The LANE/LAIN(E)s of Ulster, Ireland, Chapter 4
The "LANE Family" section of this site is divided into 5 chapters and an appendix. Please read in sequence by following the links at the bottom of each page or use the "Quick Nav" at top right. Please note the companion photo galleries which show the LANE family house ruins in Co. Tyrone, Ireland; the LANEs' Parish church in Lissan; the homes and graves of the LANEs in Jarrow, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. If you wish to select individual chapters, please click on the top left link to the Sitemap page.
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Jane & Joseph LANE in Newcastle upon Tyne
- Inside this chapter: |
- Introduction |
- Jane's Story |
- LANE Households around Newcastle upon Tyne |
- Chronology of Joseph LANE's Life |
Introduction
Grave of Joseph LANE, Jane LANE & Family at Jarrow. Sect 2, grave 269-270. Photo: Tony Appleton.
I was searching for my great-aunt Jane STRONG for a number of years. Jane existed .... her birth was recorded in the STRONG family bible and she was alive at the time of her father's death in 1910 judging from the ages of offspring in his death certificate. On a new page you can see a close-up photo of the inscription.
What happened to our Jane? She did not live with her father and stepfamily in New Zealand according to a number of family censuses. It has been suggested that Jane could be related to LANE family with Timber Yards up north in the North Island NZ. Family tradition was that she married a Captain Joseph LANE with 2 daughters. Finally, the break-through came with the discovery of her marriage in the UK to Joseph LANE, Marine Engineer. Details of Joseph LANE's life are given at the base of this page.
Knowledge was quickly expanded by tracing Jane's movements through UK censuses and then sending a mail-out to possible descendants at Jane's last known address. Many thanks to my new relatives Gladys LANE, Tony APPLETON and Pat ROONEY who provided valuable information, photos and documents. Particularly to Tony who carried out local field work by using my information to locate and photograph houses and graves. I am grateful to readers of this page who have contacted me with useful information… including Vin Mullen (a "Geordie lad in Jarrow") who told me about what had happened to some of the LANE addresses and provided great photos of Jarrow. Last, but not least, many thanks to my friend Margaret Hall of Wallsend, Northumberland who has most generously spent much time in the archives of Newcastle upon Tyne on my behalf. Now to the story.
Jane's Story
On Mon 14 Dec 1874 the STRONG family emigrated to New Zealand. The previous week on Wed 9 Dec 1874 my great-aunt Jane STRONG (aged 20 and a daughter of Robert STRONG's first marriage) married Joseph LANE, 26 year old Marine Engineer, in the Swinburne St Wesleyan Chapel, Jarrow, Co Durham, UK. The marriage register refers to witnesses William LANE and Sarah Ann LANE; parents James LANE, yarn dresser and Robert STRONGE, Shipwright.
Jane had moved in with the extended LANE family who lived around the Jarrow area. At the time of her marriage, both she and her husband lived at 22 Sheldon Street, Jarrow. Her subsequent addresses and those of the other LANEs are shown in the table at the base of this page. This table also details the relationships of the various LANE households. The relationships are analysed further in a descendant report.
The marriage register's description of "Robert STRONGE, Shipwright" throws light on Robert's occupation. Robert's occupation of shipwright (construction and repair of ships) would be quite consistent with Robert's reference from the mayor of Belfast which said: "I have known Mr Robert STRONGE for many years as foreman and general manager of the extensive business of Mr James McCRACKEN, builder, of this town..." Ship building was the important industry when Robert was in Belfast... building of houses might have not been as profitable as just building houses. Since Joseph LANE was a marine engineer he would have a closer appreciation of what Robert's main duties and/ or experience were. Shipwright should not be confused with a ship's carpenter. The shipwright would have to be part of an on-shore capitalised industry such as that of of Mr James McCRACKEN, builder, whereas the ship's carpenter merely travelled with the ship.
The marriage witness Sarah Ann LANE, sister to Joseph was the informant of the birth of Mary STRONG to Jane STRONG (née LAINE) on 4 Dec 1872, with an address of 2 Craig's Terrace. Her name Sarah Ann is used by Jane STRONG (née LAIN) in the birth of Sarah Ann STRONG in 20 May 1866. At the time of the 1881 Census, Sarah Ann, dressmaker, lived with her parents James and Margaret as their unmarried daughter. Later in the same year, she subsequently married William DAVI(D)SON a coal trimmer* on 16 Apr 1881 and lived at 6 Hope St. Jarrow. The other marriage witness William LAIN, described in 1881 as a labourer (Iron works), could well have been Joseph's brother. I wonder if the STRONG family were represented at the wedding?
*Note that coal trimming was a very hard, very dangerous and very dirty job and was generally recognised as one of the worst on Tyneside. It involved levelling the coal (by hand) as it was being poured into a ship's hold, to ensure the stability of the ship. Small wonder that William DAVISON who was aged 42 and a coal trimmer in 1881, a coal trimmer in 1884, a general labourer in 1891 …… was not found in the 1901 Census (died?). I wonder what life expectancy tables would have told us about coal trimmers? If they didn't die from an accident in the ship's hold, the coal dust on the lung would get them later.
