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Nellie was born on Sept 11th 1913 at “Fairholme” on Sunderland Road in Heworth village. Her Grandfather, Robert Ward, came over from High Herrington in Cumberland with his family. He was a builder and undertaker. Nellie’s Grandparents lived with them. She started her education at Heworth school where the headmistress was Miss Gunn. Her Dad served in the army medical corps during the World War from 1914 until 1918 and, while he was away, her family and Grandparents moved nearby into their Uncle’s large family home on the corner of High Heworth Lane and Sunderland Road. It was called “The Poplars” and her Uncle Harry had it built. It still stands today and is Heworth Church Vicarage. After her father returned from the war, their widowed Uncle, who’s first wife died when they were only married a year or so, decided to remarry a game keepers daughter from Middleton in Teesdale, the family had to move elsewhere. Her Grandparents went to live with her aunt at “Ashcroft”, a few doors away from where they used to live at “Fairholme.” Nellie’s parents, herself, and older sister Marjorie moved to “Woodbine House”, Shields Road, Pelaw, in 1919. A policeman, Sergeant Sanderson had lived in the house before them. At the time it was the first house in Woodbine Terrace but ,some years later, Mr.Knox the builder who had taken over the buildings of Nether Farm for his business, built another house on the spare ground. Nellie’s Grandfather was an undertaker and her Dad went into the business. The workshop, where they made there own coffins for the trade, was in a number of locations in Pelaw. It was formerly on land behind Nether Farm (Behind the Maiden Over public house) and then moved to John Street. It had to leave here when the council wanted to build homes on the site. They then moved to land at the top of George Street that had belonged to the railway. As the workshop was not necessary due to items been bought in for the trade, the land was sold in 1963 to Kelly’s the coal merchant. About 1923 she went to Bill Quay Board School and Mr.Barrass was Headmaster. When she left school she started work as a seamstress at Coxon’s in Newcastle. Binn’s later took over the shop. She worked their about six months before it went into liquidation and then went to work for a Jewish clothing firm on Jesmond Road. They said she had to sweep the floors and, as Nellie insisted she was not there to do that sort of work, she refused to do it and left. She then went to work for her father in the undertaking business. They were probably one of the first in the area to have a telephone in the house that was needed for the business in the 1930’s. It was sometimes a struggle for Nellie to be accepted into the trade. No other woman had done this work before in the district. In the early days they would hire the carriages from Portland Street in Newcastle. Her father passed away on Nov 5th 1954 aged 74 years and Nellie continued to manage the business. Her Mother, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Young Ward died aged 93 years old on Sept 14th 1970 at Woodbine House. When her sister Marjorie’s husband died she left her home in John Street, Pelaw, to live with Nellie at Woodbine House, No 2 Woodbine Terrace. Nellie retired when 60 years old in 1974 after arranging about 2,000 funerals. Mr.Ernest Robinson has since managed it. Nellie had taught Ernest the work and the business continues today at Wrekenton. They had met due to his father, Ernie Robinson Snr, managing a car hire firm, which was used by Nellie for her work.
Nellie became accepted and popular among local people. One bereaved family at Wardley she remembered saying as she came up the path, “Oh, here is Miss Barnes coming, everything will be all right now!”. (From Gordon Stridiron)
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