Friday, December 18, 2020

02 Minnie Seed, ‘the fastest lady footballer in England. She is a real dandy player!'

This post will be updated as and when new information about Minnie is discovered, and has primarily been written as a record for the Seed family.

It was last updated on 29/3/2021, the hundredth anniversary of Minnie's appearance for an 'English Girls' side in an international testimonial match against Ireland, held at Windsor Park, Belfast. 
Minnie's selection for this match was uncovered by Alex Jackson of The National Football Museum and is detailed here on the Playing Pasts website.

I've added links to source websites and books where appropriate, and have tried to credit photos when the © is known.

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INTRODUCTION


   I had always been aware that Minnie Seed was the youngest of the Seed siblings because of this photo that had pride of place in a family album; but that was literally all I knew about her. Taken around the turn of the century it shows all ten siblings with their parents, dressed up in their finest, with Minnie bottom right. Sadly I never had a chance to meet great aunt Minnie as she died eight years before I was born.  
   But in 2015 I received a message out of the blue on social media containing the revelation that Minnie had been a munitionette footballer during the First World War. None of the surviving family seemed to know anything about it. My mum's best friend Jean Montgomerie, daughter of the Charlton team doctor, who remembered one of Jimmy's sisters being a footballer, thought it had been older sister Maggie, rather than Minnie, when we asked her about it recently.

   However, in my search for information about Minnie I was lucky enough to be helped at an early stage by Patrick Brennan owner of the Donmouth website, a real treasure trove of information about the Munitionettes. He sent me a database of all the matches Minnie is known to have played in, which became an invaluable framework for future research. [Patrick also wrote an excellent book The Munitionettes: A History of Women's Football in North East England During the Great War.

   While statistical information was very useful, in a way it only heightened my need to find out more about Minnie the person, a process that continues to this day. 
   I'm cautiously optimistic that more information will yet come to light both from these sources, and also perhaps from descendants of the extended Seed family with whom I've recently made contact. When and if we find out more I'll post the info here, but here's what I've discovered so far:
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1900: Minnie aged two and Jimmy aged four

   The youngest of the ten Seed siblings, Minnie Mary Jane Seed was born in March 1897 in Marsden on the north east coast, near the pretty mining village of Whitburn. During World War One it seems she joined the many women volunteering to work in factories making military equipment and armaments for the war effort. In press reports of her early matches for various regional sides she is listed as 'Minnie Seed (Gosforth Aviation)', so we can assume she must have worked for the aircraft manufacturer based in the outskirts of Newcastle.

   After completing a full season with Sunderland reserves her brother Jimmy signed up for military service in April 1915, aged 20. Having completed his initial training with the Northern Cyclist Battalion in Gainsborough near Sheffield he was deployed to Belgium in August 1916 with the 8th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (the Leeds Rifles).

   Back home the munitionette football phenomenon had begun when the newly recruited factory girls started having kickabouts during their lunchbreaks, to let off steam. Deemed to be good for the health and wellbeing of the girls these kickabouts were encouraged by management and gradually, as the girls improved their skills, works teams were formed and regular inter-company matches were organised. These evolved into the charity fundraising regional matches that really began to capture the imagination of the public.

   It's not known how long Minnie had been working for Gosforth Aviation when in the early hours of 22 July 1917 Jimmy was one of many soldiers gassed in Nieuwpoort, near Ostend. The attack, one of the earliest utilising mustard gas, hospitalised 802 soldiers, 96 of whom died. Jimmy was sheltering in the basement of a bombed-out building with his comrades when mustard gas shells were dropped from German aeroplanes in the dead of night. Being heavier than air the gas seeped down into their cellar, their confinement meaning the attack was far more deadly than it would normally have been in the open air. 
One of the lucky ones to survive from that group, Jimmy was sent home to convalesce after a two-week hospitalisation in Belgium, but it's unclear whether he was hospitalised in England as well, or was able to go home to Whitburn to recover. Either way, it would be a full thirteen months before he was well enough to return to action, such was the severity of the damage to his lungs.

   



The 1911 census recorded the Seed family living in Adolphus Street, Whitburn, but by then only four children remained at home: Jessie, Angus, Jimmy and Minnie. Jimmy signed for Sunderland in April 1914 on a summer wage of £1 a week, the equivalent of £120 today. 








   
Hedworth Terrace
His 1915 Army enrolment documents show his address as Hedworth Terrace, Whitburn, just fifty yards from Adolphus Street, meaning either the whole family had moved or perhaps less likely Jimmy had fled the nest?

An elder sister, 
Jessie, had married in the same year, so would almost certainly have left home to set up a new one with her husband; meaning one less mouth for Jimmy's parents to feed and more space for those siblings left behind. So Jimmy would have been under the same roof as Minnie, as and when he returned home, and fully aware of her footballing progress.
Up to this point she had played only in low-key works games, but a couple of months after Jimmy's return Minnie was due to step up a level with her first appearance in a representative side. As it turns out this 20 October 1917 Munitionette's Cup first round tie between her 'Aviation Girls' and Blyth Spartans was cancelled at the last minute because the organisers found the military, not yet aware of the benefits of the women's game, unwilling to sanction it. But Minnie's selection suggests she was well thought of, as she was selected from several works teams to represent all the Munitionettes working in aviation in the region.

Her breakthrough was cemented when in February she was twice selected to represent 'Tyneside Munitionettes' against 'Teesside Munitionettes'. She qualified to play for the Geordie girls despite growing up in Whitburn (Mackem territory) by dint of the fact that Gosforth Aviation was a Tyneside company. Alongside Minnie in both fixtures was one of the legends of women's football, Blyth Spartan's Bella Reay

Next up were appearances for Durham, Wearside Munitionettes and Blyth Spartans Munition Ladies, where Minnie teamed up again with Bella. Held at St James'
 Park, a ground that even Jimmy hadn't yet played at, the match raised funds for the Alnwick branch of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors.

June saw Minnie turning out for 'Walker Naval Yard', and in her next few regional matches, including three for 'North of England' she was listed as Minnie Seed (Armstrong's Naval Yard) or (Naval Yard). Whether Minnie was now working in the shipbuilding industry, or was merely poached by their football team, isn't clear, but both Walker Naval Yard and Gosforth Aviation were Armstrong owned, so either is possible. The practice of poaching players was quite common amongst the more ambitious clubs, with Palmers and Dick, Kerr Ladies in particular taking advantage of the practice.

Bella Reay featured in several of these games, sometimes as a teammate but quite often as an opponent, scoring all three goals for Blyth Spartans in a 3-0 defeat of Walker Naval Yard, followed by both goals in a 2-0 win against Minnie's North of England. A local newspaper covered the match: 

'The game got off to a sensational start, Bella Reay charging through on her own and scoring within the first few seconds with a well-hit drive. The stunned North of England team rallied and worked hard through the remainder of the first half to get an equaliser, but several promising runs by Minnie Seed, the Sunderland international, failed due to her holding on to the ball too long.' (More about Minnie's status as an 'international' later.)

Out of the 31 matches that Minnie is known to have played in, Bella Reay featured in 20, thirteen of those as a teammate.  [Read more about Bella Reay here.] 

Many, if not all of these representative matches were charity fundraisers and they proved extremely popular both with spectators and with a press searching for good news stories to lighten the Great War gloom. The higher profile regional fixtures were played at some of the biggest football league grounds in the country and large sums of money were raised for various disabled servicemen charities.

But it is clear that much of the initial public interest was based on novelty value and perhaps, for some, the prurient value of watching relatively scantily clad young ladies charging around a muddy football pitch. And yes, some may have turned up to mock their efforts, but unquestionably the standard of football on display though initially poor, improved exponentially with time, as reflected in press articles of the era. Rather than drifting away, as they might have done had this been merely a curiosity, the crowds actually grew as the product on show improved and new stars were created. Yes, men had the advantage of physical strength and speed, but they also benefitted from the fact that many had played football from a very early age in school, and those that were keen would have kickabouts in the streets or in parks and might also play for the local village, as Jimmy did, when old enough. Girls certainly weren't encouraged to get involved, and to some extent, still aren't today.

