Alton family Lodge Green Muker

[jkb]

Hello,
I’m interested in any family information on the William and Ester Alton family. Esther was born about 1806 and William about 1802. They are listed in the 1841 census in Lodge Green with children John 11, Joseph 8, Reuben 5 and Anthony and Ellen 1/11. Also in the 1851 census, same children plus Mary Ann, Margaret, Elizabeth and Esther. I believe they came to the United States about 1861 and settled in Wisconsin. They are listed in the US 1870 census here. The daughter Esther, born in 1850 in Lodge Green, married William T Kay and is my great great grandmother.

In the English 1851 census William Alton is listed as the gamekeeper for Lodge Green. In 1861 he is gamekeeper retired and the sons are miners. They settled in a mining area of Wisconsin after they came to the United States.

I appreciate any help. Thank You, Janet Berget, jkbjrb2@yahoo.com.

[Lesley]

Hi Janet,
I have identified the house in the photo you supplied of your great great grandmother's home.

The house is now called Troutbeck House. There are several other pictures of it on the Gunnerside website, including this one http://www.gunnerside.info/Gunnerside_V ... House.html which I took on a beautiful day in 2002. 'Tigger' was a lovely ginger cat whose collar bore a tag telling us he lived at Troutbeck House.

This is an earlier image of the house, probably in around 1910, when the building next door was the Post Office: http://www.gunnerside.info/Gunnerside/G ... tcard.html

This next card also shows the house: http://www.gunnerside.info/Gunnerside/G ... tcard.html

This final card may have been posted in 1970 but it shows a much older image of Troutbeck Hotel: http://www.gunnerside.info/Gunnerside/G ... _1970.html
The house appears to have been a shop at some point: the 1910 image shows a shop front built out from the front wall of the house. That part of the building was removed at some time and was replaced by a bay window. The scar left by the removal of the shop front is still just visible as a horizontal line between the ground and first floor windows. The bay window has since been replaced by a flat window.
I wish I could read what the large sign above the door of the Troutbeck Hotel says in the card posted in 1970...

There are several other views of the house on the Gunnerside Millennium CD. http://www.gunnerside.info/miscellaneous.html One of these identifies the shop next door as 'Sunters'.

[jkb]

Thank you so much for all the photos and information. I appreciate the time you spent on this for me. It is nice to see that the old family home is still there, I had no idea someone would recognize it so soon. I can't wait to share this with the rest of my family! Perhaps someday some of us will be able to visit, your village looks absolutely beautiful. I'll keep checking back to this website. Sincerely, Janet.

[Lesley]

Hello again Janet,
In my excitement at identifying Troutbeck House, I forgot to tell you where it is! It is in Gunnerside.
In the photo you sent, a narrow section of wall takes up most of the right hand side. This is the north west corner of the King's Head pub in Gunnerside. You can see more of the north wall in the photo called 'Gunnerside post office and The Square' along with the hanging sign which identified it as the King's Head Hotel.
In the post card which was posted in 1970, you can see a bridge adjacent to the west wall of the house. This bridge crosses Gunnerside Gill which rushes and tumbles down from a great height to the north of the village, passing several lead workings on the way.
The road in front of the house is the 'main road' from Reeth to Keld and beyond, into the realm beyond Swaledale...
Gunnerside is indeed a lovely village and you are very lucky to know exactly where your relatives lived!
Good luck with the rest of your research.

[jkb]

Thank you again for the added information. I am indeed lucky to have found the home in our old family photo. I never thought it would have been possible. Janet.

[Lesley]

Hello again, Janet,

We've found a William Alton in a list published in The Hull Packet newspaper. He is one of the people who obtained a game certificate, costing £4.0s.10d, for the year 1844.



One of our regular contributors, who was born in Gunnerside, has pointed out that we should have made it clear that 'Gunnerside / Lodge Green are the same village split by the beck, Gunnerside to the West and Lodge Green to the East'. (Thanks James.)

He also enclosed a photo of his great grandfather, Lodge Percival, who was born in Lodge Green in 1860, outside your old family home sometime in the 1930s/40s. James also mentioned that 'Troutbeck was owned by a woman called Annie Cleaman (spelling?) her descendants still own / live there. I know that the Harker boys used to come and stay their on visits to Gunnerside, Gordon Harker has told me he was there on VE night. There was also long term lodgers, Tommy Brown lived there for one and I also know of several of the drivers working for Percivals [Buses] living there too'.

Lodge Percival photograph (copyright Joan Percival)

[jkb]

Hi again! I am happy to see more information about the history of Troutbeck!! And also the newspaper listing for William Alton, I'm quite sure that would be my great great great grandfather! I have not been online to check for quite some time and this was a nice surprise to find. Please also thank your contributor! It is exciting to see another picture of the house, and how it has changed but still is very recognizable.

I don't have any other information on William or his wife before they moved the family to America. I have seen her name written as Esther and also Easter, but I do not know her maiden name. If someone could tell me where to look for church records or marriage records that I could search online I would appreciate it. Maybe then I can go back another generation. I see the Alton name in some of the baptism records on this site, but I'm not sure how or if they connect to my line.

Another question.....can anyone tell aproximately what year my old photo would have been taken? I don't know if it was taken before they left Gunnerside, or if someone sent the photo later, or maybe they went back for a visit and made the photo. It would have been before the building was expanded, or maybe someone would be able to tell from the style of dress? Unfortunately my Grandmother did not write the ladies names on the back of it, other than it was Ester Alton's home, which as it turns out has been very helpful.

Thank you all so much, I will try to check in more often! Janet.

[jkb]

Hello again, I'm updating my post. I have done a little research and have found infomation giving me 3 generations back from what I had.

If you come across any more interesting information on my Alton family, or more photos I'd be pleased to hear about it.

Thank you all for your help. This is a great website and I will be checking back often! Janet.

[jkb]

Hello, I'm planning a trip to Gunnerside this spring and would appreciate information on getting there from London.
We would rather not rent a vehicle...is there bus transportation available? I'd like to come and visit my ancestors homeland and find Troutbeck house. Any travel tips appreciated. Thank you, Janet.

[jkb]

I returned home last week from a wonderful visit to England, including a short stay in Gunnerside. 3 generations of my family were able to spend time in your lovely town, and see the home, and area where our ancestors once lived. Our stay and breakfast at the School House B&B was nice, as was the meal we had at the Farmers Arms in Muker. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful. The weather was great, and we saw such beautiful scenery. Thank you all for your help and advice. We enjoyed our trip to Swaledale very much.