Joseph Soppit and Catherine Winship

St Bartholomew's Church, Longbenton
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Bill Henderson - geograph.org.uk/p/3641043

Joseph Soppit (b. 1 May 1806, bap. 19 Oct 1806 in Ovingham), who was the son of Joseph and Bridget Soppit, married Catherine Winship (bap. 9 Sep 1804 in Longbenton, Northumberland), daughter of John Winship and Mary Daggett on 1 Apr 1838 at All Saints' Church, Newcastle upon Tyne. 

Joseph and Catherine Soppit had three children; 

1. Bridget Soppit b. 1839 M Quarter in TYNEMOUTH UNION Volume 25 Page 388, bap. 3 Mar 1839 at St Bartholomew's Church, Longbenton
2. Winship Soppit b. 1842 M Quarter in TYNEMOUTH UNION Volume 25 Page 407, bap. 27 Mar 1842 at St Bartholomew's Church, Longbenton
3. John Soppit b. 1844 S Quarter in TYNEMOUTH UNION Volume 25 Page 424, bap. 6 Oct 1844 at St Bartholomew's Church, Longbenton

Longbenton had some notable residents, among them English physician and scientist, Thomas Addison, footballer Peter Beardsley and actor Jimmy Nail. The late wife and infant child of engineer, George Stephenson (1781 - 1848), are buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Longbenton. George Stephenson having worked as a brakesman and later appointed as engine-wright in 1812, in 1814, Stephenson constructed his first locomotive, 'Blucher', for hauling coal at Killingworth Colliery. (See Killingworth locomotives). This may even have been an influence, as later, John Soppit became an Engine Fitter. 

In 1839, on Bridget's baptism, the Soppit family were listed as living in Killingworth, with Joseph's occupation described as Waggonman.

In 1841, Joseph Sopwith (sic), Banksman (In Irish and British civil engineering, a banksman is the person who directs the operation of a crane or larger vehicle from the point near where loads are attached and detached); Catherine (30), Bridget (2) and Bridget Elias (60) [with the change of name, assume she remarried, but found no record] were living at Killingworth, Longbenton, Tynemouth. Longbenton has a long history of coal mining. 

By 1851, Joseph Soppit (44), a Colliery Labourer, Catherine Soppit (45), Bridget Soppit (12), Winship Soppit (9) and John Soppit (6), as well as Joseph's mother, Bridget Soppit (70), were all living at Hazbrigg, Longbenton, Tynemouth. (They subsequently moved to Durham, as Bridget Elias died in 1855 M Quarter in HOUGHTON LE SPRING Volume 10A Page 188.)

In 1861, Joseph Soppit (55), Labourer, Catherine (56), Winship (19), Blacksmith at Colliery, and John (14) Joiner at Colliery were at Four Lane Ends, Hetton Le Hole (where coal has been mined since Roman times).

Catherine Soppitt (sic) died, aged 66 (1871 M Quarter in HOUGHTON LE SPRING Volume 10A Page 269), and was buried on 9 Jan 1871 at St Nicholas, Hetton Le Hole. 

On the 1871 census, Joseph Soppitt (sic) (64) Labourer, and son Winship (29) Blacksmith, along with Isabella Hepple (42), Servant, were living at Lyons, Hetton-Le-Hole, Houghton Le Spring, Durham. 

In 1881, Joseph Soppit (74), Retired Coal Miner, was living in Caroline Street, Hetton-Le-Hole, with Martha Simpson (69) Widow, Housekeeper.

Joseph Soppitt (sic) died, aged 76, in 1882 M Qtr in HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING Vol 10A Page 254 and buried on 5 Feb 1882 in Hetton-Le-Hole.

Winship Soppit and Ann Hall

Framwellgate Bridge, Durham
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Robinson - geograph.org.uk/p/6271900

Winship Soppit (b. 1842), elder son of Joseph Soppit and Catherine Winship, married an Ann Hall in Durham, in the 4th quarter of 1871. (There's more than one Ann Hall born in the relevant area, so it would require more clues.)

Winship and Ann had six children:

1. Winship Soppit b. 1872 M Quarter in HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING Volume 10A Page 475 (Died in the same quarter, 1872 M Quarter in HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING Volume 10A Page 345)
2. Catherine Soppit b. 1873 S Quarter in DURHAM Volume 10A Page 448 (Died in the same quarter, 1873 S Quarter in DURHAM Volume 10A Page 240.) There's a baptism of a Catherine Soppit, whose parents were Winship and Ann, in Durham, on 13 Oct 1874. A posthumous baptism, or perhaps more likely that the year has been transcribed incorrectly?
3. Joseph Soppit b. 1877 M Quarter in DURHAM Volume 10A Page 396 (Died aged 1, in 1878 M Quarter in DURHAM Volume 10A Page 197)
4. John Winship Soppit b. 1879 M Quarter in DURHAM Vol 10A Page 373
5. Margaret Soppit b. 1881 J Quarter in DURHAM Volume 10A Page 385 (Died in the same quarter, 1881 (Volume 10A Page 181)
6. Edith Annie Soppit b. 1885 S Quarter in GATESHEAD Vol 10A Page 795. (Died aged 2 in 1887 D Qtr in GATESHEAD Vol 10A Page 486)

In 1881, Winship Soppitt (sic) (38) Blacksmith at colliery, was living at Colliery Houses, 22, Framwellgate, Durham with wife Annie (29), John W (2) born at Framwellgate Moor; Margaret (0) and Annie Pallister (9) Niece.

Then Winship Soppit died, aged 48, in 1890 in Morpeth, Northumberland.

In 1891, Annie Soppitt (sic) (39) widow, was Housekeeper to John Scott (42) Deputy At Coal Mine, at Long Row, Harraton, Durham. John Soppit (12) was staying with his aunt and uncle John Pearson and Bridget Soppit at the Screen Man Arms, Gale Street, Haswell, Easington, Durham.

In 1901, Ann Soppit (49) widow from South Hetton, Durham, was listed as a Pauper Inmate in Preston Lane, Tynemouth, Northumberland - the Tynemouth Parish Workhouse was in Preston Lane, North Sheilds.

Annie then just disappears, with no further records on census, nor death.