Jim and Mary Isabella in about 1937 - probably at Blackpool where they regularly went on holiday.
Mastel Family History
Mastel Family History
Green/Adamthwaite family - generation two: my maternal grandmother
1911 census, in Arthur St, Crook, Co Durham:
Fred Adamthwaite, head, 18, miner, b. Shildon
James Adamthwaite, father, 64, wid, retired miner hewer, b. Brough, Westmorland
Mary Isabel Bell, sister, 32, mar, b. Crook
Moya Bell, niece, 1, b. Witton Park
James Bell, nephew, 3m, b. Crook
James Green, boarder, 32, single, brickayer (ovens), b. Dublin
Living not too far away at Low Beechburn, Crook was Mary Isabella’s husband, John Bell (though I have not found a marriage of John to an Elizabeth around 1904)
John Bell, head, mar, 37, coal miner hewer, b.Durham Willington
Elizabeth Bell, wife, mar 7 years, 35, b. Durham Hartlepool
John Bell, son, 4, b. Durham Bedburn
James Trott Bell, son, 2, b. Durham Bedburn
Thomas Thompson Bell,son 4m, b. Durham Bedburn
Thompson Bell, head’s father,wid, 60, retired coalminer hewer, b. Yorks, York.
Mary Isabella ADAMTHWAITE appeared with her family in the 1881 - 1901 census - see next generation for details.
Jim and Mary Isabella in the census
Mary Isabella ADAMTHWAITE
Born 4 apr 1878 at Bridge St, Crook, Helmington Row, Co Durham, Mary was the daughter of James Adamthwaite, coal miner and Ann Adamthwaite, formerly Carter (source Birth Certificate)
In the 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses, Mary Isabella was living at home with her parents - James Adamthwaite and Ann (Carter) (see next generation).
Her first marriage was to John Bell, a miner aged 29 years, son of Thomson Bell of Dawson Street, Crook on 8 nov 1902. Mary Isabella was aged 24 of Arthur Street, Crook and daughter of James Adamthwaite, miner (source Marriage Certificate)
The family believed that Mary Isabella met Jim Green when he came to stay with the Adamthwaite family as a lodger; perhaps she had left John Bell and returned home to her family by then?
Certainly, from the evidence of the 1911 census (see right) it seems that Mary Isabella had parted from John Bell some years before the birth of her first child with James Green in 1909 – and by 1911 James and Mary were both living in Arthur St in Crook – with Mary’s father James Adamthwaite. Jim and Mary's childrens' births were all registered with the surname 'Green Bell', but I have not yet found any baptisms for them - though they all attended the Roman Catholic school (which was Jim's religion) and I have a photo of Mary and Moya at their 1st Holy Communion..
James and Mary finally managed to marry on 10 May 1941, at the Register Office in Durham Western – by which time Mary was recorded as a widow aged 63 years and James was a bachelor aged 62 years. James’ occupation was given as Bricklayer at Chemical Factory and his father was John Green, leather worker, deceased. He gave his address as 57 Leven Road, Norton, but Mary gave her address as 4 Arthur St, Crook – her father’s old address. The witnesses were Alfred Henderson and Jane Adamthwaite (source Marriage Certificate)
James and Mary Isabella Green’s children:
Moya Green Bell was born on 18 Apr 1909 [1909 jun Auckland 10a, 252] married Arthur Resker in 1937 and lived in Finchley, then moved to Knebworth in Hertfordshire. Moya died in Mar 1991 in Waveney.
James (young Jim) Green Bell – aged 3m in 1911 census. James was born on 19 Dec 1910 at Arthur St, Crook – his father was James Green, bricklayer journeyman, and his mother Mary Isabell Bell –married Dorothy and lived in Ealing where Jim was a builder. Their daughter was Maureen. James Joseph Green, b. 1910, died in Ealing in dec qtr of 1979.
John (Jack) Green Bell, born 26 jan 1912 at 22 Arthur St, Crook. His father was James Joseph Green, bricklayer journeyman, his mother Mary Isabel Bell, formerly Adamthwaite. Jack died at the age of 10 years on 4 sep 1922 in Stockton and Thornaby Hospital from concussion of the brain caused by being accidentally knocked down by a Motor Car (source Death Certificate). He was buried at Oxbridge Road Cemetery on 9th September 1922.
Mary Susan Green Bell, born 21 dec 1914 at 38 Gladstone St, Thornaby on Tees, married Len Ward (see Ward family notes) in August 1940 and they lived in Finchley for as long as Len worked for the Medical Research Council at Mill Hill (then they escaped to Cornwall!) Mary died in September 2005
William (Bill) Green Bell, born 18 aug 1918 [1918 sep Stockton 10a 162] and died in Aug 2000 at Watford. Married in Norton Parish Church on 14 jun 1941 to Gwendoline Lonsdale (1921-2002, daughter of Arthur Lonsdale and Ellener Caygell)) At the time of their marriage Bill was an electrician in the RAOC and after war they lived in Billingham on Tees where Bill worked for ICI.
Apparently, Mary Isabella was something of a tyrant … she certainly terrified my father when he first went up to meet Mary’s parents. And from the stories my mother told, she was pretty strict about the children’s behaviour, particularly at mealtimes: if they didn’t sit up straight, they were tied to the chair back!
Mary also remembers visits from some aunts – one of whom could tell fortunes from playing cards, which Mary and Moya found very exciting. But their mother did NOT approve, so when she came into the room they had to hide the cards under the lace tablecloth. We think the aunts would have been Richard’s wife Elizabeth Jane and her mother, Mrs Martin
‘Grandma Green’ as she was called, moved from her home on the Bluehall Estate in Norton and went to live with Bill and Gwen in Billingham not long after Jim's death in 1949. She died on 2 April 1952 at Bill and Gwen’s home at 79 Stokesley Crescent, Billingham, aged 73 years. The death certificate states she was the widow of James Green bricklayer journeyman, of 57 Leven Road Norton, Stockton on Tees and gives the cause of death as Chronic Myocarditisis, due to senility. The death was reported by J Green, son of 29 Bramley Road, South Ealing, London. (source Death Certificate) Mary Isabella was buried on 5 May 1952 at Durham Road Cemetery, Stockton on Tees.(source Stockton Roots)
Left: Moya, young Jim and baby Jack, taken in the back yard of their home in Crook, shortly before the family moved to Thornaby on Tees
Below: Mary Isabella with daughter Mary, (This photo was taken by my father - I think before 1940 when he and Mary were married)
1939 Register, at 57 Leven Road, Stockton, Durham:
James Green, born 8 sep 1878, mar, bricklayer, heavy chemical industry
Mary Green, born 4 apr 1878, mar, unpaid domestic duties