The Simpsons of Shields

The Blue Pages are dedicated to the families of my wife Judith. With the increasing wealth and depth of articles from this part of the family tree I am now very pleased to be able to split the section in two. Judith's father was the oldest son of sea captain and assistant harbourmaster Henry L. Simpson. A Tyneside family born and bred they have their roots in the sea. There has also been a strong involvement in education and Judith herself was a teacher in an earlier life.

This latest venture is largely due to the efforts of Donald Simpson, Judith's Uncle and the last surviving of the four brothers. Despite failing health he has been an enthusiatic contributor and raconteur, building up a vivid series of word pictures of his brothers and his life experiences. We have spent several fascinating afternoons committing fact, history and anecdote to tape prior to its transcription for these pages. His only regret is that it was not possible to record similar conversations with his mother and aunts while they had still been alive.

"Family history research is very interesting. I mean we've been just thinking back 30 or 40 years here but a long term history of the family could go 200 years back when they were living in a completely different way. My Grandmother Welch and I used to talk on a Friday night and she told me a lot about her childhood. She would walk from South Shields to Westoe Village and it was all rural. I also said to my mother on one or two occasions that we should record conversations with her. It's a pity really otherwise we might have had a lot of detailed memories of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, the First World War and all the rest of it" - DMcDS: July 2007

He also recognised the value and importance of identifying and cataloguing the family photograph collection, documents and other items of interest. These have been instrumental in illuminating several generations of forebears and many pages right across his family tree. Two pictures in particular (those of his great- and great, great grandfathers) were featured on our pages and resulted in a reconnection with a long-lost branch of the family.

Newfloridian

Added: July 28th 2007
Last update: October 1st 2013

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FEATURE ARTICLES:

DONALD SIMPSON: IN MEMORIAM
They roamed the hills of Northumberland very much in the manner of the actors in "Last of the Summer Wine".

OF OFFENBERGS AND WELCHES
"Boys, whatever you do, never let a girl into your tent"

OUR WELCH FAMILY SKETCHES
The sketches are delightful in their simplicity; they are a record of life in the early 1900s.

THE SIMPSONS: A CENTURY OF PRINTING IN SOUTH SHIELDS
During the same decade Robert set up the local newspaper “The Free Press and Advertiser”.

ME AND MY BROTHERS 1 - FORMATIVE YEARS
"I would have gone into the top stream except that was when the war broke out ..."

ME AND MY BROTHERS 2 - EVACUEE!
"It is a very hard woman who can turn away a young boy with curly blond hair and a very miserable look ..."

ME AND MY BROTHERS 3 - EDUCATION! EDUCATION!! EDUCATION!!!
"What have we here? The Black Hole of Calcutta?"

ME AND MY BROTHERS 4 - GRADUATION, SEPARATION, CONSOLIDATION
They decided that I might be less of a danger to the British Army if I were to teach boys who couldn’t read or write

ME AND MY BROTHERS 5 - WE ALL FALL OFF THE LADDER SOMETIME
The number of children had fallen so badly because people just weren't having families.

LESSONS IN EDUCATION 1: WYNYARD COLLEGE
"Much to my surprise, I was elected to the position of editor of the house magazine at Wynyard College.".

LESSONS IN EDUCATION 2: BACKWORTH AND BEYOND
"It was one of the children that I found out has been sewn into brown paper underneath her dress.".

LESSONS IN EDUCATION 3: GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF
"When I went back to King Edwards School, the cabinet was still there (although the locust wasn’t!) ".