Besford Crop Circles
A star-design crop circle appeared in a Besford field in June 2014, the second in two years.
Farming
The Besfords were farm labouring families in Northumberland through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, moving from farm to farm as the work required. Robert Besford and his family worked at Stickley and then at Dam Dykes Farm, and their children were born across the farms around Cramlington and Felton, from Stickley to Eshott Heugh.
From the middle of the nineteenth century the family left the land for the pits.
Robert Besford (1752–1837)
Robert was an agricultural labourer. He had three daughters with his first wife Mary. After her death, he had two sons with his second wife Ann Goodfellow.
John Besford (1717–1788)
John was born at Snitter and became an agricultural labourer. He and his wife Mary Felton had seven children.
Robert Besford and Isabella Robson
Robert Besford (1792–1844) married Isabella Robson at the Parish Church of St. Mary Magdelene, Mitford, Northumberland, on 18th April 1818.
Ann Besford (1825–1896)
Ann Besford was working as a servant at Earsdon West Forest Farm north of Morpeth by the time she was 16 years old. She had six sons, five of whom survived to adulthood.
John Besford (1789–1825)
John Besford was employed as a labourer at Cheviot Farm, Hallington. He married Isabella Wright in 1819 and died before the birth of his third child.
Mary Besford (later Ferguson) (1822–1883)
Mary Besford was born on the farm where her parents were living and working. She worked on the farm, and later as a dressmaker.
Robert Besford (1792–1844)
Robert Besford was an agricultural labourer. His first wife Isabella died aged 24. He married Mary Marshall in 1821.
George Besford (1743–1820)
George Besford was born at Countess Park, a farm two miles north of Birtley, Northumberland. He married Mary Dodd, with whom he had eight children.
Scottish Ancestry of Mary Besford (née Turnbull)
Several Reiver family names occur in Mary Turnbull’s ancestry.