1851 William Sunter has married Hannah.  They are my great, great grandparents.  The family still live at Lodge Green where William is a Grocer and Draper.  They have a young family – Thomas (6), James (4) and Joseph (2).  William and Hannah Sunter are my great great grandparents.

1861 Thomas James and Joseph are all working as lead miners.  Joseph is just 12 years old.  William and Mary now have expanded their family with William (9), George (7), Mally (2) and Ann (2 months).

1870 final quarter – Joseph Sunter and Isabella Guy get married in the distric of Reeth, North Riding of Yorkshire (vol 9 p1031).

1871  In addition to being a draper and grocer, William is now also the postmaster at Lodge Green.  The children are growing up and Joseph, now aged 22, has married Isabella.  Together they lodge at the family home.  Joseph and Isabella Sunter are my great grand parents.

1881 There is no census record of Joseph.  However Isabella appears to be living at 106 Edge Land, West Derby, Lancashire and is a milk dealer.  There is a son, William, who is 9 and a ‘scholar’.  Hannah is her daugher, she is aged 3 and was born and Bishop Auckland.  Matty Sunter lives with her.

1883 first quarter.  Isabella dies.

1891 Joseph has remarried – to Jane Anne Snowball.  They have moved to 21 Grove Street, Stockton on Tees.  A short distance from where Lofty was to be born in Brunswick Street.  Joseph’s son William from his marriage to Isabella is now 19 and living with them.  Joseph and Anne have a young family – Grace, Dorothy, Gertrude and Cleva.  Charles is 9 years old but is away the night of the census.  Joseph and Jane are my great grandparents.

1901 Joseph has died.  Widow Jane now lives with her family in Victoria Street, Thornaby, Stockton.  Charles, her son, is 19 and is a stoker on the railways.

1911 Charles is now lodgin at Unicorn Yard, West Street.  The family which runs the lodging (and there are 20 people living there) is called Marsh.  At the head of the family is John William Marsh who is married to Jane.  They have a daughter Emma who is just 17 years old.  The positioning on the census has Charles as the first of the lodgers listed – could this be because he is having a relationship with Emma?

The answer is almost certainly yes.  Charles marries Emma in 1911.  Charles and Emma are my grand parents.

19th November 1917 – John William Sunter is born at 62 Brunswick Street.  John is my father.

I remember from my year working in the archives that the reading of names can be very difficult.  Here is a good example.  The transpcription of the 1901 census showed Jane A Sunter as coming from Leadgale.  The 1891 Census transcription has it that she is from Seadgate.  In fact I believe the answer is a mix of the two.  There is a Leadgate in Consett, not far from Stockton on Tees and relatively near to Charles Sunter’s birthplace at Howden Le Wear.

Interestingly, Charles is missing from the household in the 1891 Census, even though he must have been 9 at the time.  The reason for this may well be that the Census is based on who is staying at the house on Census night.  It is quite possible that Charles is simply not present on that night.  A search through the Ancestry.co.uk website doesn’t throw up any further suggestions of where he might be.

New now in the family tree search is my great grandfather, Joseph Sunter.    The listing on the census is:

• Joseph Sunter, 42, Furniture Salesman, Yorkshire, Gunnerside

• Jane A Sunter, 28, Durham Seadgate

• William Sunter, 19, Catcher on Shipyard, Yorkshire Gunnerside

• Grace E Sunter, 6, Scholar, Yorkshire Redcar

• Dorothy H Sunter, 3, Yorkshire Redcar

• Gertrude Sunter, 1, Yorkshire Redcar

• Cleva I Sunter, 1/12, Durham Stockton

• Elizabeth Snowball, Sister-in-Law, 27, Dressmaker, Durham Seadgate

The family is living at 21 Grove Street, Stockton on Tees.