So the majority of those munitionette footballers would have been learning the game from scratch, and it's no wonder their skills may have been a little lacking early on, the game being described as 'kick and rush' in early reports. It's notable that those who had learned the game at an early age, often by kicking a ball around with their brothers had a distinct advantage over those that hadn't. This, according to Gail Newsham, was the case with a fair few of the Kerr Ladies team. Minnie, having two brothers who went on to play the game professionally, may well have benefitted herself from some sort of filial support.

The famous Dick, Kerr Ladies seen here in their striped jerseys.
 

In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on a something shocking.

 












 
It's not known if Jimmy attended any of these munitionettes matches, or even whether he approved of women's football. Victorian values were still very prevalent in much of society at that time, with many men feeling it was unseemly for women to be exposing their 'vulnerable' bodies to such arduous physical exertions, even some doctors believing that it was likely to damage their reproductive organs, and affect their fertility, with much debate in the press at the time.
Families were often divided over the issue with Molly Walker of Dick, Kerr Ladies being 'treated as an outcast by her boyfriend's family because of their disapproval of her wearing shorts and showing her legs'. [From In A League Of Their Own by Gail J Newsham]. 
In some of the earlier matches it wasn't unheard of for the women to receive catcalls, and even more extreme verbal abuse. On one occasion there was even a pitch invasion, and the women had to take refuge in their team bus after some of them were harassed and jostled by the encroaching crowd. So it isn't a given than the rest of the Seed family saw eye to eye with Minnie over the issue of women's football.

Whether the Seeds approved of her footballing exploits or not Minnie and the munitionettes were raising funds for charities that helped cater to the needs of injured soldiers, like Jimmy. Minnie even played a couple of times for the famous Dick, Kerr Ladies who raised an estimated £10M (in today's money) for various war related charities. At many of the matches these war wounded were welcomed as special guests and excused the entry fee.
In July 1918,a few weeks before Jimmy's return to the front lines, Minnie was selected to represent the North of England against the West of Scotland alongside Bella Reay and another women's soccer legend, 14-year-old Mary Lyons, resulting in a 3-2 win for the English side. 
This match is now considered by some authorities to be the second ever England women's internationalAccording to a local press report from the time: 

'Women's football had moved on from the days when crowds came to laugh at their efforts, and the game was described as "one of the best of its kind seen at Newcastle... the football was fairly fast and some really clever work was witnessed." The Scottish players in particular approached the game in a robust fashion, and one of their number had to be spoken to by the referee.’

   Jimmy was by now close to being fit enough to resume military service. A victim of an 'ordinary' gas attack could expect to be returned to the front lines after an average of around 40 days recuperation, but mustard gas was a far more potent weapon, and it was almost thirteen months before Jimmy could return to the theatre of war, which he did on 28 August 1918. He later described having suffered 'periods of mental depression'  during the war, relieved only by captaining 8th Battalion West Yorks in the football matches held behind the front lines. It was perhaps with trepidation he returned to the conflict, having been well looked after at home, and being fully aware this time of the conditions and dangers that awaited him in France.

   The records show that while Jimmy was fighting in north west France Minnie played in three more notable matches:

   The first of these was her 7 September appearance for a Durham select XI against a Northumberland team that included Bella Reay. Played at the Rockcliffe Ground, Monkseaton in aid of the local branch of the Comrades of the Great War the Durham girls ran out winners by three goals to nil.

This contest was followed by what is now considered by some authorities to be the third women's international, a 5-2 victory over Ireland featuring a Mary Lyons hattrick. This 21 September 1918 clipping from the Newcastle Daily Chronicle certainly bills it as a 'Ladies International match'. It was held at St James' Park in front of a disappointing 2,000 spectators, raising just £60 for the Lord Mayor's Relief Fund. The poor turnout may have been the result of the Spanish Flu epidemic that was sweeping through the country at the time.
Despite this, 12 October 1918 saw a repeat of the Durham v Northumberland contest. Once again Minnie played alongside Mary Lyons for Durham and Bella Reay featured for Northumberland, but this time the tables were turned as Northumberland ran out 1-0 winners. The match in aid of the local branch of the Comrades of the Great War was held at the Rockcliffe Ground, Monkseaton.


Just seven days later in Valenciennes in northern France not far from the border with Belgium, in the build up to the critical offensive that helped end the war, Jimmy was again to be the victim of a mustard gas attack, with the end of the war just three weeks away. Five days later he was evacuated from France to receive treatment in England.

From Jimmy's 1957 autobiography The Jimmy Seed Story:

'In the last month of the war I was among a crowd of Tommies to get gassed. I was sent home to Sheffield Hospital. I made a good recovery but was ordered a few months' convalescence at a health resort [in Wigan!].
The war was now over, and Sunderland were playing in the Victory League. I had already called at Roker Park before going on convalescence, and then by coincidence I met the team en route for a match against Durham City. They were a man short and manager Bob Kyle asked me to help them out -at centre forward!
'

The RokerPark.com website: 'In recognition of The Armistice, 11 November 1918, the Victory League was formed. This basically involved friendly fixtures against local teams such as South Shields, Middlesbrough, Durham City and Scotswood. It commenced in January 1919 and expired April 1919.
Sunderland's first game was at the University Ground against Durham City on 11 January, and ended in defeat.'


As Jimmy describes in a newspaper interview in the nineteen sixties: "I had a shocker."
Of course, he shouldn't have been anywhere near a football pitch at that time.
The article continues:

"Major Prior, one of the directors, who was also the club doctor called me in to see them later, and the major said: 'No man who has been through two gassings is good for top-class football. Forget the game, sonny. Have a rest, and then start back in the pits. That way you will stay fairly healthy and not strain your body.'
"For a brief while before going into the Army I had sampled the life of a professional footballer," he told me. "I liked it much better than the pits. Those words of the Sunderland directors seemed almost savage at the time."


'Now I felt bitter for the first time in my life. I was twenty-three, suspect in health and, worst of all, unwanted at Sunderland.' [-JSS]

So Jimmy's life had been turned upside down and his lifetime dream of playing for the club he supported as a boy appeared shattered. The newspaper article continues:

'For a while Seed pottered about in Whitburn doing a bit of labouring and playing with the kids among the slag heaps to get himself fit.'

Another recently discovered article in a 1946 edition of John Bull magazine has an article that talks about this period of Jimmy's life, and quite out of the blue, there's a mention of Minnie. 'Football being one of the least emotional businesses in the world, Sunderland looked askance at Jimmy with his gas-damaged lungs. They went further, they gave him a free transfer.
  The family did not accept this situation, of course. Anty knew Jimmy had the football in him. Angus knew they all had football in them, despite the war, and wounds and gas. Sister Minnie was convinced more than any of them. Why, in the war years, she had donned the England jersey herself - for a girls' team against Scotland.'

Meanwhile Minnie continued to play some quite high profile matches in front of big crowds. On 2 November, just days after Jimmy's return from France she turned out in the first of three consecutive matches for the Tyneside Munitionettes, on this occasion against their local rivals, the Teesside 
Munitionettes.
On 14 December Brown's were despatched 4-0, and on Boxing Day the highly regarded Whitehaven side were to be the opposition:

                                                       Whitehaven (photograph courtesy of Eva Elliott)
The database kindly supplied by the Donmouth website gives the following details:

Tyneside 3 Whitehaven 0
Played at St James' Park before 18,000 spectators Tyneside fielded a strong line-up including Minnie alongside Bella Reay and Mary Lyons up front.
This was the first defeat for the Whitehaven team whose previous record was played 25, won 23, drawn 2.
Scorers: Dorrian, McKenna, Lyons
Tyneside: Sarah Atkinson (N.U.T., South Benwell), Grace Battista (A. W. & Co.), Lizzie Gibson (Palmers), Bella Willis (A. W. & Co. and Prudhoe), Cissie Short (A. W. & Co.), Lizzie Form (Palmers), Mary Dorrian (Brown's West Hartlepool), Winnie McKenna (South Bank), Bella Reay (Blyth Spartans), Mary Lyons (Palmers), Minnie Seed (Sunderland).

