe Award
        • St Andrew's Church >
          • Stained Glass Windows
          • Churchyard
          • Monuments of church & churchyard (1991)
          • Monuments Page 2
          • Vicars of Heddon
        • Village property
        • Heddon Hall >
          • Sale of Heddon Hall 2012
        • Heddon Banks Farm
        • Frenchman's Row
        • Methodist Church >
          • Heddon Methodist Church Centenary 1877-1977
        • Men's Institute
        • Women's Institute
        • Welfare Field
        • Knott Memorial Hall
        • Memorial Park
        • Schools
        • River Tyne
        • Coal Mining
        • Quarrying
        • Water Supplies
        • Transport
        • Waggonway & Railway
        • Occupations from 1800
        • Miscellaneous
      • 2 West Heddon township
      • 3 East Heddon township
      • 4 Houghton & Close House township >
        • Close House
      • 5 Eachwick township
      • 6 Whitchester township
    • Rudchester
  • People
    • Sir James Knott
    • Cadwallader J. Bates
    • Richard Burdon
    • Hugh Sinclair (Tim) Swann
    • George Clark
  • Old Photos
    • Postcards
    • Old photos 1
    • Old photos 2
    • Old photos 3
    • Old photos 4
    • Old photos 5
    • Old photos 6
    • Old Photos 7
  • Old News
    • Community News
    • Letter from the Emigrant Clergy of Frenchman's Row (1802)
    • Alleged Brutal Murder at Heddon-on-the-Wall (1876)
    • Sad boat accident at Ryton (1877)
    • Coronation tree (1902)
    • 65 Years on a Ferry Boat (1929)
    • Come claim your kiss at Heddon (1953)
    • The Swan (1972)
    • Heddon WI (1987)
    • Church House (1966)
    • Happy return (1993)
    • Hexham Courant (1997)
    • Butterfly Garden (1999)
    • Foot & Mouth (2001)
    • Remembrance Day (1996)
    • Remembrance Day (2016)
    • RAF at Ouston (2007)
    • Close House Golf Course (2009)
    • Heddon pupils celebrate British heritage (2011)
    • Roman Wall Forge (2011)
    • Diamond Jubilee (2012)
    • Auction of Bronze Statue, Close House (2012)
    • Heddon WI (2012)
    • Puffing Billy Festival (2013)
    • Heddon Village Show (2014)
    • View of the North (2014)
    • The Wall at Heddon (2014)
    • Heddon Village Show (2015)
    • War veterans singing send-off (September 2015)
    • Anglo-Saxon history (2014)
    • Heddon WI at 100 (2017)
    • Hadrian's Wall discovery (2019)
    • Tulip Mews (2020)
    • Mike Furlonger
    • Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival
  • Memories
    • Olive White
    • Betty Cockburn
    • Betty Cockburn - miscellaneous information
    • Isabel Snowdon
    • William & Winnie Watson
    • Edith Ward
    • Mark Parker
    • Jack Lawson
    • Winnie Spoor
    • P Reay
    • Mr and Mrs Hall
    • Peter Chapman
    • Elizabeth Elenora Eames
    • Harry Murray
  • Other documents
    • Mackenzie (1825)
    • Bates (1886) >
      • Early & Roman
      • Townships
      • Heddon Church
      • Heddon & Houghton
      • Whitchester
      • Eachwick
      • West & East Heddon
      • Records
      • Addenda
      • Appendix A
    • History, Topography & Directory of Northumberland (Bulmer's) - 1886
    • History of Northumberland (1930)
    • Collingwood Bruce (1853)
    • Whellan (1855)
    • Post Office Directory (1879)
    • Prominent people in Heddon
    • Place names
    • Ad Murum
    • Archived documents
    • Thomas Bewick's History of British Birds (1826)
    • Census data 1801-1991
    • Historical Records 1888-1890
    • Knott Sale of Village Property (1924)
    • Extracts from Parish Council Records
    • Local colliery records
    • Blackburn (1938)
    • Clark (c.1963)
    • History of Church (1968)
    • Boundary Commission Report 1984
  • Walks
    • Walks 2
  • Blog
  • Contact us
  • Links
  • What's new
  • Site search
  • Past & Present
  • Photo of the Month
  • Place Name Studies
    • Meas & Meres
    • OS Name Books: Elsdon
    • OS Name Books: Allendale
    • OS Name Books: Cheviot Hills

