This is the first part of a series on the history of the Costello Family of Leadgate, thank you to John Willis and family for providing this and agreeing for it to be shared
The Costello family in Leadgate.
The Costello name is quite commonly known around Leadgate, the family to which the following relates has roots in Ireland where James Costello was born in approximately 1831
In 1861 he was living in Merthyr Tydfil, married to Catherine, with a son John (aged 3 years) and a step
daughter Margaret aged 5 years
The Census of 1871 provides the first record of the family being in Co Durham. James, a stone mason, and two sons John , now 13 years old and William aged 9, were recorded as lodging at South Street, Crossgate, Durham.
James and his sons almost certainly traveled to the Consett area shortly after 1871, but the first formal record of the family in Leadgate is the Census of 1881, where
William, born at Mount Ash, Wales, was living at Nelson Street as a lodger aged 19 and employed as a miner and by 1891 he was lodging in Plantation Street.
Hi brother John married Barbara McCartney and in 1881, employed as a miner, they were living at Pith Cottages, Iveston with two children James and John. They remained in the Leadgate area after the death of Barbara in 1891
James became a miner like his father and John a foundry worker, all being employed by Consett Iron Company.