In March 1919, while Jimmy was convalescing, Minnie pulled off one of her most notable achievements in winning the Munitionettes Cup. She had been poached by Palmer's who built a very strong team that again featured Minnie alongside Bella Reay and Mary Lyons in the forward line. Minnie scored a goal in the semi-final 3-2 victory over 'Foster, Blackett and Wilson's' which set up their place in the final at St James' Park.

The match was previewed in the Northern Daily Mail on Friday, March 21 1919

‘PALMER'S v. WEST HARTLEPOOL (BROWN'S).

The above teams will meet in the final tie for the Munitionettes Cup on Saturday first at St. James's Park, Newcastle.

Palmer's team includes Miss Bella Reay, Blyth Spartans' famous centre forward, who performed the "hat trick” in last season’s Cup final: Miss Bella Willis, of Armstrong-Whitworth's and Prudhoe. captain of Tyneside Ladies' team, and perhaps the best right half playing in this class of football: Miss Mary Lyons, a tricky 16-year-old player: and Miss Minnie Seed, of Gosforth Aviation and Naval Yard, a tricky left-winger.

Brown's eleven includes Miss Minnie McKenna (South Bank), Bolckow's prolific goal-scoring centre forward. and reputed to be the cleverest all-round lady footballer of the day: and Misses Nellie Kirk and Mary Derrian, the international right-wingers. All Brown's players keep their correct positions right through the game, and part with the ball to advantage every time.

This is the only Ladies' Cup in existence. As in men's cup-ties, the new ball that the match is played with will become the property of the player who captures it after the final whistle blows.

The cap and gold medals will be presented to the winning team after the match. Birtley St. Joseph's Silver Prize Band will render selections half-an-hour before the game commences, and also during the interval.

Judging by the reputation of the players and the interest taken in the game, last season’s record, when £651 was taken at the gates from 30,000 spectators, promises to be exceeded.’

Unfortunately the 'Spanish' Flu outbreak meant that a reduced crowd of 10,000 spectators witnessed the Palmers side securing the Cup in a tense 1-0 win over 'Browns'. The whereabouts of Minnie's gold medal is unknown.

Donmouth has more:
'The Munitionettes' Cup managed to run to completion, although in the latter stages guest players from other teams were drafted in to create more interest and attract larger crowds. The winners were a combined team from Palmers Jarrow and Hebburn Works, who included three top-class guest players - Bella Reay from Blyth Spartans, Bella Willis from Armstrong-Whitworths and Minnie Seed from Gosforth Aviation. They disposed of Hood Haggies Girls 4-0 on 23rd November, and Armstrong-Whitworths 4-1 on 8th February. This latter match was played at St James's Park, and Palmers' star player was Bella Reay, who scored a hat-trick. In the semi-final on 2nd March Palmers met another local team, Foster, Blackett and Wilson's, led by Palmers' former goalkeeper, Maggie Scott. In a keenly contested game Palmers emerged the winners by the odd goal in five.
The final, in which Palmer's met Brown's of West Hartlepool, was contested on a snow-covered St. James's Park on 22nd March 1919, in front of 10,000 spectators. Brown's also had a guest player in their line-up - the redoubtable Winnie McKenna of Bolckow, Vaughans. She was unable to prevent Palmers winning 1-0, the goal being scored by Bella Reay, who together with Mary Lyons achieved the distinction of being the only double winners of the Munitionettes' Cup in its short history. (At the same time Winnie McKenna became the only double winner of a runners-up medal)'


Another highlight for Minnie was turning out for 'Newcastle Girls' (actually a team made up of girls from the North and the North East) in two matches against the previously undefeated Dick, Kerr Ladies. The first, on 8 March in front of 5,000 fans at Deepdale produced a 1-0 win for Dick, Kerr Ladies and raised £179 for charity.

Newcastle Girls. Minnie is front row, on the right.

On 22 April 1919 a crowd of around 30,000 (the deadly Spanish flu was beginning to peter out by then) packed into St James' Park for the return match. The Northern Girls, again including Bella Reay and Mary Lyons, held out for a creditable nil-nil draw. Fortunately for the Newcastle Girls side the great Lily Parr hadn't yet joined the Dick, Kerr Ladies, being only 13 or 14 at the time.


May 1919 saw Minnie playing for Tyneside Ladies at Ayresome Park in a 1-1 draw with Teesside Ladies, and this was followed by a derby double in which Minnie captained Sunderland against Newcastle. The first, played at Roker Park, resulted in a 4-1 win for the Geordies in front of a crowd of 10,000, raising £436 for the Haverfield Serbian Distress Fund. The return fixture was held on 31 May in front of 9,000 at St James' Park and didn't go any better for Minnie and the Mackems, the Newcastle girls triumphing 4-0. On this occasion the beneficiary was the Newcastle (Central) Division of the St John Ambulance Brigade.


Meanwhile, by summer Jimmy's health was clearly on the mend as he was playing cricket for Whitburn, which must have been a tremendous boost to his morale as well as to his fitness. The J. Seed that appears in the photo of the Whitburn First XI [left] was soon to receive the letter that would change his life. Mid Rhondda FC had written to Sunderland to enquire about his availability, and the club passed the letter on to him. He claims he ran the two and a half miles home to Whitburn (another sign of his improving fitness) and threw his only suit into his suitcase. He travelled to Wales by train the next day and before long the news of his signing appeared in the local paper:

'J. Seed, formerly of the Sunderland Club, has signed on for Mid Rhondda.' [Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette 14 July 1919]


So Jimmy was being given the chance to revive his footballing career, an opportunity which he was fortunately able to take with both hands. In the seven months that Jimmy was with the club he played three games a week to help Mid Rhondda win both the Southern

League Division Two and Welsh League titles, as well as the South Wales Cup. His performances and goal scoring feats inevitably attracted interest from the English football scouts, and in January 1920 he was signed by Spurs who were currently in Division Two. Despite the step up in the standard of the football, Jimmy was able to fight his way into the first team, contributing five goals as Spurs ran away with the Division Two title.



1921 turned out to be a spectacular year for Jimmy, but Minnie wasn't finished yet, featuring in an eye-catching match at Windsor Park in Belfast. Just ten days after Jimmy's appearance in Spurs' FA Cup semi final 2-1 victory over Preston North End, Minnie turned out for an 'English Girls' side against Ireland in front of 10,000 spectators (29 March).
Minnie's previous match that we know about took place in May 1919, but this doesn't mean she wasn't active during the intervening period; most of the information about women's football has been gleaned from contemporaneous press reports, and while many newspapers from the Great War period have been digitised, many of those from the post war years have yet to be scanned.
However, many of the war effort related ladies teams folded in the post war period as the companies involved would no longer be manufacturing munitions, ships and planes to same extent, and those engineering companies that were still involved would have been pressured into allowing men returning from the theatre of war to fill those roles again.
Even so, some women's football did continue, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was less coverage in the papers as men's football had returned, and perhaps newspapers were less inclined to give publicity to women occupying what were previously considered men's roles, both off and on the pitch, now the war was over.

However, the Easter match in Belfast received a high profile in Northern Irish newspapers.
In the build up to the contest the Northern Whig described Minnie Seed as follows: ‘the inside right is the fastest lady footballer in England. She is a real dandy player, and is a sister of Seed, who plays for the FA Cup finalists, Tottenham Hotspur.’

The contest took place on 29 March 1921 and was billed as a Testimonial for Diana Scott, a leading light in Northern Irish women's football during WW1.
The English Girls won 3-2, Mary Lyons scoring two of the English side's goals.
(The National Football Museum's Dr Alex Jackson tells the full story on the Playing Pasts website.)


