(Cross-posted to uk.rec.waterways/uk.rec.engines.stationary)
My wife is researching my family's history, as well as her own, & has come up with a snippet which I would like to pursue. We were brought up being told that William Hedley of Wylam, the railway locomotive pioneer, was a distant uncle. She is having trouble establishing the precise link. The one surviving aunt from my mother's generation says that her grandmother (a Hedley) was disowned by the family for marrying beneath her station (to a violinist), & knows no other details. One possible link my wife has found is a Hedley who was first mate of the steamship "Thomas Lea", which was in port in Kent during the 1881 census. I'm curious to find out more about this ship, but all I can find on line is that she was built at Palmers on the Tyne. She had a crew of fourteen, so must have been a fairly substantial vessel, so I imagine some other records exist somewhere. Has anyone here any knowledge of how to find that sort of thing? I would mainly like to find when build, type of ship, & who were the owners. William Hedley did become a coal owner after his locomotive exploits, and there is a suggestion that the Hedleys also became ship owners - so was the Thomas Lea a (large?) Tyne collier, perhaps?
Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions
Cheers Tim