THE life – and shocking death – of a dale woman more than a century ago is the subject of a new book being released this month.
Shabby Wedding tells the story of Mary Jane Dodds, who was married twice, buried twice and both her husbands were hanged.
The author, retired priest Linda Dodds, also describes day-to-day life in Edwardian Bedburn and Hamsterley as a world away from present day and highlights how attitudes to subjects such as domestic violence and suicide were much different.
Mary Jane’s story came to light when Mrs Dodds was researching her husband Ian’s family history.
“Ian did not know much about his family history, but we were fortunate in that he had an aunt in her 80s,” she said.
“I talked to her and she knew a little. She thought they came from Bedburn, near Hamsterley, and then she said by the way, there is a story of someone who was married twice, buried twice and both her husbands were hanged.
“That set me off on a trail of discovery looking at Hamsterley at the turn of the 20th century.”
Using a variety of sources, Mrs Dodds pieced together Mary Jane's story and also discovered that her death made national news under the headline: “The Hamsterley Tragedy”.
Mrs Dodds added: “It is a story of resilience, violence, intrigue and cruelty.
“It is also about day-to-day life in Hamsterley when the village was a very different place to what it is now.”
She added: “It was much poorer and an inward-looking community held together by gossip.”
Her research also revealed attitudes of the time, particularly that of the church towards suicide, and also how domestic violence was viewed.
“The Dodds were a successful family at the time. I have been researching this on and off for nearly 20 years,” she said.
“Lockdown gave me the time and space to organise the information I had collected into a readable format.
“It is historically correct to the best of what I have discovered.”
Shabby Wedding – The True Story of Mary Jane Dodds is Mrs Dodds’ second book.
In 2018, she published Blind Courage, the story of her father Ron Johnson, who overcame his lack of sight to become a councillor in Bishop Auckland, the founder chairman of St Helen’s and Tindale Crescent Community Association, the driving force behind the community centre getting built and the north regional director for Oxfam.
Mrs Dodds, a former primary school teacher before turning to ministry – she continues to cover services at St Cuthbert’s, in Ethlerley, in the absence of a parish priest – said Blind Courage had been well received.
She said she had not planned to write a second book until coming across Mary Jane's story.
“I don’t plan on any more, but never say never – I do write all the time,” she said.
Mrs Dodds will officially launch Shabby Wedding with a signing session at St Cuthbert’s Church, Etherley, on Wednesday, December 15, from 7pm to 9pm.
