Biography:
Eleanor Wilson
12/02/1888 –15/09/1943
Eleanor Wilson
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PLOT 993 ELEANOR WILSON née Coatman/ Coltman
Eleanor Coatman (or Coltman) was born in Hebburn, County Durham on 12th February 1888, the daughter of John Coatman, a miner and Mary née Caffery. She had three elder brothers: William, born in 1880, Samuel (1882) and John (1885), a younger sister Margaret Ann, born in 1891 and younger brother Robert, born in 1894.
In 1891, the family lived at 7, Old Fold Colliery House, Gateshead. By 1901, they had returned to Hebburn Colliery, living at 19 Frederick Street. Her three older brothers had followed their father into the mine. William was a coal hewer, Samuel worked above ground in the lamp cabin and 16-year-old John was a “Coal miner dregger”.
In the second Quarter of 1906, Eleanor Coatman aged 18 married miner John Wilson, aged 21; the marriage was registered in South Shields. By 1911Eleanor and John were living at 14 Arthur Street, Hebburn with an infant daughter Ethel, aged 4 months. An earlier child, Elizabeth Ann, had died a year previously, aged 2. John
Eleanor bore seven children but only three survived childhood. They were Ethel, Margaret Ann, born 24th April 1913 and John, born 25th September 1915. Sadly Martha, born in 1916, Robert, 1918 and William, 1920 all died in infancy. Whether that was the result of illness or of the hard conditions endured by mining families is not known.
Margaret Hedley, writing about Women of the Durham Coalfield, (Women of the Durham Coalfields - The History Press) noted “The life of a coal miner’s wife was far from easy and it made sense for miners to marry the daughters of the industry. Such families often lived in poor conditions, with a husband who worked long hours and who would often come home to sleep when the rest of the household was still working.
“The logistics of organising this complex home-life fell to the woman. She was required to provide the men of the house with a hot meal before they left for the pit, and another hot meal and hot bath when they returned. Due to the pattern of shifts this could be at any time of day or night, and often there was more than one miner to provide for. This was all made more difficult by the lack of running water to their colliery cottages.
“All of the above was carried out alongside the usual routine of household chores, collecting water, baking bread and making meals, resulting in a relentless system of drudgery often lasting far longer than a miner’s 12-hour shift.”
Eleanor and John’s family must have been struggling in 1921 as the Census showed 26-year-old John as an out of work Colliery Surface Labourer. Eleanor’s widowed father, 67-year-old John Coatman, who lived with them, was an out of work Coal Hewer. Both had been laid off by the Wallsend and Hebburn Coal Company. British coal output had peaked in 1913 but, by the 1920s, there was stagnation. Coal prices fell, mine owners reduced wages and sought to impose longer working hours and there was unrest in the mining industry. We do not know whether John was taken on again after 1921. Hebburn Colliery, which had opened in 1792, had three pits (A, B and C). At its peak in 1914 the colliery employed 1,864 people, of whom 1,549 worked below ground and 315 on the surface. However, the colliery closed in 1932 and the 1930s saw very high unemployment and great hardship in North East England.
By the time of their daughter Margaret Ann’s wedding in St Peter’s in1937, Eleanor and John had moved to Berkhamsted. It seems likely that they came in search of work. In 1937 they lived in Raven’s Lane but, by September 1939, had moved to 31 Curtis Way. At that time, Eleanor had unpaid domestic duties and John was employed as a General Labourer/ Navvy; he was also a member of the ARP Decontamination Squad.
Eleanor died aged 55 on 15th September 1943. Her husband John lived for another 19 years, dying aged 77 on 13th April 1962. He too is buried in this plot.
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PLOT 993 ELEANOR WILSON née Coatman/ Coltman
Eleanor Coatman (or Coltman) was born in Hebburn, County Durham on 12th February 1888, the daughter of John Coatman, a miner and Mary née Caffery. She had three elder brothers: William, born in 1880, Samuel (1882) and John (1885), a younger sister Margaret Ann, born in 1891 and younger brother Robert, born in 1894.
In 1891, the family lived at 7, Old Fold Colliery House, Gateshead. By 1901, they had returned to Hebburn Colliery, living at 19 Frederick Street. Her three older brothers had followed their father into the mine. William was a coal hewer, Samuel worked above ground in the lamp cabin and 16-year-old John was a “Coal miner dregger”.
In the second Quarter of 1906, Eleanor Coatman aged 18 married miner John Wilson, aged 21; the marriage was registered in South Shields. By 1911Eleanor and John were living at 14 Arthur Street, Hebburn with an infant daughter Ethel, aged 4 months. An earlier child, Elizabeth Ann, had died a year previously, aged 2. John
Eleanor bore seven children but only three survived childhood. They were Ethel, Margaret Ann, born 24th April 1913 and John, born 25th September 1915. Sadly Martha, born in 1916, Robert, 1918 and William, 1920 all died in infancy. Whether that was the result of illness or of the hard conditions endured by mining families is not known.
Margaret Hedley, writing about Women of the Durham Coalfield, (Women of the Durham Coalfields – The History Press) noted “The life of a coal miner’s wife was far from easy and it made sense for miners to marry the daughters of the industry. Such families often lived in poor conditions, with a husband who worked long hours and who would often come home to sleep when the rest of the household was still working.
“The logistics of organising this complex home-life fell to the woman. She was required to provide the men of the house with a hot meal before they left for the pit, and another hot meal and hot bath when they returned. Due to the pattern of shifts this could be at any time of day or night, and often there was more than one miner to provide for. This was all made more difficult by the lack of running water to their colliery cottages.
“All of the above was carried out alongside the usual routine of household chores, collecting water, baking bread and making meals, resulting in a relentless system of drudgery often lasting far longer than a miner’s 12-hour shift.”
Eleanor and John’s family must have been struggling in 1921 as the Census showed 26-year-old John as an out of work Colliery Surface Labourer. Eleanor’s widowed father, 67-year-old John Coatman, who lived with them, was an out of work Coal Hewer. Both had been laid off by the Wallsend and Hebburn Coal Company. British coal output had peaked in 1913 but, by the 1920s, there was stagnation. Coal prices fell, mine owners reduced wages and sought to impose longer working hours and there was unrest in the mining industry. We do not know whether John was taken on again after 1921. Hebburn Colliery, which had opened in 1792, had three pits (A, B and C). At its peak in 1914 the colliery employed 1,864 people, of whom 1,549 worked below ground and 315 on the surface. However, the colliery closed in 1932 and the 1930s saw very high unemployment and great hardship in North East England.
By the time of their daughter Margaret Ann’s wedding in St Peter’s in1937, Eleanor and John had moved to Berkhamsted. It seems likely that they came in search of work. In 1937 they lived in Raven’s Lane but, by September 1939, had moved to 31 Curtis Way. At that time, Eleanor had unpaid domestic duties and John was employed as a General Labourer/ Navvy; he was also a member of the ARP Decontamination Squad.
Eleanor died aged 55 on 15th September 1943. Her husband John lived for another 19 years, dying aged 77 on 13th April 1962. He too is buried in this plot.
Military graves