Just three weeks later Jimmy Seed was to win an FA Cup winners medal as Spurs defeated Wolves 1-0 in the final held at at Stamford Bridge, and less than a month later he won his first England cap, playing alongside his childhood idol Charlie Buchan, as England defeated Belgium 2-0 in Brussels. Brussels is around sixty or so miles from both Nieuwpoort and Valenciennes, the scenes of Jimmy's gassings a few years earlier.
But while Jimmy's footballing career was going from strength to strength Minnie's was to come to a juddering halt six months later when the FA decided in their wisdom to prevent Football League clubs for allowing their affiliated grounds to be used for women's football.
 
Many reasons have been given for this decision, and it's possible that they all had a part to play;

i. The most bizarre was the F.A.'s sudden stated concern that football might damage women's health and hamper their ability to bear children. This claim was rebuked by Mrs Boultwood, captain of the Plymouth Ladies team, who stated 
    'The controlling body of the F.A. are a hundred years behind the times and their action is purely sex prejudice. Not one of our girls have felt any ill effects from participating in the game'. *
ii. F.A. also expressed some concern that some of the funds raised for charity may have been misappropriated, but even if that were the case the women's game could hardly be blamed for this. 
iii. The establishment's fear that the success of the women's game would lead to a further support for the emancipation of women in society. 
iv. A concern that women's football's popularity was somehow a threat to the men's game. 
v. Nervousness that the large sums raised for charity revealed how much money was being made by the club owners at a time when the Football League was insisting on a maximum wage for players.
v1. Or perhaps even the establishment's disquiet that some women's teams had switched from raising funds for disabled servicemen to supporting the Labour Movement, including striking coal miners.

'However, with the growing popularity of Parr, the team, and the women’s game, and the huge amounts of money being raised, Kerr’s and women’s football became embroiled in a political battle. With Kerr’s holding games in support of miners, and the team seen as a tool for helping the Labour Movement, the FA moved to suppress the women’s game. Further to the statement released saying “football is quite unsuitable for ladies”, the FA added: “The Council are further of the opinion that an excessive proportion of the receipts are absorbed in expenses and an inadequate percentage devoted to Charitable objects.”' [Fifa.com website]

We'll probably never know where Jimmy stood on these issues, but if he and Minnie had fallen out over them at least it looks like he still attended her Boxing Day 1923 wedding to 'blast furnaceman' Thomas Quayle at Whitburn Parish church. 

On Christmas Day Jimmy had turned out for Spurs against Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane, but he didn't play in the return Boxing Day fixture at Ayresome Park. I like to think he was excused so that he could attend the wedding, in which case he may well have taken the early morning train up to the North East with the Tottenham team, and travelled on after the rest of the team had alighted at Middlesbrough station.


Minnie and Thomas had one son, Thomas Anthony Quayle, born 30 December 1924 at the Quayle family home in Miles St, Eston, Middlesbrough. 

Minnie's husband Thomas died in 1939 and she moved to Aldershot to live with her older sister Frances in York Road, on the military base. In an echo of her time in aircraft manufacturing during World War One records list Minnie as 'Aircraft Worker (balloon)'It's likely Frances had also moved south when she was widowed to be closer to her brother Angus, who was manager Aldershot FC at the time. 


Very sadly, the death of Minnie MJ Quayle, aged just 51, was registered in the December quarter of 1948 in Barnsley.
Her son Thomas had married a Mary Crofts there in March of the same year. To add to the Barnsley/Seed connection, Angus Seed was at that time the manager of Barnsley FC, and he also died in Barnsley, in 1953.
At the time of her death Minnie was listed as being a resident of the White Hart Hotel, Barnsley and she passed away at
 Barnsley's Beckett Hospital, leaving an estate of £150 to
Thomas. There is no record of Thomas and Mary having had any children, so it seems Minnie's direct line ends here. Thomas himself died in Barnsley in 1990.

Minnie Seed was just one of the many women who blazed a trail in women's football whose adventures were largely forgotten for many years. Many of her generation, both male and female, drew a line after the war, and just wanted to put it all behind them, but in recent years there has been a real surge in interest in munitionette football which has shed much more light on the topic; some excellent books have been written and a feature film was planned, although the current pandemic seems to have put production on hold.

But nonetheless, it does seem odd that Jimmy Seed's grandchildren knew nothing of Minnie's time as a footballer, until recently. She wasn't mentioned in Jimmy's autobiography, and in a suitcase full of his memorabilia, including photo albums, scrapbooks and hundreds of newspaper articles, there's not a trace or mention of Minnie at all, other than that one family photo from 1900. It would be easy to speculate that her exploits may not have met with her family’s approval, or that perhaps Jimmy didn’t take women’s football very seriously, but we don’t have any real evidence to support that. 

However, no one could blame Jimmy if his traumatic wartime experiences, and his near forced exit from the game because of the effects of the gassings, meant that he looked upon Minnie’s successes with a wry smile.

[To stay in touch with the latest on the Minnie story you can follow @MinnieSeed on Twitter]


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    Addendum



Is it possible this photo [left] from a Seed family photo album might be of Minnie Seed? In the pram is Jimmy Seed's daughter Gladys who was born in September 1924 who later wrote 'me' on the picture. The photo was probably taken in 1925 when Minnie would have been about 27. 
Is it my imagination or does she look a little like the girl turning out for Newcastle Girls six years earlier?
Minnie herself had a baby the year before, so would she have been able to find her way down from Middlesbrough to north London at that time? It does seem just about possible, but it's impossible to know for sure.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   MINNIE'S STATS

Of course there may well have been other matches, but these are the ones compiled by the authoritative Donmouth Website:

Her first 'match' on the records was a washout:

20/10/1917
Munitions Cup R1
Blyth Spartans v Aviation Girls POSTPONED at the last minute owing to the military refusing to sanction it.
Bella Reay in Blythe Spartans team, Minnie in Aviation Team

02/02/1918
At Stockton (2,000)
Teeside Munitionettes 1 (Winnie McKenna) Tyneside Munitionettes 1 (Bella Reay)
Minnie Seed (Gosforth Aerodrome Aviation) played for Tyneside

02/03/1918
at St James' Park in aid of St Dunstan's Hostel for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors
Tyneside Munitionettes 3 (Wallace 2, Jackson) Teeside Munitionettes 0
Minnie Seed (Gosforth Aviation) played for Tyneside

29/03/1918
St James' Park before 5,000 spectators in aid of Cowen Home for the Training of Disabled Soldiers and Sailors.
Durham 4 (Cornforth, 1 pen) Northumberland 1 (Wallace)
Minnie Seed (listed as 'Gosforth Aviation and Sunderland') played for Durham 

04/05/1918
Normanby Park, South Bank
Tyneside Munitionettes 4 (Jefferson, Dunne, McKenna 2) Wearside Munitionettes 0
Minnie Seed (Gosforth Aviation)

11/05/1918
St James' Park in aid of the Alnwick branch of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors.
Blyth Spartans Munition Ladies 4 (Reay 2, Best 2) Armstrong Whitworth 60 Shop 2 
Minnie played for Blyth Spartans

01/06/1918
St James' Park (£100 gate receipts)
Tyneside Internationals  2 (Cornforth, o.g.) North of England 2 (McKenna 2)
Minnie (Sunderland and Aviation) played for North of England

15/06/1918
Croft Park, Blyth
Blyth Spartans 3 (Bella Reay 3) Walker Naval Yard 0
Minnie played for Walker Naval Yard

29/06/1918
Blyth Spartans Ladies 2 North of England Munitionettes 0 
Minnie (Naval Yard) played for North of England Munitionettes

06/07/1918
St James' Park (4,000) 
Internationals 1 (Churcher) North of England Munitionettes 1 (Stott)
North of England Munitionettes 
Minnie (Armstrong's Naval Yard and Sunderland) played for North of England Munitionettes

[From the Donmouth websiteAs they were mainly concerned with raising money for charities, Munitionettes' games continued throughout the close season. One of the more interesting games was that played between the so-called "Tyneside Internationals" and a team representing the North of England. This took place at St. James's Park on 6th July 1918 and resulted in a 1-1 draw. According to press reports, the "Woman of the Match" was Mary Lyons of Palmer's, Jarrow, playing for the North of England. This was quite a remarkable feat, as Mary was only 14 years old. She seems to have been something of a dynamo, and was selected to play for England in the return match against Northern Ireland on 21st September 1918. Mary got 2 goals in England's 5-2 win, and thus became the youngest ever footballer to play for England - male or female.] 

