Michael Burns writes
My song, Crookhall, (link below) has been getting a few plays on SoundCloud over the weekend.
It tells of a disaster at the iron works back in 1847.
At the time the papers often didn’t bother giving the names of ordinary people so, ten years or so ago, I wrote to the county registrar at Bishop Auckland, to say that I’d like to buy the death certs of the 6 who died in order to discover their names (it would have cost quite a few quid, but I had a bee in my bonnet about it).
I was able to give the date & location of the deaths, that they would have been violent deaths, caused by an explosion & that the informant would have been the county coroner.
Imagine my astonishment when I received a reply saying that they could not trace death certificates if names were unknown! Despite appealing using the council’s complaints procedure I’m still none the wiser. If anyone has any contacts at the records office, or on the council …
Be good to help Michael solve this mystery please do comment or email the HCSW project team if you have any information or suggestions
History of Consett Steelworks 