James LANE’s burial plot… sect R, grave 345.Photo: Tony Appleton.
On Apr 1884 the family patriarch James LANE died at his home in Maud St Jarrow at the age of 66. His grave is pictured here, in the centre, just to the left of the grave with a low concrete railing around it. It is hard to speculate on why he didn't have a tombstone. One reason could be the prevailing customs in 1884. At first sight one could suggest that his occupation of watchman did not give enough family income for a memorial.
The answer is in the Cemetery records, which show that the grave of James LANE was never purchased. The records say that after 14 years it reverted to the cemetery authorities, since no other member of the family requested that a relative be buried there. It became a "public grave". .....not a grave vested in the LANE family. James' wife Mary / Margaret LANE wasn't buried there, and the other occupants are Sarah FORSTER who died 1911 & James FORSTER who died 1921. Why didn't the executor of James' Will carry out his wish that "I direct that all my just debts and funeral and Testamentary expenses shall be paid as soon as possible after my decease"? His Will shows that he owned his own house and had reasonable assets.
At this time, Jane and Joseph LANE may have just moved to Strood in Kent UK, since their son Joseph was born in Strood in 1883. This would have placed them near important shipping lanes. However, Vin Mullen suggested that it is also possible that in the less regulated days, the seafarers sometimes took their wives or children with them on short sailing routes, such as Newcastle to Strood.Thus Joseph could have ben born on his mother's short holiday. There was no record of any of our LANEs in the 1891 Census. In the 1901 Census, the family lived a more expensive part of Jarrow at 25 Bede Burn Rd, and members of the family lived there until 1956. In 2000 this terrace was sold for £54,500. 13 terraces were sold in Bede Burn Rd between 2005-2009 for an average of £175,165. See the photos below of the terrace housing in Bede Burn Road. On the left is a view in 2003 of the LANE family home at #25. On the right is a 1925 - 1930 photo, reproduced here with the kind permission of the Newcastle Libraries & Information Service.
Terrace housing in Bede Burn Road Photos: Tony Appleton (L) & Newcastle City Council (R).
The household consisted of Jane (46) Josephine Jane (22), Robert STRONG (20), Joseph 18, and Mary (9). Father Joseph and the eldest son James (24) were not present at the time of the census. Pat Rooney, a direct descendant of Robert Strong LANE told me of family tradition concerning Jane and Joseph's children: "James and Joseph LANE were both sea-going. Robert STRONG LANE was the only one of the 5 siblings to marry. Josephine (known as Cissie) remained in the family home of 25 Bede Burn Rd up to her death. I know that Auntie Cissie had had TB". Developing Pat's information, perhaps Cissie had contracted TB from her mother Jane LANE (née STRONG), since Jane lost her mother and two young brothers to TB in 1861, and at least three of Jane's sister Agnes' children died of TB in New Zealand. Burial records in Jarrow show that all of Joseph and Jane's immediate family died at 25 Bede Burn Rd, Jarrow, with the exception of the only sibling who married, Robert Strong LANE.
Robert Strong (Bob) LANE and Josephine Jane (Cissie) LANE Photos: Patricia Rooney.
Pictured above are Robert Strong (Bob) LANE graduating from King’s College, Newcastle in the University of Durham 1880–1967, and also Josephine Jane (Cissie) LANE (1879 - ~1952).
| # | Name | Status | Relationship | 1874 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relation | to | Age | Address | Age | Address | Age | Address | Age | Address | |||
| 1* | Joseph LANE | Husb | brother | 11? | 26 | 1 | 33 | 2 | - | - | ||
| 2* | Jane LANE | Wife | 20 | 1 | 26 | 3 | - | 46 | 7 | |||
| 3 | James LANE | son | - | - | 4 | 3 | - | - | ||||
| 4 | Josephine Jane LANE | dau | - | - | 2 | 3 | - | 22 | 7 | |||
| 5 | Robert STRONG LANE | son | - | - | 5m | 3 | - | 20 | 7 | |||
| 6 | Joseph LANE | son | - | - | - | - | 18 | 7 | ||||
| 7 | Mary LANE | dau | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 7 | |||
| 8* | James LANE | head | father | 1,11? | - | - | 63 | 4 | died 1884 | - | - | |
| 9* | Margaret LANE | wife | - | - | 63 | 4 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 10* | Sarah Anne LANE | dau | sister | 1,11? | Marr. Witness | 38 | 4 | 48 | 9? | - | - | |
| 11* | William LAIN | brother | 1? | Marr. Witness | 34 | 5 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 12 | Margaret LAIN | - | - | 23 | 5 | - | - | - | - | |||
| 13 | James William LAIN | - | - | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | |||
| 14 | Patrick LAIN | - | - | 10m | 5 | - | - | - | - | |||
| 15* | William H. LAINE | head | cousin | 1?? | - | - | 29 | 6 | - | - | 50 | 8 |
| 16 | Phoebe LAINE | wife | - | - | 23 | 6 | - | - | 43 | 8 | ||
| 17 | Martha LAINE | mo | sister in-law | 8? | - | - | 72 | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| 18 | Sarah J. LAINE | sis | - | - | 27 | 6 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 19 | Robert LAINE | son | 15 | 8 | ||||||||
| 20 | William LAINE | son | 16 | 8 | ||||||||
| 21 | Charles LAINE | son | 13 | 8 | ||||||||
| 22 | Frederick LAINE | son | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| Address | Status in 2009 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 Sheldon Street, Jarrow, Durham | Bus station | |||||||
| 2 | Vessel 'Despatch', Place; Leigh,Essex. | - | |||||||
| 3 | 8 Edgar St, Jarrow. | Demolished & redeveloped for a flyover and "Greenbank Estate" in abt 1964. | |||||||
| 4 | 3 Maud St, Jarrow. | Demolished in abt 1964, Redeveloped as "Wuppertal Estate". | |||||||
| 5 | 20 Victoria Street, Gateshead, Durham. | New Housing estate | |||||||
| 6 | 74 Tullock St.Elswick,Northumberland. | Could not locate | |||||||
| 7 | 25 Bede Burn Rd, Jarrow, Durham. | Still there. | |||||||
| 8 | --, Jarrow, Durham. | - | |||||||
| 9 | 6 Hope St, Jarrow, Durham. | New Housing estate | |||||||
| Miscellaneous Key: * = Born in Ireland | |||||||||
Chronology of Joseph LANE's Life
- 1848
- Born at Belfast, Co. Antrim, Ireland, to James and Mary LANE.