The Spearman Family of Eachwick Hall

8/6/2012

 
In general, I'm more interested in places and the natural environment rather than people. However, I know from the few contacts received that this site attracts most interest from those studying their family history and,  when that leads them to Heddon, try to provide whatever help I can.
Picture
Eachwick Hall. Photo by Oliver Dixon (2008)
Picture
Gates, Eachwick. Photo by Stephen Richards (2010).
Photos taken from Geograph website and remain © Copyright of their photographers although licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence (click the photos for link)
Eachwick was historically one of the six townships making up the parish of Heddon on the Wall. The early history of Eachwick is described on this site and in the history written by Cadwallader Bates in 1886.
Eachwick Hall is a  fine Grade II* listed building dating from the early 18th century and is described here. There is another photo on Keys to the Past.
_ A contact made to the site by a lady called Angela Raby in October 2011 was as follows:

R Spearman of Eachwick Hall listed in P O Directory 1879 on your site.

Just discovered a WW1 Memorial to Officers who served with their later dates of death, in York Minster!  My cousin a Captain is listed there, 1 of 26 officers. His stepfather was John Spearman, with associations to Eachwick Hall and Jersey.


John Spearman married in 1908 when my cousin was sent to school in Jersey where the Spearmans also had property.

I read your history of the Hall & wondered if there is a link between John Spearman and the Hall. If there is, you might be interested to have a copy of the write up I am doing.

I read that the Hall gardens were opened and wondered if the owners would know any details.

Thank you Angela
I had little to help other than the information already on this site and that from a Google search. I wasn't sure that the current owners were related, but the old directories did show a John Hunter Spearman at Eachwick Hall, although it looked like he took the surname on being left the estate by his friend Ralph Spearman, who died childless and was buried at Heddon.
Eneas MacKenzie in his history of Northumberland (1825) added the following footnote to his account for Eachwick:
Picture
John Gorton, for example, wrote the following in 1833:
Picture
William Fordyce provided more detail in 1857:
Picture
Ralph Spearman (1749-1823), as an antiquarian, was following the interests of his cousin, John Spearman of Thornley (1645-1703), notable lawyer and under Sheriff of County Durham. His son, Gilbert Spearman (1675-1738), also a lawyer, published much of their work in An Enquiry into the Ancient and Present State of the County Palatine of Durham (1729)., still cited today.
Cadwallader Bates in 1885 didn’t seem to hold Ralph Spearman in any great regard as an antiquarian and historian.

"Ralph Spearman of Eachwick acted the part of a great antiquary, so much so that he was erroneously believed to have been the prototype of Sir Walter Scott's ' Jonathan Oldbuck.' It is doubtful, however, whether his learning was even so sound as that of the Laird of Monkbarns. [104] His vanity led him to endeavour to trace his descent and name from the ' lords of Aspramont, a castle and county on the confines of Lorraine and Bar.'  His new hall at Eachwick was built entirely for show : being three stories high, with gingerbread battlements, and of great length, though only one room thick. At the time of the window-tax this led to its being rated at a very large sum. Seen from a distance, it quite deceives a stranger by its palatial appearance. Mr. Spearman was so far successful that the neighbourhood still believe that Eachwick belonged to his family for generations. A letter accidentally preserved in the church books at Heddon is a capital illustration of his combined pedantry, liberality, and pride:
“Mr. Spearman sends enclosed five Shillings, being the Assessed Value of the Movement of the Winnowing part of a Threshing Machine, found by the Coroner and Inquest, a Deodand forfeit to him on the death of Mary Lawson, as Lord of the Manour of Eachwick Hall Lands, by Grant from James first, King of Great Brittain, in the year of our Lord 1610, and requires the Vicar and Church-Wardens of the Parish of Heddon on the Wall to distribute it to the Poor at Discretion.
                                                                                            
