Thomas Besford (1833–1914)
Thomas Besford worked as a coal miner throughout his life. He was left with four young children when his wife died of smallpox.
Earsdon is a hamlet in Northumberland about 5 miles (8 km) north of Morpeth, historically a township in the chapelry of Hebron. It is not the Earsdon near Whitley Bay.
Ann Besford was working as a servant at Earsdon West Forest Farm by the age of 16.