A Cowey History

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This is a condensed history of the Cowey family so far traced back to the
late 17th century / early 18th century and up until today.  Although I have in excess
of 2000 names on file, this history is confined to my own line of descent.
Further information on other branches of the Cowey's can be found by
following the Cowey Genealogy link.which also contains some information
on stray Cowey's for which links have not been established. Much research is still
required and this site will be updated as further evidence becomes available

All places mentioned in this text are in County Durham, England.

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As far as has been traced, the menfolk of the COWEY family have been mainly coal miners.
Although still in the process of gathering further indisputable evidence, my ancestry
goes back to Robert Cowen of Whickham in County Durham, who was married to Ann Whelton on
13th May 1695 at Whickham parish church. Robert and Ann had four children that are known of.

Christopher Cowen, baptised 9th August 1696,
Matthew Cowen, baptised 28th July 1700,
Robert Cowen, baptised 23rd May 1702 and
Nicholas Cowin who was born about 1703.

Nicholas married Isabella Watson at the Lamesley parish church of Saint Andrew
on 29th November 1736.
Nicholas and Isabella had five children who were baptised at Lamesley before the family
moved to Chester-Le-Street. These children were:

Robert (1738)
James (c1740)
Christopher (1744)
Nicholas (1747),
Catherine, 30 December 1750, died December 1756 and
Thomas, 15 December 1751, died sometime before 1756 .

Both Catherine and Thomas are buried at Lamesley.

After Nicholas and Isabella moved to Chester-Le-Street they had a further two children of
which there is some certainty. Evidence is still being sought for a third child called Matthew:

Thomas Cowen who was baptised at Chester-Le-Street on 18 July 1756, and
John who was baptised on 17 July 1763.

Thomas was married to Mary Curry on the 17 July 1780 at Saint Michael's Church, Houghton-Le-Spring.
He is believed to have worked at coal pits in Penshaw and Lumley.
Thomas and Mary lived for a while at Philadephia
and records show that they had two children whilst living there:

Nicholas (1780) and
Mary (1783) who later died. 

Thomas and Mary later moved to Penshaw where they had a further four children:

Christopher and Thomas whose baptisms are recorded in 1788 as of Wharton's Row in Penshaw, and
Elizabeth who was also born at Whartons Row in about 1794 and baptised in Jan/Feb 1796 at Penshaw.
There was also a second child called Mary born in 1791 at Wapping who died in infancy.

Wapping which was a village in it's own right is now part of Bournmoor (Burnmoor)
and borders the Lambton estate.
The location of Wharton's Row has been the subject of much speculation and various theories have benn offered
as to its origin. One being that it was the original name of 'Shiney Row' having being
named after a prominant family of landowners in the area. Richard Wharton, one time owner of
Offerton Hall and his daughter Jane being the source of this theory.
A copy of a hand drawn map c 1767 supplied by Penshaw historian Dawn Cummings shows that
Whartons Row stood on the site now occupied by the war memorial opposite Westbourne Terrace
at Shiney Row.
It is also thought that Wharton Row may have been the original name for Shiney Row although it has
not yet been determined as to when the name change took place.

Thomas worked at the nearby coal pit called Wharton's Main, which was situated in the field below
Penshaw Hill near the Coxgreen road. Its location can be found on old Ordinance Survey maps of Penshaw c1862 where it is called ' Old Penshaw Pit' or 'New Winning'
On the old maps of John Gibson collieries and waggonways, 1787 &
Williams Casson's coalfields, 1801, it is shown as 'Wharton Main'
          
According to old coal mining records, I have tracked down an entry for the abandonment of
Wharton Main Colliery in 1779, the Top main and Mudlin (Maudlin) seams being closed.
Other coal pits in the Penshaw area were 'New Penshaw (Lambton)' and the later 'Whitefield Pit'

Thomas's son Christopher was baptised at Penshaw on 17th May 1788. He is described as illiterate
and is therefore assumed to have received no formal education. He is believed to have worked at various
pits around the Penshaw and Shiney Row areas.
He married Mary Royally on 3rd January, 1814 at All Saints Church, Old Penshaw and
by whom he had three children, all born at Penshaw:

Eleanor, baptised 1815
Mary, baptised 15th December 1816 and
Job, baptised 13th June 1819

Christopher's wife Mary, died January 1822 aged 29 years and was buried at Penshaw on
13th January 1822.
Two years later, Christopher married Mary Robinson of Harraton at All Saints Church, Penshaw
on 21st February 1824 and by whom he had a further six children:

Christopher, baptised 19 September 1830 at Chester-Le-Street
Robinson, baptized 12 August 1832 at Chester-Le-Street
Ann, baptized 13 September 1835 at Chester-Le-Street
Thomas, baptized 1 January 1837 at Chester-Le-Street
Elizabeth, baptized at Penshaw 1839
Nicholas, baptized at Penshaw 1842

Mary died on 9th August 1853 and was buried at Penshaw.