Eachwick Hall. Friday, March 27th, 1813."
In his will he stated that he was determined to follow "the example of Abraham, and to consider his Eleazar as heir to all his house," and consequently entailed his property at Eachwick on his steward Mr.Hunter and his elder sons, on condition of their taking the name of Spearman, with a remainder in favour of his very distant kinsmen, the Spearmans of Thornley, co. Durham. In equity the estate should have gone to Sarah Bell, granddaughter of his great-uncle Charles Bell, and wife of Eobert Clayton, Esq., of Newcastle. His aged sister survived for about four years, and left written testimony of her gratitude to Mr. Hunter Spearman for the way in which she was treated after her brother's death. The entail was not barred, and took effect on the death of the last Mr. Hunter Spearman, to the prejudice of his younger brother who is a land-owner in the township, and continues to bear the name of Spearman. [105]

Heddon-on-the-Wall: The Church and Parish by Cadwallader J. Bates M.A. Archaeologia aeliana v11 p240-294 (1886). His paper is available online here.
Friends remember him in a more favourable light here:
Picture
I had also come across a multitude of Spearman memorials during my photographic sessions of gravestones in St Andrew's churchyard. They are numbered 93, 96, 137 & 139.
True to her word, Angela Raby unravelled the whole complicated story about the Spearman's of Eachwick Hall and kindly provided me with two detailed pdf documents earlier this year. I don't think she'll mind me including her summaries here. If there's anyone else out there interested in the Spearman family, Angela is the person to contact. The two volumes contain family trees and considerable detail I am unable to go into here. You can only admire someone who has the skills, ability and stamina to sort out the difficult topics that pervade family inheritance.

Spearman Family © Angela Raby 2012

Picture






RALPH SPEARMAN emulating the landed aristocrats, set up an entail on Eachwick to decide the line of future inheritance. Initially he left his estate to his sister and following her death, to his friend John Hunter provided that he took the surname of Spearman.


Ralph stated that he had selected his heir in the same manner as Abraham who had chosen the natural first son of his concubine to inherit. Might one conclude that John Hunter was a natural son of Ralph? Had this been the case, the entail was unnecessary: it would have been sufficient to leave the estate to John Hunter and his heirs.

However the entail stated that, upon the death of John Hunter Spearman, the Manor of Eachwick pass to Robert Reay Spearman named by Ralph ‘my Godson and Adopted son’ .No mention is made that Robert is John Hunter’s son. In fact the penultimate group of beneficiaries is named as ‘the eight Heirs of said John Hunter’: by implication Robert and brother John, although listed with John Hunter’s family of ten, are ‘not of his body’.

The ancient rules of entail dictated that the person inheriting must be an ‘heir of the body’ - to preserve the bloodline. This suggests that Robert Reay Spearman was the illegitimate son of Ralph: probably his mother was Ann Hunter née Reay. It would seem that John Hunter was allowed to inherit initially because his son Robert might not be twenty one at the time of Ralph’s demise: a condition of the entail.

Unfortunately Robert had no heirs and the entail moved inexorably on to search out three distant Spearman kinsmen. Ralph was related to these three families by a common ancestor born circa 1519—about six generations earlier. [Both fact and fiction weave many plots around the iniquities of entail.]

Contemporary writers, unaware of the purpose of the entail, had favoured the Manor being returned to the Bell family since Ralph’s father had inherited through his marriage. There was surprise locally that, following the death of Robert, the Estate did not pass immediately to Richard Spearman his younger brother, farmer, landowner and family man of Eachwick.

While researching a John Spearman who married my widowed Great Aunt Mary née Kinsman, it was found that his father, Major Henry Charles Spearman was, ‘Lord of the Manor of Thornley County Durham and Lord of the Manor of Eachwick, Northumberland and Grenville, Jersey’. His grandfather Charles, named as a beneficiary under Ralph’s Will, provided the connection between these two Spearman families. John’s elder son, Lieutenant Colonel Leo Spearman is mentioned in the preface of the book, The Northern Spearmans  (1984).