20/07/1918
St James' Park (4,000) St Dunstan's Hospital for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors  
North of England 3 West of Scotland 2  
Minnie (Armstrong's Naval Yard, late Gosforth Aviation and Sunderland) played for North of England.
This match is considered by Donmouth Website to be the 2nd England Women's International match. [See article below]

07/09/1918 
Rockcliffe Ground, Monkseaton in aid of Comrades of the Great War
Durham 3 Northumberland 0 
Minnie (Palmers and Sunderland) played for Durham

21/09/1918
St James' Park (2,000) Newcastle waived their fee. Raised only £60
North East Munitionettes [England] 5 (Lyons 3, McKenna, Kirk) Ireland 2 (Hall 2)
Minnie (Sunderland) played for North East Munitionettes [England].
This match is considered by Donmouth Website to be the 3rd England Women's International match. [See article below]

12/10/1918
St James' Park
Durham 0 Northumberland 1 
Minnie (Palmers and Sunderland) played for Durham

02/11/1918
Victoria Ground, Stockton
Teeside Munitionettes v Tyneside Munitionettes
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside

14/12/1918 
Tyneside Munitionettes 4 (Reay 2, Lyons 2) Brown's (Hartlepool) 0
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside

26/12/1918
St James' Park (18,000)
First defeat for Whitehaven whose previous record was P25, won 23, drawn 3.
Tyneside Munitionettes 3 (Dorrian, McKenna, Lyons) Whitehaven Munitionettes 0
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside

01/01/1919 
Victoria Ground, Stockton
Northumberland v Durham & North Yorks
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Durham & North Yorks

18/01/1919
Whitehaven (5-6,000)
Whitehaven Ladies 1 (Wilson) Tyneside Ladies 1 (Reay)
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside Ladies

01/03/1919
Pit Heap Ground, Curlew Rd, Jarrow 
Munitionettes Cup semi-final 
Palmers (Jarrow & Hebburn) 3 (Taylor pen, Seed, Hagan o.g.) Foster, Blackett & Wilson's 2 (Scott, Wilson)
Minnie played for Palmers

08/03/1919
Deepdale (Preston NE) (5,000) Raised £179
Dick, Kerr's (Preston) Girls 1 (Mitchell) Newcastle Girls 0
Minnie played for Newcastle (Although billed as Newcastle it was really a North East team)

Dick, Kerr (black and white): Hastie, Kell (capt.), Hulme*, Rawsthorne*, Warmsley, Jones, Walker, Harris, Mitchell, Partington*, Redford; reserves: Crawshaw, Standing, Arnold and Dickinson
Newcastle (claret and white): Sarah Atkinson, Catherine Egan, Lizzie Gibson, Bella Willis (capt.), Cissie Short, Lizzie Form, Mary Dorrian, Nellie Kirk, Winnie McKenna, Mary Lyons, Minnie Seed.
Although billed as Newcastle Girls several players came from other parts of the North-East
* Rawsthorne, Hulme and Partington were drafted in from Bolton Ladies

22/03/1919
St James' Park (9,000) Munitionettes' Cup Final 
Palmers (Jarrow and Hebburn) 1 (Bella Reay) Browns (West Hartlepool) 0
Minnie (listed as 'Gosforth Aviation') played for Palmers

22/04/1919
St James' Park (25-30,000)
Newcastle Girls 0  Dick Kerr's Girls (Preston) 0
Minnie played for Newcastle Girls

Newcastle: Florrie Holmes, Grace Battista, Catherine Egan, Bella Willis (capt.), Martha O'Brien, Lizzie Form, Mary Dorrian, Winnie McKenna, Bella Reay, Mary Lyons, Minnie Seed.
Dick Kerr: Hastie, Hulme, Kell (capt.), Jones, Walmsley, Rawthorne, Redford, Partington, Harris, Standing, Walker. 

10/05/1919
Ayresome Park (2,000) In aid of the YWCA
Teeside Ladies 1 (Mary Lyons) Tyneside Ladies 1 (Beattie Taylor)
On this occasion Minnie played for Teeside Ladies, lining up against the legendary Bella Reay who was her teammate in the previous matches listed above.

24/05/1919  (or 14th?)
Roker Park (10,000) Raised £436 for Haverfield Serbian Distress Fund
Sunderland Munitionettes 1 (Kirk) Newcastle Munitionettes 4 (Lyons 3, McGuire)
Minnie was captain of the Sunderland Munitionettes

31/05/1919
St James' Park (9,000) in aid of the St John Ambulance
Newcastle Munitionettes 4 (Taylor 3, 1 pen, Lyons) Sunderland Munitionettes 0
Minnie was captain of the Sunderland Munitionettes and Bella Reay was on her team. 

29/03/1921
'Ladies International' Testimonial match.
Ireland v English Girls
2 - 3 (Mary Lyons 2)
Windsor Park in Belfast 10,000 in bad weather


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


SOME PRESS CUTTINGS MENTIONING MINNIE



Sunderland Daily Echo
17 May 1919
 
Middlesbrough Daily Gazette 16 Dec 1918

        
Middlesborough Daily Gazette 31 May 1918


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Jimmy Seed [l] revisits the battlefields in the 1920s

        Minnie Seed appears on the Dick, Kerr Ladies Roll of Honour.


Acknowledgments

The excellent Donmouth website kindly provided me with a database of matches Minnie Seed was known to have played in.
Special thanks to Gail Newsham for info and inspiration. Her excellent book 'In A League Of Their Own! The Dick, Kerr Ladies 1917-1965' has just been updated.
Thanks also to Dr Alex Jackson of the National Football Museum and Playing Pasts website who provided information about the March 1921 match between Ireland and English Girls.
* Quote taken from Belles of the Ball by David J Williamson.

Contact

@Minnie_Seed on Twitter

                                             © James Dutton unless otherwise stated

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Seed Family History

JIMMY SEED HISTORY – ANCESTORS AND FAMILIES

This file covers censuses from the first (1841) to the latest online (1911). It deals in turn with the four families that led to Jimmy Seed – that of Edward Hall (b 1781), John Seed (b 1802), John Hall (b 1811), Alexander Seed (b 1831), John Cameron (b 1824) and Anthony Hall Seed (b 1855).


FAMILY A – EDWARD HALL

Edward Hall married Isabella (?) in about 1810. Their first child, John, was born about this time but had left home when the first census was taken. For John, see Family C.

1841 census for Windy Nook, Heworth, Durham

Head Edward Hall, 50, quarryman
Wife Isabella, 50
Daughter Jane, 20
Daughter Martha, 15
Daughter Mary, 1

Daughter Martha married a coalminer called John Dodd (or Dodds – the names seem to be interchangeable) at Gateshead on 16 February 1851 – just a few weeks before the 1851 census, taken on the night of 30/31 March.


1851 census for Square Houses, Heworth

Head             Edward Hall, 66, grindstone quarryman
Wife              Isabella, 64
Daughter       Martha Dodds, 25, seamstress
Son in law     John Dodds, 27, coalminer

Daughter Jane may have left home, probably to get married: there are several candidates in the marriage records. However, the absence of Mary is ominous.

