James Renton ^{1 2 3 4}

  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1881 Scotland Census in Yetholm, Roxburghshire, SCOTLAND on 3 April 1881.

² 1881 Scotland Census
Page 1, District 4, Household schedule 3, Roll cssct1881_320
Yetholm, Roxburghshire
Address: Haynope
James Renton..Son..6..Bunckle, Berwickshire
(Living with parents.)
.

• He appeared on the 1891 Scotland Census in Eccles, Berwickshire, SCOTLAND on 5 April 1891.

³ 1891 Scotland Census
Page 11, District 1, Household schedule 53, Roll CSSCT1891_377
Eccles, Berwickshire, SCOTLAND
Address: Kennetside Heads Cottages
James Renton..Son..16..Bonkyle, Berwickshire..Farm Servant
(Living with father and step-mother.)
.

• 1901 Scotland Census: Scotland, on 31 March 1901, in Chirnside, Berwickshire, SCOTLAND. ⁴ 1901 Scotland Census
ED 2, Page 3, Household schedule number: 15, Roll CSSCT1901_412
Chirnside, Berwickshire
Address: Kirkgate House & Grocers Shop
Thomas Renton...Lodger..26..Stitchel, Berwickshire..Paper Mill Worker
(Living at the home of Thomas and Margaret Lothian.)

NOTE - Even though the transcription says "Thomas Renton", I believe it should be "James Renton". Thomas was the name of the head of house, Thomas Lothian. Within the year, James would marry his daughter, JohnAnn Lothian.
.

• He appeared on the 1911 England Census in Seaham Harbour, Durham, ENGLAND on 2 April 1911. ¹

1911 England Census
Schedule 229, 32A Albert Street
Seaham Harbour, Durham
married 10 years
James Renton..Head..36..Blerne, Eastside, Berwickshire..Colliery fireman at bank
(Living with wife and 5 children.)
.

James married Johnann Lothian in 1901.¹ (Johnann Lothian was born in 1880 in Rutherford, Roxburghshire, SCOTLAND ¹ and died after 2 April 1911.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1911 England Census in Seaham Harbour, Durham, ENGLAND on 2 April 1911. ¹

1911 England Census
Schedule 229, 32A Albert Street
Seaham Harbour, Durham
married 10 years
James Renton..Head..36..Blerne, Eastside, Berwickshire..Colliery fireman at bank
JohnAnn Renton..Wife..31..Rutherford, Roxburghshire..
William Alexander Renton..Son..9..Chirnside, Berwickshire
Margaret Hunter Renton..Dau..8..Chirnside, Berwickshire
Thomas Lothian Renton..Son..6..Chirnside, Berwickshire
Walter Hunter Renton..Son..5..Chirnside, Berwickshire
Ellen Burns Renton..Dau..1..Seaham Harbour, Durham
.

  Marriage Notes:

History of Seaham Harbour, Durham, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM

Until the early years of the 19th century Seaham was a small rural, agricultural farming community whose only claim to fame was that the local landowner's daughter, Anne Isabella Milbanke, was married at Seaham Hall to Lord Byron on 2 January 1815. Byron began writing his Hebrew Melodies at Seaham and they were published in April 1815. It would seem that Byron was bored in wintry Seaham, though the sea enthralled him. As he wrote in a letter to a friend: "Upon this dreary coast we have nothing but county meetings and shipwrecks; and I have this day dined upon fish, which probably dined upon the crews of several colliers lost in the late gales. But I saw the sea once more in all the glories of surf and foam."

The marriage was short-lived, but long enough to have been a drain on the Milbanke estate. The area's fortunes changed when the Milbankes sold out to 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, who built a harbour in 1828 to facilitate transport of goods from the industries locally encouraged (the first coal mine was begun in 1845). However, this harbour later proved inadequate to deal with the millions of tonnes of coal and 6th Marquess commissioned engineers Patrick Meik and Charles Meik to reclaim land and extend and deepen the dock. It was officially opened in 1905. The harbour is of particular interest because it consists of a series of interconnecting locks rather than the more typical two wall construction.

In 1928 production started at the last town colliery to be opened, Vane Tempest. By 1992, however, all three pits (Dawdon Colliery, Vane Tempest Colliery and Seaham Colliery - known locally as "the Knack") had closed, a process accelerated by the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) and cheap coal imports from Eastern Europe . The pit closures have hit the local economy extremely hard, and Seaham sank into a depressed state in the 1980s and 1990s.

Many local families were affected by the tragic loss of eight men and one boy in the 'Seaham Lifeboat Disaster', when the RNLI lifeboat, the George Elmy, sank on 17 November 1962. To commemorate the event, the new coast road was named George Elmy Lifeboat Way.
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