Eachwick Hall and estate, came to George Spearman by marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Bell and passed to Ralph the only child of this union. In 1818 at the age of sixty Ralph the antiquarian drew up his Last Will & Testament to ensure the estate was passed down the generations despite being unmarried.
Picture

James Losh, an eminent Newcastle lawyer drew up Ralph’s Will according to the rules of entail. By choosing to entail the estate a landowner stipulated that only ‘heirs of his body’, his bloodline, would inherit in perpetuity. To the antiquarian the prospect of ‘his adopted son’ Robert Reay Hunter carrying on his line through subsequent heirs must have been appealing. So appealing in fact that James Losh overlooked advising his client that Robert might not marry and have sons.

Ralph Spearman was a bachelor who named Robert a putative son of ‘his friend John Hunter’ to inherit Eachwick. By so doing Ralph announced that this child was an heir of his body and as such could inherit under the entail. Since Robert did not bear the name Spearman he instructed John Hunter to change his surname. Due to the fact that Robert might be underage at his death, Ralph passed the estate first to John Hunter stipulating for his life time only. Had James Losh advised against an entail, and named John then the estate would have passed down through the family of ten children and still be in hands of a former
Eachwick [Hunter] Spearman.

Fifty three years after Ralph’s death, Robert Reay Spearman died a bachelor and the Manor of Eachwick was lost to the local Spearman family in preference for a retired Major living in Jersey, Channel Islands.

Major Henry Charles Spearman inherited at Eachwick from Ralph Spearman when Robert Reay Spearman died without heir. John a son of Henry, married Mary Kinsman, the Great Aunt of the writer. Mary had previously been married to Great Uncle Henri and had two sons by him, Oscar and Eric Gustavus. John and Mary had two sons, Leo and Robert. Leo Spearman born 1904 is mentioned in the book, The Northern Spearmans, by Charles Richard Spearman. The author, in the preface acknowledges his debt to Lt Col Leo Spearman.

Leo Spearman and his half brothers attended Victoria College, Jersey. They all had careers in the military: Eric Gustavus is remembered in the Chapel of West Yorkshire Regiment at York Minster on the 1914-1918 War Memorial.

Picture
Eachwick Hall. Late C19th.
Picture
Eachwick Hall (interior). Late C19th.
Photos received with thanks from Jennie Parsons (2013).
More can be seen in Old photos of Eachwick Hall on the Blog.

Update and photo
Henry Charles Spearman
from Mark Galvin                         28 August 2013
Picture
Captain Henry Charles Spearman 1867. Photo courtesy Mark Galvin (2013).
Here he is, the only known photograph of my great-great-great grandfather!

Captain Henry Charles Spearman (retired as Major) Lord of the Manor Thornley (Co Durham) 66th Berkshire Regiment. Born Nov 18 1835 (Baden Germany) – Died before 1914 at Battersea. The photo was taken in 1867 which makes him 32 years old.

Esq. of Thornley Hall, co. Durham and Eastwick Hall Northumberland from 1876 (on the death of Robert Reay Spearman), under the will of his kinsman Ralph Spearman , Esq. of Eachwick, an eminent local antiquary who died in 1823.

He married Angelique Caroline d’Hauteville in St Omer France in 1859 (aged 24 years). His children were Henry b1860, Charles b1862 (Cannanore, India), Lawrence b1863 (Bangalore, India) (emigrated to Wellington NZ); and Caroline Angelique b1864 (Bangalore, India buried in Rotorua NZ), Alexander b1870.

Military career progression, Rank Ensign (2nd Lieutenant) 24 Aug 1854; Lieutenant 13 Feb 1855; Captain 24 March 1863. (p243 The New Army List Colonel H.G. Hart)

Colburn’s United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal Vol 20 p138- 66th Foot – Lieutenant Henry Charles Spearman to be Captain, by purchase, vice Archibold H. Dunbar, who retires (1863).

He retired to Jersey Channel Islands.
Jennie Parsons
22/1/2013 06:07:29 am

I have a number of photographs of Eachwick Hall (interior and exterior) that I do not know what to do with. They were probably taken towards the end of the 19Cth. They were taken by Lyd Sawyer (Singleton House, Newcastle) and are mounted on card.
I do not know how they came to be amongst my grandfather's effects but I know his parents lived in the area about 1880.
I would be very happy to send them to anyone with an interest.
Jennie Parsons

Andy Curtis
19/5/2013 02:03:02 pm

Thanks Jennie. I have attached two of the photos to the bottom of the post above and displayed all of them in a separate blog on Eachwick Hall.