- 1874
- Married to Jane STRONG on 9 Dec, 1874 at Swinburne East Chapel, Jarrow, and lived at 22 Sheldon St Jarrow.
- 1874
- Certified 2nd Class Engineer at London on 22 Jan 1874
- 1874
- Voyage on "Tiara" to Port Said from London.
- 1875
- Voyages on "Bucentaur" to Port Said, ", including stops at the ports of London, Newcastle on Tyne, Bristol.
- 1876
- Birth of son James, Jarrow, Durham Co., UK
- 1876
- Lived at 43 Elson Ln, Jarrow.
- 1876
- Certified as 1st Class Engineer North Shields 7 Jan 1876
- 1876
- Voyages on "Bywell Castle", including stops at the ports of London, Newcastle on Tyne, Cardiff, Leith.
- 1877
- Voyages on "Fenella", including stops at the ports of London, Newcastle on Tyne, Cardiff, Waterford, and an unspecified foreign port.
- 1879
- Birth of daughter Josephine, Jarrow, Durham Co., UK.
- 1880
- Birth of son Robert STRONG, 8 Edgar St, Jarrow, Durham.
- 1881
- Census on 3 April, 1881 shows: Joseph LANE, occ. (First) Engineer, married, age 33, male born Belfast, Ireland on the Vessel 'Despatch', Home Port: London. Tonnage: 462. Description: Three masted Schooner rigged Steamer. Trade: Coasting Vessel, Place: Anchored off Southend River, Thames at midnight April 3, 1881. Note, ALL the crew were married!
- 1881
- Census on 3 April, 1881 shows: Joseph's family was at 8 Edgar St, Jarrow, Durham Co., UK. There were: Jane LANE wife (head of household) married age 26, born Belfast, Ireland, James LANE son, age 4 years, male, born Jarrow, Josephine Jane LANE, daughter, age 2 years, born, Jarrow, Robert STRONG LANE, son, age 5 months, born Jarrow.
- 1882
- Birth of son Joseph, Strood, Kent, UK.
- 1891
- Census on 5 April, 1891 shows: Joseph LANE, occ. Chief Engineer, married, age 43, male born Belfast, Ireland on the vessel SS "Hawthorne", Home Port: London. Tonnage: 457 Description: Schooner rigged screw steamer. Trade: Trading between London and the Tyne, Place: Derricks, London at midnight April 5, 1891. Note that 14 out of the 15 crew were married.
- 1892
- Birth of daughter Mary, Jarrow, Durham Co., UK.
- 1901
- Census shows: Joseph's family was at 25 Bede Burn Rd, Jarrow, Durham Co., UK. There were: Jane LANE, age 46, born in Ireland, Josephine LANE age 22, born in Jarrow, Robert LANE age 20, born in Jarrow, School Teacher, Joseph LANE age18, born in Strood, Kent, Engine Fitters Apprentice, Mary LANE age 9, born in Jarrow.
- 1906
- Shipwrecked on the "Swale: on 18 March 1906. The "Swale" was 3,400 tons and sank in 21 metres of water 18.8 nautical miles from Sovereign Harbour Eastbourne, Sussex, UK. Joseph's Ship's Engineer's papers were lost in the wreck.
- 1910
- Jarrow Rate Book records Joseph as the owner and occupier of 25 Bede Burn Rd, Jarrow.
- 1915
- Joseph died at 25 Bede Burn Rd, Jarrow on 15 June, 1915 at the age of 67
The Story Continues
- Chapter 5 The Will of James LANE and the recorded detail of Jane STRONG (née LAINE)'s life in New Zealand.