John Pallister was the first child of John McCree Pallister & Barbara Hall born Oct-December 1874 at 66 Burdon St, Ryhope & christened January 10th, 1875 at St Paul’s, Ryhope.
In 1881 John was at home with the family at 14 Gibson Terrace, Ryhope. John had 2 younger brothers William (4), Ralph (2) & a sister Ellen (Helen in census) aged 5 months.
John was still living at home in 1891 at Gibson Terr & was working as an engineman. He now had 3 brothers & 3 sisters at home. In 1899 John was a witness at the marriage of Joseph Lister Ledger of 12 Gibson Terr & Sarah Bainbridge at St Paul’s, Ryhope.
John married Margaret Eleanor Gibson on January 31st, 1901 at St Paul’s, Ryhope. John was living at 14 Gibson Terr at the time of the marriage & Margaret was living at 33 Thomas St, Ryhope with her parents, sister & brother. Witnesses at the wedding were William Pallister, John’s brother, & Mary Hannah Gibson, Margaret's sister. Margaret was born Jan-March 1874 at Ryhope, the daughter of Martha & John Edward Gibson, an engineman. Margaret’s occupation was given as dressmaker in the 1891 census when she was living at home with her parents, Martha & John E Gibson, a colliery engineman, in Burdon St.
In 1901 John & Margaret were living at 14 St Pauls Terrace, Ryhope & John was working underground at the colliery as an engineman.
John died, aged 29,in Oct-December 1903, the death being registered at Sunderland.
In 1911 widowed Margaret was living with her widowed father, John Gibson, a retired engineman at 33 Thomas St, Ryhope. Also living there was her older sister, Mary Hannah Gibson (49).
Some time after 1911 Margaret went into partnership with her older sister Mary Hannah Gibson as a grocer & draper. They traded from 33 Thomas St, Ryhope. The business must have fallen on hard times, as according to the London Gazette they filed for bankruptcy on August 3rd, 1922. The Portsmouth Evening News of October 5th, 1922 reported on the bankruptcy as follows. It appears that the sisters, as well as trading as grocers & drapers, had inherited about 30 houses from their father on his death in 1913. They collected the rents for their own properties & also for other property owners at 1s in the £ commission. When the rates & taxes went up the sisters found themselves short of money &, attracted by advertisements, they went to Jewish money lenders. They borrowed altogether some hundreds of pounds & had to pay 50% interest. Their inexperience as business women led to their bankruptcy. The money-lenders sold all their furniture, mortgages & possessions & they were left without realisable means. When the sisters came before the Sunderland Bankruptcy Court in October 1922 they bitterly denied reports that they had been betting, & all they did was to complete newspaper football coupons! The Registrar decided that their estates were in fact likely to show a surplus & therefore decided to close the examination (Sunderland Daily Echo & Shipping Gazette, October 19th, 1922).
Notice of dividends to be paid to creditors on February 27th, 1925 were published in the London Gazette of February 20th, 1925. A notice of release of trustees relating to their business appeared in the London Gazette of November 6th, 1925.
Margaret died in July-September 1953, aged 79, her death being registered at Sunderland.