Talk:Gibson Kyle

Keeping the article complete
Due to the recent pruning of biographies in respect of family background, I'm putting the background section of the article here so that it does not get hidden from the general reader, in the article history. The family background of a biographical subject mattered in the 19th century because it established social standing, and it matters to the modern reader because it may give some idea of how and why the subject led the life that they did. Family background in a WP biography is not about mere genealogy. Details such as burial places and exact dates of birth are important for future researchers, who will need to use this information to check that these are indeed the antecedents of the subject, and not just people holding similar names. E.g. if you know the burial place, you can check the gravestone and graveyard records for information about how people were related.

Background
Kyle's paternal grandparents were mason Joseph Kyle (1759 or 1760 – Newcastle 30 December 1849), and Jane Barnes (1758 – Ponteland 9 April 1832). They married in Ponteland in May or June 1797. Joseph and his wife Jane are buried at St Mary's churchyard, Ponteland.

Kyle's father was also named Gibson Kyle (1789 – Monkseaton 6 August 1867), and he was a mason. Kyle's mother was Elizabeth Dobson (Ponteland 1793 - High Elswick 18 or 19 July 1868). In 1821 along with his brother-in-law John Dobson, Gibson Kyle senior was a witness in the indictment of the bailiffs and burgesses of Morpeth, regarding the "ruinous state of the bridge of that town." Kyle senior, the bridge surveyor for the county, reported that the bridge, known as Three Mile Bridge, was so narrow that he had to dismount from his horse at the widest part of the bridge, to let a carriage pass him. It was Gibson Kyle senior who in 1835 designed the replacement Lowford Bridge, a skew bridge which permitted the B6343 road to be straightened a little. His stone arches "threatened to collapse" but were rebuilt with the assistance of Edward Chapman of Newcastle, who replaced the stone with brick. Gibson Kyle senior was one of the contractors for building Morpeth Gaol (designed by John Dobson in 1822–1828), and his servant Sarah Detchen who stole from him was the first convict to be jailed there. By 1843 Kyle senior was a journeyman mason, a builder-contractor and an insolvent debtor. Gibson Kyle senior and his wife Elizabeth are buried in St Mary's churchyard, Ponteland. At Barnard Castle cemetery there is a tombstone relating to some other members of the Kyle family.

Life
Richard Gibson Kyle was born in Ponteland, Northumberland, in 1820, and died at 2 Roseville, Bensham, Gateshead on 21 January 1903 aged 82 years. His wife was Mrs Elizabeth Dowson, (Hexham ca.1819 – Gateshead 1868), the former "active, intelligent and kind" matron of Newcastle Infirmary,  and widowed by 1851. They married in Haltwhistle in July 1855,  and their son was the architect Alfred Gibson Kyle (1856–1940). Gibson Kyle was a teetotaller, and belonged to the Newcastle auxiliary of the United Kingdom Alliance. He is buried in Elswick Cemetery, Newcastle.