More family history

Recent on-line research by my sister-in-law, has brought to light some new family history, in this instance her & my wife's paternal 3G's grandfather.

Pictured above is Richard Abbot born circa 1818, in Burton, Westmoreland, England. Son of a contractor on the Lancaster and Kendal Canal, he attended a dame school at age 4, his education continuing at Ingleton until he was 11.

When his father became a farmer, he worked as a shepherd on the fells at Ingleborough; later he worked on a railway construction in Scotland and elsewhere. Eventually he became manager of the limestone quarries at Forcett, between Darlington & Richmond.

He was also a published poet, and the picture above is the frontpiece to a book entitled The Pen, the Press, and the Sword, with Other Poems and Balsams for Wounded Hearts published in 1879 by William Dresser of Darlington

He died on 15th July 1904, and is buried in the grounds of Forcett Church, Durham

Sounds like a very interesting character indeed.