Isabella died before the next census and Edward moved in with his son John. See later under Family C. But first we can follow the fortunes of daughter Martha and her husband John Dodd (s). They prove to be a very successful Victorian family…

1861 census for Windy Nook, Heworth

Head                  John Dodd, 37, coal miner
Wife                   Martha, 35
Son                     Edward, 9
Daughter             Mary Jane, 5
Daughter             Ann, 1 (but see next census)

1871 census for 6 Ryhope Street, Ryhope Colliery, Durham

Head                   John Dodds, 47, miner
Wife                    Martha, 45
Daughter             Mary Jane, 15
Son                      Martin, 11 (presumably born after previous census)
Daughter             Ann, 5 (this makes no sense and is obviously an error)

There is no sign of son Edward: he would be 19 and has perhaps married and left home.

1881 census for 6 Ryhope Street, as above

Head                  John Dodd, 57, deputy overman
Wife                  Martha, 55
Son                    Martin, 21, ‘engine-plane man’ (in colliery?)
Daughter           Ann, 15

Ann and Martin both left home before the next census: see later for their family lives…


1891 census for 7 Blind (?) Street, Bishopswearmouth, Durham

Head                  John Dodds, 67, coalminer
Wife                   Martha, 65
Daughter            Annie (Dodds) Foster

Before the next census Martha Dodds dies, and John moves in with his daughter, now called Annie, who has married a miner called John Foster (marriage not traced in records).


1901 census for 7 West Row, (district?), South Shields

Head                 John R Foster, 35, coalminer
Wife                 Annie, 35
Son                   Edward, 13 – despite which he, too, is a coalminer
Son                   Anthony, 10
Daughter           Mary R, 3
Daughter           Annie, 3 months
Father in law     John Dodd, 77, retired coalminer


1911 census for 24 East View, Hylton Colliery, Durham

Head                  John R Foster, 45, coalminer, deputy
Wife                  Annie, 45
Son                  Edward, 23, coalminer, hewer
Son                  Anthony, 20, colliery labour (above ground)
Daughter          Martha, 17, dressmaker
Daughter          Mary, 13
Daughter          Annie, 10
Son                  John, 8
Daughter          Ivy, 4
Son                  George, 6 months

Martin Dodds

Martin has married a woman called Frances Auld (not traced in marriage records).


1891 census for 28 Burdon Street, Ryhope Colliery, Durham

Head                  Martin Dodds, 31, coalminer
Wife                  Frances, 28,
Son                   Edward, 4
Son                   William, 3

Shortly after this, Martin goes into the pub trade…


1901 census for Foresters Arms Tavern***, Ryhope Street South, Ryhope Colliery

Head                  Martin Dodds, 41, publican
Wife                  Frances, 39
Son                    Edward, 14, pupil-teacher in local school
Son                    William, 13

***There is still a Foresters Arms in Ryhope (presumably this one). It even has its own Facebook page!

Ten years later Martin’s family has become very successful…


1911 census for 96 Ryhope Street, Ryhope Colliery, Sunderland

(A note says the census has been completed by Edward Dodd for Martin Dodd)

Head                  Martin Dodd, 51, Innkeeper
Wife                  Frances, 48, ‘assistant in the business’ (presumably the pub)
Son                   Edward, 24, assistant certificate teacher for the County Council
Son                   William Auld (Dodd), 23, draper-salesman
Daughter          Margaret Auld (Dodd), 18
Son                   John Dodd, 15, boot and shoe salesman
Mother in law   Margaret Auld, 74, widow

THAT IS THE FINAL ENTRY FOR FAMILY A


FAMILY B – JOHN SEED

Scottish marriage records show that on 6 December 1822 in Old Kilpatrick, Dumbarton, a papermaker called John Seed, born 1802, married Isabella McColl, born c1798. By the first UK census they are living in Durham with their four sons…


1841 census for Neville’s Croft, Crossgate, Durham

Head John Seed, 40, ‘paper m.j.’ (sic)
Wife Isabella, 46
Son Robert, 15
Son James, 14
Son Alexander, 10
Son William, 8


1851 census, district as above

Head John Seed, 49, journeyman papermaker
Wife Isabella, 53
Son Alexander, 20, apprentice papermaker
Son William, 18, whitesmith

John Seed dies in 1860. Isabella survives him by 18 years.


1861 census for Cutlers Hall Road, Benfieldside, Durham

Head Isabella Seed, 52 (could she be lying about her age?), ‘proprietor of houses’
Grandson Anthony Hall Seed, 5 (see Family D)


1871 census for Crossgate, Durham

Head Isabella Seed, 62 (also obviously wrong – she’s at it again!), seamstress
Isabella dies in 1878 aged 83.

Her son Alexander Hall takes the record forward. He marries a woman called Isabella Seed – and she is part of Family D. But first…


FAMILY C – JOHN HALL

John Hall, son of Edward Hall (Family A) was born about 1811 and followed his father into the quarry at Windy Nook. In the early 1830s he married a woman called Isabella. A possible candidate is Isabella Dove, who married a John Hall on 23 December 1832 – but in Knaresborough. They quickly began to raise a large family…


1841 census for Windy Nook, Heworth, Durham

Head John Hall, 30, quarryman
Wife Isabella, 30
Daughter Margaret, 10
Son John, 7
Daughter Isabella, 5 (she reappears in Family D)
Son Edward, 1


1851 census for Square Houses, Heworth, Durham

Head John Hall, 41, grindstone quarryman
Wife Isabella
Son John, 17, grindstone quarryman
Daughter Isabella, 15
Son Edward, 11 (who despite his age is also a grindstone quarryman)
Son Jabez, 8
Son George, 7
Daughter Elizabeth, 5
Daughter Martha, 1

As mentioned under Family A, John’s father Edward is a widower by about 1860 and now lives with John, who has had a promotion and taken all his sons into the business...


1861 census for Hall Cottage, Windy Nook, Heworth

Head John Hall, 52, overlooker of quarries
Wife Isabella, 53
Father Edward Hall, 78 – but still a grindstone quarryman
Son Edward, 20 )
Son Jabez, 18 ) all grindstone quarrymen
Son George, 16 )
Daughter Elizabeth, 13

Sadly there is no sign of little Martha, daughter Isabella has left home to start Family D, and soon all the other children will leave…


1871 census for Shakespeare Terrace, Charlton, Ellingham, Durham

Head John Hall, 64, mason
Wife Isabella, 62

John Hall himself dies before the next census, and Isabella falls on hard times…


1881 census for Gibson’s almshouses, Bishopswearmouth, Durham

Resident Isabella Hall, 73

In due course we can follow her daughter Isabella into Family D. But first we can track down some of her sons…


Sons of John and Isabella Hall

Edward Hall (b c 1840)

There are a number of Edward Halls in the record but none that matches this man.

Jabez Hall (b c 1843)

Despite his unusual name, there is no sign of him in marriage records.


1871 census for High Heworth Road, Heworth, Durham

Head Jabez Hall, 28, quarryman
Wife Margaret, 24


1881 census for Rogerson Cottage, Heworth

Head Jabez Hall, 38, quarryman
Wife Margaret, 34
Son John, 8
Daughter Mary Lawson, 2 (Lawson could be Margaret’s maiden name)


1891 census for 145 Forsters Cottages, Heworth

Head Jabez, 48, quarryman
Wife Margaret, 44
Son John, 18, quarryman
Daughter Mary Lawson, 12


1901 census for Union Street, Heworth

Head Jabez Hall, 58, quarryman
Wife Margaret, 54
Granddaughter Margaret, 9

Jabez probably died before the next census. A likely candidate is a Jabez Hall, born 1843, died 1911 – in Coventry.


George Hall (b c 1844)

There are a number of George Halls in the record but none that matches this man.



FAMILY D


This brings together Alexander Seed, born in Cromford, Derbyshire in 1831 to John and Isabella Seed (Family B), and Isabella Hall, born in Windy Nook, Durham in 1835 to John and Isabella Hall (Family C). They are married in the spring of 1854 and their son Anthony Hall Seed is born about a year later.


1861 census for Cutlers Hall Road, Benfieldside, Durham

Head Alexander Seed, 28, papermaker
Wife Isabella, 25
Daughter Ann J, 3
Daughter Mary Jane, 10 months

Note: as mentioned in Family B, their son Anthony H Seed is living next door with his grandmother, Isabella Hall.


