Elizabeth Mennim

Died September 28th 

Elizabeth Mennim died on September 28th 1849 in the Alnwick cholera outbreak. (Note, her surname occurs in many spellings in different records. We use the one in the Rawlinson report). She was born in 1805 but we don’t know her maiden name and therefore where she was born, or who her parents were.


We know that she married a Scot called George
Mennim, who was part of a large family. His parents, Francis and Elizabeth were married in Eglingham, (Cornhill) on April 29th 1798. They had eleven children including Agnes, Margery, George, Francis, Alexander, Robert, Henry and another Margery. They were born in different towns in Northumberland and Scotland. Several of the Mennim family settled in Alnwick and are on the 1841 census, as were George and Elizabeth.


George and Elizabeth only had five children. Four were on the 1841 census for Clayport, they were Francis (12) 1829-1901: Elizabeth (9) 1832- : George (6) 1835-45 and Mary (3) 1837-. The family was still living in Clayport in 1844 when their fifth child, James was born (1844-1915). Father George was an agricultural labourer.

In the first week of the cholera outbreak mother Elizabeth died,
age 43, leaving George with four children, from 20 down to 5 (little George had died before his mother, age 10). Elizabeth was buried in a mass grave at the rear of St. Michael’s Church.


In 1851, the rest of her family were still living in Clayport next to the
Lockey family, who also lost a family member to cholera. George was now working as a ‘mail driver‘.Francis was no longer at home. He married a French woman called Octavia from Dinon and moved to London, where he worked as a cabinet maker. Elizabeth, now 18,(born in Chatton) was housekeeper, and her younger siblings were at school.

Mary Mennin married Thomas Howey in Alnwick in 1863 and moved Blaydon where Thomas was a coal miner, her brother James was lodging with her family, and working as a plate layer. She died in Durham in 1915, and her younger brother James, also died in 1915 in Hexham.

George died in Alnwick in 1875, 26 years after his wife.

Daughter Elizabeth married James Burness in Longbenton, on 26th April 1862. The 1871 census says they and their five children were living in ‘Garden Cottage ‘ Witton le Wear. James was a gardener at Witton Castle ( now a holiday park).They may then have emigrated, as we couldn’t find them in any more records in Britain, but a record of James’s death  on 13/12/1898 was found in Sydney:     

 Below: The cemetery record of, we believe, James Burness, Elizabeth’s husband.

Sydney, Australia, Cemetery Headstone Transcriptions, 1837-2003

Name : James Burness

Age :  64

Birth Date:  abt. 1834

Death Date  13 Dec 1898

Burial Place: Sydney, New South Wales,

Australia Cemetery Waverley Section 7 Ordinary Row 13

Denomination: Anglican

1849 Cholera Outbreak
Ann Allison George, Susan and Isabella Anderson Ann Appleby John Douglas Arnott John Balmer Ann Bamburgh Isabella Bell Jane Berkley Sarah, Robert, Sarah Black Dorothy and Jane Brankston Ann Brown Isabella Burn Elizabeth Burnett Sarah Burnett Mary Carr Thomas Carr John Cavenah Julia Dixon, Appalina Cooper Harvey and Catherine Cross Edward Davis George and Jane Davison William Dick John and Sarah Dickman Isabella Dixon Adam Dixon Rebecca Dobbs John Douglas Jane Douglas Jane Duncan Robert Duncan Ann Egdell Ralph Emmerson Ann Fawdon, Ann Fawdon Mary Ann Featherstone Henry and Ellen Mary Ferguson Isabella Flannaghan George and Eleanor Forster Robert Gardner Elizabeth Gray Dorothy Grey Robert Grey Thomasine Grey Mary and Henry Hedley Mary Henderson James and Ann Hindmarsh William Howey Ann Hudson, Ann Hudson George Hume, Alice Hume John Hunter Dorothy Jameson, Jane Jackson Joseph Jamison Thomas Jeffrey Elizabeth Jobson Mary Joicey James Keen, Margery Keen Frances Laing George Lindsay, John Lindsay Catherine Lockey James Lockey Ann Lough Patrick Macone Margaret Marshall Mary Maule Latitia McLaughlin James McMillan Thomas McMillan Neil McNab Elizabeth Mennim Catherine Metcalf Ann Middlemas Margaret Millar Mary Mills Margaret Moffit Jane Morrison Ann Nesbitt Ann Newton John Newton James Paxton Ann Pearson Mary and Isabella Pickard George Pike Rebecca Quin Mary and William Ramsay George Reed Thomas and Ann Robarts Michael Sanderson James Skelly George Slight Elizabeth Smails John Smith Sarah Smith John Snowdon Jane Snowdon Robert Stansfield John Stocker Robert Tate Dinah and Charlotte Tate George Taylor Grace and Jane Taylor Mary Thew Thomas Thompson Jane Thompson Henry Tinson John Walker Robert Wallace Alice Wardhaugh John and Robert Wardle Thomas Wilkinson James Williams Mary Wilson Elizabeth Wood Appendix-James Wood