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Mary Ann Farndale
FAR00397
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Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines are in brown.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Context and local history are in purple.
1853
Mary Ann Farndale, daughter
of Thomas and Isabella (nee Bowes) Farndale (FAR00280) was born on 17 March
1853 in Auckland District (BR).
Mary Ann Farndale’s birth was registered at Auckland District in the first
quarter of 1853 (GRO
Vol 10a, page 102).
1871
Census 1871 – Barracks, St Helen,
Auckland
Isabel Farndale, head, 54,
born Durham in 1817
William Farndale, son, 20,
labourer
Mary A Farndale, 18, dress maker
1881
Census 1881 – Commercial Street,
Willington, Co Durham
William Farndale, 30,
colliery labourer
Mary J Farndale, 28, dressmaker
1891
Census 1891 – Low Willington,
Willington, Durham
William Farndale, head, aged
40, a general labourer
Mary A Farndale, sister, 38, dressmaker
Information from Judith
Bremner, with thanks:
William and Mary adopted Nora
Bovill, who had been born on 25 December 1885 in County Durham. Nora later married
Rupert Evans at Newcastle in 1916.
Mary Ann & William
attended St Stephens Church of England in Low Willington.
Mary Ann
appears to have been a respected member of the community, an excellent needlewoman
(I have examples of her lace work and the dolls clothes she made for my
mother). She did not drink alcohol herself but it was
quite proper for visiting menfolk to be offered spirits and for Mary Ann to
meet with other women in the ‘front room’ of the Dun Cow where she knew the
landlady. Mary Ann visited Bishop Auckland each Thursday for market day and to
meet other family members. She was
strict but extremely kind and is only ever spoken of in terms of great respect
and affection. From my mother’s viewpoint ‘Aunty’ came from a huge extended
family many of whom my mother did not know. She does however remember visiting
‘cousin’ Ginny/Jenny? White in Queen St Redcar (we have an old post card sent
to mother from this address) and has vivid memories of holidays at Cragg Hall Farm. (Mother is adamant
that she knew it is Cragg & not Craggs as on your site?) Matthew (FAR00383), affectionately
called Mattha by Mary Ann was an elderly widower by then and he appeared to
enjoy her fussing over him. My mother
remembers a beautiful rose garden hidden at the back of the farm seen only by
those at the farm, fruit bushes dripping
with berries, taking the farmworkers lunches out to the fields at midday, being
allowed to go shopping on her own to Carlin How or Brotton (an example of the
changes in society as she was only 5 or 6 at the time) and reading Pilgrims
Progress in the rarely used ‘front room’
A special treat was to be taken for rides in the side car of Herbert’s (FAR00652) motor bike. Herbert, Matthews’ son was presumably running
the farm by this stage
Following the death of her own mother
my grandmother Nora Bovill was brought up from the age of 8 by a spinster ‘cousin’ Mary Ann Farndale (FAR00397) and her bachelor brother William Farndale (FAR00386) in
Low Willington Co Durham. The 1901 census shows Nora as their adopted daughter but a poor transcription shows their surname as
‘Thorndale’
A few years after my grandmother’s
marriage she returned to live with the now elderly Mary Ann & William in
Willington, taking my mother and uncle with her. Therefore between
the ages of 5 and 10 my mother lived with Mary Ann Farndale.
Mary Ann was always referred to as
Aunty Farndale or Aunty. Her brother
William was not very strong and Mary Ann looked after
him until his death in 1919, at this time my mother was a toddler and unable to
remember him herself. Mary Ann died aged
74 when my mother was 10 in 1927. Their parents were Thomas Farndale &
Isabella Bowes. Thomas died in his early 30’s and Isabella had a hard life
bringing up 2 young children as a single parent.
ME – Judith Bremner (nee Piddington)
b.28/6/47
my MOTHER – Margaret Bovill Piddington (nee Evans)
b.
her brother MY UNCLE – William Farndale Evans b.2/9/1921 d.17/11/1989
my GRANDMOTHER – Nora Evans (nee Bovill)
b.25/12/1885 d.1/5/1957
her SPINSTER ‘COUSIN’ – Mary Ann
Farndale - (FAR00397) b.17/3/1853 d. Sept1927
her brother WILLIAM FARNDALE – (FAR00386) b .March 1851 d. 1919)
1901
Census 1901 – Low Willington,
Willington, Durham
William Farndale, 50,
caretaker Church Institute
Mary A Farndale, 48
Nora Bovill, 15 adopted daughter, born Co Durham in 1886
1911
Census 1911, 72 Low Willington, Co
Durham
William Farndale, 60, coke
drawer at colliery
Mary Ann Farndale, 58, sister and single
1921
Census 1921 – Durham
Now available but not yet
checked.
1927
Mary A Farndale, died, aged 74 at Durham District in the third quarter of 1927 (DR).