Genealogy
The Renner Inheritance
It’s the end of May 1847
There’s been a change in the weather in recent weeks. The people of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on the Northumbrian coast have grown accustomed to the howling winds and lashing rains, the winter storms that seem to rise up from out of nowhere. They know they’re on the cusp of summer, and they welcome it with open arms.
Yet, in a small terraced cottage a stone’s throw away from the beach, an ancient mariner breathes his last. He won’t live to see another summer.
His wife and three children crowd around his bed, soothing him in his final moments. They possibly reflect on his long, yet simple, life.
The old man’s name is John Renner. He’s 76 years old and has been feeling frail for a while, aged by the hard work that comes with a life spent out at sea.
He would’ve first gone to sea as a boy, accompanied by his father, uncles, and other male relatives. They were fishermen, and it was all the people of Newbiggin knew.
John Renner was born in 1771, the first child of Edward Renner and Ann Heron. His little sister, Ann, was born a year later. The two were, no doubt, very close.
Little can be gleaned of John’s childhood, though it’s assumed he received a rudimentary education.
Times were tough for fishermen. Their livelihoods, their entire income, could not be decided by themselves and depended on the fish, which they’d follow up and down the coast. Luckily for the Renner family, John’s father wasn’t just a fisherman; he was also a freeholder.
The freeholders were, and are, Lords of the Manor of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, dating back to a charter signed by King John in the early 13th century. In years gone by, the freeholders owned the land the village was built on, the moor of which they had exclusive grazing rights, as well as the beach and the foreshore.
The roles were passed down, bequeathed from father to son, mother to daughter, meaning John Renner could quite possibly have been descended from the very first freeholders conferred in 1204. The title came with small parcels of land on Newbiggin Moor, known to the freeholders as ‘stints.’ It is believed that Edward Renner’s inheritance was passed down from his mother.
Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, John was indentured as an apprentice to Thomas Findlay, a mariner who lived in North Shields. The apprenticeship lasted three years, and John would’ve worked on ships and gone on voyages. He’d have lived and worked on the same big ships he’d have seen sailing past his village his whole life.
In 1799, John’s sister Ann married George Robinson, a man the Renners had known since childhood, whom they’d played and got up to mischief with. John later became an uncle to their six children, who were born in quick succession.
In January 1808, a great disaster occurred, which affected the lives of every Newbiggin resident.
Shortly before midday on Thursday, 8th January 1808, a sudden and most dreadful storm rose up. Three boats from Newbiggin containing ten men and boys were part of the upset, and all sadly perished. It was devastating for the Robinson family, in particular, who lost their patriarch, brothers, nephew, and grandson.
John Renner’s brother-in-law, George, was one of the disaster victims.
John’s father died in May 1815 and was joined in death by his wife the following year. As the eldest and only male child, John inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Newbiggin, becoming a freeholder like so many of his ancestors before him.
On 17th August 1817, John Renner married Martha Robinson at Woodhorn. Martha was the younger sister of John’s late brother-in-law, George.
Martha was twelve years John’s junior and her life had been eventful and marred by tragedy.
After the tragic deaths of her father, brothers, nephew, and cousin, Martha met and married John Armstrong in January 1810. Her new husband was from Cullercoats, a village a few miles down the coast from Newbiggin, and like all the men in Martha’s life, he was a fisherman.
After being married for just over two months, John Armstrong went out to sea with his father and brother on the morning of 7th April 1810. The weather was described as calm, the sea smoother than it had been for many days. But from nowhere came a most powerful and violent storm.
A lifeboat was launched, which managed to pick up the poor men, but it was all in vain. The lifeboat was dashed to pieces on the rocks by the strength of the wind and waves. John Armstrong, his father, and his brother all perished on that fateful day.
Martha was widowed, aged just 28. And she was pregnant.
Martha returned to Newbiggin, to the comfort of her mother’s home, where she gave birth to a baby boy in November of that year. Her son was christened George John Armstrong, for her late father and husband, respectively, though in later years, Martha’s boy was known only as John.
Martha’s son was 6-years-old when John Renner became his stepfather.
Together, John and Martha Renner had three children: Ann in 1818, Edward in 1821, and Johnny in 1822. The latter was named for his father, though I bet it made for some confusion with three Johns in the household.
In around 1835, John had a row of stone cottages built on his land in the village. He, Martha, and their children lived in one, his stepson and his wife in another.
On 27th July 1844, John Renner’s daughter Ann was married at Woodhorn church. Her husband was named Adam Storey, a fisherman from nearby Cresswell.
John Renner drew up his will in February 1845. His youngest son, Johnny, received an annuity of 20 shillings a year to paid on Christmas Day. Land was divided up for both John’s son, Edward, and his son-in-law, Adam Storey, whose name is likely a proxy for his daughter, Ann. At that time, Ann was heavily pregnant with her first child.
All of John’s personal estate likewise went to his son-in-law, who he also made executor of the will. This suggests a closeness between them. John clearly considered his son-in-law to be a trustworthy man.
No mention was made of Martha, John’s wife, in his will. It’s easy to make assumptions as to why this may be, but with three living children, I think John probably thought Martha would be well taken care of.
Ann and Adam Storey’s child, John Renner’s first grandchild, was born in April 1845 — a boy who was named in honour of his grandfather.
John Renner died in the early hours of 28th May 1847, aged 76 years. He was buried shortly after in the churchyard at Newbiggin, opposite the porch of the church, right beside his parents. Later that year, his 2-year-old grandson, John Storey, contracted scarlet fever and sadly died. He was buried in the same grave as his grandfather and namesake.
Ann and Adam Storey went on to have a further five children. The next boy was, like his late brother, named John.
At John Renner’s death, his eldest son, Edward, became a Newbiggin freeholder. The annual Beating of the Bounds, the day when the freeholders would perambulate their land, was held each May. In 1854, this meeting was held on 15th May.
It is reported that after the ancient boundaries of Newbiggin were walked, or rather rode by horseback, the freeholders went to dinner, where Edward Renner “partook very freely.” He was taken home at around 6 pm and suffered an apoplectic fit a few hours later, and died. He was 33-years-old.
Sadly, this wasn’t the end of the family’s tragedy.
On the morning of 18th December 1861, Johnny Renner, the youngest son of Martha and John, went out fishing. He was accompanied by three others. The rough and heavy sea battered their boat and caused it to capsize, but the four men managed to clamber onto its bottom. But poor Johnny and a man named Edward Oliver slipped off and were washed away. Edward Oliver was rescued. Johnny was not.
He drowned, aged 39.
Martha had now lost her father, first husband, her brothers, nephew, and cousin, and now her youngest son to the sea.
She lived another five years, dying at Newbiggin on 9th January 1867. She was survived by her son from her first marriage, her daughter, Ann Storey, and her many grandchildren.
After the death of Johnny Renner, the family land and properties were inherited by Adam Storey, the son-in-law of John and the husband of Ann Renner.
Sources:
- Birth, marriage, and death certificates, gro.gov.uk
- Parish records for Woodhorn and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, familysearch.org
- Newspaper articles, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
