John William (Jack) Besford (1891–1975)
Jack Besford began work as a miner on his 13th birthday, and went on to become a leading trade unionist.
Ashington
Ashington is a town in Northumberland 15 miles (24 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, bordered to the south by the River Wansbeck. It was a colliery town, and claimed to be the largest mining village in the world. Woodhorn closed in 1981 and Ashington Colliery in 1988.
Many inhabitants have a distinctive accent and dialect known as Pitmatic, which varies from the regional Geordie dialect. The painting class the miners started in 1934 became known as the Ashington Group, or the Pitmen Painters, and the town produced the footballers Jackie Milburn and Jack and Bobby Charlton.
Besfords lived across the colliery rows and streets of Ashington and Hirst.
David Besford (1863–1954)
David Besford was born at Cowpen Colliery, where he began work aged 12. His work as a Methodist lay preacher led him to meet his wife.
Dorothy Jane (Dora) Besford (later Hornsby) (1915–2018)
Dora Besford spent two years training to be a teacher at City of Leeds Training College, and returned to teach at Hirst North Girls School.
David Besford (1919–2015)
David Besford worked for the Cooperative Wholesale Society in Newcastle, where he met his future wife Joan Matthews. He drove a fire engine during the Second World War, and later joined the Civil Service.
George Besford (1893–1966)
George Besford was born in Amble, Northumberland. He lost his leg in the Battle of the Somme, and later worked in the lamp cabin at Woodhorn Colliery, Ashington.
Harry Hornsby (1909–1992)
Henry Charles Deamster Hornsby was a wireless engineer and amateur radio enthusiast, who served with the Royal Air Force in the Middle East.
David Besford (1897–1991)
David Besford was injured fighting in the First World War. He and his family emigrated from the UK to Australia in 1925, where he worked as a mines inspector.
Alexander Sanderson Besford (1901–1992)
Alexander Sanderson Besford was a miner, and a member of the Salvation Army at Ashington, where he played in their brass band. He was also, like his father David Besford, a Methodist lay preacher.
Daisy Besford (later Lyons) (1894–1969)
Daisy Besford was born in Amble, Northumberland. She married William Lyons in 1918. The couple had a daughter, Mary, and a son, also called William.
Thomas Besford (1899–1994)
Thomas Besford was born at Chevington Crescent, Northumberland. He was a miner who first relocated with his family to Kent, and then in 1928 to Australia.