Andrew Spearman
6/2/2013 03:03:35 pm

Very interesting, I researched the Spearman family in 1971 taking over from my late Uncle Colin Sutherland Spearman who had been approached following an archeological dig at Tynemouth Abbey where some silver bearing the Spearman coat of arms was uncovered. My father often went to Eachwick Hall in his youth, and a lot of the family lived round about in Eachwick Red House "Rosemount" Eachwick Farm House and some others. Richard Spearman (Robert Reay's younger brother ) re-purchased the hall but his son John Gustard Spearman broke the entail. John Gustard is buried in Heddon Churchyard. When I was young his tombestone rocked in the wind, I suppose it is long gone now? My Great Uncle John Bertram Spearman farmed Heddon Steads farm in the 1920's with his sister Ella, then he moved to Turpins Hill Farm. where I used to visit. He owned Blue Bell cottages a few miles outside Heddon and his sister Ella lived in one in the 1960's 70's. We stayed there most summer holidays and I remember using paraffin heaters and lamps an outside earth toilet and washing in a big blue and white china bowl, no electricity at all. My fathers friend was the blacksmith George Armitage (I think his wife was Nancy or it might have been his daughter) His blacksmiths shop was right where the main road and military road split in Heddon on the Wall, it was an amazing dark place and George was always scary and black with soot when I met him but my father said George could take a horse into his smithy and it would return to its owner wart free, a secret passed to him by his father. I met Charles Spearman mentioned in your article in 1984 before he completed his history and we combined knowledge. He had a whole library on the Spearman history.

Andy Curtis
7/2/2013 09:36:06 am

Very nice to hear from you Andrew. Thanks for sharing your memories about people and places. It is an important aspect of this site.

John Gustard Spearman's gravestone (a stone cross) did eventually topple and is shown on the Monuments of Church & Churchyard page (no 139) http://heddonhistory.weebly.com/monuments-of-church--churchyard-1991

I have recently been promised some photos of Eachwick Hall, both inside and outside, dating from the end of the 19th Century. I have posted a couple of them in the post above.

Your mention of farming at Heddon Steads reminds me of another photo on this site from a similar time (linked from a thumbnail on the page 'Old Photos 4' http://heddonhistory.weebly.com/old-tractor.html
I have recently been trying to find out more about this.

Nance Smith
17/2/2015 07:33:53 am

Hello Andrew. It's been a long time! Found this site by accident! For others, I am the daughter of Geoffrey Hunter Spearman and my grandfather was Joseph Alder Spearman, brother of John Bertram Spearman and Ella Spearman, the latter known as Auntie Nell. My father was born at Haltwhistle in 1926 and aged 3 he, his brothers, John Basil Spearman( aged 7) and Arthur George Spearman (aged 6 months) and his mother, Emma Jane Spearman (nee Williams) moved to Kilfinan Hotel, Argyll, Scotland. In 1932 my grandparents bought Kames Hotel, Kames, Tighnabruaich, Argyll, and they remained there till their retirement in 1961 and in Tighnabruaich till their deaths in 1971 and 1973. In 1932 my grandfather founded Joseph A Spearman and Sons, Haulage Contractors, which became Spearmans' Transport and Trading Co Ltd in 1954. My father and his brothers, and my mother, ran the company till its dissulution and sale in 1998. This Scottish division of the Spearman family is survived by my 89yr old aunt by marriage, Mary Jane Spearman, her daugher Mairi MacMaster, her two daughters and "yours truly".