By the time of the 1841 census, the family were recorded as living at Shiney Row, which at that time was still part
of the new Penshaw parish. By the time of the 1861 census, Christopher, a widower, was living with his son
Nicholas, now aged 18 years. Christopher died on 29 August 1868 aged 81 years. He was buried at All Saints
Churchyard, Penshaw next to the Rectory wall near the Elliot memorial.

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Christopher's son Job married Mary Mitcheson of Shiney Row at All Saints Church on 25th April 1846. Job spent
most of his working life as a miner at pits in the Penshaw and Silksworth areas.
He and Mary had seven children.

Robert born/baptised 22nd October 1848 at Penshaw
Job, born 11th April, 1851 at Shiney Row
Christopher, born about 1847 at Penshaw
Mary Ann, born about 1855 at Penshaw
Thomas, born about 1857 at Penshaw
Eleanor, born about 1859 at Penshaw, and
Richard, born about 1863 at Penshaw.

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As was the norm, all males were employed as miners in pits around the Penshaw, Shiney Rowand Silkworth areas.
Job married Isabella Errington of Lowfell, Gateshead on 14th September 1848. This was Isabella's second marriage, her maiden name being Coulson. Isabella also had a daughter called Margaret by her previous marriage who adopted
the name Cowey on her mothers marriage to Job which produced a further eight children. These childen were:

Margaret, formerly Errington, born 1876 at Lowfell, Gateshead
Mary, born 9th June, 1897 at Silksworth
Job, born 1881 at Silksworth
Christpher, born 6th April 1884 at Silksworth
Frances Ellen, born 1886 at Silksworth
Isabella, born 1891 at Herrington
Sally (Sarah), born 1893 at Silksworth
Robert, born 1894 at Silksworth
Elizabeth, born 1895 at Herrington

Elizabeth married Thomas William Drummond, a direct descendant of James Drummond, the sixth Earl of Perth who
took refuge at South Biddick in Penshaw following the Battle of Culloden and via his grandson Thomas Drummond, who with the help of John George Lambton, the Earl of Durham, Thomas sought to reclaim the Drummonds titles, deeds and lands in Perthshire and who was eventually declared rightful 8th Earl. A comprehensive history of the Drummonds of Biddick and Penshaw can be found elsewhere on the web

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The family spent most of their working lives in Silksworth where Job worked at the pit owned by the Marquis of Londonderry. The previous Marquis had a reputation for kindness and caring, a one not held by his heir and successor who gained infamy for his eviction of 200 or so of his tenant miners in Silksworth during a despute of 1890-91.
A strike had been called because the miners believed deputies should be members of the same union, a view not held by the Marquis. As a consequence of the strike, the Marquis petitioned Sunderland Magistrates for 200 notices of eviction which he served upon his tenants. These evictions were carried out by hired bailiffs from Sunderland who were known locally as candy men and who were brought in to carryout the onorous
task of removing families from their homes, the local police not having the stomach for such a task. As a result, Job and his family moved back to Herrington to 25 Lanton Street where he remained until his death in 1915. Job's son Christopher married Rachel Thompson of Newbottle on 3rd October 1908 at Saint Aiden's Church, New Herrington. It is ironic that this beautiful church and its sister church Saint Cuthberts had to be demolished due to subsidence caused by the coal mining carried out in the area.
Christopher and his family lived for a while at Old Penshaw and Shiney Row before settling at Herrington where Christopher took up work at the 'New Pit'. Christopher and Rachel had seven children.

Job, born 9th December 1909 at Penshaw, died a year later
Isabella, born 29 February 1912 at Herrington, died 1915
Joseph, born 30 June 1914 at Shiney Row, died a year later
Christopher, born 9th Nov 1916 at Old Penshaw
Edward, born 3rd November 1918 at Herrington
Isabella, born 7th May 1923 at Herrington
Richard John, (my father) born 10th April 1926 at Herrington and still living.

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There are at least 26 members of the Cowey family buried at All Saint's Penshaw but due to the
removal of many of the headstones, it has been impossible to find the exact location of 23 of these graves.
Unfortunately, through the thoughtless actions of the local authority, it has been found that many headstones
have been used to provide hardcore for the building of the new church hall and its carpark which judging by its
appearance serves as a very poor tribute to those interred at Penshaw.
Sadly the churchyard has also become the target of much mindless vandalism, a sign of the age and times in which we now live.Cowey's and their descendants have been found all over the world, some with which contact has been established, although research is ongoing to finds links to other members of this family.

I would like to invite any Cowey's or other persons with an interest visiting this website, who
have not yet been in contact, to click here and drop me a line.





Copywrite © Raymond Cowey, May 2001 - February 2003