1871 census for Bridge Hill and Shotley Grove, Durham

Head Alexander Seed, 37, foreman in paper mill
Wife Isabella, 37, master grocer
Son Anthony H Seed, 15, apprentice papermaker (see Family F)
Daughter Ann J, 13
Daughter Mary J, 10
Daughter Elizabeth, 8
Daughter Minnie, 5
Daughter Amelia, 2

This presents a few puzzles, for the next census shows some variations…


1881 census for 16 Wood Street, Benfieldside

Head Alexander Seed, 48, papermaker
Wife Isabella, 45
Daughter Mary Ann, 20 )
Daughter Elizabeth M, 18 ) all paper sorters in paper mill
Daughter Minnie, 15 )
Daughter Amelia, 12
Son John, 9
Daughter Lydia B, 6
Son Learman C, 2

Anthony and Ann J have disappeared – presumably to get married.


1891 census for 16 Wood Street, Benfieldside

Head Alexander Seed, 57, papermaker
Wife Isabella, 55
Daughter Mary J, 30, factory worker (presumably Mary Ann)
Son John, 19, paper maker
Daughter Lydia, 16
Son Learman, 12

Elizabeth and Minnie have presumably left home to get married.

Alexander Seed died in 1897.


1901 census for 16 Wood Street, Benfieldside

Head Isabella Seed, 65, widow
Daughter Mary J, 40, ‘grass sorter’ in paper mill (Pampas grass to make paper)
Daughter Elizabeth B, 26, charwoman (this woman is a complete mystery)
Boarder Jane A Ronaldson, 25, ‘grass sorter’

Isabella Seed died in 1910. The whereabouts of her children in 1911 is unknown – apart from Anthony H Seed who next appears as head of Family F.

Meanwhile…


Family E

This short section covers John and Margaret Cameron, parents of Elizabeth Jane Cameron, who married Anthony H Seed and created Family F.

The records are very patchy. However, this is probably the correct family…

1861 census for Lowholm, Newbattle, Midlothian, Scotland

Head John Cameron, 37, farm labourer
Wife Margaret, 36
Daughter Mary Ann, 14
Daughter Jane, 11
Son John, 10
Son William, 7
Daughter Catherine, 5
Daughter Elizabeth, 2
Son Duncan, 9 months

There are no obvious further records for the Camerons. Whether they moved to Durham as a family or Elizabeth went alone is not known, but somehow she met Anthony H Seed and they were married in the spring of 1876 (the marriage was registered in Newcastle). Their first daughter was born soon afterwards – they had started…


FAMILY F

…and it began life a long way away from Durham. Anthony H Seed was a papermaker, and he was evidently attracted by the opportunities offered by one of the biggest paper making mills in the south of England…

1881 census for 1 Brook Cottage, Snodland, nr Maidstone, Kent

Head Anthony H Seed, 25, papermaker
Wife Elizabeth, 22
Daughter Isabella, 5
Daughter Frances, 1

Five further children were born in Snodland (see below) but the Kent adventure didn’t last long…


1891 census for Ridley Street, Conside & Knitsley, Lanchester

Head Anthony H Seed, 35, assistant shearsman in iron works.
(This is probably an error – paper mills also employed shearmen)
Wife Elizabeth, 32
Daughter Isabella, 14, stocking knitter
Daughter Frances, 12
Son Alexander, 10
Son John, 8
Son Anthony, 6
Daughter Margaret, 4
Daughter Jessie, 2
Daughter Lydia, about 11 months. Born in Blackhill, Durham
Lodger James Morrison, 22, stonemason

While daughter Isabella is soon to leave home to get married and create a mystery (see later), the family continues to grow – and becomes even more dependent on the paper mill…

In 1997 Minnie Mary Jane Seed was born in Marsden.
In a family photo almost certainly taken in 1900 the address on the back is 9 Marsden View, Marsden.
Minnie is bottom right in the photo.








But by 1901 they had moved to Whitburn...

1901 census for Augusta Terrace, Whitburn, South Shields

Head Anthony Seed, 46, papermaker
Wife Elizabeth, 43
Daughter Frances, 22, paper mill worker
Son Alexander, 20, papermaker
Son John, 18, papermaker
Son Anthony, 16, papermaker
Daughter Margaret, 13
Daughter Jessie, 11
Son Angus, 8
And enter our footballers…
Son James, 6, born in Blackhill, Durham
Daughter Minnie, 4, born in Marsden, Durham

Sadly Lydia has died (as her mother confirms – see below)


1911 census for Adolphus Street, Whitburn, Sunderland

Head Anthony Hall Seed, 55, papermaker (Head)
Wife Elizabeth, 52**
Daughter Jessie, 22
Son Angus, 18, ‘miner driver’ in colliery***
Son James, 16, also ‘miner driver’
Daughter Minnie, 14

** Elizabeth tells the census inspector that she has been married for 34 years and has had 11 children, one of whom died. This must be Lydia.

*** ‘Miner drivers’ probably means ‘mine drivers’. These could be men who blasted roadways to the coal face, or more probably, in this context, teenage boys employed to drive the horses on the main road underground…

They moved from this address to Rose Cottage(s), also in Whitburn.

1921 census for Rose Cottages, Whitburn, Sunderland

Head  George H Dick, 43, General Labourer
Wife  Fances L Dick (Nee Seed), 42, ('Home Duties') 
Son Thomas S Dick, 16, Apprentice Ships Draughtsman, Swan & Hunter, Ship Builders
Son John C. Dick, 12
Anthony H Seed, 66, Paper Maker North Eastern Paper Mills, Marsden C/o Durham
James M. Seed, 26, Professional Footballer  Tottenham Hotspur
Francis K. Dixon, (Visitor)  Male, 33, Invalid (injured during WW1?)
Mary S. D. Dixon, (Visitor), 35, School Master
Sylvia M. C. Dixon, (Visitor), 9
Oddly, Jimmy Seed is listed as resident, whereas he was living in London and playing for Spurs at the time. If he had been visiting perhaps they would have registered him as Visitor?



The children of Anthony H and Elizabeth Seed

Six of their ten surviving children had left home by the 1911 census, so we can track the movements of some of them, at least through one census.


Isabella (b 1876)

She was the first to leave home – but where did she go?

The mystery of Isabella Seed

Two adjacent censuses follow Isabella’s trail but they are somewhat contradictory…


1901 census for Rupert Street, Whitburn

Head John Owen, 26, colliery fireman, born Wexford, Wales
Wife Isabella, 24
Boarder James Ord, 17, papermaker


1911 census for 100 Queen’s Road, Jarrow

Head John Thomas Owens, 36, labourer (separator), lead manufacturing
Wife Isabella, 36
Stepdaughter Mary Annie Liddle, 18, drawing frames machinist, rope manufacturing

However, in the above record, Isabella says she has been married for just two years. One could assume she had been married earlier to a man called Liddle – hence the stepdaughter – but there is no record of a Seed-Liddle marriage at the appropriate time.


Frances (b 1879)

There is more positive information about Frances who probably married a man called George Hamilton Dick…


1911 census for 6 Roman Wall, Wallsend

Head George Hamilton Dick, 33, shipyard labourer
Wife Frances Lindsey, 32 (born Benfieldside)
Son Thomas Linton, 6
Son John Cameron, 2



Alexander (b 1881): for information see separate story – The transatlantic adventures of Alexander Seed.


John (b 1883): for information see separate story – John Seed traveller.

In June 1924 John (aged 40, and described as a Papermaker) emigrated to Canada with his wife Annie and their children Ethel, Angus, John and baby Annie.


Anthony (b 1885) and Margaret (b 1888) and Angus (b 1893)

No information: there are very many Anthony Seeds in census records, and many Margaret Seeds in marriage lists.


Jessie (b 1890)

While she was still at home in 1911, her name is unusual enough to stand out in marriage records: she probably married a man called Arthur Riding in South Shields in the summer of 1914.