Keith Tonkin link
6/5/2013 08:24:23 pm

I find this interesting. My mother's maiden name was Spearman, my grandfather Charles Lawrence Alexander Spearman, son of Charles Prosper Spearman, born in Bangalore, India and emigrated to New Zealand.....I have found family records that lead back to Robert Spearman who fought with Henry VIII at the Battle of Solway Moss in 1542 and continue down to Eachwick and Thornley, Ralph Spearman being prominent in the records. There was a long connection with a d'Hauteville family in France but what was especially interesting to me was the name "Kinsman" Strangely my grandfather's sister married a Percy Kinsman here in New Zealand in the 1920s who for a while was the mayor of Upper Hutt, a small city near Wellington where my grandfather was born.
My grandfather served as one of the original ANZACS in the Wellington Infantry in WW1 and was an extremely lucky survivor of Chunak Bair at Gallipoli and later in the trenches of France. He was also a four times New Zealand lawn bowls champion.

mark galvin
27/6/2013 06:08:39 am

Hello all I have read this site with great interest. I too am related to the Spearman clan and the d'Hauteville line mentioned above. I have actually inherited Ralph Spearman's signed bible dated 1776. This is very exciting. I need to absorb what I have read and work out how it all pieces together and will post again :-) thankyou!

Mark
27/6/2013 06:49:42 am

Keith, my great grandfather John Spearman d'Hauteville Birkby emigrated to NZ to join the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in WWI (he later went on to serve in France). His war records give his Wellington (Ngaio) address c/o "L Spearman". This Spearman is by my reckoning, his mothers brother Lawrence d'Hauteville Spearman. Her other brother is your great grandfather Charles Lawrence Alexander Spearman. His father Charles Prosper Spearman was indeed born in Bangalore. His parents were Henry Charles Spearman and Angelique Caroline Spearman nee d'Hauteville. If we now take her line, her mother was Caroline Spearman d'Hauteville and her father was Colonel Paul Louis Jaques Marie d'Hauteville of the French artillery and recipient of the French legion of honour (I have his medal). The d'Hauteville family name has been passed to the first born since my great grandfather John and I also carry the name as a middle name. It is a famous name originating in Normandy France and associated with the famous norman knights who conquered Italy in the middle ages. I could go on but I don't wish to stray from the purpose of this site too much! I am thrilled to find out a relation was one of the original ANZACs at Gallipoli!!

Keith Tonkin
26/8/2013 07:36:32 pm

Very interesting Mark, are you a New Zealander? My grandfather (not great grandfather) Charles Lawrence Alexander Spearman was part of the NZ Expeditionary Force too and may have met your great grandfather. Before Gallipoli he was part of the 1000 strong force that captured Western Samoa from the Germans in 1914 to become part of NZ. The first piece of German territory they lost in WW1.
I also knew of the d'Hauteville connection to the crusades.

Mark
27/8/2013 05:21:14 am

Hi Keith - yes sorry, your grandfather not g grandfather. I think there is a very good chance Charles and John would have met. Yes I am a NZer, John served on the Western Front before being sent to Brockenhust hospital UK with a severe lung condition (we think he was gassed). His brother 2nd Lt Henry Alexander Birkby was killed in action at the front. John was sent home back to Wellington. He was posted to Palmerston North (where he and his wife Elsie had my grandmother). He was then made camp adjutant at Narrow Neck Devonport in Auckland. He then went to Rotorua where he was the headmaster of a Maori boys school and was active in the Rotorua Red Cross during WW2. While in Rotorua his mother Caroline Angelique Birkby visited and died there - she is buried in Rotorua. John then retired to Takapuna in Auckland. This is where the subsequent generations grew up - I was born in Takapuna (now live in Sydney)

Keith Tonkin
27/8/2013 02:12:45 am

Mark..I've spent a long time trying to figure out who my great-grandmother actually was, the wife of Charles Prosper Spearman. I'm wondering if you know. I know her name (Agnes Hunt) and when and where she was born and when she married b.1866 Oamaru, New Zealand and married in 1888 but there are no records beyond that anywhere I've looked. My mother remembered her as a dark-skinned lady but knew nothing else. I've often assumed she was Maori but cannot prove that...I think she was adopted into a pakeha (white) family.
I know this website is not about this and I apologise but this has long been a mystery to me and I follow all leads. I live in Dunedin close to Oamaru and I'd love to know if I have relatives there today.

