Members met up on a sunny, very hot weekend in Barnard Castle for our Autumn Meeting and AGM 2023. We were well looked after at the BC Cricket Club on Saturday and enjoyed meeting new and existing members before we had 2 speakers a lovely lunch and the formal AGM. Richard and I would like to thank all who attended but especially mention Glenys Goldsmith who came to her first meeting with her sister Suzy all the way from Canterbury, we hope you both enjoyed it and we will see you again at future meetings.
We met up again in the evening for a group dinner.
On Sunday morning we headed to Cotherstone where we met member Judith Barnett who had done extensive research on P Tree finding where our Alderson’s had been born, lived and worked in the parish. She had found 40 houses with Alderson connections. She also found three living relations to our Chair Richard Coates and was able to introduce him to his 3rd cousin who joined us for the morning.
We were then taken on a short tour around the village and shown some of the properties.
Big thanks to Judith for all her hard work, a full report will be in the next issue of Alderson Roots and Judith will also be doing a zoom meeting so that society members who were unable to come will be able to enjoy the fruits of her hard work. The date for this zoom meeting will be announced in due course.
Three Horsehoes Hotel, Barnard Castle where some members stayed and where the group dinner was held
Richard Coates outside a cottage in Cotherstone where his great great grandmother had lived
Judith Barnett conducting a tour to some of the group The white cottage behind Judith is the house where Richard Coates’ ancestors lived from 1850-1952. His grandmother and step grandmother lived there until the family moved to Hartlepool in the early 1900’s.