Back L to R: Tom Hurlbutt, Catherine Hurlbutt, Andrew Hurlbutt, Emily Cowell, Edith Bond
Front L to R: ?, Mary Alice Hurlbutt, Lance Hurlbutt, Mary Alice Hurlbutt (nee Burn), Anne Hurlbutt, Richard Nicholson Bond
Missing: Andrew Hinman Hurlbutt (father of Bride), Bill Hurlbutt, baby Arthur Hurlbutt (Bride’s siblings)
The wedding in question took place in South Shields on the 2nd June 1912 between Richard Nicholson Bond and Anne Hurlbutt, eldest child of Andrew Hinman Hurlbutt and his wife Mary Alice Burn. An ordinary family from South Shields or so I thought!!
By the end of WW1 both Anne and Catherine were widows, each with a young child to support. Andrew Hinman Hurlbutt was a Master Mariner and it is likely he was at sea on the day of the wedding. Having no recollection of Andrew’s name ever being mentioned, the quest was on to find out what had happened to him.
Researching my Hurlbutt roots took me on a journey to New England, looking into the early settlers of America, a native American war in 1637, and how my ancestors arrived in North Shields from Connecticut via Scotland. The Burn family, being Tyne Pilots, also proved to have a fascinating past, suffering a number of tragedies along the way.
As to Andrew Hinman Hurlbutt, in 1919 he said goodbye to his latest grandchild, then disappeared, with his wife and children never hearing from him again. That is until research records became more readily available and, after several attempts due to Covid restrictions, in May 2022 I stood at his grave in Toronto, Canada and said “I have found you”.
Ann Franklin
2nd August 2025