Mark
28/8/2013 05:18:16 am

Keith - I'm afraid I do not have much more. The link below is to an obituary which could be for your great grandfather, Charles Prosper Spearman (the name is not common - this C P Spearman died on 9 June 1916 (which must have made him about 55 years old if it is your CPS?). There are two obituaries one posted by his daughter the other by his son. His daughter's name is given as "Lydia Marshall" and his son only the initial "H" Spearman. I hope this helps? If they are who I think they are they would be your grand uncle and aunt.....?

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19170609.2.6

Paulette Mauchline
10/5/2014 11:23:03 pm

Hi Keith,I am related to the Agnes Hunt family and have details of the family.My grandmother was her sister.I have her birth cert.I don't know how to get a hold of you.We are in levin Horowhenua.

Mark
27/6/2013 07:33:03 am

Angela's history is fascinating thankyou for publishing! I have a question - Major Henry Charles Spearman who inherited at Eachwick from Ralph Spearman when Robert Reay Spearman died without heir, was married to Angelique Caroline Spearman and I understand they had 4 sons and a daughter. The sons were Henry Lawrence, Charles Prosper, Lawrence d'Hauteville and Alexander James and the daughter was Caroline Angelique d'Hauteville (my great great grandmother) who married John Stewart Birkby. You mention another son John who's sons were Leo and Robert? I am not aware of these sons...do you have more information??

Angela Raby
6/9/2013 12:41:06 pm

Reply to email of 27/06/2013 from Mark

Major Henry Charles Spearman [who inherited at Eachwick from Ralph Spearman when Robert Reay Spearman died without heir] was married first to Angelique d’Hautville in 1859 at St Omer: Henry and Angelique were first cousins. They had 4 sons and a daughter. The sons were Henry Lawrence, Charles Prosper, Lawrence d'Hauteville and Alexander James and the daughter was Caroline Angelique d'Hauteville.
In 1871 Captain & Adjutant Henry C Spearman of KRV was living at Old Machar with his wife and family together with a Nursemaid Isabella MacGregor.
Following Angelique’s death in 1873, he married Isabella MacGregor abt 1874. The couple had 3 children, John 1875, Isabella and Gertrude.
In 1891 John Spearman aged 16 is living with his father and family in Jersey. Next door is living Mary Kinsman the daughter of Lieut. Edward Kinsman. Family state that John wanted to marry Mary but his father forbade the union, cut him off without a penny. He emigrated to USA and she married my great uncle Henri Herve Steweni, moved to Russia where 2 sons were born: Oscar and Gustavus Eric. I wrote of Eric that:
‘Just discovered a WW1 Memorial to Officers who served with their later dates of death, in York Minster! My cousin a Captain is listed there, 1 of 26 officers. His stepfather was John Spearman, with associations to Eachwick Hall and Jersey.’
Mary Kinsman widowed returned to England – John married his former sweetheart and the couple had 2 children: Leo and John Robert. The four boys attended Victoria College Jersey – the College were very helpful in supplying information about my 2 cousins.

Angela Raby

Lynne Mary Aman
12/8/2014 03:33:01 pm

My father was Leo Spearman, born 1909 (not 1904 as written somewhere in comments above). He died in 2005.

Yvonne ranson
26/8/2013 09:07:37 am

I too have traced my family of Spearmans through my gt,gt,gt grandmother Elizabeth Spearman and through her have traced my ancestors to The spearmans of Preston who i believe it was Robert Spearman buried in Tynemouth Priory about 1600

Russell Wear
23/10/2013 07:18:25 am

Interested in the background of Henry Charles Spearman, who died in hospital at Battersea, London 18.7.1891 and his connections with Thornley. Why were his executors John Sparks and Edward Jarman Blake, solicitors, of Crewkerne, Somerset? He married twice - second wife Isabella born in Scotland - they had at least two children born in Jersey.

Geoff Robinson
10/11/2013 09:45:51 am

Hi everyone. My great-grandfather was John Bertram Spearman. I lived at Turpin's Hill farm with my mother Margaret, his grand-daughter, until we moved. His son John lives at North Heugh farm, Barrasford, Northumberland. Sadly my great-grandfather passed away age 97 in 1989. My grandmother, Molly Spearman, married into the Wilsons from Stamfordham. As far as I know there is a Burt Spearman (I called uncle) still alive and lives in Brampton Cumbria. I hope this helps.

