Rev Joseph Adamthwaite, Minister of Bowes, had taught for a while at the Ancient and Free Grammar School at Bowes, but in 1801 he opened his own school at Cotherstone. Coincidentally, also in Bowes there was another Academy (the very same Academy which, it is said, was later used by Dickens as a model for Dotheboys Hall) which was run by a Mr. John Adamthwaite (although this John Adamthwaite claimed to be a native of Ravenstonedale, we have never found any evidence to link him to the other Adamthwaites who ran Academies).

After Rev Joseph’s death, his former assistant at the Cotherstone School, John Smith, had continued to advertise the school in the Times – the advertisements following much the same lines as those composed by Rev Joseph. It seems that as well as taking over the Reverend’s school, Mr

Of course, the 1845 census doesn’t tell us the relationships between individuals, but it certainly looks like a family group. Surely, after Ann died in 1834, John Smith had not gone on to marry his step daughter Elizabeth? I knew that Rev Joseph and Ann had had four children – three of whom had died in infancy, but their daughter Elizabeth, born in 1807, seemed to have survived. I had not found any further record of her in census or marriage records, but I did have a possible death record for her in 1845, but this was with the surname Adamthwaite. I checked up on prohibited marriages – sure enough marriage between a man and his step-daughter was not permitted. It MUST have been a coincidence that a John SMITH married an Elizabeth ADAMTHWAITE in 1836 ... mustn’t it?

At least, I would hopefully be able to get hold of the birth certificate for the baby Sarah Smith, which would clarify the mother’s maiden name. But oh dear! When I searched the GRO index for the birth reference, what did I find? ...
• Sarah Adamthwaite SMITH, born 1841 march quarter Teesdale (just the right time for her to have been 5 months old in the 1841 census which was taken on 6th June).
And there were two more:
• John Adamthwaite SMITH, born 1839 jun qtr Teesdale – he died the same quarter; and
• Elizabeth Adamthwaite SMITH, born 1838, jun qtr Teesdale – she died the same quarter too

On IGI I also found that the christenings for both Eliza Smith (who was 15 in the 1841 census) and for Sarah Smith both took place at Romaldkirk (which is very close to Cotherstone and the nearest parish church):
• Eliza Ann SMITH, born Cotherstone and christened 11 November 1823 at Romaldkirk, father John Smith, mother Ann Smith – Eliza died in the sep qtr of 1845 – according to the NBI she was aged 21 years.
• Sarah Adamthwaite SMITH, born Cotherstone, and christened 19 February 1841 at Romaldkirk, father John Smith, mother Elizabeth Smith. There is no sign of Sarah in the 1851 census, neither have we found a death certificate for her. What can have happened to her?

Could this explain why John SMITH took his brides to London to marry? Although even if he was embarrassed to marry first his ex-employer’s wife and then his ex-employer’s daughter in his home village of Cotherstone, it didn’t stop him getting the children of both marriages christened there!

After a frustratingly long wait, Sarah Adamthwaite SMITH’s birth certificate arrived – and confirmed my fears:
Sarah was born at Cotherstone on 27 December 1840. Her father was John SMITH, gentleman and her mother Elizabeth SMITH, formerly ADAMTHWAITE. The informant was John SMITH, father, of Cotherstone.

I then decided that I needed to get hold of the death certificate for the Elizabeth ADAMTHWAITE who died in 1845, just in case my suspicious mind had led me astray and John SMITH had actually married another Elizabeth ADAMTHWAITE (though, to be honest, I knew of no other Elizabeth ADAMTHWAITE born between 1807 and 1811 who could have been recorded as aged 30 in the 1841 census, even with the rounding down).

But, when this arrived, it didn’t really help a great deal – because although the name on the certificate was certainly Elizabeth ADAMTHWAITE, and she died on 5 april 1845 at Cotherstone aged 37 years of consumption, the death was reported by John Smith, present at death, of Cotherstone. Under ‘occupation’ she was described as ‘the daughter of the Revd Joseph Adamthwaite’. According to the NBI she was also buried at Romaldkirk under the name of Elizabeth ADAMTHWAITE – so was she or was she not married to John SMITH? Or, is it possible that the marriage was annulled when it was discovered that it should never have taken place?

All doubts were cast aside when some papers came to light in the Durham Archives – these included a Marriage Settlement drawn up shortly before the first marriage in 1817. It looks as if Ann was wary of John Smith obtaining this property through their marriage, because the Marriage Settlement and accompanying inventory, written on 27 November 1817 and signed by Ann Adamthwaite and John Smith in the presence of Wm Henry Clarke, solicitor of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane – less than two weeks before her marriage to John Smith, which signs over the property to Charles Copeland, Spirit Merchant of Staindrop, County Durham, to be held in trust for Ann’s sole use during her lifetime, then for her daughter Elizabeth Adamthwaite after Ann’s death, and after Elizabeth’s death it should be passed to any issue of Ann or Elizabeth – only then should it be passed to John Smith. Simultaneously in Barnard Castle 27 November 1817, a warrant was issued to the Chief Bailiff of Richmond concerning goods seized from John Smith which belonged to Ann Adamthwaite, widow of Bowes.

I have also found a number of other legal documents relating to this family – thanks to the collection of Hanby Holmes solicitors’ records held by Durham Archives. It seems that Ann (nee Bourn) Adamthwaite came from a wealthy family, and at some point she must have inherited a house in Cotherstone and some land from her father Henry Bourn. She may also have inherited property from her husband Rev Joseph Adamthwaite – I have found a reference to Death Duty records dated 1812 following Joseph’s death, but have never managed to locate his will.

Just a month after Ann’s death in July 1834, an Indenture was drawn up by Elizabeth Adamthwaite’s attorney – in which her house and contents, together with even more land in Bowes and Stanhope in County Durham, were to be held in trust by John Bourne of Walker Hall (presumably her uncle) until Elizabeth reached the age of 21.

And also in July 1834, another warrant was issued by the Chief Bailiff of Richmond – regarding goods seized from John Smith which were the property of Elizabeth Adamthwaite. Attached to the copy of the warrant was an Inventory listing the goods seized Interestingly, amongst the papers was the draft for this second warrant, which had been written using the earlier warrant issued in 1817 as the original, with many crossings out and the amendments written in. Was John Smith so much in debt that the bailiffs were sent round to seize Elizabeth’s property? And if so, why on earth did Elizabeth agree to marry him?

Because, in December 1836 the marriage of John Smith to Elizabeth Adamthwaite took place in London, followed by the births of their three children in Cotherston in 1838, 1839 and 1841.