Eleanor Speed was the sixth child of Jacob Speed & Hannah Coates born July 16th & christened September 12th, 1802 at All Saints, Penshaw.
Eleanor married Harrop Wight on September 19th, 1825 at Chester-le-Street. A marriage announcement stated that they were both of Lumley Forge (Durham County Advertiser, September 24th, 1825). Harrop was born December 14th, 1798 & christened February 24th, 1799 at Chester-le-Street, the son of Eleanor Pringle & John Wight, iron founder.
At the time of the christening of their first child, Eleanor, in 1827 Harrop was described as a forgeman of Little Lumley.
It appears that Harrop became a grocer in Sunderland as he was listed in Pigot’s Directory of 1834 as a grocer & tea dealer of High St, Bishop Wearmouth. However he was also listed as bankrupt in March 1834, & at the time of the christening of his son, Harrop William, in July of that year he was described as a sailor.
The family appear to have moved south to Devon.
Eleanor died at 12 Green St, Plymouth in February 1837 about 3 weeks after giving birth to daughter Elizabeth. She was buried on February 26th at Ebenezer Chapel Wesleyan Graveyard, Saltash Rd, Plymouth.
The children of Eleanor Speed & Harrop Wight were:
sp.1.6.4.6.1 Eleanor Wight christened January 3rd, 1827 at Chester-le-Street; died Jan-March 1905 in Easington, Co Durham
sp.1.6.4.6.2 Hannah Wight christened Sept 3rd, 1828 at Chester-le-Street; died at South & buried November 12th, 1830 at St Michael & All Angels, Bishop Wearmouth
sp.1.6.4.6.3 Harrop William Wight born June 28th, 1834 & christened July 18th, 1834 at Sans St Wesleyan Chapel, Bishop Wearmouth (father = sailor); died September 11th, 1871 at Seaham Harbour, Co Durham
sp.1.6.4.6.4 Elizabeth Wight born January 26th, 1837 in Parish of Charles the Martyr, Plymouth & christened March 4th, 1837 at Ebenezer Chapel (Wesleyan), Plymouth, Devon; buried November 23rd, 1837 at Ebenezer Chapel, Plymouth
Harrop married again on January 29th, 1838 at Plympton St Mary, Devon. He gave his occupation as mine agent & a newspaper announcement stated that he was clerk of the China Clay Work. Harrop’s second wife was Mary Tryphena Eveleigh of Ridgeway, born c1801 in Plympton St Mary, Devon, daughter of John Pease Eveleigh, a watchmaker.
Harrop & Mary had a son, John Eveleigh, born April 15th, 1839 at Plymouth.
Harrop died on April 17th, 1840 at 24 Gibbons Street, Plymouth & was buried on April 21st at Ebenezer Chapel Wesleyan Graveyard, Saltash Rd, Plymouth, Devon. His death was rather sudden & dramatic according the Royal Cornwall Gazette of May 1st 1840. Harrop was attending the Ebenezer chapel & had just sung the first 2 lines of a hymn ‘Behold the saviour of mankind, Nail’d to the shameful tree’ when he fell into the arms of a friend ‘& instantly expired’. It was stated that he was clerk to Messrs. Allen & Co & left a widow & 3 children.
At the time of the 1841 census widowed Mary & son John were living at Plympton St Mary, Devon.
It appears that son Harrop William returned to the north east as the 1841 census shows him living in Durham St, Bishop Wearmouth. He was living with William Wight aged 18, an iron founder, & Elizabeth Wight aged 11& Ann Wight, aged 9.
Mary’s son John was christened in 1842 at the Ebenezer Chapel, Plymouth so Mary & he had not moved north with step-children Harrop & Eleanor.
The 1851 census shows Harrop, a clerk, living with uncle Robert Wight, an iron merchant, in Murton St, Bishopwearmouth. Harrop eventually married Mary Dewar & settled in Seaham Harbour, Co Durham where he became a bank manager to Messrs Woods & Co. Tragically Harrop died in September 1871 of small pox.
Daughter Eleanor had married John Richardson in 1848 in Seaham, Co Durham & at the time of the 1851 census they & their 2 young sons were living at Church St, Seaham Harbour where John was a printer & stationer.
The 1851 & 1861 censuses show that widowed Mary eventually moved north & was living on her own at Dawdon, Seaham. She died there in July-September 1868. Her son John was an inmate at Hants County Prison, Winchester at the time of the 1871 census & described as a soldier with the Royal Artillery. He eventually moved north & was living in Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland with his wife Elizabeth & family by 1891.