[Contact details were provided and will be passed on through this site to genuinely interested parties]

Nance Smith
17/2/2015 07:46:53 am

Hello Geoff. I think we last met at your grandfather's funeral. I am your namesake's daughter i.e. my father was Geoffrey Hunter Spearman. I found this site by accident and it is so very interesting. I never quite understood how the family "lost" Eachwick Hall although John - to whom you refer at North Heugh - tried to explain. I suppose that my father coming to Scotland so young, aged 3, the history Spearman history seemed a bit distant to me. I have a painting of Eachwick Hall which my father inherited but regrettably I do not know from whom.

Geoff Robinson
8/11/2015 06:14:44 am

Hello Nance, sorry I haven't replied earlier. You say your father was Geoff Spearman if so did you live in Kames, Bute ? If so I have one very happy memory of a holiday in Scotland it was my 18th Birthday (1985) and we went for a pub meal with your mum and dad, my mum Margaret step dad Fred, it's the only ever time I have been asked my age in a pub I think your dad may have had a word with the landlord about my age when I went to get a round of drinks hope your ok

Veronica Stevenson
22/8/2014 03:29:10 am

Thomas James Spearman son of Charles P Spearman went to war with my husbands grandfather Walter McFarlane they were both excellent boxers and friends.While in London they married two girls from the same family .Walter married Florence Schilyz and Thomas married her half sister Evelyn Hope Coysh

Bonnie Hutton
20/1/2015 07:53:04 pm

My 2nd great grandfather was Henry Charles Spearman and his second wife Isabella MacGregor was my 2nd great grandmother. Their daughter Isabella is my great grandmother and she married my great grandfather Alfred Hastings Evered in 1897. If anyone has any further information please contact me.

Bonnie Hutton
23/1/2015 12:47:39 pm

My great grandmother was Isabella Spearman(1875-1953) She was the daughter of Isabella MacGregor and Henry Charles Spearman. I believe she also had a brother John and a younger sister Gertrude. She married my great grandfather Alfred Hastings-Evered. If anyone has further information to share I would very much appreciate it.


Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Andy Curtis

    Archives

    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011


    Categories

    All
    Agricultural Engineering
    Archaeology
    Barrow
    Bays Leap
    Beamish Museum
    Beer
    Beer-mat
    Bewcastle
    Books
    Border Line
    Brewery
    Brown
    Cabinetmaker
    Charlton
    Cheviots
    Churches
    Civil War
    Clennell Street
    Close House
    Coal Mining
    Cullercoats
    Cumbria
    Eachwick
    Earl Grey
    Elswick
    Family History
    Fishing
    Fishwives
    Folkestone Warren
    Forth Banks
    Furniture
    Gardens
    General
    George Clark
    Gibson
    Goods Station
    Hadrian's Wall
    Harbours
    Heddon
    Heddon Hall
    Hexham
    Hidden Chains
    Houghton
    Howick Hall
    Hunting
    Iron Sign
    Isaac Jackson
    John Grundy
    John Smith
    Knott
    Landslide
    Lead Works
    Lemington
    Lindisfarne
    Maritime
    Meetings
    Military Road
    Mill
    Monument
    Newburn
    Newcastle
    Newcastle Assizes
    News
    North Lodge
    North Shields
    Northumberland
    Northumberland Records Office
    Old Middleton
    Oral History
    Ouseburn
    Outings
    Photography
    Place Names
    Place-names
    Ponteland
    Ports
    Prehistory
    Pubs
    Quarries
    Railways
    Redesdale
    River Tyne
    Rock Art
    Roman
    Sadler
    Sanderson
    Schools
    Seaton Delaval
    Ships
    Shot Tower
    Slave Trade
    Songs/Poems
    Spearman
    Stagecoach
    Stained Glass
    St. Andrews
    Stephenson
    Swann
    Tea Robbery
    Throckley
    Town Farm
    Transportation
    Trinity House
    Victorian Panorama
    Walbottle
    Walk
    Water Supply
    William Brown
    Williamson
    Woodhorn
    Ww1
    Ww2
    Wylam
    Yetholm

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.