This brings detailed research to a close.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


STONE AND PAPER – THE MAKING OF JIMMY SEED

 (To be read in conjunction with detailed records under ANCESTORS AND FAMILIES. SEE ABOVE.)

 

Note: the first national census in 1841 recorded names, addresses and sometimes occupations; and  the census of 1851 added places of birth – crucial information for the genealogist. However there was a lot of guesswork: in particular, as this history shows, people’s ages do not always tally between one census and the next.

James (Jimmy) Seed was born in Blackhill, an area of Consett, not far from Shotley Bridge, County Durham, on 25 March 1895, the ninth of ten children of Anthony H Seed and his Scottish wife Elizabeth Jane, nee Cameron. Over the years the area has produced several notable people, among them Rowan Atkinson, the cricketer Paul Collingwood, the Bishop of Luton, and several major league footballers including Arthur Bellamy, Frank Clark, Joe Joyce, Michael Kay and John Robson.

 Jimmy was also destined to make his name in football, as a national and even international star – but the game was also his escape route from the industrial north east, and in particular the key industries of stone quarrying and paper making. As the census shows, both trades dominated the lives of the men who were Jimmy’s ancestors.

 So first, meet Edward Hall, born in Heworth, Durham, around 1790 (later censuses suggest other dates, but see note above.) Fifty years later he’s still living there, earning his living in a large sandstone quarry in the tiny village of Windy Nook. He was a ‘grindstone quarryman’, an important job at a time when stone was not only used for building but for many other industrial purposes. In particular sandstone quarries provided grindstones for sharpening tools.

WINDY NOOK

 Windy Nook was then within the parish of Heworth, which had been around since Norman times: eventually they were both swallowed up by Gateshead. In common with most villages in the area its history was intertwined with the fortunes of the quarrying and mining industries. The large quarry at Windy Nook shown below is now infilled and used as a public recreation area.

Windy Nook

 

Windy Nook quarry







Grindstones at Windy Nook



The 1841 census for Windy Nook records 50-year-old Edward Hall living with his wife Isabella, 50*** and three daughters, Jane, 20, Martha, 15, and Mary, 10.

They also have a son John, aged 30, also a quarryman, but he’s left home to get married. In fact he’s living nearby in Windy Nook with his wife Isabella***, his sons John and Edward and his daughters Margaret and Isabella***. (Keep your eye on this Isabella!)

***This history is littered with Isabellas! Hopefully it distinguishes between them.

By 1851 Edward and Isabella Hall have moved to Square Houses in Heworth. Living with them is daughter Martha, now a dressmaker, and her husband John Dodds, a coalminer. But it seems Jane and Mary have left home, probably to get married.

Meanwhile, son John Hall is living next door with his wife and seven children, including two sons (John and Edward) who are also in the stone trade, and a baby called Martha.

Ten years later – and sadly Edward Hall, now 73, is a widower. His wife has died and his children have left home, so not surprisingly he’s moved in with his son. John himself has gone up in the world – he’s an ‘overlooker of quarries’. And now three of his sons are working in the quarry.

They’re all living in a place called Hall Cottage at Heworth. (The name may be just a coincidence or because the Halls live there). But sadly there is no sign of little Martha. And daughter Isabella has left home: see below.

By 1871 the little family is no more. Edward Hall Snr has died and all the children have left home. John Hall, 64, is now a stonemason living with Isabella, 62 at Charlton, North Ellingham.

And ten years after that John has also died, and Isabella, now a 73-year-old widow, seems to have fallen on hard times: she is living with other elderly people in Gibson’s almshouses at Bishopswearmouth, Durham. She does not appear in the 1891 census.

Meanwhile, what about her daughter Isabella?

Well, she has married – Alexander Seed!

And to find Alexander we first go even further north – to Scotland. On 6 December 1822 in Old Kilpatrick, Dunbarton, a papermaker called John Seed, born 1802, marries Isabella McColl (another Isabella!), born c 1798.

Within ten years, however, they’ve moved to the English Midlands – in fact to Cromford in Derbyshire. This is not too surprising: Cromford had a paper mill from the early years of the 19th century, so we might assume that John Seed worked there for a time. The town was a rather famous place historically speaking: next door to the paper works was Cromford Mill where Richard Arkwright invented his water frame for spinning cotton and almost single-handedly created the modern factory system.

However, by the 1850s the Seeds have replanted themselves in Durham. John Seed is now a ‘journeyman papermaker’. His first two sons have left home while the third - Alexander, now 20 - is an apprentice papermaker, and youngest son William is an apprentice whitesmith (a whitesmith dealt with white metals such as tin and white iron).

John Seed dies in 1860, and a year later we find his widow Isabella, now 52, living in Cutlers Hall Road, Benfieldside, Durham. But she is not alone – she’s looking after her 5-year-old grandson Anthony Hall Seed (see later for this). She’s described as ‘proprietor of houses’ (perhaps a landlord?). By 1871, however, Isabella is alone, living in Crossgate, Durham, and earning her living as a seamstress. She dies in 1878 aged 83.

Meanwhile, what of her son Alexander Seed?

Moving to Durham turns out to be a good thing for young Alexander, because there he meets the aforementioned Isabella Hall. They are married in the spring of 1854 and their son Anthony Hall Seed is born a year or so later in Shotley Grove, Durham – the first of a large family of Seeds.

As we saw, in 1861 young Anthony is living with his grandmother, Isabella Hall in Cutlers Hall Road, Benfieldside. But just next door are his dad and mum, Alexander and Isabella Seed, with baby daughters Ann and Mary Jane.

Ten years later Anthony is an apprentice papermaker. He’s also rejoined his parents in Shotley Grove, Durham. Happily they are both prospering – Alexander is a foreman while Isabella has turned herself into a master grocer! And they now have five daughters.

By 1881 Anthony has become a fully-fledged papermaker. He’s also left home and married a Scots lass called Elizabeth Jane Cameron from Dalkeith. She’s the daughter of John Cameron, a labourer, born c1824, and his wife Margaret, born c1825 – in Ireland.

The newly-weds set up home in Shotley Bridge, where their first two daughters, Isabella (surprise, surprise!) and Frances are born. However, by 1881 they are living far from their northern roots – in Snodland, near Maidstone in Kent. Again, this is no great surprise: the area has a long tradition of paper making dating back more than 150 years, so it was well established by the 1880s.

However, ten years later the Seeds are back in Durham living in Blackhimm between Shotley Bridge and Consett, and the family has grown substantially – they now have five daughters and three sons. The census of 1891 says Anthony H Seed is an ‘assistant shearsman in iron works’ but this may be an error – the paper-making process certainly involves shearing.

Jimmy Seed was born there in 1895, but when Minnie in born in 1897 they are residing in Marsden, and it seems likely they commemorated the turn of the century by commissioning the family photograph shown earlier.

By 1901 the family has moved again to Augusta Terrace in Whitburn, South Shields. It has grown even larger, and is even more dependent on the paper mill with four of the children earning their living from the trade.

Sadly their youngest daughter, called Lydia, has died in infancy. But there are two further children – our footballers Jimmy and Minnie.

Meanwhile, daughter Isabella has evidently left home to get married – possibly to a Welshman called John Owens, although there is some doubt about this. In the 1901 census for Rupert Street, Whitburn, Durham, Isabella, of the right age and birthplace, is the wife of John Owen (no final ‘s’), a 26-year-old colliery fireman. However, in the 1911 census for Queens Road, Jarrow, an Isabella, again of the right age, is living with John Thomas Owen – but the record says they have been married for only two years.

On balance, I think it can be assumed that this is the right Isabella.

We last find Anthony’s family in the 1911 census, now in a four-room house in Adolphus Terrace, Whitburn. Only four children are still at home, including Angus and Jimmy, both described as ‘miner drivers’.

Mining museum websites suggest that ‘miner drivers’ were boys in their teens, employed to drive the horses on the main road underground.

Here endeth the narrative. UK censuses are only made available when they are 101 years old, so 1921 is the latest to go online…until 2032.

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